May? Seriously!

Well, needless to say our New Year's Resolution (mine, at least) is to update our blog at least once a month. When you leave it for so long, where do you begin? It is too hard, too long and probably too boring for those of you reading to go back over 6 plus months of 'stuff'. So I will pick a highlight from each month since we left off then go to Christmas 2009...

May - went to visit Nadene (my sister) in Rochester, MN - I ran the Med City Half marathon (pr ~1:38) and Norm ran the Med City Marathon - over Memorial weekend, had a great time at my sister's place!

June - our 1st Anniversary - Norm whisked me off to Napa for a fantastic weekend...riding, running (Hit the Road Jack 10k) and of course, wine!! I won my AG for Regionals Olympic distance PR 2:18!

July - I coached at the Jr. Elite camp at the OTC in Chula Vista - quiet month! At the end of the month we went to IL to visit my Dad and run the Chicago RNR 1/2 marathon which was actually on Aug 2nd.

August - We both spent some time in FL as Norm's mom had her second hip surgery! Did my first 5K SWIM open water! We rode our bikes to Long Beach and spent the night, I had my swim race the next day and Norm rode home! Jen R. drove me home!

September - USAT long course Nationals at Redman in Oklahoma City! We both qualified for World's in 2010!! We are unsure, but most likely not going to make the trip to Germany next July, too pricey and World's are here in the US in 2011, so hopefully we can re-qualify. I turned 40, boo!

October - I did my first Cyclocross race, what a blast! I am addicted, love it. I spent the end of the month in FL with my sister at Norm's parents house, just hanging out, now that was fun!!

November - A sad time as we had to say "Goodbye" to our best friend and loving dog, Joey.

Tour de Julian and Thanksgiving with the Kelley's, need I say more!

December -

It was a mellow Holiday, just the two of us. We did our traditional Christmas coast run (15 miles this year as we are both training for Carlsbad 1/2 Marathon on Jan 24) in our Santa hats and got the normal laughs and friendly gestures from those who shared the Season's spirit. It amazes me always the few who are not happy, even on Christmas, I find it sad mostly, maybe slightly disturbing. Anyway, Norm was in charge of Christmas dinner and fixed a lovely Filet Mignon with sweet potatoe fries!! Yum! We had some cupcakes leftover for dessert, see photo above, just perfect. The Holiday ran right into the weekend and Sunday we went to Borrego Springs for the Borrego Springs Century bike ride! Not sure why they boast it to be a Century as it is only 93 miles (92.7). Anyway, I cut out a 4 mile out/back section (8 miles total) and Norm caught up to me at ~ mile 64 and we rode the last ~30 miles together, that was nice! Also nice was the Dudley's bread (PB & Js) at each rest stop and the two (yes, 2) pieces of Julian Apple pie I ate when we finished! It was about a 2 hour drive home and we stopped at Island's for burgers & margaritas on the way, perfect finish to a great Holiday weekend!

Monday, Norm decided I should do an Iron Chef style cooking challenge and handed me an envelope with my secret ingredient. My challenge was to make at least 3 unique dishes incorporating the secret ingredient for dinner on Tuesday! I was being judged (by him) on the normal 3 standards (taste, originality and plating) plus his new category: Healthiness of the dish. My secret ingredient: Chick Peas aka Garbanzo beans. Here is what I made:

Chick Pea, Green Olive & Garlic dip (hummus minus tahini, not so original, I know!) topped with parsley, chives and diced pancetta, served with a chive & parsley Tortillita (made with chick pea flour).

Tomato, Cucumber, Chick Pea and red onion salad with Blood Orange Olive oil & lemon zest topped with Feta Cheese. West African Vegetable Soup (this is tasty, has cinnamon, red pepper flakes, raisins & sweet potatoes!! And of course, chick peas & mounds of other veges!)

Ginger toasted Chick Pea Crusted Halibut served with Mango Chick Pea chutney.

Chick Pea Dessert (sorry about the name!) - this is a Tortillita made with chick pea flour, cinnamon & nutmeg inside is a sauce made of marshmallow, peanut butter, mashed chick peas and topped with a slight drizzle of maple syrup and sliced almonds!

Overall, I scored a 20 out of a possible 25 points. Losing points to healthiness on the dessert and the pancetta! And also losing some points on plating here and there!

My hope is to keep our blog up to date in 2010 - our New Year's Day plan is our tradition ride up Palomar Mountain. The weather should be brisk but nonetheless I look forward to the ride up the Mountain it will be my 3rd ascent since Thanksgiving!

Have a Happy New Year everyone!