Chocolate Fudgy Cookie Bars

Oven at 350.

CRUST -- 1-3/4 c. flour, 3/4 c. powdered sugar, 1/4 c. cocoa, 1 c. butter/margerine, cold. Blend dry ingredients, then cut in butter with fork or pastry blender until crumbly (pea-sized). Press into 13 x 9 pan. Bake 15 min.

FUDGY MIDDLE -- 1 can sweetened condensed milk, 1 c. chocolate chips, 1 t. vanilla (optional). Pour chips into milk and heat in microwave until warm. Maybe 30-60 sec. Stir till smooth. Pour onto baked crust.

TOP -- 1 c. chocolate chips, 1 c. chopped nuts (walnuts, pecans). Pour over and slightly press into fudgy middle. BAKE 18 min. Cool 1 hour. Cut into bars.


This picture doesn't even begin to capture the fudgy goodness.

10.15.12 - Senses Record

See

Rabbits in the field outside the FSC.

Sculptures along the roads of Davis.

My reflection in my laptop as it boots up.

Taste

Equal in my iced coffee.

Caramel Apple Pops

Parmesan on my pasta/veggie lunch.

Smell

Sizzling turkey bacon.

That’s all I can think of (my nose doesn’t work that well).

Hear

“Bad Day” on the radio.

Barista chatting with customers.

My phone beeping from texts.

Feel

Muscles protesting a workout.

Sweat down my back as I hurry to find Kemper Hall.

Water seeping through my shoes when I cut through the grass.

Artistic food

8.20.12 - When Jack cooks

8.8.12 - End of the Epic Summer Weight Loss Challenge

This morning I went ahead and finished up my STAY ON TARGET FB album because (also this morning) I weighed in on a calibrated scale at half a pound below my weight goal.

THE BET IS OVER. LONG LIVE THE BET.

I've basically been working on this since April 30, and I am ready for it to be done.  Thanks to everyone for ideas, encouragement, mutual inspiration, and, in some cases, really good listening skills. :-P  Particular thanks to Jen R. and Sarah O. for nutritional advice, Yvette for workout advice and a very encouraging Mutual Admiration Society, and Hugo for being my workout sponsor (which we can continue to do, Hugo).

But I would especially like to thank Julie.  Last spring I wasn't even thinking about trying to lose more weight, much less planning the longest endurance test I have yet experienced.  If it weren't for both stubborness/pride and a sense of duty to provide Julie with a true competitor, I never would have made it.  There were many times when I wanted to quit, and in some cases the only thing that stopped me was not wanting to let Julie down.  After all, the Epic Summer Weight Loss Challenge would not be epic if one of us just quit halfway through.  

So, dear sister, thank you for inspiring me as few people could.  I feel wonderful--and skinny!  Also, you owe me some money.

Family car.

7.29.12 - Smashed laptop and good friends and boyfriend

Last night I made an epic workout playlist on iTunes (it included "Scream" by Michael Jackson).  I had just perfected it so that it would be exactly one hour.  I turned to go change into my Pinterest-inspired workout tshirt, and in the process I tangled my foot in my laptop cord, causing the open laptop to fall from the fireplace mantle and smash onto the floor.  The screen is completely destroyed.  At first I just turned back around and rested my forehead on the fireplace mantle and wished to go back in time about 2 seconds, but I knew in my heart that time travel is impossible (that's right, Jack).

Then I thought about all of the upcoming expenses Jack and I have with our move to Sacramento, and how much this will add to it, and I started to get upset.  I texted Julie, Ellen, and Everett about it, basically to vent.  Jack immediately took the laptop carcass and some necessary tools to Neil to see if Neil could recover any data I haven't backed up yet.  While Neil worked Jack began searching online for pricing on new laptops similar or better to the one I had just killed.  It was sweet how the moment I got upset, Jack went into proactive overdrive to resolve the problem.

Neil took out the hard drive and announced that it would be easy enough to hook up to his computer to get the data.  That was a relief.  Ellen texted me back with sympathy and some information about her very similar laptop for comparison pricing.  Julie and I had this amusing conversation via text:

Julie: Someday it will be a memory.  Like the time my screen got crushed on the plane.
Me: Yeah, actually that's the first thing I thought of.
Julie: A small part of me died that day.
Me: Lol. But just a memory.
Julie: No, you don't understand, it was a horcrux.

Everett didn't give me helpful information or sympathy.  He just texted me "It's bad ya know."  This is a lyric from RL Burnside's "It's Bad Ya Know".  My relationship with Everett basically consists of texting each other parts of that song.  I believe I've mentiond this before...

