8 Pounds

I love my friends, every one of them. While we may not agree on some things like politics or religion, they all share my slightly skewed sense of humor. It came to the fore last week when my friend, Meredith, mentioned she'd had a bad day and was headed out for some retail therapy to cheer herself up. I quipped, "Buy me some chocolate." The comment was made in jest. She said, "Okay."

I quickly realized that, with Meredith, she will buy me chocolate. I was just kidding but my jest gave her a reason to shop and that made her happy. The next day, I got a text, "Don't be mad at me." Uh oh. "The box weighs 8 pounds." Holy bittersweet chocolate, batman! How big is this box? She just laughed. It arrived during the snow of last Friday.

It doesn't really look like much. It didn't feel like it was 8 pounds but that weight had to include the box. This really isn't a cat size box, it's a bit small, although that's never stopped cats in my house from attempting to get into a box. So exactly how much chocolate is in 8 pounds?

Here's what I saw when I opened the box.

Let's see, we have 3 Musketeers dark chocolate with strawberry filling, pretzel and peanut M&M's, a peanut butter Snickers bar, chocolate lollipops, a bag of Ghirardelli squares, a bag of Dove miniatures and chocolate dipped fortune cookies. This is really nice.

That evening, Meredith asked me if I liked the box. I told her I was very happy with it. "Did you look at everything? Is everything okay?" Um...yes. "There are two layers." What? By jove, there are.

Here is layer number 2, moved to the top.

Oh wow. Bags of M&M's in, pretty much, every flavor one can find. There aren't any plain ones. I had to laugh at that, but those are, well, plain. And there is a small box of peanut butter chocolate sticks.

I was floored. This is going to take me at least a month and a half to consume. I'm sure she got some of this on sale, maybe all of it, and I know it cheered her up to go shopping for someone, even if that someone was just making a joke.

I've done this to friends, not on this grand of a scale, but I've done this. Last year, Meredith and I shipped a box back and forth. She got it back at Christmas but it was in rather sad shape. Here's a new box that, once I empty the contents, I'll have to fill and ship back to her. I'm not sure quite what to put in it. How do I 'top' 8 pounds of chocolate? Maybe I don't and I try to figure out something else.

Meredith is amazing and, if you know her, don't let her tell you otherwise. Memo to self: be careful what you tease Meredith with. You just might get it. Now, if you will excuse me, I have some bite size 3 Musketeers to eat with my lunch.

Beverage:  English Breakfast tea

Deb