This haiku celebrates MagSafe, the magnetic power connector on new Mac laptops.

cat leaps in a blur
snags the laptop power cord
but it does not fall

over and over
electronics would have crashed
destroyed by felines

hats off to Apple
saving computers from cats
year's best invention

We just got back from the liquor store, where we easily bought our weight in alcohol.

We had so much to buy, we made a list. We made a list for the liquor store, people! When we walked into the store and past the row of mini-carts, I said jokingly, "Heh, should we get a cart?" We laughed at the thought. I mean, who needs a cart at the liquor store?

Not ten minutes later, we had filled the basket Rob was carrying and I was clutching a stack of bottles in my arms. An employee walked by and said, "You guys want me to bring you a cart?" We shook our heads because, seriously, who needs a cart at the liquor store?! People who bring a list, that's who.

At the register, the cashier said, "You guys are getting ready for quite a New Year's party!" I smiled and nodded rather than horrify him with the truth, which is that all of it is just for the two of us. We are merely restocking our shelves. Not in preparation for New Year's Eve. Just in preparation for the new year.

He packed the bottles into two big Bacardi boxes and we each wrapped our arms around one and hauled them to the car. As I hefted mine into the trunk, I said, "Seriously. We just bought $100 of booze. For the two of us."

"And that's not the half of it," Rob reminded me. "Last week we spent $200 on wine." It's true. We did. But it's our favorite wine, which we buy in bulk. (I give that as an explanation, as if buying alcohol in bulk is any defense whatsoever against sounding like an alcoholic.)

When we got home, we started to unpack the boxes only to decide that we need a better place to store the stuff. We usually put a few bottles in the cabinet with the cereal and the rest goes out in the pantry, which is rather inconvenient. We glanced about the kitchen, looking for places we could make space by moving items into the pantry, items we will use less often than the liquor.

Rob's gaze fell upon our cabinet full of mixing bowls.

"That would make a nice liquor cabinet."

"Yeah, let's clear that stuff out."

We replaced our mixing bowls with liquor. And we're wondering what our New Year's resolution should be?

It's been a year since we got our camera, D-Fiddy. In that time we've taken 7,252 photos, which works out to an average of about 20 per day. In spite of some rough treatment, D-Fiddy came along with us to some delightful destinations, including the Caribbean, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Boston, Chicago, Oman, and Dubai.

It's safe to say that we are, indeed, very satisfied customers.

(Or, a good excuse to use your beautiful brand new KitchenAid.)

1 cup butter/margarine
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 eggs
2 tsp vanilla
2 cups flour
2/3 cup Hershey's cocoa
3/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
2 cups (12 oz) peanut butter chips

Cream butter, sugar, eggs, and vanilla until light and fluffy. Combine flour, cocoa, baking soda, and salt; add to creamed mixture. Stir in peanut butter chips.

Drop by teaspoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheet.

Bake at 350 for 8-10 minutes.

Cool 1 minute beore removing from cookie sheet onto wire rack.

Makes about 5 dozen 2 1/2 inch cookies.

Sometimes I find myself lusting after an item for no good reason. I will see it in a store but talk myself out of buying it, only to obsess about it for weeks, trying to justify in every possible way why I actually do need it. The reasons I come up with are weak at best. But then I go back to the store and buy the thing anyway. It always, always ends that way.

And so it came to be with the KitchenAid stand mixer. A few of my friends have them prominently displayed on their kitchen counters, and every time I see one I rush over to it exclaiming, "Ooh, a KitchenAid!" I caress its enamel-coated body and run my finger along the rim of the bowl. It is, to me, a thing of beauty, with curves and chrome like a classic car.

My friends say they use theirs all the time, but when pressed for specifics, all they can come up with is, "Well, you know, when I make cookies and stuff." Thing is, I don't make cookies and stuff. Of course, when Rob points this out, I say, "But, if I had a KitchenAid stand mixer I would make cookies and stuff all the time!"

However, I do make bread. And one of my friends in the bread share has a KitchenAid and she cannot stop raving about it. It was she who finally convinced me that spending a couple hundred dollars on a kitchen appliance is perfectly acceptable. Necessary, even! I mean, what am I supposed to do? Knead the bread by hand?!

Still, I had reservations about plunking down $200 for one. (And that's for the least expensive model!) Rob was completely against it, arguing that it would take up a large amount of prime kitchen counter real estate and I'd use it only rarely.

But then, the weekend after Thanksgiving, Target had their KitchenAids on sale for $159. This was the sign I'd been waiting for. $40 off! Clearly I was supposed to own a KitchenAid. Of course, by the time I got there, they'd all been sold. But I was not to be deterred. I asked about getting a rain check, and after hemming and hawing they finally printed one up for me. See? The KitchenAid was my destiny.

For the next several weeks I checked the kitchen appliance aisle at Target every other day or so, waiting for them to restock the KitchenAids. I had told myself that I'd use this time to really consider the purchase, but my illogical longing only increased tenfold. There's nothing I want more than something I can't have, something just beyond reach.

And then, one glorious day, as I walked past the coffeemakers and crockpots at Target, my eyes fell upon a row of KitchenAid boxes. "Yay!" I exclaimed. The lady at the other end of the aisle glanced up in time to see me, beaming, grab a box with both arms. I rocked it back and forth in a bear hug and then placed it lovingly in my cart.

When Rob came home, he noticed it immediately.

"Uh-oh."

"Isn't she beautiful?"

"Where are you going to put it?"

"Right where it is."

"In the middle of the island?!"

"Rob, it's the focus of the kitchen."

He rolled his eyes. Clearly he has no appreciation for functional art.

That night I made focaccia and used my brand new KitchenAid. I stared, mesmerized, as it mixed the dough flawlessly, reaching every part of the bowl without touching the sides. (How does it do that?) And then I attached the dough hook and watched in wonder as it kneaded with ease. "Look, Rob, no hands!" I exclaimed giddily. And I have to say, it was the best damn bread I ever made.