Mamarati

Please please take the coffee out of the house. I can’t take the smell or the temptation any more. I still have a headache and am sore.

Why can’t I learn?

I am placing my fate in your hands, here. I’m weak. You must be strong enough for both of us. Or, well.. just me really.

Well, tomorrow is the Johnson and Johnson Camp Baby gig, so I’m off again.

I’m tired. I have so much to do… I really just want to be home. I’m such a home body.

I’m kind of glad that I’m getting in early (though not glad that I’m leaving early) because it will give me a chance to sit down and finish some of the things I need to get done…

I don’t miss travel at all. I really don’t.

Oh, speaking of work stuff… I blogged something caffeine related at work and got a Starbuck’s ad. So, I went to check it out, since I think that’s the first time I’ve seen one of those on my site. I know we’ve got new marketing people in place who are doing cool stuff, so maybe that’s why… Anyway — best idea ever: My Starbucks Idea. I hope they really do follow through on a lot of those ideas. Better than sitting around in a corporate meeting room talking about new ideas that may or may not have anything to do with what your customers would really appreciate. I voted for a bunch of ideas I liked (free coffee on your birthday, reusable sleeves, frequent flier cards, FREE WI-FI, etc.)

Did I mention free wi-fi? Did I mention I’d rather go to the Coffee Beanery because they have free wi-fi?

Or at least when I was still allowed coffee… I don’t think tea is as good out as it is at home.

Oh yeah, I forgot to talk about Teecini… yeah, not for me. I just can’t get with it. For now it’s me and Earl Greyer or my PG Tips…

It cannot possibly be almost 7pm.

Or whatever I said in the last entry…

It’s Teeccino.

It’s for people who like coffee but want to stop with the caffeine nightmare that is a headache as soon as you wake up, aching back / neck /shoulders every friggin’ day, inability to prioritize while the rest of your mind runs away from you like it’s on crack, sitting on the toilet all day from all the acid… you know, that sort of thing. If you’re not having a problem with coffee, I envy you. I used to be that person.

Now it’s like a monster or something, screaming “Feed me!!!!”

From sunrise to bedtime. It’s evil.

I broke my habit a while back and was doing good… but this stuff from Costco smells incredible. And I can smell it everytime I walk by the kitchen door. And more than anything about coffee, I love the taste and the warmth of it. I like warm fluids.

(That’s what she said?)

But my dairy strike has cocoa out of the question and tea leaves me with the same headache problem.

So, Teeccino. I went to Whole Foods and got two varieties. Maya Caffe and Mocha.

I’m drinking the Maya Caffe right now.

It’s like… If you’ve ever had soy milk or rice milk, you might remember the first time you tried it. You might have been expecting it to taste like cow’s milk. And yet, it didn’t. Soy milk tastes like soy milk. And rice milk tastes like rice milk. Same with all the other “milks.” Nothing tastes like cow’s milk except cow’s milk.

The same with this stuff. It’s not coffee. It’s like I had that expectation of coffee taste because it’s brown and looks just like it. But then it hits your mouth and you realize… this is not coffee.

Now, that’s not to say it’s bad or anything. I like soy milk and rice milk because I like them. But not because they’re cow’s milk. I don’t drink any of the alternate milks with the same devotion that I once had for cow’s milk. Not even close.

But this could be a good, warm fluid to make up for the habit I have when I’m working and reading. I really like that part of it. I kind of feel lost in space when I don’t have it. It doesn’t taste bad at all, in fact it’s pretty good.

Anyway, we’ll see. Expect more bitchy until my caffeine habit is completely broken. I’ll call my mood “beeccino.”

So, there’s been this bug flying around the house that has been driving me insane. I must have swatted at the thing a hundred times last night and was not able to get him.

But this morning, I make some fancy coffee and it tastes so gooooood! And it “works” so good, too. I went to the bathroom to… you know… do what coffee makes me do in the bathroom and when I come back I take a big swig of coffee.

Just as it’s going into my mouth, I see this spot. Just a quick flash of something not smooth and uniformly coffee colored.

And so I let the coffee flow back out of my mouth and into the cup where I see that bug.

Dammit.

So now I’m drinking some tea.

This weekend has been… blissful. loverly.

Friday, boyfriend and I went to Outback and had yummy steaks. We have vowed not to eat tacos out forty times a week so that we could have that one good dinner.

Then, Saturday we had this bruschetta that he made with these new diced tomatoes:

And he put balsalmic vinegar and olive oil and mozerella (really good soft stuff) on it and we were stuffed. We sat there in the living room scarfing it right off the pan.

Then this morning I got up and used my leftover steak from Outback… I sliced it really thin and sauteed it with green onions and the mexican style rotel and then added it to some scrambled eggs… I made homemade tortillas to wrap the eggs in (with the tortilla press that he got me for Mother’s day) and then I made hash browns with the first of my jalapenos from the garden and some onion… and it was all so damn good.

Tonight we were going to have a salad with the previously mentioned tomatoes, but we ended up getting some different ones, organic stuff from Muir Glen… and it was more like a saucy type thing than just tomatoes, so instead he cooked it up with chicken and basil from the herb garden and some basalmic vinegar and then I made a salad to go with it… and it was the shit.