I seriously lol'd when he used that song so fittingly for this situation.  Given I was on the verge of tears, laughing was a huge relief, and immediately I remembered that a smashed laptop is a first world problem and that it's not really that bad.  Good job, jerkface.

And of course ultimately I called Mike.  With his suggestions and Neil's help we hooked up the laptop to an external monitor and discovered that it's only the screen that's destroyed--the rest of it still works fine.  This may mean that I need only replace the screen instead of the entire laptop, which will be a couple hundred dollars cheaper.  So that helped lighten the mood a couple hundred dollars.

Shortly thereafter, Jack and I got a little dressed up and used a Living Social coupon for a really lovely sushi dinner at Tokyo Go Go in the mission.  We ordered miso soup instead of edamame and we didn't get any rolls with tempura, just to try to keep the calorie count somewhat reasonable.  It was delicious.  So was my Syrah.  I loved the tall table for two at which we sat.  I loved the multi-sized soft-glowing orb lamps all over the ceiling.  I loved that we were directly beneath the lone TV so that we couldn't see it, and that it had no sound anyway, and that it was playing, bizarrely, Independence Day.  I also noticed the restaurant music was loud enough to hear but not so loud you had to raise you voice to talk.  The staff were very friendly and the atmosphere was just great.  I'm so glad Jack and I always have a weekly date night, and I strongly recommend it to other couples.

Anyway, by the end of the night I felt perfectly fine.  I have good friends.

6.17.12 - My birthday

My favorite messages from my birthday this year were:

• FB post from Julie: "so how does it feel to be 27 and the lightest you've ever been in your adult life, hmmmm?"
• A 30 min call with Renata. Haven't gotten to talk to her in so long. So nice to hear from her.
• FB post from Scott: "Happy fathers day!!!"
• A brief call from Hugo! Never actually heard his voice before, so delighted to hear from him! Bonus: he called me just as he was about to workout and right when I happened to be working out. We are interstate workout buddies. :)
• FB post from Cody: "Hey, It's that one day. Dont die for another year."
• And my favorite, a text from Eddie: "Ooooh, my name is Monica, and today's my birthday! I'm so special because EVERYONE is gonna talk to me today! Happy birthday. don't think you're special because you're 27...I've been 27 for months now."

6.14.12 - Summer weight loss update

A few thoughts:

• I have decided I love oatmeal with banana.
• Also edamame.
• I seem unable to eat the right foods/portions based solely on a desire to be healthy/lose weight.
• Yet I am more than capable of doing the above out of sheer pride.

The regime is going well. I weigh less now than I ever have in my adult life, by a few pounds, and I'm excited about that.  I'm quite sure if I wasn't in a summer-long bet with Julie I would contentedly stop now and just try to maintain the level I'm at, but a competition is a competition, so the careful self-control continues.

Despite eating only 1500 cals/day for about a month and a half now, I'm still not entirely used to it.  I've gotten better at it, but I think hardly a night has gone by that I haven't fantasized about just letting it go and eating a giant bowl of fettuccini.  (My food fantasies tend to be about huge amounts of carbs.)  I don't do it, of course, but I can see how easy it is to fall off the wagon, even after having been on it for awhile.

Working out has been a bit easier.  I enjoy the sweat and the pride afterward.  And the music, and the adrenaline!  If I don't really want to work out I still do cardio for 45m-1h, but I don't push as hard.  I have only missed one daily workout since April 30, but we'll see if that can last the rest of the summer.

Lastly, I find lately that the most inspiring factor is when other people are inspired to work out/eat healthily and tell me about it, especially if I helped motivate them in some way.  Then I feel like we're in this together, and I have to workout so that they also know we're in this together.  I think it's awesome that I live in an age where people in totally different states can basically be my workout buddies.

5.19.12 - cherry pineapple snack

I have no better name for this.

Two pineapple slices.

Two tablespoons of fat-free cream cheese.

Two cherries (pitted).

Cream cheese on pineapples, cherries on cream cheese, and stack. :)

The one in the pic was about 120 calories of deliciousness.

5.6.12 - Getting healthy

Today I:

• Prepped two blog posts for SPL this week.
• Added more pics to my workout screensaver.
• Deep-cleaned, sanded, and taped the stairway in preparation for varnishing (next weekend).
• Bought some postcards to send to some people.
• Took a tour of the SF Bay with Jack for our weekly date.
• Worked out for an hour.
• Made an omelette for dinner (with edamame!)

I'd say it was a good Sunday. 

4.13.12 - Anniversary joys

4.2.12 - Random evening

Tonight after work I took a half hour nap. That shows you how desperate I was. It was okay, though it would've been nicer if I didn't need to get up at all.

