Paul gave me an early Christmas present last night: a KitchenAid mixer!

Anyone who knows me knows that I love to bake. For years I've been using a little $25 handheld mixer, and it's served me well...until it died a few days ago while making a batch of cutout cookies. I mentioned to Paul that I needed to get a new one last night while we were out Christmas shopping; I was just planning on picking up another cheapie at Target. We were at Macy's, and he opened up a new Macy's charge to get the extra 20% off on the Keurig coffee maker we were getting for his parents. He told me that he remembers me mentioning months ago that I've always wanted a KitchenAid--we were watching a cooking show on PBS and I was drooling over the mixer rather than the food--and he was planning on getting one for me anyway. Since we were already there, he wanted me to pick one out now since we could get an extra 20% off and I could get the exact one I wanted. I fought him on it for a while (I'm a much better gift giver than receiver), but he insisted, so I finally relented.

Ooh la la! It's a beauty! After I'm done working today I'm going to make another batch of cutouts on my new toy. I can hardly wait to play!!! :-)

Mine is like this, except white...

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This morning I posted here on Vox, started a batch of cookies, then took the dogs for a walk. I felt totally fine. Immediately upon returning from my walk, however, I am stricken with sneezing and a stuffy nose. Sure enough, I have a cold, as if someone just flipped a switch. What the HELL is up with that?

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I leave for Baltimore in just a few hours and won't be back here again until next week. Happy Thanksgiving to all my Vox friends...I hope you have a wonderful holiday with a great meal and even better company...

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Live Through This: A Mother's Memoir of Runaway Daughters and Reclaimed Love

Debra Gwartney

Just finished this book last night, and I highly recommend it.

I originally read about it in Poets and Writers, and I finished it in two days. I couldn't put it down, which is rare for me to say about a book any more.

This is Debra Gwartney's unflinching story of living (and not living) with two daughters who fall apart after her divorce from their father. Amanda and Stephanie, at 16 and 14, choose a life of drugs and running the streets over staying at home with their mother and two younger sisters. Gwartney's memoir is beautifully written and very honest...she admits her own mistakes and missteps at every turn.  

While this is certainly a sad and harrowing tale, it's ultimately uplifting because of its courage. A great read. 

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I got my first Blackberry last week and I LOVE it. Wish I'd done it ages ago, and well worth the extra $30 a month I'll add to my phone bill. But there are some things I'm still trying to figure out.

My biggest issue is the appointment calendar. I loaded the backup software onto my computer so that when I synch my phone, everything's backed up...but it appears that there's no way to view my calendar on my computer using the backup software. I think I can only view my calendar on my phone, which of course is a problem if I lose the phone, ruin it or it gets stolen...meaning I have no way to retrieve appointments remotely.

Does anyone know if I can somehow view my calendar on my computer using the software? Help!

P.S. I know I can call Verizon for help with this but I'm lazy.

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Seen today on the back of a circa-1980s Ford pickup truck window: a faux Calvin (a la Calvin and Hobbes) peeing on the words "Liberal Ideology." There's so much there that I can't even comment. Thanks for making my day, stoopid.

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I have a cat stalking my birdfeeders, damn it. He's a big fat calico who's hanging out underneath my single boxwood, waiting for the chance to pounce on the groundfeeding birds. I need to come up with a way to block him out of his little hidey-hole down there. This morning I chased him all the way down my side yard and into the alley, and yesterday I chased him out three times. My neighborhood, so close to downtown and very urban, is full of feral cats that have nothing better to do than crap on my lawn and wait to kill my songbirds. Aside from modifying the bottom of that shrub so he can't get in there, I'm going to start sending Basil out after him. If he can get his mouth on him, he'll kill him, which I will gladly allow.

On a different birdfeeding note, I had my first Carolina wren yesterday. Super cute busybodies with stick-up tails like chipmunks, wrens are. It perched on my porch railing and methodically scooped up safflower seeds from one end to another (incidentally, it's the reason I realized I had a cat problem...it suddenly swooped up into the tree while I watched. Birds have a very particular way of fleeing when a predator is present, so this little guy notified me of my problem. Thanks, wren!).

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This absolutely delicious breakfast sandwich came from the Flat-Belly Diet Cookbook that I posted about the other day:

Toasted English muffin spread with 2 tbsp. almond butter and 1 tbsp. orange marmalade, topped with 4 thin apple slices, then put together like a sandwich. AMAZING! And only 345 calories to boot...

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Pan-seared garlic pistachio panko-encrusted tilapia.

Steamed broccoli and cauliflower with Italian herbs, olive oil, and balsamic vinegar.

A glass of coconut milk.

YUM!

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Flat Belly Diet! Cookbook

Liz Vaccariello

This is an amazing cookbook...super healthy and tasty recipes. I just got it at the library today after seeing some of the recipes on the Today show a few weeks back, and the dishes they showcased looked mouth-watering. I will definitely be buying it. I got it not because I'm interested in dieting, but because I'm always looking for healthy alternatives and new variations on healthy meals, and it's hard to find a good cookbook. Super excited to try some of the recipes!

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