We also had some good sex-type moments throughout the weekend… played around in the yard. Sat around watching the fish. Did some shopping and playing with kitties at Petsmart… We went to Central Market and got some good tea and coffee. He got some Earl Grey that was like 30 bucks a pound. Of course he only got like $1 of it to try… but it was so strong (the bergamot) that it smelled up the entire car. I got some of this:

It’s PG Tips Pyramid Bags… British tea… it’s so good and the coloring is really nice. It’s my new favorite. I don’t like the fancy stuff too much. I go for plain old English Breakfast tea or whatever’s “just tea” so this suits me fine.

I got some coffee that is from a local roaster and is fair trade and super delicious… and I haven’t even had any of it yet because I like the tea so much.

I’m going to try and make it in my espresso machine though and see how that turns out.

I sound like a total food junkie, don’t I?

All in all, this was the perfect weekend, I’d say.

I’m such a fan of the doubleshot.

So I go to my local convenience store today to get one and I get home and am chugging away.

And then…

chunks.

There were chunks in my doubleshot.

So I run to the bathroom to spit out the chunks, fighting my gag reflex along the way… and then I look at the bottom of the can and it has a date of “FEB 21 05″ so I nearly shit myself.

And then I start thinking, Oh G-d, am I going to shit myself later when I have explosive butt pee from drinking sour whatever is in here that could produce chunks?

So I call the toll-free starbucks helpline… and the very perky and helpful woman tells me that it’s from the milk fat separating, but that the drink is pasteurized so it won’t be an issue as long as the can wasn’t opened or something.

I won’t be getting sick, is the bottom line.

Man, I was freaking out. There is nothing worse than drinking a milk-based drink and finding chunks.

I have these waves of nausea coming over me just writing about it.

I am really such a disorganized person. I have long wished that I could just find one system and get with it. But I can’t. I’m too… flexible? spontaneous? lazy?

I just hate things being set in stone all the time.

This doesn’t help my son much, who is way more disorganized than even I was at his age. He just has no concept at all.

And he’s going back to public school in August and he’ll be in the fifth grade where they switch classes. This is a child who, during all his years of schooling, not counting the few months we have been homeschooling, couldn’t manage to get his backpack loaded at the end of the day.

One time a day is all that was required of him in the way of organization really, and he couldn’t handle that.

And I have to blame myself some for that. Although I have to say that I do a better job in the organization department when it comes to him than when it comes to me.

So anyway, once again, I came up with a schedule for him to follow, it’s loose enough to allow for flexibility, but tight enough that he doesn’t have large chunks of time where he can lose himself in idle despair…

And already, he’s not following it. It’s been what? 2 hours since I printed it up for him and already hell in a handbag.

I say that and he just came in here and asked me if he could help me with dinner, which is exactly what he’s supposed to be doing right now.

(sigh)

Anyway, have I mentioned my new keyboard setup?

I set up the iBook in here on my new desk, with my other monitor, so I have the dual monitor thing going on, which is great. I was using my boyfriend’s old mac keyboard because I got him the completely and totally geek-a-licious Matias Tactile Pro so he didn’t need the old one any more. But it was all squooshy and I kept missing letters because I wasn’t pressing them down hard enough or something, I don’t know. At any rate, it wasn’t working for me.

I’m one of those people who learned to type on a Selectric II, and learned word processing on an Apple, so I really get a thrill from the loud noise and feedback from the keys as I type. If it sounds like a hailstorm on a tin roof, then that’s how I like it.

So, we went down to the crazy-ass computer museum store and found me an old school, Apple Extended Keyboard II, which is, without a doubt, the best damn keyboard I’ve ever set my fingers on. Circa 1990 with the rainbow Apple logo and all.

I had to get a Griffin iMate to do ADB to USB, but that was pretty harmless and altogether it cost me about $35.

Yes. $35 for the best keyboard EVAR!!!!

I am typing so fast, so accurately… it feels so good. And it has a power button that actually works on the keyboard and a caps lock key that stays down just like in the olden days of yore.

Or something like that.

Anyway, I need to get some work done..

oh wait… speaking of old school crap being ressurected, I pulled out the ancient krups espresso machine and made some yummy coffee this weekend. I tried to make a heart on my boyfriend’s but it kind of just looked like an appleish blob. Anyway, this is my machine and this person has instructions on how to use it and that’s pretty much exactly how I make mine except I don’t get all into the temperature thing, although I do have a good thermometer just like that…. hmmm…

What I really want is a Moka pot, though like this one:

It goes on the stove, so no firing up of machinery and all that. Easy clean, etc.

So now, the Krups is my machine of choice for at least this week.

I’m all cracked out on espresso.

But yeah, work. I need to work and such.

More later maybe.

So, I’m addicted to these little things. Starbucks Doubleshots. How much caffeine does a doubleshot have? 120mg. More than your average bear, I assure you.

If you buy them at the evil Wal*Mart they end up being 1.50 a can.

I have to find a good recipe, is what I’m thinking, but I have to say I like the convenience. They take me all of about five seconds to drink.

I have four cans sitting in the fridge now. my boyfriend has warned me that I can only have one per day. So I’m waiting for just the right moment.

Currently I am contemplating a nap so that I can take Jacob to sparring, get dinner started, watch Lost and then stay up the rest of the night working.

Speaking of work, I’ve been doing a lot of that lately with my Jerker.

I went to You Tube today and they had this message:

“You have reached YouTube, the premier digital video repository on the Internet. We are currently rolling out new changes to the site.

We’ll be back as soon as we figure this out…”

and this picture:

Which is a picture of my desk and those are indeed the instructions.

Really though, it wasn’t as bad as putting the Ikea cabinet together that’s in the kitchen now. That was quite a time.

More later… nap now. doubleshot later.