Hot Coffee Day-Bonus: in a Cup

Coffee is a must for me... yada yada yada. You know this, so I am not going to go on and on how without my morning cup, there is a hugs gap in my mental alertness!

I will (for once) get to the point. What I do need, is the coffee hot. All weekdays, I am blessed with my Coffee Carrier and I sip on my coffee as i perform my rushed mornings things: Kids drop offs, chats, calls and roll into work. And I don't have luxury of time to do it any other way and have also stopped complaining about it now (most of the time).

But Saturday, not Sunday, now Saturday with no soccer games on the calendar, I need to enjoy this hot coffee in a grown up Ceramic Cup!

A ceramic cup when I can dunk my biscuits in the Coffee and enjoy it while I enjoy the peace, no rush morning and may be also have a conversation with my mum and "Chill"

And now my girls know it: Saturday Morning: No asking me for anything for those 20 minutes when I Sit, sip and really smell the coffee that I am drinking.

And this Bonus of me sipping my coffee in a cup has me more happy, more content and then I am back to the thick of task master mode "do this, do that" with the girls!

The Break-Up

Stage 1: Shock

Stage 2: Hurt

Stage 3: Betrayal

Stage 4: Anger

Stage 5: Moving On

Stage 6: Happiness

Stage 7: Closure

When you are in college, you go through these stages with crushes, likes and the opposite sex in general. Sometimes you skip stages, sometimes you stay and mull in one for longer. But as age progresses, you think you get calmer, more refined to navigate the above stages. You know what is happening.

But sadly, no matter what the break up is- all stages apply!

I had a recent break up. Before the rumor mills start- It was with my nanny.

Stage 1: SHOCK: 'What you are leaving me?' I didnt see any signs, why? What am I going to do, No way? There is no notice.

Seriously?

Stage 2: HURT I have been blind. Of all people, you?  We have been together for so long, why so sudden? Ouch, what will I do?

Seriously?

Stage 3: BETRAYAL:  I never expected this. After all I did for you and your family. I touched you when NO ONE was. I trusted you, helped settle you, your family. Loaned you money, time and drove you around.  and you did this! No notice.

Seriously?

Stage 4: ANGER:  You dumped me, no I DUMP YOU. You are not worth it. Your 'type' will stay your type. ALWAYS. No matter how considerate I have been, you did this.

Seriously?

Stage 5: Moving On:  Hmm, What is, will be. It's fine. I still have me and my family. I put up with your SHIT for way too long. I should have let you go a long time ago. I am better off now. I am sure

Seriously!!!

Stage 6: HAPPINESS : Wow, its like a weight lifted off me. This feels awesome. Everything is perfect, I survived, got smarter and above all happier. There is more laughter and more fun and more cleanliness for sure. Why didnt I think of this before

Seriously!!!

Stage 7: CLOSURE: Oh man, I am awesome. My family is awesome. This is like a well-oiled machine and you had just slowed us down. I love the freedom and the laughter and the cleanliness. Good Bye. Thanks for nothing. Good Bye

Oh My god, I love this!

Seriously!!!

So yes, my nanny on the eve of my birthday 'dumped' me VERY unprofessionally. She didnt honor the one month notice period we had agreed on. She was not even going to tell me she is quitting. I guess being a girl, my 6th sense is super active and I asked her thrice and then she was forced to confess.

So it always has to be the perfect storm: Nanny dumps you. Husband is travelling, you are swamped with work, one of the kids is not well.

And then I realized you know what. Its all fine. Not fine-fine. But fine. And will only get better.

With my recent break-up I went through all the standard stages in 1 and a half days. Flat. And I have been happy since. Kids are laughing more, walking more, being more independent. At the same time, Sumit and I are more relaxed and laugh about those things that nanny didnt do. We did honestly put up with her for longer than we should have. No one likes change, and we didn’t either. Without this nanny, Its actually nice. And this time the real NICE NICE!

But yes, I am back in the market for a new one- I new more professional, more stable and definitely more active nanny. Suggestions??

I think I found my Coffee Twin.

No seriously I did. Someone who is as passionate about the perfect brew, perfect blend as me. Hang on… you have to read this post before you continue. Only then will you follow.. I will wait.

All right, now. You know how particular I am about my coffee.

