CARS & COFFEE

I HATE CARS!!

Sometimes I think they create more problems than they are worth. Dwane's Mom gave us her 1990ish Ford Escort Wagon. It had been sitting for a while, but only had 79,000 miles on it. Since she was moving back to Virginia, she thought Dwane would like it to "tinker" with. Well, after countless hours and hundreds of dollars, Dwane was able to register it on Thursday. Yesterday, we took the car to Brunswick so Dwane could pick up a piece of equipment for work. On the way home, we made it to Bath, and Dwane pulls quickly into VIP. Apparently, the coolant light had come on, and it needed antifreeze. He picked up the antifreeze, put it in, and started the car. No go. The car would make that "err, err, err" sound, but that's it. Dwane said that it was not getting any gas. Fuel pump? Vapor lock? Corroded fuel sensors? Who knows. We called AAA for a ride home, but they didn't have a tow truck with cab. So all 5 of us (the 4 of us plus the driver) crammed onto a bench seat to make the hour long drive home from Bath. Yuck. Caleb was on Dwane's lap, and Eben was on mine. Fifteen minutes into the trip, Caleb decided to go to sleep, so he leans over on me. So I'm now cradling Caleb in my arms, and Eben is on my knees. (Caleb is between my chest and Eben's back.) What a trip. Actually, the boys were much better behaved during that trip than they had been all day. Praise God!

I LOVE COFFEE!!

Well, not exactly. I don't love just any coffee--it has to be mine. It's almost like a ritual for me--the process of making my coffee. 2 1/2 heaping teaspoons of decaf coffee with a chocolate twist (Chocolate Velvet, Chocolate Truffle, etc.), with water just past the 4-cup mark. Two heaping teaspoons of Splenda in the bottom of the empty coffee cup. A pretty good splash of Coffeemate on top of the Splenda. (Still no coffee in the cup.) Now I swirl the Splenda and the Coffeemate together. Then comes the coffee. No stirring. (If you put the spoon in the coffee to stir it, it gets wet. Now you have to get a new spoon to measure out the Splenda for the next cup. Call me crazy.) Anyway, by not stirring, you get this extra sweet little "skim" on the top that its absolutely delicious. And I don't even let Dwane make my coffee. No way. It has to be me. It's like making my coffee is a time of deep reflection or something. Just something I have to do. Anyway--my favorite Coffeemate is Chocolate Raspberry. Right now, I am alternating that with White Chocolate Macadamia Nut. That one is ok, but I probably won't by it again. The last Coffeemate I bought was actually the General Foods one (I think) called Chocolate Mint something. That one was DELICIOUS. Haven't found it since. Figures! Now---for all of you Starbucks fans out there (I have never been to a Starbucks), if you were me, knowing what I have just told you about my coffee preferences, what would you order for me? Let me know so that I know what to order the first time I go to Starbucks.