Little Did I Know This Morning

I used to hate coffee. Used to, I said. For the longest time I could not figure out what the obsession with the bitter black brew was all about.

Then my husband bought me a one-cup coffee maker for my birthday/Mother’s Day last year, complete with gourmet coffees and teas and hot chocolates to be ordered online. My first thought at being offered such a gift from my non-coffee drinking spouse was, “And this is a good birthday gift for me because, why?” I had a gratitude problem, I admit it freely today. He told me, “Wait, try the flavored coffees with cream and sweetener.” His friend at work had gotten Drew hooked on this little indulgence. So, I did. Now I’m hooked. I’ll even drink plain ol’ coffee with a big dose of hazelnut creamer and Splenda now. It doesn’t even have to be flavored coffee any more. The slippery slide has begun. So much so that I was eagerly searching out Starbucks when we were in California in December since we do not have one here on the island or in town (ya’ll know my thoughts about where we live by now), because I just had to see if the real thing was as good as the buzz. It was.

At first when I began drinking the vile brew, my hands would literally shake and my heart would race after one cup due to the caffeine content – apparently much higher than a diet cherry Coke or cup of tea. It doesn’t even phase me anymore. Now I look forward to my afternoon cup of creamy coffee. Just my way of correcting my gratitude problem and thanking my husband for his thoughtful gift.

Why am I blathering on in this way, you may well be asking. Well, I was blissfully unaware this morning of something that I know this afternoon that I am glad that I was blissfully unaware of this morning. The air conditioning maintenance company called this morning to schedule our routine maintenance. Turns out our technician was free to come today before lunch. Upon routine check, it turns out our whole system is shot. We have to replace the whole thing. Immediately. Ouch. Otherwise it will be one hot summer around here. I knew it wasn’t cooling properly, but was hoping it just needed a little repair work, not a whole new system. So, the nice technician and I called my husband and discussed our options, buy this new one or that one, and Drew and I will be looking over the budget tonight to figure out which way to go.

What in the world does that have to do with coffee? Absolutely zip, zilch, nada, nothing. But I am sitting here enjoying a Starbucks Dark Chocolate Peppermint Mocha Frappuccino from the local grocery store – it’s almost as good as something real from the real Starbucks – tastes just like a cold, liquid York Peppermint Patty. Beats sitting here fretting about having to buy a whole new A/C unit, don’t you think?