Caffeine

Oh my blessed coffee. I spent 3.5 years working in a  coffee shop. I live and breathed the stuff. Back in 2011 I did a massive cutback and it was successful... but then I slipped. I reacquainted myself with it. Dove in and have enjoyed every delicious drop. It felt like I was too busy to go at life without it.

Well life is always busy and as much as I love the taste, the sensations involved with curling up with multiple cups of warm coffee, "needing" 3+ for daily functioning is a sign that its time to cut back.

Things I'm hoping to gain from this cutback:

1. realignment of sleep cycle. Working 2nd shift I often consume coffee til late in the day because drinking coffee 3 hours into my shift is comparable to a 1st shift person drinking coffee until 11 or noon. I'm hoping that by cutting my consumption by 1 or 2 p.m. I can be ready for sleep at more reasonable times like 1 a.m. instead of 3 or 4 a.m. What was productive and exciting "me" time loses its luster when I can't manage to rouse myself before 11a.m. on a regular basis
2. save $! I brew at home but quality beans are expensive yo!
3. Drink more water instead 

This is also in preparation for the inevitable time I decide to embark on parenthood. Caffeine consumption is a restricted thing and I would rather not have to go cold turkey should the time arrive.

So here I go... off onto my caffeine cutback challenge. Note I am not giving it up completely. I did that in 2005 and it was a horrible disaster of an idea - think unfocused, groggy, foggy headed. 

If this is successful, I plan on a tandem challenge of decreasing my sugar consumption. 

A smattering of various topics

I'll open with an interesting experience at work today:

A family comes in to order drinks. Their daughter, who was maybe 8-10ish, ordered a mocha.(?!?!) I highlighted that it has 2 shots of espresso in it and double checked that they didn't want to make it a decaf (many parents will make it a decaf upon realization of espresso being involved), but they did not so I moved on to the next drink. The son wanted a hot chocolate. Both kids got chocolate covered pretzels. As we're trying to check out, the son is bouncing off the walls, picking up everything in the "grab and go" section asking if they can have it. The daughter is also a bit hyper. The mom looks at me and says "Ah. I don't get why they're so hyper!?!?".  REALLY? No idea? Huh? It took everything in me not to say something about the sugar bombs and sugar/caffeine bombs she just ordered for her kids.

Granted, it's less sugar than a can of coca cola..... In my shock, I wasn't even thinking about the calories and fat of those two drinks --which ends up at around 32g of fat for a small!

I feel so old because I certainly don't remember having that urge to consume caffeinated things, especially coffee at such a young age. But then again, coffee shops weren't a part of my growing up....And well, I was kind of a weird kid.....with "kind of" being kind of an understatement. :)

Ok, onto other life stuff-- in a nutshell

1. Job hunt: Grumble grumble.... I'll stop there. 
2. Wedding planning: Reception venue booked.  Next up: ceremony site, officiant, DJ, photographer.... if I don't wind up broke first.
3. Pampered Chef: No parties booked. I've been sick so I haven't been able to do any follow up calls. Seriously questioning if I have it in me to make it past my 90 days....at least I got some cool product out of the deal, right?
4. House: Most projects are on hold. Gutters pretty much wiped us out financially. The only thing we're working on is our retaining wall project (ongoing). We're about 1/2 way across with the first terrace.