Life without coffee

Struggling to wake up and feel productive this a.m. I’d like to sit and do nothing, possibly for the entire day, but that would increase my stress level tomorrow…I’m not into self torture.

Due to continuing torrential rains, the grass soccer fields are a mess, so my kids’ teams are scrambling to borrow turf time at local high schools. That means late, weeknight practices, which are wearing everyone down.

Not to mention the fact that my husband was working in CA most of February and March, and solo parenting is never easy. He arrived back in Oregon on Saturday and will be home for a couple of weeks, temporarily bringing balance to our crazy routines.

And we’re not busy compared to many families—we’ve limited the kids to one major sport each, but at the competitive level that’s still a big commitment. A lot of people thrive on chaos and constant demands—unfortunately, I’m not one of them. I like quiet time at home—a rare commodity some weeks.

On top of all that, I’ve lost my taste for coffee, and I really miss it. I miss all the sensations…the aroma of freshly ground beans, the coffee maker singing, my mug filling to the brim, the massive jolt of caffeine starting my day... I don’t have cause to use the word baffling very often, but this is one of those times.

I can trace my coffee apathy to November, when I was really sick. I wasn’t concerned at the time, because I’ve always preferred tea to coffee during illnesses. However, my good health returned, while my taste for coffee didn’t. Like I said…baffling.

So, now I drink tea regularly—a pleasant, soothing drink completely lacking coffee’s full-bodied impact on life. Once in a while I buy an Americano, just to see…who knew there could be such sorrow while sipping… Life shouldn’t be so hard.