What kind of weenie cries over a box of candy?

This kind.

England isn't exactly known for it's food. It's getting better I hear, but really, when you think of food you think, "Hey let's go out for Mexican!" or "I feel like Chinese tonight" or "Let's be fancy and go to the new French Bistro" or "I want some comforting Italian food." No one ever says, "Shall we go out for some British food?" Unless you're talking about fish and chips (gag) or bread pudding (double gag).

Even when I was in England, the best food I ate was either Italian or Indian. The dinners we had at school all kind of tasted the same. It was enough to keep one alive, but not really crave. And that's when I met Aero. While trying out some of the local goodies, I found mint aero bars. Oh my freaking heck they are wonderful! Just... wonderful minty chocolaty airy goodness. They come in regular size bars and and king size bars. the king size bars are at least eight inches long and three or four inches wide- so a good size bar. anyway- Because I was a picky eater amongst strange foods, I found something familiar and for nearly six weeks I lived off of these chocolate bars. I ate at least one a day (pretty much). When I got the new Harry Potter (Half Blood Prince came out while I was there) I holed up in my room for two days with the book and a stash of mint aeros.

Anyway, being a British candy (there is a Canadian version as well) they are somewhat hard to come by in the western US. My sister and I were chatting the other day about British treats and I told her about my favorite candy. I told her how much I missed them and couldn't find them anywhere (seriously, whenever a store boasts an international food section, I look). And I've been so homesick lately, that a taste of any kind that would remind me of the happiest six weeks of my life would be a treat.

Surprise surprise yesterday when a box showed up at our door. I thought it was for my aunt. I knew I wasn't expecting anything. When the label said The British Food Store I had to wonder what it was. I was so excited when it said not my aunt's name, but MINE!

With all the enthusiasm of a five year old at Christmas, I ripped into the box, not daring to hope what it might be. When I dumped out the biodegradable Styrofoam peanuts and seven glorious aero bars fell out....

I immediately started bawling. It was just such a thoughtful thing. I called Valeri to tell her thank you. I was on speaker phone and her kids asked me, "are you crying?" I had to say yes. That was just so sweet and so unexpected that my emotions overcame me. I shared a little- but most of the bars will go into my secret chocolate hideaway and only be taken out for special occasions, like my birthday, or Christmas, or a Tuesday.

It made watching The Doctor even sweeter.