I know this is the time of year to party. And that means eat and drink. Diets, be they caveman or Weight Watchers, go out the window. Champagne gets popped, in a morning Mimosa or a midnight toast. Rising hemoglobin A1C courses through bodies, riding on a chariot of elevated blood glucose. A time for moderation this is not.

It may be like this every year, but I can’t remember a past December month of merriment filled with so much chocolate. It is everywhere; it is everything. Nobody doesn’t like chocolate (ok, I once did meet someone who was not a chocoholic, but I purged that person from my memory banks.) Where is it popping up this year?

• The first sign of the holiday binge was a consulting firm’s annual gift of a box of Frango Mints. This is a mixed blessing. Since Barb worked in the candy department of Marshall Field’s as a teenager and developed Frangophobia, these are forever banned from our home. Good thing they get delivered to the lab. 5 points to anyone who knows the original name of these chocolate mint delights.
• This was followed by a giant milk chocolate bar from one of our clinical offices. As special decoration, the corporate logo was etched into the chocolate. This is a  variation from years ago when the group etched profiles of their own faces onto the bars. I must say there was some satisfaction in the old days crunching on those heads.
• Earlier this week, I received a text from the lovely people who bought our old home. A FedEx package for us had been delivered to them. Could I come by and pick it up?  The delivery consisted of a nice note from a vendor and a box of, what else, chocolate. This time it was molded around caramel and nuts in luscious turtles. More treats for the lab.
• Another vendor provided us with the largest box of Russell Stover Chocolates I have ever seen. Roughly the size of a carry-on suitcase and accompanied by a 12-page instruction manual, it was filled with enough chocolates to pave a new runway at O’Hare. Somehow all those candies were gone in 2 days.
• Our toxic liquid waste hauler (yes OSHA Inspectors, we follow all the rules!) chipped in with several boxes of chocolate. I’ll let you come up with your own comments about the cream fillings.
• Instead of an elf on a shelf, I had the pleasure of a choc on a chair. Somehow, with all that chocolate goodness floating around, a piece found its way to my desk chair from where it was ground it to the seat of my slacks and the driver seat of my car. There I found Barb trying to dislodge it with her nails. Manicure for her, carwash for me.

There is lots of holiday time ahead. By year’s end, I anticipate chocolate gelt for Hannukah, and Barb and I have decided a Portillo’s Chocolate Cake is in our future as well. I’ll pack on the pounds, but it will always be with a smile. How about you? Are you ready for some CHOCOLATE!
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