Life (or something like it)

I woke up this morning thinking about what I've done over the past year. I'm not really sure why rainy weather makes me want to look at my goals, but it does. I think it may also be that I was reading "God is the Answer in an attempt to get myself out of the mood that's been rearing its ugly head with the non-stop rain this week. One of the passages is about trusting God and not being dependent on other events to be happy. I mulled it around in my head a bit and realized that a lot of things have happened this year because of God's influence in my life. A lot of the things that "I've accomplished" were really only possible with His help because at the beginning of this year, I was so depressed that leaving my bed to go to class was almost impossible for me. I digress, though. I'm a lot better now and I'm happy with my life. Ish. 

Back on track then.

What I've done this year:

- Broke up with my old boyfriend and stayed friends with him. Yay!

- Made a few friends that I didn't have before.

- Started meetup groups online, where I mostly hung out with people from work. Which is fine because the people I work with are AWESOME.

- Started dating my current boyfriend, who is quite possibly the sweetest guy on the face of the planet. (I suspect him of being a serial killer, but that's really quite irrelevant.) For some odd reason, he appears to find me enthralling, which goes back to him being a serial killer, but that's fine.

- Went on several road trips: Las Vegas, Los Angeles, and Boise, to be precise. 

- Made a bucket list of things to do. That's on this list because it was quite a project. It took an entire weekend. 

- Graduated from law school. Gimpily, but still graduated.

- Became obsessed with sushi and tried several restaurants.

- Took the Idaho Bar Exam. Passed the Idaho Bar Exam.

- Started a board game group, which sounds more boring than it is. 

- Made an 8 course dinner with the help of above suspicious boyfriend. 

- Got a part-time job doing legal work, which is nice. 

Hum. That's a fairly short list, but I find it meaningful. I'm grateful for everything that's happened this year. I feel like my life is going somewhere. Slowly, maybe, as I figure stuff out. But it's definitely doing something. 

Okay, I doubt my boyfriend is a serial killer. He's more likely part-robot or something like that. 

How to be Invisible in Your Own House

This is one of those times where I wish I could illustrate things and add pretty pictures of what I do. But, unfortunately, I can't, despite those drawing lessons. I bet my brother could illustrate this, but I digress. 

Today is one of those days where I just want to build a fort out of blankets and hide. Like so:

Unfortunately, that leads to uncomfortable questions about why it seems reasonable to hide under blankets at 25. So, the next best thing for me is to apply skills that I've learned from clients at work on how to make people forget you exist. 

1. Have on hand things that don't require silverware or plates. An easy way to do this is to have paper plates on hand or eat off napkins. 

2. Get awesome headphones. The last thing you want is for people to know you're awake or home because of the sound of your computer. 

3. Get a netflix subscription (or hulu, or whatever). 

4. Make sure your room is clean.

The best way to get people to ignore you is to make sure there's absolutely nothing to say to you. If you have dirty laundry, a dirty room (or side of the room), dirty plates, or anything else that might require someone else's input. 

There's more to this, but for now, I'll take a nap. 

Almost the end of September

I'm not sure exactly where the last 4 months have gone. Something about not working full time just makes my brain melt into nothingness. Also, it's possible that time has just decided to speed up so that I can be 30 sooner. That would suck.
But what doesn't suck is my baking frenzy last night. I decided to make some peanut butter bars, pretzels, and tasty pull-apart bread. I've recently discovered an obsession with foodgawker, so I've been trying their recipes.
The peanut butter bars are your typical Nestle ones with this recipe:

Ingredients

• 2 cups peanut butter, divided
• 3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) butter, softened
• 2 cups powdered sugar, divided
• 3 cups graham cracker crumbs
• 1 1/2 cups (8-oz.) Nestle Toll House Mini Morsels, divided

conversion calculator

Directions

GREASE 13 x 9-inch baking pan. 

BEAT 1 1/4 cups peanut butter and butter in large mixer bowl until creamy. Gradually beat in 1 cup powdered sugar. With hands or wooden spoon, work in remaining 1 cup powdered sugar, graham cracker crumbs and 1/2 cup morsels. Press evenly into prepared baking pan. Smooth top with spatula. 

MELT remaining 3/4 cup peanut butter and remaining 1 cup morsels in medium, heavy-dutysaucepan over lowest possible heat, stirring constantly, until smooth. Spread over graham cracker crust in pan. Refrigerate for at least 1 hour or until chocolate is firm. Cut into bars. Store in covered container in refrigerator.

The only change I made to this is to add fewer morsels because I don't like the thickness of the chocolate coating. Otherwise, these are pretty easy. The only thing to watch out for is the inconsistent texture. Watch it like a hawk to make sure that it's creamy enough to stick together, but not creamy enough to not be able to be pressed down. If yours is grainy, add more creamed peanut butter and sugar. If it's too creamy, add more graham crackers. Then, refrigerate and enjoy. :)

I make these for work frequently and this recipe is usually enough for about 20 people. Unless I happen to be working with people who love peanut butter and chocolate. Then, it's enough for 10.

