It's funny. All through the day a thought comes to me and I think, "that will be my blog post tomorrow." Then life goes on and other fun things happen and I think of more titles. And then I find my way to my blog the next morning and I can't think of anything. Maybe it is because many mornings, my coffee is not fully ingested. I really need the stuff. Really, really do.
Well, since we are talking about coffee, maybe I will just keep with that theme. I've got things to share about coffee. I could ramble on for a long time (I will try not to, though). Man! Coffee is such a part of my life that as I sit here a bazillion stories come flooding through my mind. Keep it short, Janet. These people have places to go and things to do.
Okay, how it all began....
I started drinking coffee when I was eight or nine. I don't know for sure. We were living in East Lansing (MI) at the time and my brother and sister (4 and 5 years older than me) got a paper route. At some point my brother must have quit because I started delivering papers. Not a pretty sight! I had to get up at 5:00 and count the papers to make sure I had enough for my route. Getting up at 5:00am is NOT fun, or easy, so I started having half a cup of coffee each morning. My parents have always been morning coffee drinkers so it really wasn't a surprise that I would be too. I think I stuck to the half a mug a day for quite a while.
Next thing I remember is high school, and my complete obsession with coffee. At one point I was having the equivalent of 8 regular mug-sized coffees a day. I had one when I got up. I got a 20oz coffee on the way to school (I had independent study art for the first two periods so I was allowed to have a drink). I had another 20oz after school, and then I would have a few regular cups into the evening as I talked on the phone and pretended to do my homework. Don't worry, I've cut down since then.
High school is when I started loving coffee shops, too. Remember, coffee shops weren't a big thing back then. In our big college town there was one, called Express Royal. It was downtown, so I didn't go very much. But then they built one on my side of town called the Cappuccino Cafe. It was the first of probably a hundred in the area now. As I was telling someone this weekend, so much of my life happened in that place. Good talks. Good laughs. Coffee with people I loved. Break-ups with people I love. Blind dates. New friends. Running into old friends. That place IS high school for me. Want to see it now?
Yep. When I went on Saturday to take pictures of places that were a big part of me growing up, Cappuccino Cafe was a must! We were even planning on meeting my sister and mom and a family friend there. We pulled in and saw this sad, sad sight. I can't believe it is gone! I feel like a piece of me is gone!
So, GO! Go take pictures of the places that are important to you or important to your kids. Preserve it now, while it is still there. One of the things I feel strongly about is saving and telling the stories for our kids when they are too young to do it for themselves. Do you know how much I WISH I had a picture of the place when it was still open? All I have is a picture of me wearing the t-shirt in St. Kitts (they gave you a free coffee if you wore the shirt and took pictures of it in another country).
Okay, so back to coffee. How 'bout a bullet point session of random coffee facts (as they pertain to me!)
** I do NOTHING before my coffee in the morning. The kids know to wait until mom has had coffee before they ask me for things.
** I ALWAYS finish my first cup of coffee. The subsequent cups often get left with coffee covering the bottom of the cup. Don't know why I do this.
** Currently, I am trying to be good with about 3 cups a day. One when I get up, one at 10:30, and one around two. Coffee out with friends or the hubby don't count :)
** I take sweetener and creamer in my coffee. I hate sugar in my coffee.
** I don't like leftover coffee. If it has been sitting for a few hours, I dump it out and make a new pot.
** When I am driving, I like gas station coffee. It's BAD coffee, I know, but I guess I am conditioned to the taste. Driving = gas station coffee.
** I collect coffee cups, though I have gotten rid of a lot lately. I used to buy any cup I liked, anything I thought was pretty. But no one needs 100 different coffee mugs so now I just buy ones that have significance. I have cups for every place we have been and significant thing we have done. Oh wait! I did a LO last summer on my cups. Let me see if I can find it...
Some of the special ones...
Okay, and since we have talked about coffee for way to long (and I hadn't planned on any of that), I will end this monologue with one coffee funny.
The other day, I was struggling with stress and impatience. Being aware of "whining" (see THIS post) I told Alaina I was sorry if I wasn't in a good mood, mom was just having a hard day. You know what she said to me?
"Well have you had your coffee yet??"
LOL! Sorry, dear. As much as I LOVE my coffee and it DOES help me to function, it is not the magic cure-all for bad days (but oh how I wish it was!)
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So, I promised you some pictures from our day at the zoo! It was so much fun! Here are few fun ones...
Doesn't this look like a BABY BJORN ad?? This is my sweet little nephew Cole
These two were totally cracking us up. They (two TOTAL first borns, were hamming it up and insisting we take more pictures. I can see why the experts don't recommend two first borns getting married!
And then these just make me laugh. I had my 50mm lens on so Jason had to stand farther back (who needs to see my double chin and chubby arms up close??) The kids just kept jumping in and out of the pictures. It was hilarious! In any case, that is me with my mom and sister (one of them...I have another one who is a dark-haired beauty!)
And here is a page I scrapped of the day!
background paper by SP, DAY AT THE ZOO monograms also by SP
And one more page for you!
Credits can be seen HERE
Have a great day! I WILL be back tomorrow but Thursday and Friday I am officially on vacation!
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