Chocolate Zucchini

Did I ever show you this chocolatey goodness? I made one of these during the summer and enjoyed it all for myself.


Everyone should enjoy the goodness of chocolate and zucchini joined together in perfect harmony. The joyous part is the icing is just water and powdered sugar. I think the next time I make it I'll have to remember to make more of the icing. In fact, it would behoove anybody to have extra icing on hand as it will not be the same without it.

If you want the recipe you'll have to ask me nicely. Oh, and if you don't believe that it's going to be fabulous, just trust me and make one. Okay?

"Surely the apple is the noblest of fruits." Henry David Thoreau, Wild Apples

"Good apple pies are a considerable part of our domestic happiness." Jane Austen

I think I just fell in love with a new kitchen tool. Actually, it is officially defined as The Best kitchen tool ever!





I'm pretty sure that the apple tasted better because I used an apple corer/peeler thingy. Plus, it spiral cuts the whole apple which is even more exciting! I'm going to make tons of apple things now. Of course, my time is limited and the apple sales in the grocery store won't last for much longer.

I have just received my first indication that I am in for a very long winter. See the following.

This is what it looks like outside my window. I know it's a bit fuzzy, but the flakes are getting bigger.

Usually, the first snow is a great sense of joy for me, but not this year. I absolutely love fall so having Mother Nature work her wiles on the seasons like this is rather disappointing. Sigh...hopefully the winter won't be too terrible. Stay warm everyone!

It's been a little over a month since I posted. I suppose you should be updated on why it's been awhile since I posted. I got promoted at work! Woohoo! I then had two weeks of training at another store in New Hampshire. After that I started at my new store and it's now been two weeks since I've been there. I am officially busy now, but mostly because of the amount of time I spend driving to get there. I want to get back into a normal routine since not having one throws me into a loop for certain. I plan on going out today to take some pictures of the beautiful New England foliage before it disappears for another year.
If only it could be fall all the time. Right now all the fall colors are starting to blend and mesh and it's a beautiful burst of color. I absolutely love how the air feels outside as it is crisp and refreshing. Everything seems to be washed away to make way for the dark days of winter. For another month or so we New Englanders get to enjoy the last cookouts, fairs, beach visits, and trips to the park before we dawn our winter gear. While the first snow is always anticipated, the "first snow" happens so frequently that it tends to lose it's luster after a couple of feet of white fluff that seems to make it's trip to our part of the U.S. a more extended stay that we care to enjoy. However, back to autumn. I like passing large maple trees where the entire tree is turning orange and yellow while still being able to drop some of it's beautiful leaves in a heap on the sidewalks. There are piles of leaves that you can shuffle through while making the crinkling noise that is so familiar during this time of year. I remember how raking leaves was always a game. It was so much fun to rake every last leaf in a half mile radius to make a pile big enough for four kids to dive into. Moms and dads everywhere love this outdoor chore because they never have to follow through with it themselves. They can sit back while their children make mess after mess and continue to gather all the leaves again. When all "piles" have been exhausted you must then turn to making the scare crow that will sit on your porch or front stoop through Halloween. I miss these times and I love them. It was simple and it was beautiful. Thank you, Autumn. You remind me why I love you.

Lightning Bugs

Fireflies

I cannot stop listening to this song. I love the the meaning behind it. Or rather what I interpret the meaning behind it is.
"I'd get a thousand hugs from ten thousand lightning bugs as they try to teach me how to dacnce". That's my favorite line in the whole song. It just makes me smile. I hope you enjoy it. I can't believe that I'm just discovering Owl City in general. They could become my new favorite group.

Promotion

So, three weeks ago I went through a round table interview for the company I work with to become an Assistant Store Manager. It was myself along with 8 other people in my district, two of which are Department Supervisors with myself at the store I work in . I've been waiting for three weeks to hear some news and received it yesterday in the form of a job offer! So in about a week I'll be leaving my store to train in Massachusetts for two weeks and then be placed in my store in New Hampshire. I am very excited and nervous at the prospect of doing this. I feel like this is a big move for me and I feel like I have some clear definition of where I'm going. But I also feel really young. I know that my energy level and my drive are some factors for why I was chosen, so I hope that I will live up to those standards. I don't have any pictures for you guys recently.

