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Since my early twenties, and with relatively few exceptions (pregnancy), I have greeted each new day with several cups of hot coffee. It’s become my favorite part of the day as I prepare my freshly brewed beverage, choose one of my favorite mugs and then take my first few sips, all while contemplating what the day will bring.
Surprisingly, I’m not particularly picky about the type of coffee I drink as long as it’s not expensive and has caffeine. Sometimes I buy flavored coffee. Sometimes I don’t. If it’s on sale, chances are, I buy it. However, lately I am noticing that what I AM starting to get very particular about is how much coffee I can drink based on when and where I can drink it. This is because of two things: Too much caffeine too late in the morning/day will keep me up at night and coffee is a liquid which also seems to fill my shrinking bladder quickly and urgently.
For example, a morning appointment 45 minutes away makes me adjust my coffee drinking routine. Ideally, I’d be happy to take my coffee with me in the car to sip slowly so that my need to Go coincides with my arrival. However, if my appointment is not until 10 a.m. and I wake up at 8, I want to have a cup of coffee before I leave because that’s what I love to do. But then this may make me have to Go about 15 minutes into my ride and then I’ll just be worried about how long I can hold it for and then how uncomfortable this will make me feel.
Then I won’t enjoy my time in the car listening to music if I’m worried about where I can stop to find a restroom. And so I decide that I won’t drink any coffee before I leave (other than a sip or two) and I will, instead, bring my coffee with me. But then if I drink 16 ounces of coffee over the course of 45 minutes, I will most likely have to use the bathroom upon my arrival and then again in the middle of the meeting. Then I won’t pay attention to what is happening in the meeting. But if I sip my coffee slowly in the car, I may not have had enough coffee to make me feel awake. And if I wait until after the meeting to have more coffee, then it’s too late in the day for me to drink coffee and I will be wide awake at 2 am.
Adjusting my morning coffee time, as I get older, has become a challenge that I don’t really enjoy. Not only has my physical wellbeing become dependent on my morning coffee, but so too has my emotional wellbeing. In recognizing this, I usually wake up an hour (or two) earlier than is necessary so that I can enjoy my morning coffee. BUT, whenever anyone asks me what time of day I prefer for an appointment, I always answer “afternoons”.
Decaf? Decaf?
Kathy Naumann, possessor of NATURALLY curly hair and the understanding that you can’t control everything!
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