And, another quick shout out to my Local Purveyors of Caffeine...

Dear Dictaphone,

This morning, when I was running around, dealing with errands and urgent phone calls and such, I had a shocking realization. I hadn't had any coffee yet! Then I had another, much more pleasant recollection... I had a free coffee available on my Biggby card! And I was about to drive past the Spectacular Sparta Biggby Shop. Huzzah!

I pulled in to the parking lot and went inside, because it's much more entertaining that way. And people are less irritated when you can't make up your mind than if that happens in the drive-thru. As I entered the store, the Brilliant Beth Ann saw me and gave a genuinely excited "Hey, it's you!" type hello. Which was pretty gratifying. She may not remember my name, but she recognized me as a Person to be Happy to See.  She also has referred to me as "The one with the blog!" Having many years of retail experience, I understand how easy it is to have customers all blend together. I also know that the fact that I was recognized at all is impressive. Actually, if she remembered my name, it might be a sign that I've spent far too much time there. It should take at least a little while longer for that to happen.

I ordered my coffee (A Super Avalanche Latte with two extra shots of espresso), chatted a bit about some Good Things going on right now, got my drink, then went on my way.

And honestly, the rest of my erranding, indeed, the rest of my day thus far, has been better for this interaction. It's pretty impressive what a difference a simple excited greeting can make to a day. So thanks Beth Ann! This good mood is for you! (And the rest of the folks there, of course.)

Props to Biggby in Sparta (aka - Coffee Happiness and entertaining music)

Dear Dictaphone,

Today I find myself hanging out at Biggby Coffee in Sparta. Had a couple hours I had to kill outside the house, and a computer to work on, so I figured, hey, why not? The people here are friendly, and most importantly, they are a Major Supplier of Caffeine for Ingestion. All that, and they have WiFi too! And power outlets, which help when Various Electronic Devices (other dictaphones) require replenishment.

So I'm sitting here, drinking my Super Mocha Caramel with two extra shots, watching one laptop run updates, and listening to the music play. I asked the Notorious Nicole* if they pick their own Music, and was informed that this is what gets sent through by corporate. Corporate has good taste. Perky upbeat fun stuff. Which particularly works for me because yesterday I discovered that the song "I can see clearly now" when plugged into Pandora, will return a music list that has oodles of 50's bubble gum pop and other reggae infused and similar fun stuff. Apparently I'm in the mood for light perky but not completely without substance music.

So if you see me today, and I'm at least remotely semi-conscious, you can credit that to my local coffee shop.

*nicknames are completely my own fault, I do not know if Nicole is indeed Notorious or not, but it sounded good, and I will now remember her name whenever I see her.

Also, the awesome image is copyrighted to the person who created it. I have it linked to the source. I like it, but it is not of my creation.

Bedazzled Cowboy Hats and Squeezing Christians

Dear Dictaphone,

I fell asleep last night to an episode of Boy Meets World. I woke up to... Shawn Michaels (yes, the wrestler) giving his testimony on a religious show. I already know his story, and it's a wonderful story with a happy ending (so far, because in the words of the immortal Monty Python, "He's not dead yet!"). However at the insane hour of five-dog-trying-to-push-me-out-of-bed-why-didn't-I-set-the-coffee-maker-last-night-thirty am, seeing a wrestler in what looks like a crazy bedazzled cowboy hat that his daughter must have picked out for him (because I don't care how many times you've been the World Champion, if your baby girl tells you to wear a bedazzled cowboy hat on a religious show, you will wear a bedazzled cowboy hat on a religious show) giving his testimony of faith next to whatshisface Robison, I'm guaranteed to question whether I'm really awake.

This run-on sentence brought to you by I Couldn't Wait To Start Reading Chrysoula Tzavelas' New Book So I Was Up Late Even Though I Knew I Had To Be Up Early To Wake Up My Kid and Again Why Didn't I Set The Coffee Maker Last Night. I make no apologies.

It was followed by Joyce Meyer talking about no matter how pretty a Christian is on the outside, you don't know what they're really like until you squeeze them.

Oh dear.

I hope this isn't a sign of what the day is going to bring.

Please go ahead and look up his story. It's pretty darned inspiring. Shawn Michaels, not Robison. People should read Chrysoula's stories too. All of them. And no, I don't have links. If you can read this, you should be able to Google for yourself. I haven't had any coffee yet.

OFF WITH HER HEAD!

Dear Dictaphone,

I woke up to white stuff on my car. First thought was "Why the hell did someone use a fire extinguisher on my car?". Then I realized it was Ice Lord Vomit. AKA snow. Seriously? At that point I went into full Queen of Hearts mode, and declared that I'd had it with Mother Nature, " OFF WITH HER HEAD!" Because seriously, really? I live in the northern part of the country, I get that. But this is still ridiculous.

Also noteworthy, all of this happened around 7:30, BC (before coffee).

Went to the store for random things that don't self-resupply, as much as that may surprise my children. At the checkout told the story of my moment from this morning to the cashiers (who know me oh so well). And happily saw that my groceries were being put in reusable cloth bags. Because it's Earth Day and Family Fare is giving them away until they run out.

When I got home (and had finished my coffee) everything clicked.

It's Earth Day. Apparently Mother Nature opted to use Her day to play a prank on humanity. Because hey, why not? Well played.

And the sun is shining, sort of, and it's all melting. So that's good.

Ice Lords vomited on my car last night.