Settling in...

I think it's official.  The cold weather is here to stay.  We've been spoiled, here in Iowa, by some extraordinarily warm weather, late in the season.  Getting my kids to accept the fact that they do, now, in fact, *need* winter coats has been more of a battle that I would have liked it to be.  And then, there's the annual sorting out of who has grown out of what, and what can be passed down to whom, and who needs new boots, mittens, etc.  And trying to remember exactly where I put all this stuff last spring... *rolls eyes*

And as I sit here, snuggled up with my fuzzy socks and warm fleece pants, menu-planning for this coming week, I am dreaming of all the yummy winter comfort foods I have to chooses from.  Chicken pot pie, chili, French onion soup, lasagna, enchilada casserole...  And that's just for starters...  Too much good food... 

The kids had hot chocolate after church.  I buy this in bulk, you know...  And I was informed that I need to get marshmallows, too, because no self-respecting mug of hot cocoa is fully dressed without those sweet white puffs.  And whipped cream, if I'll let them...

Soon, it will be more than just flurries I'm watching out the window, and wind chills will be in the unspeakable range.  And I'll be making Christmas cookies, and lighting Advent candles.  And, at some point, the cold will begin to seep into my bones, and I'll begin to yearn for spring.  But right now, I think I'm just going to grab my own warm, chocolate beverage, drop in a few marshmallows,  squirt on the whipped cream, and dream of homemade cream soup and the scent of baking bread, and entertain visions of my sugar plums snuggled up around the fire.