Cupcakes, Bagels, Honey Pecan Chicken Salad, and Smarties

I often think of my life as being full of phases and not surprisingly they often involve food....the year I craved salmon Caesar salad and baked potatoes almost daily or the semesters I ate huge bags of Smarties or most recently my fondness for cupcakes. I've been hoping for a healthy eating phase to begin any day now, but it's definitely like swimming upstream. I'll make fruit smoothies for breakfast for a few days but then skip a day or two because a Power Bar or Panera cinnamon crunch bagel seems easier, quicker, or yummier. But good news!! Clay bought a fabulous grill (so easy that I could even use it), which has taken residence on my balcony. In five days we've grilled three times, which means that I'm eating chicken and other sources of nutrients instead of cupcakes, fluffernutters, and the like.

Other new developments include a fondness for the following: Miley Cyrus' "Party in the U.S.A." (although the video is disturbing), early bedtimes and sometimes as much as 9 hours of sleep each night, Clay's DVR which is conveniently set to record such masterpieces as "The Hills" and "Brothers & Sisters," and the Holy Bible iphone app that makes reading the Bible in bed even easier.

So what's new with you? Has anyone else started Christmas shopping yet? I bought my first gift today.

p.s. I'm grateful for chimichangas, calzones, burnt hot dogs, sesame sticks, Coca Cola, and the ease with which I'm able to acquire food. We're so blessed.