Ah, November

Well, last night's trick-or-treating was a success. Michael scored a ton of candy in spite of the cold, persistent drizzle that fell as we covered the neighborhood door to door. Pea was loved in her little bumble bee costume and received lots of love and attention from kids and parents alike. She even got a few doggie treats along the way--you gotta love dog people!

Soaking wet and chilled to the bone, we headed for the warmth of the kitchen to unload Michael's candy stash, strip off wet clothes and climb into dry jammies, then sorted through the abundance of cavity producing caloric nightmares piled high on the kitchen table. Pea was just grateful to be home, out of the rain and her costume, and promptly curled up on the couch for a pre-bedtime snooze. I gave into a little temptation myself and sampled a few snack size Butterfingers and Reese's cups--my Kryptonite...Michael has apparently inherited some of my anal tendencies as he separated all the different candies into groups: Kit Kats, Milky Ways, Reeses, Hershey bars, Twix, Three Muskateers, and Snickers (Bill joked there was hope-at least he hadn't put them in alphabetical order...He's still learning, I comfort myself.) Other miscellaneous candies: Nerds, Pixie Stix, Tootsie Rolls, and lollipops were ushered into a 'rare' classification pile as there were only a few each of these treats. I stashed all the chips, pretzels, and crackers into another bowl since those are all destined to be lunch bag treats for school. Still, we had the large turkey roasting pan filled to the brim along with our own remaining candy that hadn't gotten passed out due to a lack of trick-or-treaters on our street. Our cul-de-sac is apparently a less attractive sugar stop than the next plan over--much more houses in a loop with a few crossing side streets. What the other kids obviously didn't know was that many of the houses on our little dead end street passed out full size candy bars, knowing they'd only get a few trick-or-treaters the residents could afford bigger treats. Nice. I'll try to remember to do the same thing next year...and not be stuck with so many left over mini-treats.

So the real struggle begins--getting rid of as much candy as possible without putting more inches on the waist and hips. I'm digging into a new work out plan and committing myself to sticking with a limited daily calorie intake. I'll send a stash of treats to work with Bill and tuck a few pieces in with Michael's lunch every day. It'll all go. I must remain strong. More struggles loom on the horizon--this is only the first onslaught of the season...Sigh...