What kind of coffee does Dracula drink?

Decoffinated! Ha!!

Well, he may be able to suck down some decaffeinated brew and still manage to stay up all night but I cannot make it through a day without my daily cup.

While I do love the flavor- particularly this time of year when pumpkin spice is available- I find that I am just not as alert or focused without my morning dose. Yawns start creeping in and stacking up, my mind feels slippery, and -oops- I’ve gone and missed what was being said about the last two slides of the power point!

Enter my Tuesday morning, and a broken coffee maker. Yikes. I am a devoted home -brewer. No pricey S-Bucks, and while I have on occasion run on Dunkins, I see no reason to shell out my cash for something I can do myself. Also, probably more importantly, I love to sleep. Love it. Therefore, I sleep until the latest possible minute, effectively preventing any side trips to the aforementioned coffee suppliers.

My fiance, on the other hand, lives on tea. And while I enjoy a nice warm beverage at 3pm on the occasional blustery day, it’s never really been my -umm- cup of tea. Certainly not my hello-world motivating morning miracle. But, I have to admit, over the past few days I have developed a greater fondness for tea leaves and fruit infused concoctions.

Either way, tea or coffee (which, thankfully, was fixed this morning), I think the most important part of my morning cup is the time it gives me to relax and reflect on my upcoming day. A little mental housekeeping that primes my mind for the vast amounts of information headed its way.

So, don’t forget to find some “me” time, and try the pumpkin spice!

A First Year’s First Feelings…

Here we go again… new school, new faces, how hard will this be? How much homework will I get (by which I mean I really want to know if I still have time to watch Castle!)? When college rolled around I felt so ready to jump in feet first, was so excited to live away from home and to leave my little hometown in favor of the experiences John Hughes would write movies about. Four years in college (of which Adam Leff and Zak Penn did write about!) and four years out in the world of work, and I find myself more reserved about this new event awaiting me- even my health insurance company refers to this as a “major life event”!

Having moved back to that little hometown, gotten a dog, a fiancé, and a job I have remained passionate about for four years running I am returning to academics because I need to know more. I have been working with children with emotional and behavioral disorders in a last stand setting, seen the trauma take its toll, and oftentimes wondered how these children spiraled so far out of control. If I want to continue my work with children in this field I need the appropriate education and training to make a greater difference in their lives.

So, while I know graduate school will be a lot of hard work –even more so than my 40 hour work week- and am acutely aware of the dire straights my finances will be in, I feel confident, relieved, and excited to graduate from my job and begin my first year!