So. I think I found my coffee twin. Back in India, a very dear friend would whip the coffee to perfection. I have to credit her for making me crave coffee this bad. I have to credit her to make me enjoy the real flavor of coffee. We both have spent countless hours and a huge chunk of cash at our JATC. Same Table, Same setting. So far, with every trip to India, we both have managed to meet up. Same Table, Same setting. We both always know where to meet... it has to JATC of course. Why even bother to ask.
I digress.
Now, my morning includes washing my coffee cup mug and then going to my cafeteria to get my coffee. It’s simple: It's in the green colored dispenser. It reads dark organic roast. I take that half way, the remaining quarter is decaf to keep me sane and then one sachet brown sugar with 2% milk. Nothing more, nothing less.
My cafeteria staff knows me. If my coffee is out or almost over, I just glance away. The lady smiles, happily brews my fresh coffee and gives me a pat. She knows; I need it, just right.
It’s a morning ritual. If I skipped a day, she would ask where I was the day before. :-)
Recently, a new person joined my team. I bumped into her a couple of times at my coffee dispenser. I noticed, she follows the exact same pattern as me: 1/2 dark brew, 1/4 decaf, one brown sugar and oh well.. skim milk!
Darn... almost a twin.

And yes, I am serious about my coffee. Feel free to ask Sumit. Recently we were out of coffee at home and in my knowing ways... I told him, don’t get it from 'there', it’s always more expensive, when we go to Costco, we will pick up the right Nescafe there. He just nodded. He went 'there' and bought the right Nescafe. Money be damned. He knows I needed it. There is no way I would survive without coffee till the weekend Costco trip. Or rather he would not survive my coffee-less moods.

I smile each time I fix my coffee at home. The tiny over priced box reminds me of Sumit's smile when he handed me the coffee. Perfect. :-)

The morning cuppa coffee.

There is something about the warm coffee, with the right amount of milk and sugar in the morning. It has to be perfect... there are no second thoughts about it. I make a point to make my own coffee no matter where I am. I am sure they will do a swell job, but somehow I like the coffee 'my way'. Nothing fancy. If its Nescafe, then it needs to be done in one style, if it’s the brewed kind... is needs to be done in another way.
I am generally easy to please and definitely easy going, but not when it comes to my coffee.
Mornings are rushed, amongst all the insanity, I do manage sometimes to fix my cup, put it in the travel mug and sip along in my drive. If we are running late (which we generally are), i have my own coffee machine in office, I will brew morning cup and before i reply to the first email, i will sip on the delightful coffee...
I don’t think i am addicted to the caffeine(!).I keep giving it up every two to three weeks for a couple of weeks.. just to ensure i don’t get hooked on it. The longest i didn’t sip on it while we were expecting and beyond. Those were long months. Yes I would occasionally sip on the decaf, would love entering a Starbucks just to get a whiff of the smell, walk by the coffee isle in whole foods over and over again... (Sigh!)
In my growing up years, I didn’t have coffee or tea. I would stick to milk or the nimbu paani or juices or anything else. Tea... we were told, Kids don’t have tea, since it tans your skin; I believed them. Didn’t touch tea (minus the herbal ones), until after marriage! For coffee- it was those, once in a while treats that mummy would whip up.. It would be the cold coffee.. Shaken and served over ice!
My introduction to hot coffee came with the JATC and the Barista's opening up at every nook and corner of my city.. They helped me develop my taste and empty my pockets. A very dear friend of mine back home, would whip the Nescafe for hours while studying; and then serve me one of the most yummylicious coffee while the Bandra breeze touched my face! Aaah!
Slowly and surely, I started loving this hot coffee and kept getting more and more particular about the flavor. In school here, my roommate and I would always bump in the kitchen every morning and fix our coffee's> She would take her's with a dash of Hershey’s chocolate syrup.. and me... my plain Nescafe.... done right! Never once in our years as roommates did we ever volunteer to fix the other one's coffee; we both knew better!
SD and I love to frequent newer places, and try different foods and I will try their coffees. I love the Ethiopian kind with beans roasted in front of you, the Puerto Rican kind.. With the strong smell, the flavored beans is something which I have not developed a tastes for. Coffee needs to be coffee.. done right! My brother, always teases me that he will invest in Starbucks stock; just cuz of my love for their roasted brews.
So I type this, with my coffee in tow, I think, this is the perfect way to begin my day.. and the warmth of the liquid is perfect.. and i am definitely not addicted to coffee, but am just in denial of the fact!