Saturday, November 7, 2009

TO QUIT OR NOT TO QUIT(COFFEE NOT RUNNING) THAT IS THE QUESTION?

All My Mugs                                                                   Mother's Day Mugs



This looks like my dog Gypsy, she was my first baby.

Old habits and addictions die hard especially when you have invested money into them. Take for instance my coffee addiction. I had bought a very nice coffee maker with a stainless steel and black finish to match my other appliances in the kitchen. Unfortunately it died on me yesterday despite my efforts to resuscitate it with the usual cleaning protocol. It was dead and I was now going to have to go out and replace it. Or was I?

I have been thinking about quitting coffee for sometime now. Perhaps this was the impetuous I was waiting for to finally just up and quit. I knew if I replaced the coffee maker that I would be investing in my addiction and furthering the probability that I would never quit. After all, once I have put out the money for another expensive appliance I would be damned if I would let it sit there unused. So as I stood there looking at my deceased coffee maker and trying to decide if I should go out and replace it with the newest model I began to empty out the dish washer and ponder the question further. As I opened the cabinet to put some dishes away I was struck by the sight of all of my coffee mugs piled atop of one another. OMG, how could I have forgotten about all of those. Perhaps 20 or 50 coffee mugs peered down at me, some with Loony Tunes characters, some with funny quotes, some with "I Love You Mom" on them. What would become of ALL the coffee mugs if I were to quit drinking coffee? There was the mug I was given when I turned 40, all the mugs I unwrapped at Christmas, mugs I picked up on vacation plus the ones I just couldn't resist in the Knick-Knack store and best of all the mugs my daughter gave me on Mother's Day. Oh yes, I had alot invested in those mugs, monetarily and emotionally. Sure if I was to get rid of them I would gain two entire shelves of cabinet space for storage, but then what would I replace them with? It is hard to replace all those gifts and memories with nondescript pieces of china or glassware. Well I didn't have much time to mull this all over as my husband arrived home with a new coffee maker and in no time I had that sucker cleaned and brewing.

As I sit here writing this I am enjoying a nice hot cup of coffee brewed in my brand new coffee maker and poured in to a very special mug which holds almost 2 cups of coffee plus the memory of the friend who gave it to me. OK perhaps I will quit after this new coffee maker dies and with our hard water that might be in 6 months or a year tops. Until then I will enjoy and savour some quality time with my tummy warming coffee and my heart warming mugs knowing that I could kick this addiction at anytime, if I ever really, really, really wanted to.
PS
Running went smashing this week. Lots of fast tempos and intervals which killed me and I loved it.




10 comments:

Anonymous said...

great post Eliza and oh so true. I will remember not to put a coffee cup for Eliza on my christmas list

Derrick said...

Ahhh...nothing better than a good dark roast!

I considered giving it up too at one point, but....hello??!!! sumatran!

Derrick said...

ps. get a coffee press.

Eliza Ralph-Murphy said...

But a coffee press would never break so I would lose all hope of ever quitting and besides that would be like buying a coffee "Bong". What are you, some kind of a coffee pusher?


"...but....hello??!!! sumatran!"
??????????????You got me.
I have no idea. Not a clue.

Eliza Ralph-Murphy said...

...yes Mom I have more then a few mugs that remind me of you already:) Besides Christmas is a time for running gifts. I will send you my list soon.

Derrick said...

Coffee Bong?.....gawd, now that's funny.

Rest assured coffee presses break. We've gone through two this year!

Sumatran = good dark roast

JD said...

I say, why even consider quitting? It's like saying "I'm going to quit breathing because I'm addicted to it".

Eliza Ralph-Murphy said...

Well I just seem to keep drinking more and more. Say I'll cut back, try to cut back then I am back to drinking 2 pots a day. Plus it takes the place of water many times in my diet so I wonder how that affects me. As for breathing I have no plans to cut back on it and hope to be doing it for many years to come: )

mum said...

KEEP THE LIST SIMPLE ONE I UNDERSTAND WHAT IS "gu" AND WHERE CAN I GET IT

Derrick said...

Mum.......be sure to get GU with caffeine. Lots and lots of caffeine. espresso and vanilla bean are best:)