Coffee, Coffee, Coffee

Note: I wrote this a few weeks ago, but there was a technical delay in posting it. ;-) Gotta love technology sometimes!

So, I have been going low on my caffeine intake for health reasons... and cost reasons.

You see, I love my coffee... but when I make it, I need 1/8 cup of hot chocolate mix and an 1/8 cup of French vanilla cappuccino mix to make it edible. My body doesn't really appreciate that amount of sugar multiplied by 3-4 cups over the day... so I stopped that successfully for several months with the occasional exception to not having coffee.

Soda is about the same. I can't stand aspartame and my body doesn't like the sugar high or the sugar crash from pop... although I love cherry cola!

So I was having Chai tea, but that requires me to remember to order the brand of tea that I like and it added up to almost $2-4 per day with the honey that I was using to sweeten it. It is still cheaper than the coffee additions, but it requires more effort and planning on my part. My body was very appreciative of the change though.

However, this last month has been kinda rough and I have fallen back into old habits. Today has been the really awesome part though!

I had a rough night last night. So, I only had about 2/3's the amount of sleep that I need to function. This morning I had the wonderful idea to use caffeine as the catalyst for a wonderful day, but... caffeine calms my brain before the sugar high kicks it into overdrive, so most of the day was spent yawning.

I had 2 (8oz) cups of coffee before a light breakfast.

I had 2 more (8oz) cups of coffee on the way to the doctor's appointment.

I had a 20oz soda while in the doctor's appointment.

I had a 20oz soda with my lunch.

I had 2 more (8oz) cups of coffee after getting back to my Mom's after the doctor's appointment.

I had 2 more (8oz) cups of coffee for the drive home - and another 20oz soda!

So, on the bright side, I have had my 124 ounces of liquid intake! lol On the brighter side? My brain finally kicked into overdrive and I am giggling remembering exactly why when I worked at a convenience store with all you can drink pop as a perk, my coworker's put a limit on how much soda I was allowed to ingest...

Why you may ask?

Well... since getting home less than 3.5 hours ago, I have...

• vacuumed both the dining and living rooms after putting the new vacuum together
• completed 2 loads of laundry from start to finish (wash, dry, fold, & put away!), dealt with the laundry from the trip, started a 3rd load of laundry that will be ready to finish tomorrow, and dealt with the additional 2 loads of laundry that has been sitting on the couch for... let's just not think about how long... lol
• unpacked both overnight bags
• did a large load of dishes
• did half of the paperwork that was emailed to me today, checked out the Cyber Monday sale that I had planned on checking out, ordered the items that I have been avoiding ordering, and wrote this article
• did the litter boxes from start to finish - including washing them & taking out the trash
• completed the task of changing my bed - including pillowcases and making the bed properly as well as actually putting the dirty linens in the freshly emptied laundry basket to be washed tomorrow!
• reclaimed about half of the kitchen floor and a quarter of the table
• and did all of the regular night time routine items with the kiddos! ;-)

And I know that I am going to be regretting most of the above tomorrow morning when my body reminds me that I have chronic pain and that a sugar high does not negate the need to space large tasks out... but for tonight? Tonight I am feeling high like a squirrel on cocaine (or at least that was the image that popped into my head from an old "don't do drugs" video I had watched in high school).

I decided that maybe I should give my body a little bit of water to soften the crash tomorrow morning as well as enough pain killers to hopefully let me down a little bit easy in the morning as far as muscle aches go... and I'll be taking a nice hot shower.

All I have to do tomorrow is: find the rest of the dining room table and get through the morning's appointments, do homeschool work with the kid's in the afternoon, and complete a pile of paperwork that I have been avoiding in the evening as well as go pick up some supplies (like cat food) to last until the online order arrives... and somewhere in there I need to fit in a handful of other tasks that I have been avoiding (like cleaning out a vehicle, putting the rest of the groceries away, putting summer clothes away, prepping the donations that need to leave the house, actually writing things down my planner for the month of December, etc.); respond to people's texts and calls; do something about my pile of writing that is back up to the spot where my professionals start being more sure that I might be losing the little sanity I have left; and do the other daily necessities that just need done on a daily basis in order to keep my little world moving.

Oh yeah, and my kids want to decorate for Christmas! And Wednesday I have a to do list taller than tonight and tomorrow combined...

On the bright side, I plan on taking 2 weeks off of my hectic schedule the end of this year/beginning of next year - sorta... depending on your definition of taking time off. lol I just have 2 major trips planned, releasing a e-book, a week of deep cleaning scheduled after Christmas, and of course, the magic of winter vacation!

Yes... I am fine... but now I kinda want more coffee... muwhahahahahahahaha!!! Who needs sleep? Not me! lol