I think you can tell alot about a person by the type of ice cream they eat. It's kinda like the Rorschach ink blot test psychologists use to get insight into a person's personality ... only a lot tastier.

Granted, I only have access to a small (and not very representative)sample of the population ... so my assumptions could be wrong.

But I've seen alot of ice cream in my years. And alot of ice cream eaters. And this is what I've come up with:

Chocolate: Pure decadence. People who love chocolate ice cream know how to have a good time. They're like a walking Mardi Gras. They laugh the loudest, hug the longest, and party the hardest. As soon as they walk into a room, the whole place lights up. They're human Prozac.

Vanilla: A classic. This is the Audrey Hepburn of the ice cream world. Vanilla lovers have a touch of elegance about them. In everything they do - there's a little bit of class. They're fine, crystal champagne flutes in a world of full of Denny coffee mugs.

Strawberry: One word sums up strawberry lovers - Original. They definitely like to go against the grain. They are one of a kind. I firmly believe that within every great innovator and radical thinker lies a strawberry ice cream eater screaming to get out.

Peanut Butter: People who like peanut butter ice cream are born lovers. They know how to make anything better. Give them a wrinkled, yellow plant on the verge of death and, in two weeks, they'll turn it into a towering oak tree. Think about the sweetest, most caring person in your life - odds are they'd go crazy over a spoonful of peanut butter ice cream.

Me? I'm a Rocky Road girl myself. It's got two of the best ingredients in the world: chocolate and marshmallows. Really, how can you go wrong? Although I'm not too terribly fond of peanuts and almonds in ice cream. But maybe that's why I like it so much. It gives it balance. Like sweet and sour. Good and bad.

I like my ice cream the way I like my life.

Don't worry about me. Nothing's definitive. All this means is there is a little more expensive and a little more invasive testing in my immediate future.

Okay, alot more expensive.

But tests are just that. Tests. They were created to detect if something is wrong. So, in way, this is a good thing. If I didn't have these tests - then I would be in a lot more trouble.

I gotta believe that everything has its reason. Not only to make myself feel better - but because I know it to be true. It's hard to believe that when you're in the thick of something unsavory ... but there's a higher purpose.

Call it God. Call it Allah. Call it Jerry Garcia. It's all really just semantics. They mean the same thing.

That is, that whatever is happening to you right now has meaning. Either it's an opportunity for you to learn. Or an opportunity for you to teach.

Sometimes, it's an opportunity for both. That's when it gets really cool.

I'm not really sure quite yet what category my experience falls into ... but I do know this:

Nothing is as bad as it first seems. Once the shock has left, once the tears have dried up ... you can see life for what is really is - this moment. Regardless of what happens next, this moment is compelety and fully yours.

And mine.

I'm going to concentrate on what I have right now. Because, as I see it, I'm doing pretty alright for myself.

Anyway, life isn't all peanuts and almonds ... sooner or later, you're bound to hit marshmallow.

So Bring It On.

I'm ready.

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