Adventures With Coffee -- A Failure

I love coffee. I don't think that word actually quite conveys how I feel about coffee. I adore it. I treasure it.

My very first coffee was a french vanilla cappuccino that was more sugar and vanilla than anything else. I got it at a gas station on a high school trip and drank it on the bus. At night. It made me have to pee soooo bad that I sang songs really loudly to distract myself from having to use the restroom. (Yes, I made it home).

After that, my taste started to expand. In college, I went from enjoying some cappuccinos every now and then to really enjoying a great cup of coffee with a bit of half and half or cream. It became an experience. However, the need for caffeine and energy soon gave way to drinking any form of coffee at any time necessary.

I've only given up coffee twice. Both times were because of health issues. Once for heartburn and once because of breathing problems. Caffeine doesn't help when your heart is racing and you can barely breathe. Thankfully, those were both short-term deprivations.

I have coffee every morning. Usually 2-3 cups. I get my coffee from a local roaster: West End Coffee. If you're in the Greenville/Upstate area, you should definitely check them out.

Jeremy also loves coffee, but he drinks his black almost without exception. I love the mix of flavors and aromas. But no matter how or when we drink it, we must have our coffee.

(Even at conventions!)

Now this brings me to the fail part of this blog. A few days ago, I had to run a couple of errands, so I stopped by FedEx which just happens to be right beside Starbucks. Now, I love me some Starbucks. Their blonde roast is my favorite. This day though, I wanted to get the Chestnut Praline Latte. Soy and decaf, please. Yum! I took my coffee and went into the store.

I thought I would only need a couple of small things, so I bypassed the carts and baskets and went to it. Then I remembered that I needed toilet paper, and that is not a small item to carry. I had my coffee and list in one hand and my other arm around the package of toilet paper with a couple of small things on top of the package of TP.

In this fashion, I waddled over to the shaving aisle to get razors and plopped everything on the floor so I could browse. There was a man who had one item in his cart nearby. As I tried and failed to pick up everything again, he so kindly offered me his cart. Actually, his "buggy." I smiled and thanked him, explaining how silly I was to think I didn't need one. Fail number uno.

I happily pushed my cart to check out and unloaded my items. I set my coffee beside the card reader thing and paid. I put my bag of groceries in the cart and turned to grab my coffee....

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You know where this is going.

Yes, the coffee toppled over and spilled all over the circle thing that twirls around with the bags on it. Coffee. Everywhere.

First, I gasped, apologized profusely, and helped the poor cashier lady who had just closed her line prior to this clean up the mess I'd made. As I left the store, sans coffee. I knew immediately this would be a blog post.

And, I didn't get to finish my latte