Coffee Contemplation

I love coffee, I love coffee, I love it so much that I am over here singing out loud about coffee as my co-workers look over to make sure that I am ok...so maybe I will quit singing about coffee quit so loudly. As you have read before books play a significant role in my own personal history, but what you may not know is I have been drinking coffee for as long as I have been reading books...in fact I may have been holding a cup as I learned to read...(I see it's gonna be an ellipse day...).  My Mamma grew up on a farm and in her house they got a cup of  coffee did chores and then came in for breakfast so she did not see anything wrong with giving her oldest daughter coffee at a fairly young age.  The other thing was my Mamma likes her coffee

wussy, sweet, and creamy so there was none of the bitterness that kids usually don't like.  Fast forward to the present and I now drink my coffee with the consistency of mud, the strength of battery acid, and nothing but a little cream to balance it out.  For that I blame my Daddy.  As the other adult in the house, not to mention one of the medical profession (ER docs for the win!) you would think that he would have nipped that coffee obsession in his way to young (according to those pesky so called health experts) daughter in the bud, but nope, he not only did not stop me, but he cultivated my taste for REAL coffee, not that flavored water stuff my dearest Mamma drinks.  Coffee plays a role in just about every memory I have, way back when I was younger I remember huddling over the heater grate with a blanket, a cup of coffee in my country blue plastic mug and my newest library book.  As I got older coffee became a family thing with a pot made by Daddy for breakfast every morning (Mamma watered hers down) making it possible for us to get out the door without killing each other.  I graduated to espresso drinks (Hey I'm a Seattle girl down to my coffee soaked bones) being the only 7 year old I know who would spend her allowance money on coffee.  Going to school in Seattle had it's perks because every high school had a coffee shop on campus, for real, I am not even joking, so that we could all get our fix before hitting class...I spent many hours discovering many books I was not supposed to read in those little coffee shops.  Moving to Montana for my Jr and Sr year made coffee all that much more important, which of course when my Daddy realized that all that coffee may not be the healthiest thing in the world and declared it of limits for the kids.  That is when I realized what an addiction is, seriously my grades dropped, I was an evil wench troll, I had major headaches, I felt horrible, I didn't even want to read and not just for a day or two either.  After that experience I never asked anybody why they couldn't just quit something like smoking 'cause there is no such thing as JUST QUITTING!  Needles to say Daddy quickly allowed me my coffee again, focusing on my younger sibs who were not quit as addicted as I was.  College years were rough on me, I was trying to do it all on my own, rent, work, school, theatre, friends, boyfriend, family, a lot going on and sometimes I just couldn't keep it together.  I knew though no matter how tough it was I could always run home for a cup of coffee.  I remember a particularly bad day...week...month, it

doesn't matter, all I know is I came through my parents front door, my Daddy took one look at me, handed me a cup of coffee, a special cookie, sent me up to my Mamma and promised to bring refills.  The best part about this memory is the love and comfort I got, I don't even remember what was wrong. Then the worlds best invention ever came along Barnes and Nobles and the rise of the book cafe.  Visiting for the first time was like a dream, I had to pinch myself, there were books, so many books, and coffee, so much coffee and I was encouraged to drink the coffee while reading books...I was never going to leave.  Life moved on and I met the guy who eventually become Hubbin and I knew he was awesome because he kept suggesting Barnes and Noble as a date place, and he would stay there with me for hours!  Seriously we thought about inviting the workers to our wedding we spent so much time there.  Eventually I moved away from my precious family, embarking on new adventures, but before we left my Daddy pulled (eventual) Hubbin aside and showed him the secret to happily living with me, and that was to make sure I had a cup of coffee before I ever got out of bed.  I am happy to report that I am the happy girl who has rarely been without a cup of coffee within minutes of

opening my eyes.  The funny thing is that Hubbin is now addicted.  Now that we are all scattered across the country I find my coffee time even more important, every time I sit down at a Barnes and Noble and sip my coffee while flipping through a book I feel connected to my Mamma, every time a sibling visits we start with a cup of coffee, every time I smell the aroma of fresh brewed coffee I feel like my Daddy is giving me a hug, when Hubbins family visits I impress his brother with my ability to find coffee ANYWHERE!  So yep coffee, books, and a few minutes to escape is all I need to be a happy girl!
Did you think it was possible for me to love anything as much as books?  What is your alternate addiction (other then books of course)?  How does one get a job drinking coffee and reading books?