I'm going to do another post later about my cleaning stuff. Seriously, that book has changed my life! I know it seems silly. I haven't even read all the way through it. I just know that everything I read inspires me to do a little more. It's a slow process, but right now I'm still on track with my kitchen being clean. However, I have realized that good cleaning tools make all the difference in the world, so I definitely need to invest in a better dust mop for in between vacuumings. Thanks you guys for reading in general. Of course, COMMENT! It makes it more exciting when I write. ;)

"...due to delayed recall, if they were recalled at all. More often dreams are, of course, forgotten entirely, perhaps due to their (according to Freud) prohibited character." Quote from here


What do you think it means when you have recurring dreams? The weird thing about my dreams is that only a portion of my dream and some large element of it has been changed or altered in some way. In fact, this morning I was having a stressful dream in which I was asked to retake a test which was actually a puzzle that I had to solve again even though I had already done it correctly once. The professor wanted me to do it again although he saw me do it and state that he believed I cheated. For some reason, in my dream, I knew that he had a crush on me and he just wanted to see me a bit longer. I was completely aggravated and angry with him for doing this to me as the puzzle was rather difficult and I had a partner the first time. However, the recurring part of my dream was actually a location of a store in which I had been in in my dreams before. The outside of the building and what the store was selling had changed dramatically. The other stores surrounding it weren't exactly the same and the town in which it was residing was more run down than it had been in a previous dream. It seems weird to say that because the entire location is completely fictional to begin with, but I know it was the same location.


The length of my dreams has always been of particular interest to myself as I have had them described before as "epics". This seems fitting only because I recall my dreams with a lot of clarity and detail when I wake up. Many times if I just think about it when I wake up I will not forget the dream during the day.

Dreams referenced here
"REM sleep episodes and the dreams that accompany them lengthen progressively across the night, with the first episode being shortest, of approximately 10–12 minutes duration, and the second and third episodes increasing to 15–20 minutes."

A lot of the research I have done on dreams leads me to believe that it's impossible to determine any one thing about them. You can't determine if they are real, prophecies, manifestations of our waking lives, gods talking to us, fantasies, or even the subconscious trying to tell us something. Since most people don't remember their dreams to begin with, it seems unlikely that it could be most of the above factors.

I have taken to recording some of my stranger dreams in a journal to look back at some day and ponder. The thing is that I remember a lot of my dreams to begin with and I can recall them to mind pretty quickly. It's just that I tend to remember the longer dreams. I also generally have 3 repeating elements in my dreams.
1. Running. Most of the time I'm running away from something. If I'm not running away from something I'm running to catch up to some thing or some event. I generally wake up very exhausted after these dreams and I'm usually in bed early when I have these dreams so it's a bit counter productive.
2. Water. Floods, rain, swimming, fish tanks, sinks, oceans, rivers, waterfalls, you name it I've dreamt about it. Something dangerous is happening when there is water around. I don't always realize it right away (unless of course it's a flood) either.
3. Fighting with women. This one doesn't always happen in my dreams but it is common enough that I have to mention it. I feel like I'm almost hostile with the women in my dreams. Not always mind you, but generally. We just have huge arguments and they're the kind where the other person won't listen to a word you're saying. I feel frustrated in my dreams and wake up frustrated. Which can be frustrating. I haven't had one of those in awhile which I think is a GREAT thing, but I do wonder what that means in real life.

I have a real system of belief for my dreams and feel that they hold some deeper meaning that I'm not seeing. I don't often have happy dreams so I feel like they are my subconscious mind telling me that I'm stressed and that there is an element of my life that I need to let go of or work on. My mind is telling me to relax but I'm definitely not listening. I could be way off base, but this is what I've come up with for now.

Does anybody else dream as vividly as I do? Seriously, I dream constantly and consistently. Let me know what you guys think about my latest dream.

Ms. Clean if you please

I can't believe it's been a week since I posted last. That's ridiculous in and of itself. I have decided, however, to dub myself Ms. Clean because Mr. Clean needs a babe and clearly that will be me. I have come so far with my cleaning endeavors in only a week and a half. Seriously, you would be amazed. I forgot to take before pictures so you could truly be in awe, but I'll take some tomorrow before I get all deep into it. I plan on cleaning up the last portions of my apartment and then adding finishing touches on it. I have a whole box of pictures that need to be put on my walls.

All of this cleaning is so I can make a life time change. I want to be organized enough to lessen my stress. There is absolutely no need for me to come home and feel more stress. The funny thing is that majority of my apartment is clean and I did get this overwhelming sense to want to mess it up. Just like the book said, I am creating this order and I'm afraid I won't have anything to do. The good part is that I didn't mess it up. I kept reminding myself how I wanted to create some free time by keeping things tidy. By me keeping my apartment in top shape I can actually start sewing regularly. I know when I have my craft space completely set up that will be another challenge for me, but I'm willing to face that head on. Wait until tomorrow when I post some good pictures for you.