So... my new mixer arrived last Monday and I finally got a chance to try it out on Saturday. I was feeling a bit down, so I made myself dozens of smiling stegosaurus cookies! Those poor dinosaurs didn't stand a chance with the work day we had today...



Did I mention I LOVE the mixer??

Thanksgiving went ok. I was still glad I kept the trip really short. I just needed that right now. My brother was very appreciative of all the food I brought up. His wife thinks what I do with coupon shopping is kind of strange. She's the type that if she runs out of Coke, she just runs right out and pays $5 for another 12 pack. HUH?? I just don't get it. SHE wasn't overly excited about the food, but my brother happily rearranged their kitchen and got it all put away. He was very happy with everything.

My brother showed up at my mom's house Thursday carrying the tiniest living ball of fur I've ever seen! She's an approximately 3 month old toy poodle. My brother's wife delivers newspapers and supposedly found this white ball of fur by the side of the road in 29 degree weather. They rushed her to the emergency vet and the vet suggested they put her down, she'd never survive. My brother nursed her all night and when they went back the next day, the vet refused to believe it was the same dog! Three weeks later and she is one ridiculously cute ball of fur! He named her Karma.

Ugh, work has been so ridiculous lately! My employer decided to roll out a very different health plan next year - a high deductible plan with a HSA and a wellness plan. Guess who's been taking all the calls? My boss has been on the road all week doing presentations about the health plan, so the calls are just falling on me. I have two choices: I can do my work OR I can answer calls. Doing both isn't working. If I do my work, I don't have time to call people back. If I take the calls, I can't do my work! Stressed just doesn't cover it at the moment. If that wasn't bad enough, my bossed pushed off implementation of an upgraded payroll software because he wanted some things cleaned up in the old software first. Turns out, there would have been less headaches if we just cleaned it up in the new software. "We" is used loosely... I mean ME! I just ran my second payroll with this software - one I had virtually NO training on. Our payroll company showed me all around the software EXCEPT actually payroll entry. The first week of this coincided nicely with getting the open enrollment packets out and that crazy catalina shopping deal I had in my "spare" time. I just don't feel I can properly convey how difficult these past couple of weeks have been for me! DH is happy he only has to work three days this coming week. I told him that would be nice if I didn't feel like I had to do two weeks of work in those three days. Yikes...

In other news: we're spending Thanksgiving with my MOTHER! We're going to try this out and see how it goes. I'm still having major issues with her these days. So, we're driving up late Wednesday night and coming back here Friday morning. Oh darn, DH had prior commitments for the weekend. I think a short trip will be best for everyone. Yes, this does mean we get to meet the roommate/boyfriend I blame for being such a bad influence on all the spending she has done lately. I'm still just sitting back and waiting for that to all come crashing down on her. Not sure what she'll do then.

During the last catalina deal, I asked my brother for a list of things he might like. I'm not sure if he ever went and tried it out himself, but I did tell him he may regret telling me he needed a few things. I've been piling things up for my mother as well. Mom is getting 8 bottles of laundry detergent, tuna fish, mayo, wheat pasta, soup, cereal. Brother is getting a TON of cereal, soup, rice mixes, noodle mixes, hamburger helper, peanut butter, mayo, fruit snacks, etc. I'm sure there's more I'm forgetting. I had too much fun getting all this stuff and you know I LOVE to share! I have 38.50 left in catalina and I'll be picking up the turkey and fixings tomorrow. I'll just be glad to get this pile out of my house:



This is where the mutt hangs out on the third floor - on her elephant. Who needs a fancy cat bed when you have a huge elephant? The WB Mason boxes in the background have food stashed in them. This is my "pantry" since the cupboards downstairs are all quite full. There's also a ton of cereal and pasta stacked under that turtle tank, and even MORE stacked under the tank to the left. DH says he'd be concerned if so much of this wasn't already scheduled to leave the house. Well... it's not hard to give away FOOD and I have fun getting so much for free.

I updated my sidebar with recent debt totals. I feel kinda stuck paying off my debt "backwards". I'm starting with the smallest/lowest interest because that's credit card debt and who knows where credit cards will go. It does have a "for life" promo rate, but does that really mean anything? I feel like the car has to go next even though that's the middle/middle rate. It's a car and we all know cars are unpredictable. Yeah it's a 2007 Hyundai, but I drive a LOT. I really want that student loan consolidation paid off but it's just so intimidating at the moment! Well, I'm determined and patient. I sent 550.00 to the Citi card the other day and I'll send another 350.00 to it on Monday.

