I Regret (Almost) Nothing

I have a problem.

A problem with candy.  And this time of year is the worst time for my problem.  Worse than Christmas, worse than Easter.  For Halloween candy is more diverse and abundant in extremely large bags than that of other holidays.

 How bad is my problem?  Let's use this year to demonstrate how bad it is.  Keep in mind, of the five kids we have, only one still lives at home.  So this is almost all on me.

• October 5th - While making my almost daily run to the grocery store, I find the bags of  caramel cubes.  These are the gateway Halloween candy.  I grabbed a couple bags, as one was needed for a recipe.  Why did I buy two instead of the one on my grocery list?  Because I almost always pad any item count on our grocery list.  If I don't pad, I inevitably have to go back to get more of something.
• Surprisingly/sadly, one was actually the correct number of bags that were needed.  So, once the recipe was made (evening of October 6th), I began slowly devouring the second bag.  With the bag being stashed on a kitchen shelf which was situated on a direct path between the living room and the downstairs bathroom, I found myself loitering around the bathroom area pretty regularly.  Grab a couple cubes, move on...
• October 9th - I purchased two more bags of caramels, for no reason other than to eat the cubes.  The facade of buying them for cooking was coming down.  This batch lasted 5 days.
• October 18th - In a new ploy, I bought two bags of candy "In preparation for Halloween".  Bought a bag of Twix and a bag of 3 Musketeers.  I did this knowing no one in the house likes 3 Musketeers except me.
• October 23rd - I buy a big bag of baby sized bags of M & M's.  Roughly 70% of the little bags are now gone.  I need "comfort food" at work.  And candy there is just too darn expensive.
• October 26th - I bought 4 bags of Halloween candy, since we didn't have any and Halloween was "just around the corner".  This time I tossed in a big bag of Starbursts to go with bags of Snickers, Kit Kats, Reeses cups, and Nerds.  Adding in some of the non-chocolate goodies.  Three of those bags are opened, with the Starbursts taking the biggest hit.
• October 30th - I came home tonight with 5 more bags of candy.  More 3 Musketeers, more Snickers, bag of 100 Grands (aka $100,000 bars), a big bag of Crunch bars, and a bag of Milky Way bars.  I did this while fully aware that tomorrow's forecast here is for sleet/snow/rain, 30 mph winds, and 22 degrees for a low.  The chances we have more than a dozen trick-or-treaters tomorrow night is pretty slim.  

Unfortunately, an insert in today's local paper had an ad from a nearby store for 55% off all candy, starting tomorrow.  The only question is, will they still have bags of Tootsie Pops and Butterfinger bars when I get there?  I sure hope so.  I don't want to have to drive around town on Halloween evening.  I have candy to eat give out.