Smellin’ coffee
Growing up as I have in the greater Seattle area, the casual onlooker would assume that I am a coffee drinker.
The casual onlooker, until recently, would have been mistaken.
I prefer tea to coffee, hands down. I don’t put anything in my tea, either – my Japanese blood far outweighing my English blood. It wasn’t until I was in college that I truly discovered Starbucks and my love for caramel frappucinos. But even then, I didn’t turn into a coffee drinker. Even to this day, a frappucino is a treat, not an everyday purchase.
My uncle told me that I would become a coffee drinker once I started college. Didn’t happen. I wasn’t pulling all-night study sessions. I got decent grades – not enough for Latin words following my degrees, but good nonetheless. I was organized, I got my work done, and while I might have done better in some classes, I made a respectable showing and never stayed up all night.
Coffee drinking didn’t start when I worked a swingshift in data entry. It didn’t start when the Munchkin was born. It didn’t even start when Tad was born.
It started about a month ago when the Webmaster went back to work.
I had occasionally dabbled in coffee when I needed the caffeine boost. It paid off, but gave me heartburn. So I quit for a while. And then the Webmaster started his new job, which meant that I had to start getting up with the kids again.
Anyone who knows me knows that I am not a morning person. I am a night owl. This is probably why I’m not a morning person – if I went to bed at a decent hour (“decent” meaning before midnight), maybe I’d be happier when the Munchkin pounces me at 8 am. But I seem to always end up staying up late to get things done, because it seems nearly impossible to do things when the kids are awake, and so, when morning comes, I am grouchy. And now I’m grouchy and caffeine-dependent.
It’s gotten to the point where I am just not functional until I get the caffeine flowing. I can usually get the kids breakfast, but the coffee is brewing at that point. And the funny thing is, unless I’m eating real food with it (as opposed to what the kids didn’t eat for breakfast), it still gives me heartburn. I’m only drinking about half a cup at a time, and it’s still killing me! I usually pour myself half a cup full, then fill up the cup the rest of the way with milk and a shot of flavored creamer. If it’s any stronger, I just can’t drink it. I don’t enjoy it. I would rather drink tea. But I need the caffeine. I think that now officially makes me an addict. I hate it, but I need it.
But on the plus side, all this morning coffee has totally killed my desires for coffee-based frappucinos. I’m saving a bundle by not going to Starbucks at all! But when they bring the peppermint hot chocolate back for the Christmas season, all bets are off.
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October 18th, 2006 06:47
Indeed it sucks us all in in the end, like a great big coffeeflavoured tractor beam.
I always drank tea (with milk, unless it’s herbal!) however when I started work, I thought I should be a bit more cool and drink coffee, so I embarked upon a self-inflicted intense training program which involved first buying some coffee from the vending machine outside the office (great plan for getting away from drawing board) then I would add about 10 spoonfulls of coffee from my coffee jar and drink it black. IT WAS GHASTLY! I kept on going though, and after about a month, I just bought a coffee with milk from the machine and drank it as it came – pure heaven compared with what I’d been pouring down my throat! And now, this happy tale ends with me being totally caffeine dependant to get me going of a morning and of course being able to enjoy some Starbucks Gingerbread coffee (mocha being my usual order) at Christmas time!!!!
October 18th, 2006 07:45
I have to agree that the Starbucks Christmas lattes will be sorely missed this year in Iraq. My suggestion is to go to caffeinated tea. It has just as much caffeine as coffee and you seem to like it better. As a fellow Seattleite I did not drink coffee until college. I can pinpoint the day I began. It was February 2003 when my Guard unit was activated to go to Iraq. Ever since than I have enjoyed the hot cup of liquid goodness every morning. If the day permits I will polish off a pot in a day. I begin every morning with a mug then off to the gym. I am not talking about that weak translucent brew either, when my pot is finished brewing I had better not be able to see any light on the other side. Dark, Potent, and Powerful.
“If this is coffee, please bring me some tea; but if this is tea, please bring me some coffee. “
– Abraham Lincoln
October 18th, 2006 08:30
Heh, I was just starting to read this when Justin walked into the room and asked me to make coffee…
I’ve been drinking coffee for years (as you know), but I usually make it at home these days because Starbucks is expensive and, if you drink non-nonfat mochas with whip like I do, rather fattening. We have an espresso maker, so we drink small but intense quantities of coffee. It really helps me get moving in the morning, but I can’t drink caffeine after 1 or 2 PM because I won’t get to sleep.
October 18th, 2006 14:54
So, you’ve gone to the dark side.