Yup, it’s just a few minutes past noon and my first batch of cookies is all mixed and waiting on me. I wanted to take a break and get a few things done online before I started baking them, since I mixed a double batch and it will take the better part of an hour to get them all baked. This batch is Oatmeal Scotchies, which is my personal favorite type of cookie! I remember making these as a kid with my mom…..MMMMMMM!!! Only difference is that she would put coconut in them and since no one else here likes coconut, I left it out!

I’m telling you, I LOVE my new mixer, it makes doing stuff like this so much easier! But the more I do stuff like this, the more I really wish we could do a MAJOR overhaul on this kitchen. I love my little house in the woods, but the kitchen is your typical 70’s style kitchen, with little to no counter space. With the way we rearranged the appliances a few weeks ago, it’s even more obvious how nicely an island would be in the kitchen! I honestly think we should consider a directbuy membership! I would need two walls of upper and lower cabinets as well as the island and counter tops for all of it. And if I were to replace the cabinets and counters I’d definitely want to replace the appliances as well and with the cost, it might just be worth it to look into something like that!

But, the reality is that even if we were to do something like that, it won’t be happening right away. So for now I just have to work with what I have, which honestly isn’t that bad. And speaking of reality, I’d better get to that cookie dough! Back after this batch is done!

Before I get busy this morning I thought I’d share some of the pictures we’ve taken of Sage over the past couple of days! There are quite a few, so I’ll post the first one, then put the rest after the “fold”, so be sure to click the “read more” link to see the rest of the pictures!

Things are definitely going better with her! Hubby came up with a heck of an idea last night to help her sleep! We are putting her in a pet carrier at night because she’s just too little to be out and about and there are just too many worst case scenarios that could happen if we didn’t. The first night wasn’t the best of nights with her. Every couple of hours she would bark and cry until I came out and sat near her. I never took her out of the carrier because, just like with babies, I wanted her to learn to soothe herself back to sleep, so I just sat near her so she would know I was there. My hubby had the idea last night of bringing her carrier in and putting it on his night stand next to the bed. That way she could see that we were right there, and it worked BEAUTIFULLY! She slept through the night except for one minor wake up! YAY!!! She’s really getting comfortable with her surroundings and the other dogs are calming down about her as well, so I figure things will be settled in and good by the weekend, at the latest!

OK, on to the pictures! This first one is my absolute FAVORITE of all the ones that have been taken, thus the reason it’s above the fold…LOL!

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So very often I focus on the bills or the kids when I have a little extra money. It is honestly very difficult for me to spend money on myself, and even more so when the purchase isn’t something that I’d need or use on a daily basis. But there has been something that I’ve wanted to buy for a long time, something that I knew I would use often, but it wasn’t an inexpensive item, so I’ve had a hard time justifying the purchase.

I recently won some extra money and told myself that this time I WAS going to use part of it on something for me. I thought about it for a few days, but just couldn’t decide what I wanted to buy. I needed some new clothes, but not badly enough to tell myself buying them was necessary. Being a female, there is always the thought of buying a new pair of shoes or a purse, but my mother bought me a new pair of shoes a couple of weeks ago and I got a new purse for Christmas, so those weren’t necessary purchases. See what I mean about having a hard time purchasing something for myself? I ALWAYS talk myself out of buying something. But yesterday was different, kind of…LOL!

I went to the store yesterday to buy stuff that I needed to bake some cookies. Although I LOVE baking, I do not like my mixer! It’s your general, every day hand mixer and it just does not have enough power! For many, many years I’ve wanted to buy a nice stand mixer, but it’s one of those purchases that I just could not justify! Yes, there are inexpensive ones, but what person that bakes a lot has not dreamed of having a nice Kitchen Aid stand mixer? But even their basic model costs around $200, and it only has 275 watts of power, which isn’t that much more than a hand held mixer. So I went to the kitchen appliance aisle and started looking at mixers. Yes, they had the Kitchen Aid one for $200, but I noticed something else that caught my eye! On the shelf above the Kitchen Aid mixer they had a Sunbeam stand mixer. Its price tag read $89 and change, less than half the price of the Kitchen Aid, but how did it compare in the important areas?

It had 350 watts of power, compared to 250 watts, it had 12 different mix speeds, the bowl position was adjustable and it came with regular mixing beaters as well as special beaters for dough mixing, which is a must have for me! I picked the box up and put it in my cart and went about the rest of my shopping, I was going to spoil myself for a change! After I had gotten everything on my list I looked in my cart and seen the mixer and had a sudden guilt attack. Yes the Sunbeam mixer was half the price of the Kitchen Aid one, but I could still think of several other ways I could spend the money. So I headed back over to the aisle I got it from to put it back.

About that same time my cell phone rang, it was mu husband and he was on his lunch break and called to see what I was doing. I told him that I had gone to the store to pick up the things I needed and then I told him about how I almost purchased the mixer. He asked me to tell him about it and after I did he said “Don’t you dare consider putting it back on the shelf, you’ve wanted a good mixer for as long as I can remember, the bills are paid and there is NO reason for you not to do something for yourself for a change”. I did try to argue with him, but in the end he prevailed. Yes, it was something that I have wanted for a very long time, but it’s still difficult for me to justify it…LOL!

So, if you don’t see me for the next few days it’s because I’m making cookies and bread with my new mixer…LOL! I don’t want to go too overboard on the baking though, because if I do I’ll end up having to go out and buy myself some home gym equipment to work off all the weight..LOL! But I love to bake and after mixing up a batch of peanut butter cookies with my new mixer last night, I’m VERY happy I finally did something for myself! Is it the mixer I’ve dreamed of owning? No, but it’s perfectly fine for what I need and it was less than half the price! And, it’s VERY pretty!! SEE!!

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