Aggression Cookies

I read a series of books called "Hannah Swensen Mysteries". Not so much because they're fascinating and wonderfully well written, but more because of the recipes. Anyway, I found a recipe for some cookies called aggression cookies in the book and ended up with an awesome recipe for light, crispy Chocolate Chip Oatmeal cookies. Because this is a library book, I'm going to transfer the recipe onto here. You're welcome, future Valerie. I made very few changes to this recipe except making it much smaller. I especially love it because you can pound this and feel better.

Oven Temp: 350 degrees
1 cup flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 cup packed brown sugar
2 eggs, beaten-ish
1 cup of butter or 2 sticks
2 cups of oatmeal
1/2 cup of chocolate chips or raisins. Or both or neither.
1/4 tsp salt

Grease two cookie sheets. All you need to do with this is throw all the ingredients into a big bowl, make sure your hands are clean and squeeze and stir the cookie dough with your hands. Make sure the dough is smooth. Think angry thoughts. Stir some more until it's mostly smooth. My dough was really soft, so I was concerned for a bit, but it ended up making some tasty crispy-edged cookies, so I guess it was alright. I didn't like the cookies as much with added flour, so don't make that mistake.

Scoop the dough into rounded balls with a tablespoon and coat in granulated sugar. Bake for about 10-12 minutes, or until the edges are golden brown. Cool them on the sheets for a few minutes, then put onto wire racks.

And you're done. So, if you're ever short on time but craving some cookies, try these, future Valerie. Try these.

I may have finally have gone crazy.

If anyone hasn't read the Hyperbole and a Half ""Sneaky Hate Spiral", they should do so right now. I feel full of anger and unhappiness. For no particular reason except that I was sitting on a sofa eating with my parents, then my plate fell over and I was full of HATE. Apparently, this caused me to swear violently and audibly for about 5 minutes while I complained about the plate and the fact that the world was out to get me.
And now, I'm watching the Apprentice. This sucks so very very much. It apparently consists of weird men saying "Octane" over and over again until it has lost all meaning. God. I want to shoot myself now.
On another note, I guess it's weird that I named this blog snickerdoodles and sunshine. Am I happy? Am I full of tasty cookies and gladness? No. No, I'm not. Generally, I'm fine and stare vacantly off into space, but for some reason, I feel like just smashing the tv and Donald Trump's stupid toupee and the stupid runner up for California who graduated from Stanford Law and got a job but quit because it wasn't her "passion".

I recently realized that I may be completely crazed. I sometimes work with my boyfriend, not very often and I have a lot of stuff to say, but realize that work probably isn't the apropriate place to say those things. No, they're not sexual things because I work in a mental health facility so that would be weird and gross to be thinking of sex during work. I mean, I'm sure that our clients think about it, but that's totally beside the point. Because really, who wants to think about people having sex? I don't get porn. I think it makes little sense. Like vintage porn? Those are people's parents. Who wants to think about people's parents having sex? Thousands of people, according to the statistics on that particular video. Maybe it's about being part of a simpler time (the 70s) where people were in love when having sex. Actually, I doubt it. But seriously, if I came across people randomly having sex, I'd be all disturbed. I hope most people are.
I digress. I'm not thinking about sex. Or porn. Or waiting to talk to bf about them.
Now, I can't remember what I was thinking about. But, sometimes, I think about things and then I stare at him and laugh, then he looks at me creepily (no, wait, I'm the one being creepy, due to the laughing for no reason) suspiciously is the word I'm looking for. Then I laugh more and turn away and all the clients stare at me because it seems like their captor (I'm not really a captor because I have very little say on where or when they go - Yay community! - but they feel that way it seems) is way worse than they are. Then, amidst all the staring, I turn into a giant puddle of awkwardness and just look really intently at my computer screen while pretending nothing ever happened.

I need a hug.

Cats = People

I don't mean that people are cats. That would be way too awesome. But I found a website that tells people how to make their cats undepressed... That's not a word, but it should be. I've decided to try this on people I know (and on myself too!) and see what results this has.

http://www.readersdigest.ca/pets/health/cms/xcms/4-ways-to-cheer-up-a-depressed-cat_4188_a.html

As many as 40% of felines fall into funks out of sheer boredom, says Nicholas Dodman, director of the Tufts University animal behavior clinic. Why? Cats are safer indoors—away from cars and dogs—but the soft life can be downright dull. Signs of depression include overeating, lax grooming and sleeping at daybreak, when they should be up and hunting. Want to help your feline get out of their funk? Try one of these four ways to cheer up your kitty:





1. Give Kitty Your Attention on a Daily Basis
Play with your cat every day, even if he doesn't seem interested at first. "It's a misconception that cats are antisocial," says Dodman. "Some need just as much attention as dogs."







2. Purchase Toys that Your Cat Will Enjoy
Engage predatory impulses with interactive toys, like feathers on a string or laser mice toys.








3. Keep Kitty Active
Provide climbing towers and scratching poles to keep your cat from climbing the walls (or curtains).






4. Find a Friend for Kitty
Get your cat a pet to watch, like a gerbil, or put a bird feeder outside the window. Or, for the kitty who has everything, try a cat video. Pet AVision offers the adventures of Larry Lizard, Freddy Fish and Betty Bird.