Yikes, I know.  I did it again.  (Cue Britney. (I forgot how weird that video was.))

The good news is: this blog is really helping me to not worry about pleasing people so much anymore. 

I will explain, though, since my excuse thrills me!  I fell asleep at... brace yourselves... 10:45 last night.  Anyone who knows me is probably calling my bluff right now, but Sam can confirm.  She sat on my couch graciously grading papers for me as I slept through several loud text message alerts, including one from a confused Madre.  Sadly, this sleep came at the expense of feeling like I've been steamrolled by allergy season from my weekend outside in Zilker Park.  But hey, I'll take any reason I can find to crash early.  

I stopped by H.E.B. tonight to pick up even more microwave meals, since this exhaustion has prevented me again from cooking real food.  Distracted by the dessert cases, I was delighted to find the following: 

Why on earth is peppermint ice cream so exciting?  I'm glad you asked. 

People associate the beginning of holiday season with a variety of occurrences.  For la beast, it's the beginning of "red cup season" at Starbucks.  For people who live in climates with actual seasons, it's often the first sprinkle of snow or the need to break out winter clothes.  (Texans have no such category in our wardrobes.)  For me, it's peppermint ice cream.  

You see, one April in college, Svajda and I started craving peppermint ice cream.  We began what became a several-month-long search only to find out that peppermint ice cream comes out seasonally.  So weird.  It has become a compulsive habit of mine to check any BlueBell displays for peppermint ice cream, hoping to someday catch an out-of-season anomaly.  

Friends, the holidays are upon us.