Just One Cup

                                                    My morning routine




I've always liked coffee but it wasn't until I moved in with my other half that I became an "every morning I can't function til I have it" coffee drinker. I don't know how much of it really is a caffeine addiction versus habit and routine. Regardless, it's a part of my day that I enjoy.

Reg had a regular old Mr. Coffee pot when I moved in, but I brought my Keurig so we started using it. Then it broke. Keurig sent me a new one and then it broke. I'll just say I'm no longer a fan of Keurig. At this point, it was obvious to us that we needed to use a different machine but we were spoiled by being able to make one cup at a time. This was back when I was getting up three hours earlier than he did so if we set the Mr. Coffee to start brewing for me, it was cold by the time he got up.We did some research and decided we wanted an automatic espresso machine but they are pretty expensive so we went back to using the Mr. Coffee and pouting about it.

One day about two years ago, we were in Macy's "just looking" at coffee/espresso machines and lo and behold we hit the jackpot. Long story short, we ended up with this glorious DeLonghi machine. It is amazing. It grinds the beans as it makes your cup of coffee, has a hot water spout and even a milk steaming pitcher. I'll say it again, it's glorious. When friends come to visit, they actually get excited to have coffee. It's that good. Occasionally we make lattes and iced coffees but mostly drink regular coffee. Besides being able to make a cup at a time, you can customize how much comes out. We have a small setting of 4oz, a regular of 6oz and a long of 8oz.

I love to linger over a mug of creamy sweet coffee (preferably while in my pajamas) so I usually make myself a double long, in a giant mug. Most days I'll have two of these. So yes, I'm drinking 32oz of coffee each morning but it's a half-caf so it's not as bad as it sounds. It doesn't look significant until you put it next to Reggie's cup. The joke around our house is when I say "But honey, I've only had two cups of coffee today". I only have three mugs that will hold this much at once, plus the cream and this green one is my favorite. It fits perfectly in my hands and reminds me of a mellow coffeehouse vibe.

 I know there are different schools of thought on whether caffeine, and coffee specifically, is good or bad for us. I'm a believer in doing what works for you as an individual. I truly enjoy coffee and it is part of my routine. I do most of my web surfing/FaceBooking/news reading during this time and even some of my writing. It gets my day off to a yummy, positive start plus it gets my brain working. I don't worry about housework or running or the rest of my day until I've finished at least one cup. That makes me think maybe I need to find a bigger mug!