The leaves have lost their attractiveness and their opportunities for great photo ops..Now they are just dry, crunchy and all over the place…in the street, my lawn, and anyplace where the blustery wind will carry them today.

It is cold now when I return from my morning walk and I am usually starving…what to eat? what to eat? I am a lifetime member of Weight Watchers so I know how many “points” in a day I can have….the four point power breakfast of steel-cut oatmeal with blueberries….or

the “classic” Drake’s coffee cakes for eight points? Of course, the coffee cakes are calling my name, along with a steaming cup of Lyon’s tea…did I really just walk five miles to come home and blow it in five minutes? Most days, I can say no….and put them back with my husband’s stash of Mallomars and Chips Ahoy. Then there are the other days when temptation and sweets are calling my name….there is something comforting in the winter about wrapping your hand around a cup of tea and – let’s be honest – really anything from Drake’s or Entennman’s! An apple – even a Honey Crisp – doesn’t quite do it.

So, I turn off the kitchen light’s, head upstairs away from temptation and distract myself with a book or a magazine…Knowing that the next time I pull something out of the closet it will fit!