The Weather Outside is Frightful...

Despite the eternal (commercial) promise of holiday cheer, the opportunities that poeple say colder weather brings to gather round some great communal hearth, I find winter to be the most cold, cruel and depressing time of year. Now wait, before you say, "oh gaahhhhhd what a wanker....she lives in sunny southern California, fortheluvvapete", I spoke with my mom this afternoon. Their part of Colorado is getting a dumping of snow. The cold I speak of is more metaphorical than physical - sure, today my walk was a little nippy, but a sweatshirt and a cute hat were more than enough to deal with the chilly breeze.

After my unsuccessful post office mission, I ducked into Starbucks (damn you, Starbucks and your crack-laced peppermint hot chocolate) for a minute to get out of the chill. Mistake number one, right? Information-starved students and their friends had used up all the available real estate in the chair-rental market, a pair of elderly people were reviewing their Christmas purchases, and I had apparently not been demanding enough when I asked for real crockery, please. Finally they left, and I could stop faux-browsing amongst the coffee paraphanalia and Starbucks bloody Christmas ornaments. I sat down, both relieved and dismayed at being the only non-hipster there - not because I want to fit in, but because everyone else was so very happy to do so. My imagination flashed forward and saw this same bunch queing up to buy the Starbucks "Christmas 2026" CD/MP3/? with their bratty spawn in tow.

Thankfully Scott called me to come meet him at the grocery store before I regressed back to high school days and laced my cocoa with peppermint shnapps (hi Mom! don't worry, it was just for added flavor, I promise....you should try it sometime!). Unfortunately, the market was chock-ablock with bad Christmas music and people who could only do the following:
a) Ignore their children and discuss the merits of different cake batters, while said children repeatedly stated, "I have to go pee really bad, I'm gonna peee my paaAAAnts!"
b) loudly decry the evil margarine empire for labeling their spread, "Buttery" when lo, it is comprised of a mix that is (according to my sister) one molecule different than plastic.
c) Stare creepily at me.

Wherefore art thou, summer?