And the onslaught of treat begins...

It's a good thing for L'Ailee that we got something else chocolatey in, too--Suave's Whipped Cocoa body wash, a limited-time seasonal scent. I practically needed the jaws of life to stop kissin' up on her this morning!

At least in January, I'll get so the last thing I want to see is something else sweet or baked, and lose weight then.

It begins with a ginormous basket of Ghirardelli chocolates, including a bar of peppermint bark, delivered to our home for L'Ailee on Monday. It's from one of her favorite students, with a note saying he loves Ghirardelli, and he knows she'll work it off. "He needs to think a little bit harder about his fitness goals," L'Ailee noted. "He always complains about his love handles. Only ten pounds extra, but it stays on, and now I know why." She sighed. "But we'll enjoy some of these on Hell Week, won't we, darling?"

"*You'll* enjoy them," I replied. "You see I've got way more than an extra ten pounds on me. It ain't just love handles."

"Well, but you are honest about it," she said. "You're used to it. I wouldn't want you to be thin."

"Yeah, but I do want to lose weight."

"A few pieces won't hurt you. Anyway, what's mine is also yours."

I started pleading. "Can you please just hide some of that from me? Get it out of my sight? I'll be way too tempted. I mean, I'll kill that peppermint bark as soon as I open it." (L’Ailee doesn’t like peppermint in anything but toothpaste; I *love* peppermint.)

"You know, just because we have all of this chocolate, you do not have to eat it all now. Not even half of it now. You can, you know, pace yourself and make it last for a few months."

I just rolled my eyes at her. It's that kind of attitude that keeps her weighing less than a hundred pounds, that and the 30 to 40 hours of exercise a week.

I'm not gonna smack her upside the head, and I'm certainly not implying that any of *y'all* should do it, dear readers, but my eyes *are* averted...