I worked on some SPL stuff which, after how busy I was last week with no time to do so, was a relief.

I worked out. I couldn't think of anything I really wanted to watch so I watched the first two episodes of the first season of Saved By The Bell. They were nostalgic and awful, haha.

Then I realized Jack had actually gotten back to the apartment awhile ago and was making us both dinner. :) He wouldn't let me in the kitchen because he wanted to surprise me with what ended up being a great tortellini covered in a tomato spinach sauce and a bottle of moscato.  I joked that Jack and I don't really have a song but we do have a wine: Mirassou moscato. Whatever, it's delicious.  We laughed about how if we ever got married, instead of dancing to a song we dont' have, we could just walk to the center of the dance floor in dead silence, stand side-by-side, and each chug a bottle of Mirassou. Delicious. ROMANTIC.

Anyway, we enjoyed dinner and some 70's songs off Pandora that actually remind us of high school, though we went to high school in the...oughts?  We then looked at a bunch of funny pictures online and laughed a lot.  I laughed hardest, probably, at this one:

Now he's getting whatever dessert he had in mind while I wait in suspense in another room.  Not bad for a random night.

2.25.12 - Mockingjay

Yesterday, after Jack left for work in the morning, I went to BreadCo by myself and had a pecan braid while I read a few chapters of Mockingjay.  I then had a quick drive up to SF, not having to stop even once on Franklin--the lights just lined up for me.

I made some extra cash doing construction-related work for a little over six hours at Dad's house.  Most of that time I was by myself, either listening to Law and Order episodes or Pandora's Pink-by-Aerosmith station, a lot of which reminds me of high school, actually (AC/DC, Aerosmith, Guns N' Roses, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Queen...)  At one point in the middle I got to visit with Ellen and Charles for awhile too.

When it got a bit later, I had a good workout on the elliptical machine while reading more of Mockingjay.  I've been reading while I workout all week because I am enjoying the Hunger Games trilogy that much. I love being really into a book series.

I then cleaned the kitchen while I made dinner and talked to Jack on his ride home from work.  We got to eat together for a bit, and then we lay in bed for about an hour, him reading Catching Fire and me reading Mockingjay.  It was very relaxing.

Pleasant day.

2011 Dates

1. Jan 4 - Tangled
2. Jan 15 - Mt. Tam picnic
3. Jan 20 - Edoko
4. Jan 28 - Triple Rock Brewery
5. Feb 5 - Zachary's Pizza
6. Feb 11 - car picnic date
7. Feb 20 - Sausalito Italian Cafe
8. Feb 26 - The Fighter
9. Mar 4 - Edoko
10. Mar 13 - Battle Los Angeles
11. Mar 18 - Solano Cellars Wine Tasting
12. Mar 27 - Angeline's
13. Mar 30 - Zachary's
14. April 7 - BreadCo
15. April 16 - Source Code
16. April 17 - Noodle Theory
17. April 23 - Homemade Bread picnic
18. May 7 - Olive Garden (after apartment hunting)
19. May 11 - Edoko
20. May 20 - Barney's
21. May 21 - I Squared
22. May 26 - Zachary's
23. May 31 - Thaiger Thai Food (first San Mateo date)
24. June 10 - Super 8
25. June 16 - TGIF
26. June 25 - Chez Saigon
27. June 26 - Rocca's (late anniversary date)
28. July 4 - Foster City Festival and Ben & Jerry's
29. July 9 - Steelhead Brewery & ice cream
30. July 18 - U-Buffet
31. July 22 - Harry Potter 7.2 in 3D
32. July 26 - The Attick (and Blush frozen yogurt)
33. Aug 1 - U-Buffet
34. Aug 6 - Rise of Planet of the Apes
35. Aug 20 - Picnic at the playground (and Blush)
36. Aug 27 - Grand Lake Coffee House and later BreadCo (failed USS Hornet attempt)
37. Sept 1 - Sapore Italiano
38. Sept 11 - Half Moon Bay Beach picnic!!
39. Sept 23 - BreadCo picnic and swings in San Mateo central park
40. Oct 9 - Ides of March
41. Oct 15 - Edoko
42. Oct 23 - Monagan's On The Hill
43. Oct 30 - Squat & Gobble
44. Nov 5 - Lanesplitter
45. Nov 12 - Apple Hill (picnic, Apple Pantry Farm, Oak Chan, Davis)
46. Dec 3 - SF Bach Choir (& hot chocolate)
47. Dec 10 - Coconut Bay lunch
48. Dec 11 - Baywatch Cafe
49. Dec 18 - USS Hornet
50. Dec 21 - Olive Garden

1.14.12 - 2011 Date Nights

Before I put my 2011 calendar away...