Smelling 100 Year Old Books!

I was totally going to do one of my ramblings today, I have finished several amazing books and can't wait to share my thoughts on them, but as with life, things change.  Instead I want to tell you about my weekend, one because it was AWESOME, and two I think it is important that it gets written down somewhere.  Don't worry there are books involved so it is still pretty much on topic.

My Aunt L, Cousin E, and Grandma K decided to make a last minute trip out to the East Coast to finish spreading my Aunt K's ashes in the Catskills.  They made a stop in Philadelphia and wondered if it would be possible for me and Hubbin to come up and stay for the weekend.  Life being that funny thing it is, astoundingly gave me a free weekend and adventuring we went. We arrived in the early afternoon and got to meet some family that I did not even know existed.  We went to this old rectory (it was built in the 1846) that my grandmother and her brother had lived in when her father was the rector there in the 40's-60's.  We also wandered the cemetery and the looked at the outside of the Church of St.James the Less as it is all

locked up tight. I have to say, all of this was pretty cool, all the old trees and stonework, grave stones that were hundreds of years old, the family history, all pretty neat.  We were just about ready to leave when L calls us over and this amazing young woman offers to let us into the rectory where K and her brother lived.  We of course jumped at the opportunity to actually experience this bit of personal history.  Turns out that after a 7 year vacancy the rectory and adjoining parish hall had been turned into St. James School, a middle school focused on getting under served kids the best start possible, totally and insanely wonderful.  They let us wander the rectory, peeking into every room, exploring the attic, stepping out to the balcony, and to top it all off, it turns out that this lovely woman taking the time to show us the place (who will now be referred to as A) actually sleeps in the same room K did.
So we were all pretty happy, we had gotten to see the place K and her brother had lived, learned it had been turned into a worthy school of awesomness, and gotten to poke around historically preserved buildings...but we were not done yet.  This lovely A decided she would hunt down a key to the church itself.  Enter F our other angel for this trip, he had a key and along with A let us into this amazing church.  Breath taking is the only word I can think of.  My Hubbin says every time he see's buildings that we are not allowed inside he would imagine what they would look like, and finally getting to go inside, it was exactly what he thought it would be. It was simply beautiful, full of stained glass windows, carvings, paintings, attention to detail that you don't see anymore.  It was all wonderfully preserved, clean and repaired.  Then they let us ring the big bells Quasimodo style, I felt like a happy little kid. This was all just crazy cool enough, but then E discovered a staircase, and really who can resist a staircase to somewhere new?  So up we went, where we discovered

the archives!  We spent the next 30 minutes happily breathing in the dust of books that were over 100 years old (no seriously we kept passing them back and forth saying "smell this!").  We also discovered a photo album with pictures inscribed with names and dates, and lo and behold there was a pic of my grandmother with her father, talk about instant personal connection!  Seriously A and F were so great through the whole thing, just as excited as we were, eager and willing to show us EVERYTHING!
Next day after chilling with some new found cousins we wandered around the Chestnut Hill area ogling the old stone houses (I now want an old haunted house for my birthday). We stumbled upon this great used book store that was in this little old school train station (totally sounds like something from a book right!?!)  It was jammed full of every type of book, plastic ensconced first edition Hans Christian Anderson next to a 1970's pulp detective novel, so cool!  After spending a bit of cash there (unfortunately not the first editions, boo) we wandered back to the house right before a massive rain storm hit, turning the outside into a delicious smelling, soothing sound of happiness.  We rehashed what a great trip it had been and then sadly headed home.

Thanks for letting me get this all down in writing.  It is important to me personally for several reasons, one being this may be the last trip K remembers as Alzheimer's as started to take a toll.  To have all of this come together in such a short spontaneous time really reminds me why sometimes you have to not over plan, or worry about all the craziness and just let your self have adventures, because who knows you to may be able to ring the big bells and smell 100 year old books!