I did put a little bit of money into a "fun money" account for DH. Poor DH... I think steam is going to start pouring out while he figures out how to spend it. So hard to narrow down which of his "wants" to get. I'm thinking it will be a TV. Part of the reason I put that money there is because I've been so "selfish" lately buying things for myself. Well, in my defense this is a FIRST for me. I got tired of catering to everyone else first and finally bought myself a few things I've been wanting. First I ordered a 200+ bulb package. I got those all planted last weekend. By the time I was done, I had myself convinced at least 5000 tulips should come up next year! That's what it felt like I just planted... So, we'll see what spring brings.

I've been wanting a new mixer for a while now. If I don't get one - no more of my famous Christmas cookies! No more anything - my mixer is toast. It rattles when I shake it. The speeds are unpredictable. I splurged on a pretty blue KitchenAid aritisan stand mixer. It should arrive on Monday. I feel I got a really good deal on it. I can't wait to try it out! I've never anything nice like this before.

Well I did splurge on one more thing for myself, but I don't have it yet. I'll save that story for another entry. Let's just say I ordered a teeny tiny netbook for myself two weeks ago. I still don't have a teeny tiny netbook in my hands. I've since learned that customer service where I ordered it is quite lacking. I'll file my complaint with the BBB once I see how this ends up. Yes, it's that bad. I should have had this thing in my hands a week and a half ago.

Well, I'm just getting caught up on some boring household stuff today. On that note - back to the laundry!

I've been out of the loop here for a couple of days. There's another killer catalina deal going on at the grocery store - could I resist? NO! It has taken up most of my time since Friday. I have a lot more food I want to get between now and Thursday. So far, I'm ahead by $41.79. I expect to lose some of that "profit" though, depending on how I can structure the rest of the deals. I think it will be more important to get soup and such to add to the stockpile. My brother has said he'd like some soup and I warned him he may regret saying that!
I still haven't recovered from the last catalina deal, so this time I really might shop til I drop!

Well I updated the sidebar to reflect the now paid off loan.

As a treat for myself for all my coupon shopping (over $3800 saved YTD) and for getting debts paid off, I bought myself a couple of gifts. One is due to arrive tomorrow and the other on Wednesday. I think I will wait to announce them when they get here. Ooh, this is better than Christmas!! I never get myself anything.

My brother contacted me today to let me know he got a message from the girl I sent the care package to. She basically was fishing for ideas on how to show her gratitude. I mentioned it to DH and he got a message from her as well. She knows my brother, but has never met me or DH. She just knows of us and has friended us online. She seems like a great kid from a rough life. Just knowing she appreciated the package is really all I wanted.

It was such a beautiful day here today and I took advantage of the weather to rip up the garden for the winter. I still need to bring in the hose, but I may need it this week. That sure was a lot of work for a teeny tiny area!

On our way back from the grocery store this morning, we stopped at a yard sale. They said the stuff was priced to sell and they weren't kidding! DH picked up a Uniden bearcat scanner for $1.00. It seems to need a new battery since it only wants to run plugged in. He's not sure he wants to replace the battery. He only picked it up because he liked the antenna it had. Worse case scenario is that he'll put this antenna on his scanner. I found this for 25 cents:





Oh yes, I WILL use it if I need a trivet! Cute and functional.

Still not much word from my mother. She sent a Halloween card to a friend of mine and told him I was upset with her. Well yes, but I've calmed down a bit. It's HER that doesn't call, doesn't respond to my emails, in general just doesn't let me know what's going on in her life anymore. She's still spending up a storm and I will not bail her out again. No no NO! Yes, I AM bitter about her spending, especially where I loaned her so much money and she never paid me back. I learned my lesson - never again.

These days - I worry about ME. Everyone else just needs to figure out their own issues. It's so hard though since I'm so giving. Yes, there's a box upstairs for my mother - 8 laundry detergents and 10 cans of tuna fish. It's from my last catalina run. I can't help it since I know it's stuff she could use and I got it for next to nothing. I have boxes started for my mother, my MIL, and my brother. Just can't help it.