Stream of Consciousness

Confession:  I haven't really not written since the 14th... I just haven't decided to push the publish button. Bear with me.

There was something that I wanted to share with you, though:   I have been getting giddily excited for Christmas. It started a few days ago when on my way to my first class, The Carpenter's An Old Fashioned Christmas got stuck in my head. Usually, Christmas songs stuck in my head before November or at least late-October are not viewed as acceptable. But this time, I let the song stay stuck ALL DAY LONG. And it made me smile and have a hard time focusing through each and every one of my classes.

I started having all of these exciting Christmas ideas--gifts I want to give, things I want to experience, memories I'd love to make.  Truly, visions of sugarplums danced in my head. It was wonderful.

Not that I want to rush Fall out of the picture frame.  I'm loving the cold snaps we've been having, the rainstorms, the cold mornings and evenings. Soup weather is coming, and I couldn't be more thrilled. I have a goal to get really bold and daring with the CrockPot, even if I'm only starting with Hearty Beef Stew. Did you know you could make things like bread and lasagna in a crock pot?? That and so much more. And I'd like to try them out.

In other news, pregnancy is having some interesting side effects. Anyone who knows me knows that I don't really believe in binge-eating things like ice cream and cookies and other junk. Of course we all want to do things like that, but temperance and moderation are divine qualities that need to be developed in either this life or the next. I figure I may as well get a jump on the challenge here and now while I've got a body to practice some self-control with. (Not to get too doctrinal here... I understand we'll get our bodies back and continue eternal progress and increase.) ANYWAY, you'll never guess who in the world went to Smith's tonight and in the course of the other shopping, bought not one, not two, not even three, but FOUR cartons of ice cream. FOUR. What the heck?? I know our very favorite Kroger ice cream was on sale for 1.99, but really, Annie? Are we going to eat four boxes of ice cream? Blake was thrilled and shocked and now I think it'd be fun to have people over for a party and give them ice cream. (If you're interested, available flavors are FunMunch Cookies N Cream, Death by Chocolate, Cookie Dough, and Birthday Bash.)

Just when you thought it couldn't get more wild, in the same shopping trip, after the ice cream was in my cart, I had to really work hard to convince myself NOT to buy a carton of Nesquik. (One of life's purest joys.) I prevailed, but Nesquik still sounds like a lovely treat.

Not only am I buying things way out of my purchasing habits, but my taste buds are changing as well. I, who have always and forever with no exceptions (except maybe a Wendy's Frosty before the vanilla ones came out) absolutely despised chocolate ice cream, am now finding that by George, it's a lot more divine than I gave it credit for. Would I eat plain chocolate ice cream? Heavens no. But by golly, when I tried some of Blake's Death by Chocolate, I couldn't believe how much I wasn't loathing it. In fact, I was actually enjoying it... A lot. Enough to go back and get my own small scoop. Times two.

Bizarre.

Well, there's more where that came from, but that's all for tonight folks. I'm pooped and ought to be in bed instead of documenting random pregnancy side effects on a blog. Sleep tight!