The Great Wet South.

I'm handing it to our latest storm- it might be making legitimate Storm Watch status.  It's been raining all day and it's absolutely arctic outside.  I just checked out weather.com and was given this status update for San Clemente: Rain, temp- 48, feels like 42.  42?????? We pay waaay to much money to live in a semi-arid climate to endure 42-degree rainy weather.  

But if sub-50 daytime weather has taught us anything, it's where those drafts we keep feeling are coming from.  The sliding glass door.  And the front door.  And our bedroom windows.  They're from the same year I was born, rattle with the wind and once you get within 2ft of them, you can start to feel the cold creeping in from them.  We're now keeping the curtains and blinds shut in an effort to repel the cold.  And since we hate the earth, our thermostat is set at 70.  Green this, I'm cold!!!  I do feel guilty for whining about the cold though.  My mom is shivering away in Colorado where the high the over the weekend was minus 15.  Whatever, I'm still freezing.

I started Christmas shopping yesterday.  I got to the mall about 10:30 or so and had a pleasant time.  I stayed away from Macy's and their snooty saleswenches and lurked around The Gap (thanks to the Gap for 50% off on my jeans and 2 scarves for $10 each!!!), Crate and Barrel, and BBBWorks.  While in the Gap dressing room trying on my jeans, my mom called.  I managed to get it out of her that they would like some See's peanut brittle.  I had just navigated through the throng of soon-to-be-diabetics throwing they're hard-earned money at Mrs. See while going into the Gap and was horrified at the thought of braving the line.  So I decided to get there "right when they open". That way, I can get in line, buy my pound of brittle and be gone.  Mall opens at 10am, right?  WRONG. Apparently, the mall opened at 8am.  So, the line was already 8 people deep in the store itself- 7 poor souls stuck behind some woman in sweats picking out a 2lb. custom box of chocolates one agonizing flavor at a time while cramming her free sample in her face at the same time.  Merry Christmas!!!!  Thankfully, See's forsees the inevitable riot and puts their pre-made boxes outside, kind of like an express lane.  Until the chick I was stuck behind today reaches the register.  I actually was third in line behind this woman, but the two in front of me gave me a sorrowful look when I asked if they were in line.  I think they'd been there a while.  This woman proceeded to send the cashier all over the mall grabbing boxes and boxes of chocolate.  $230 later, she somehow trucked all that sugar out of our way.  Merry Christmas!!!!

I've also got a new addiction- sparkling water.  No flavors, no additives, just CO2 and water.  It all started with a bottle of Arrowhead sparkling water after our martini party on Saturday.  And now it's all I can think about.  Yesterday, after bible study, I made the excuse to stop and buy a bottle of Perrier because gas was $1.69/gallon and how could I pass THAT up?  Today, after housecleaning, I promptly walked out the house, drove up the street to Sears and found plastic bottles of Pellegrino on sale for $1.25.  I bought 4.   And that first taste, all fizzy and ice cold- I take a big gulp and it's sooo good.  So good once it touches your lips...

At what point should I be worried?