Yes, I hate bbq, summer, and Memorial Day. I'm a terrible person.

Of course, I don't hate Memorial Day itself, what it represents, I hate that it signals the start of summer, my least favorite season. I hate summer the way Lost fans hated Nikki and Paolo (yes, everything I do comes back to television). Maybe even more.

Here are the 8 reasons I hate about Memorial Day and summer in general.

Are you a seasonal hot beverage drinker like I am?

I ask this because here we are past the halfway mark of April and I'm still drinking hot tea. This is late for me. I usually stop drinking hot tea around the start of April and start drinking diet soda and iced tea (I don't drink coffee). The weather has been cold and rainy/snowy this month, so my tea drinking has stayed at the same level it was in January. Which I like, of course, but it also worries me because I'd rather switch to drinks like diet soda that won't give me as much daily sugar intake (yeah, I know, I could drink my tea with less sugar or Splenda, but where's the fun in that?). As for hot chocolate, well, that's a fall/winter thing and I stopped that weeks ago.

So readers, are you seasonal hot and cold beverage drinkers too? I remember my mom used to drink hot coffee in the hot summer months too because she read somewhere it was good for you or cooled you down in some way I don't quite understand, but science was never my best subject in school.

A lot of you gave me some tips for trying to find great-tasting teas that would help me cut down on my daily sugar intake. Thanks again. I took everyone's advice and went on a little tea shopping spree this weekend, and here's what I bought and how they taste.

I went with reader advice and bought two different kinds of Good Earth: Original and Vanilla Chai. Both are nice. The original has a strong cinnamon taste, and while the chai has a strong vanilla flavor and aroma to it, it also has a lot of cinnamon and other spices. But they both taste good. I've had some cinnamon-flavored teas that, well, just tasted like someone took 30 or 40 sticks of Big Red gum and boiled them. These taste really great. I also bought a variety pack of Celestial Seasonings. I've had some flavors of this brand in that past I wasn't too thrilled with, but it's a good tea to keep on hand. I'm going to buy some other brands too and see how they are.

And the best news? With these teas I've cut down from 4-5 packets of sugar to only 1 or 2! Most excellent.

I've always wanted to hold a 1950s-themed party. Have the house decked out in the style of that era, play music from the decade, and even serve food that was popular at parties back then. I don't have my own apartment right now, but when I move in early '07 I think it's something I'll do, probably next December to make it a retro-themed Christmas party.

I came across this recipe for Hot Spiced Orange Tea on a 50s-oriented web site, and it seems perfect for this time of year.

After months and months of green and white tea based products, including Enviga, green tea lattes and even green tea vodka, some beverage companies are starting to go back to black teas as the inspiration for their drinks. Nestle and Coca Cola announced this week that they would be concentrating their joint venture project on black tea-based beverages after the group has rolled out Enviga in Europe in early 2007.

The green tea craze was all in the name of the various health benefits that have been attributed to it. Black tea is still a consumer favorite, however, and now there are studies that have shown that drinking any kind of tea can be good for your health, so there is no reason to stay away from it as a drink option. On top of that, green tea seems to have oversaturated the market for the time being and people are probably ready for a change. It will be interesting to see what the group comes up with, since green tea drinks tended to be far more innovative than the average flavored ice tea and perhaps some of the inspiration for those drinks will be applied to black teas now.

According to the European Journal of Clinical Nutrition, "drinking three or more cups of tea a day is as good for you as drinking plenty of water and may even have extra health benefits."

Though it's been touted to have antioxidant properties, there has still been a common belief that tea is dehydrating because of caffeine content. However, UK nutritionists have found that tea rehydrates as well as water. Dr. Carrie Ruxton, public health nutritionist, said that "even if you had a really, really strong cup of tea or coffee, which is quite hard to make, you would still have a net gain of fluid."

In fact, tea is healthier than water overall because while water simply replaces fluids, tea replaces fluids and provides flavonoids and other compounds that promote health: reduction of rick of heart attack, protection against cancer, strengthening of bones, and protection against tooth plaque and potentially tooth decay.

I wouldn't necessarily go replacing water with tea, but if you're drinking lots of soda or juices with high sugar-content, perhaps tea is a better option.

The Chicago Sun Times managed to get ahold of some of the first samples of a new line of products from Snapple. After dominating the iced tea market with their teas flavored with real juices, Snapple is releasing a line of tea bags. The tea bags will be available in four flavors, Le-mmm-on, Wild 'Bout Berries, Orange-Inality and Strawberry, all of which are flavored with real fruits and natural juices. Le-mmm-on is, predictably, lemon flavored black tea, while the Orange-Inality is an herbal tea infused with orange and a hint of lychee. These teas may already be available in your area, but if you have not seen them yet, it is likely that they will be on shelves soon.