1.4.11 - Movie night: Tangled (excellent)

1.15.11 - Picnic on Mt. Tam

1.20.11 - Edoko dinner (all-you-can-eat-sushi)

1.28.11 - Triple Rock Brewery dinner

2.5.11 - Zachary's (pizza)

2.11.11 - Car picnic overlooking the Bay

2.20.11 - breakfast at a cafe in Sausalito

2.26.11 - Movie night: The Fighter

3.4.11 - Edoko dinner

3.13.11 - Movie night: Battle LA (suck)

3.18.11 - Solano Cellars wine tasting (bonus thunderstorm)

3.27.11 - Angeline's dinner (cajun cuisine)

3.30.11 - Zachary's dinner

4.7.11 - Panera BreadCo lunch

4.16.11 - Movie night: Source Code (excellent)

4.17.11 - Noodle Theory lunch

4.23.11 - picnic overlooking bay (homemade bread)

5.7.11 - Olive Garden lunch

5.11.11 - Edoko dinner

5.21.11 - I Squared dinner

5.26.11 - Zachary's dinner

5.31.11 - Thaiger Thai food dinner (first San Mateo date)

6.10.11 - Movie night: Super 8 (excellent)

6.16.11 - TGIF dinner

6.25.11 - Chez Saigon dinner

6.26.11 - Rocca's dinner (very belated anniversary celebration)

7.9.11 - Steelhead Brewery & then ice cream

7.18.11 - U-Buffet (all-you-can-eat sushi)

7.22.11 - Movie night: Harry Potter 7.2 in 3D (excellent)

7.26.11 - The Attic dinner (and Blush frozen yogurt after)

8.1.11 - U-Buffet dinner

8.6.11 - Movie night: Rise of Planet of the Apes (excellent)

8.20.11 - Playground picnic

8.27.11 - Grand Lake Coffee House breakfast

9.1.11 - Sapore Italiano dinner

9.11.11 - Half Moon Bay picnic!!

9.23.11 - Panera picnic at playground (swings after)

10.9.11 - Movie night: Ides of March (pretty good)

10.15.11 - Edoko lunch

10.23.11 - Monagan's On The Hill dinner

10.30.11 - Squatt & Gobble dinner

11.5.11 - Lanesplitter dinner

11.12.11 - Apple Hill!!

11.20.11 - Godfather Burger (with Odoms)

12.3.11 - San Francisco Bach Choir concert

12.10.11 - Coconut Bay dinner

12.11.11 - Baywatch Cafe breakfast

12.18.11 - USS Hornet tour

12.21.11 - Olive Garden dinner

:)

1.12.12 - My new job...

Is Awesome.

I've been working at the Boys and Girls Club for just over a week and I love it.  In the mornings I help the Executive Director with administrative stuff.  So far it's nothing I can't handle and he's very appreciative.  The rest of the staff are also nice and relatively laid-back.  I think I'm the only new staff in some time, so everyone else knows very well what they're doing and they're a great support system.

In the afternoons I help watch the kids, and I love it.  They're good kids.  

My first day I had a kid disobey me directly; the site supervisor pulled the kid aside and the three of us talked, and the kid has been no trouble since.  On the contrary, he sits at my office desk to do his homework and keeps asking me to play him in pool.  And since that first day no other kid has directly disobeyed me.  Sure, I have to repeat myself ALL THE TIME but once I get a Tone I don't seem to have any problem.  

Meanwhile there are many kids who seem to like me quite a lot.  My desk is right out in the main rec room, as opposed to in an office or in a separate room like the library.  Frankly I really like it that way.  I get to see the kids more and they feel free to walk up to my "office" and sit and chat with me.  

My desk is also directly outside the computer room, so I am typically in charge of rotating the kids out of the 10 or so computers every 15 minutes.  They know the drill really well, and often at the 12th or 13th minute they will leave their computers early to try to get in the wait line first and get a double turn.  Today I began using computer time as a bribe, and it worked fantastically.  I offered four boys the chance to have two 15-minute shifts in a row if they picked up all the litter on the playground (juice boxes and granola wrappers from snack time, mainly).  They jumped at the chance and were remarkably meticulous.  I'm pretty sure the word of this new system will spread fast and people will be asking me if they can pick up trash by tomorrow.  :)

I love helping the kids with their homework.  There are way too many kids for me to help them all so it's the one's who seek me out who get help, and it's pretty pleasant working with kids who really do want to do their homework.  Plus it gives me more of a chance to talk to them.  

  

I know it's a bit early for me to decide definitively how I feel about this job, but so far I just completely love it.  I'm still going to grad school and everything, but this was a great decision for the interim.