Peace and tranquility...sort of

So, my mind has been all over the place the last few days. I haven't been able to fit two thoughts together and make sense of them at all. I realized I needed to get back into my normal routine and start putting things back together around the house. So, I have been using my trusty timer to remind me to work 15 minutes at a time and then I can rest. I have managed to return most of my house back to a state that is only marginally embarrassing (which is a good bit better than it was before) and that has helped me find a little more inner peace. Just making sure that the things are picked up a bit and dinner is planned ahead of time seems to ease the stress around me. Things started to calm down yesterday after several episodes of cleaning and dejunking and by this morning I was in near-perfect unison with the universe around me. I was up on time, I had my morning coffee and breakfast, the girls needed hardly any help to get out the door on time this,  and then I caught up on a few minutes of sleep that I needed. The shower was pre-warmed, by clothes were already laid out,  even the traffic seemed to just be working smoothly for me this morning. Driving home, I was suddenly aware that it's Friday morning, typically the day I choose to reward myself for good behavior during the week. So, after dropping DH off at work (with time to spare!) I stopped in at the local, overpriced, mass produced, coffee shop for a mocha and a scone.

First, you have to understand how much I love coffee and what a spiritual experience a GOOD cup of coffee can be. Since I was roughly three years old, I have been drinking coffee every morning. As I got older, my tastes have become more refined and I now have a preference not just on how the coffee is prepared, but also on the roast, the grind, and the location that the beans have been grown in. I am not married to one variety, though. I like to choose the style of coffee to suit my mood. A strong cup of Columbian or Kona is the best way to wake up for me. By midday, I usually feel like sampling a more exotic style, or even a flavored variety. In the evenings, I have been known to have a cup or two with spike of something grown-up in it. Iced coffee is awesome on Summer mornings. Blended ice coffees are even better on hot summer afternoons. For a special treat, I will go for something mixed with peppermint or chocolate and topped with a bit of whipped cream (it has the same calories as a slice of chocolate cake, but costs about half and is so much easier to consume while driving!)

This morning (actually, for the past week) I had a real craving for a White Chocolate Mocha from the before mentioned overpriced coffee chain. I sampled a chocolate chip variety the other night, but that wasn't quite the right blend to satisfy. Yesterday evening, I drove through a slightly less expensive burger-joint-gone-Cafe and got a Mocha there, but that was even worse. Not only did it not cure my craving, but it burned the tarnation out of my tongue. (Why would a business PURPOSELY make something that you aren't able to drink for at least an hour after purchasing it without suffering pain and torture!?! Cruelty? Humor? I have no idea.)

Anyway, this morning come snow or high water I was going to get my Mocha, if it was the last thing I did (which it nearly was, but more on that in a minute.) So, I got lost once, drove around the wrong parking lot twice, and turned around in the middle of the street, until FINALLY I got to the the coffee shop I wanted. Lo and behold, I was able to get the object of my desire in short order and a blueberry scone on the side. I walked out feeling slightly taken advantage of after shelling out the cash for it, but when they have you addicted, I guess they can name their price, right? The smell and the taste and the sheer enjoyment of the coffee and scone together were well worth it and I forgot how much it cost in a very short amount of time. I needed to get back home, though, and so I decided to take my little treat "To-Go" instead of lingering in the cafe for a few more minutes to enjoy my coffee in peace. I can drink a coffee and munch my snack while I drive! That is what multitasking is all about, right? If I can nurse a baby, wash the dishes and carry on phone conversation - all at once - this should be a cinch.

Driving back home, I was in a sort of suspended world of complete satisfaction. The coffee, the scone, the van than has a working heater for the first time in almost two years... I really couldn't imagine things getting any better. The ride wasn't even disturbed by the normal dozen or so police that usually patrol that route. (Even when I am not speeding and my car is completely legal, I still have that moment of fear every time I drive past a police officer on the road... just habit I guess, but I hate the adrenaline rush of fear...) The cool weather and the clouds seemed to just fit the mood and made the ride home cozier. The aroma of coffee filled the van and I might have started to drift into a dream state for a minute. I guess I was a little too confident in my ability to handle more than one thing at a time.

Then, about three miles from home, lost in wonder of the perfect moment I was experiencing, Gurghk! I choked on a blueberry that was trying to fight its way down past the whipped cream. I managed to keep the sacred brew in my mouth instead of spewing it across the inside of my windshield, thankfully, but breathing was just not happening at that moment. I started feeling that mild panic when you think you might be in trouble, but you're not really sure yet. My dad used to tell me I shouldn't walk and chew gum at the same time...I was beginning to think he had something there. I was coughing, and hacking, and attempting to breathe air and swallow food and not the other way around. My eyes started to water (which of course, caused my mascara to run just enough to burn my eyes even further) and the road became blurry and I got a sudden image in my mind of the headline depicting my death - Woman Killed on Hwy, Choked to Death by Latte.


I exited the highway and slowed on the exit ramp, thinking only of the safety of the other drivers (and it was my exit to go home anyway) when I took a tentative sip of my drink to see if it would help move things in the right direction. Ok, not so smart. It was kind of like setting fire to the curtains to keep your couch from burning. How can so few drops of something cause so much pain? Here comes a stoplight, maybe I will have a minute to get things back under control...no it turned green too quickly (hack... cough... gasp!) Oh, there is a stop sign coming up here, I can use that minute to grab a napkin from my bag! Never mind, the pick up behind me is honking because I am not moving fast enough. (Snerk....gasp... cough!)

 I think I was as much shocked as I was uncomfortable. The nerve of the coffee trying to kill me like that! After I had longed and yearned after you for almost a week, now you try to strangle me me and run me off the road! I don't think so. You might be my Elixir of Life, but you are still an inanimate object and I will best you!

By the time I got home, I was breathing normally and had managed to NOT aspirate anything further, but my moment of perfect bliss was ruined. I had coffee dripping down my nose and I felt like I had been strangled by an octopus. (Don't ask me why it  was an octopus, specifically...just go with me here...) I crawled out of the van on wobbly legs and stumbled into the house to get a few deep breaths and get my heart rate back to normal, when I suddenly realized I left my coffee out in the car. Grrrr. Fine. I went back out into the miserably cloudy and cold morning to get the last few sips of the coffee that had turned cold in the bottom of the cup.

Of course, I had to finish it! Once something tries to kill you, you must overcome it! Sometimes you get the bear and sometimes the bear gets you. This was one fight I was going to win! So, I finished that Mocha and I showed it who is boss and I polished off the last of the scone, too (just in case it was starting to get ideas, like the coffee.) I feel satisfied and confident in my ability to multitask once again.

Now, I think I will go brew a pot of something less...fatal.