Thursday, February 02, 2006

The Java Jitters

I am one of those people that absolutely cannot function without my morning cup of coffee. It wasn't until I was in my twenties that I started drinking the stuff, but boy, it doesn't take long to get hooked. Back then, once in awhile I'd forget to get my caffeine-fix, and by 11am I had an awful splitting headache (a symptom of withdrawal). I never forget now. It's not that I drink that much; most days I probably have the equivalent of a cup and a half. It's just that I need it.

My morning coffee routine goes something like this: I stumble out of bed, hit the bathroom, then head for the couch. Hubby pours me coffee and brings it to me. In between yawning and warding off kitten-attacks, I have three or four sips. By this time, Hubby's on his second cup, and he brings the pot over and tops mine off too. I drink maybe half of that, then take my shower. The challenge after the shower is to find my mug; I seem to leave it in a different spot every day. If it's somewhere high, like the mantle, I'll top if off again, add a little more cream, and microwave it if necessary. If it's been left on the coffee table, I usually dump it out and start over (the dog likes coffee, and has been known to sample anything left within her reach). The after-shower cup rarely gets finished, either, before I have to leave to take my daughter to school. Very rarely do I make it to the bottom of a mug.

Some days, if I'm heading out somewhere, I'll pick up another cup at Dunkin Donuts. Today was one of those days. I had to take the car in to get the emissions-system repaired, and I knew I'd be sitting at the dealership for awhile. Most car dealers have coffee for their customers, but usually they have that powdered-imitation-milk-stuff instead of cream. I like cream. Since I figured I'd be there awhile, I picked up a medium coffee at Dunkin Donuts instead of a small.

A medium Dunkin Donuts cup is actually pretty large. But, for lack of anything better to do, I finished the whole thing while sitting in the customer lounge. After an hour the mechanic came out to tell me it would take another two hours to fix the car. Since I really didn't want to spend the whole morning in the lounge, I called my aunt, who owns a ceramic tile store not far from the dealership, and asked her to pick me up. To thank her, I decided to treat her to coffee. I put cream in two large cups, figuring on getting myself a decaf, but it turned out the decaf pot was empty. So we both ended up with full-strength cups. Large, full-strength cups. Can you guess how jittery I was by lunchtime? I'm surprised the lady at the Ford dealership allowed me to take the car home, the way my hands were shaking when I signed that credit card slip. She probably thought I was an addict. Come to think of it, I guess I am.

So this afternoon, Hubby asked me to take him out to get cigarettes. I don't like to do this, because I really don't want him to smoke, but I've learned over the years that refusing to take him to the store doesn't really prevent him from smoking. He'll get his cigarettes one way or another, but if I make him walk I'll also succeed in making him mad. And I have to live with him, you know? Plus, given my need for caffeine, I can sympathize with the whole addiction-thing. I stayed in the car while he went in for his smokes, and to thank me for taking him, he brought us both out nice, big coffees. I'm sitting here looking at mine now. I took a couple of sips in the car to be polite, but as soon as he's not looking I'm going to sneak into the kitchen and pour it out. Once a day is more than enough to experience the shakes.

Hey, I could be addicted to worse things.

Posted by The Gradual Gardener :: 3:52 PM :: 7 Comments:

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