Most days, I thank the good Lord that I have a job -- a fantastic job. To complain that it's too far away from Texas would be pretty selfish. But yesterday, that's exactly what I did. Feeling downright blue, I burst into tears while telling Kyle goodnight (on Skype, nonetheless. Certainly can't hide tears while video-chatting). Maybe it was hearing all his fun stories from the weekend? Maybe it was the weather (cold and rainy)? Or maybe I was just being a big girly baby? But Sunday night, I've never felt farther from home. Bound to happen.

Cue the sun shining and the birds chirping this morning... Happiness is a choice, I thought to myself. (Well, aren't I a regular Buddha?) So I slicked on some bright red lipstick -- to match the changing bright red leaves -- and marched myself over to the Harris Teeter. (That's what the grocery stores up here are called. And if you follow me on Twitter, you know I call 'em "Hairy Teets" for short). If anything can pull me out of a funk, it's baking. And what better time to break in my kitchen?

Because October has arrived and temperatures are settling comfortably in the mid-60s, pumpkin and cream cheese took top-billing on my grocery list. Flipping through my recipe arsenal, I dog-earred the Marbled Pumpkin Cheesecake Muffins. Ahhh, comfort food.

As my fingers fell into a familiar rhythm -- mixing, stirring, cracking, scooping -- and the warm smell of baked goods wafted through my place, the distance between home and my heart began to shrink.

- B.