Case of the (coffee) Mondays

/ Meg

Coffee


The Monday after a spring forward time change. Rougher than a scorpion bite, right?

I’m trying to pull myself together enough to tackle the day, but I’m discombobulated in ten different directions. Capped by getting up extra early today to help my dad with an errand before work and, well . . . I’m hurtin’. I could barely get my contacts in through half-swollen eyes.

Thank God for coffee.

My illustrious history with the fuel powering millions started in college. Growing up, coffee was treated like a controlled substance — something to be enjoyed by adults only, obviously, and regulated. Since my mom has had an early-rising job for decades, I was used to seeing her caffeine intake rise steadily through my childhood. Poor Mom still keeps awful hours, and the accompanying coffee IV drip that follows her everywhere is understandable.

Me? I have less excuses.

I work locally, go to bed at a decent hour, typically fall asleep by 10 p.m. with a book on my chest. Though naturally drowsy, I don’t keep the four-hours-a-night sleep schedule many others do. I have a cousin who works night shifts as a nurse — and has four children under the age of 6. The last time we got together, she disclosed that she “occasionally” has a soda . . . but drinks no other caffeine.

Come again?

I actually had her repeat that. And felt infinitely inadequate and terrified for my future as a sleepy-eyed, slack-jawed parent, I’ll tell you.

I have a little experience with exhaustion, though it was thankfully short-lived. When I started working at Borders in 2006, my hours stretched from 8 a.m. classes in College Park to 6-10 p.m. night shifts at the bookstore. Then I came home and studied, read, wrote essays. Got up, rinse, repeat. No way was I getting through those days without a stimulant, and the delicious aroma of fresh-brewed coffee wafting between the stacks drew me in.

I was an easy convert.

One of our favorite bridal shower gifts last year was a Keurig, a much-treasured present from my grandparents. We can’t remember life before it. Our mornings start with Spence in the kitchen, brewing his coffee to go; I get out the creamer, filling a mug to enjoy before work. Sometimes the thought of choosing my K-cup is the only thing that makes getting out of bed tolerable.

Well, sort of tolerable.

The time change always gets me off-kilter, tying little weights to my eyelids by mid-afternoon. I’ve heard rumblings of doing away with daylight saving time all together, and I can’t say I’d be opposed.

Until then, grab a cup. It’s Monday, and we got this.


15 thoughts on “Case of the (coffee) Mondays”

  1. I thought I was going to handle this time change with finesse, and then I couldn’t go to sleep last night, and I kept reading and reading a newish book. 3 hours sleep and I am not sure the contacts are even going in!! Another cup please!

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  2. I was in the Starbucks drive thru this morning! I work at 6:30am, and it was FULLY dark this morning. Made it feel even worse to be up that “early”. Can’t complain about the extra daylight at night though : )

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  4. The lost hour kills me EVERY TIME IT HAPPENS. And it doesn’t help me to know I’ll get it back in the fall. This morning everyone in my house was dragging. But I don’t drink coffee. Hate the taste. I know, go figure. If I need a boost, I drink a Diet Coke which I know is bad for me but I don’t care 🙂

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  5. Oh man, I’m so thrown off right now I’m about to go grab my second cup of the morning. I think these time changes get harder and harder as we get older. I drink coffee/espresso not just for the energy boost, though, but because I genuinely love it. I’ve cut caffeine out for Lent before and after the 5-day headache went away, I was fine. But! I had a big ol’ cup of brew on Easter Sunday and went right back to drinking it as soon as I could! My grandma taught me how to make coffee when I was about 5 or 6 so I could help her make her own (arthritis is no fun). She would let me have some, too, but it was usually only about a quarter of a cup of coffee with the rest filled with milk. I think it’s why I prefer lattes to regular coffee now – I need the higher milk-to-coffee ratio for it to be “right”!!

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  6. I’m with you.. I need coffee to function every day, as bad as that sounds! I started drinking coffee at 14 when I scored my first job (Dunkin Donuts). Now, 14 years later… I’m addicted. Anyone that has lived with me knows that I need a cup of coffee in hand when I wake up, or I can’t even think about starting my day.

    Today I’m on cup #2, which I solely blame on the time change.

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  7. My coffee addiction started in university while working at a small on-campus coffee shop. And I cannot imagine starting my day without a cup of coffee or a latte. (I have a small Brevillo espresso machine with steaming wand, which creates the most heavenly lattes..usually reserved for weekends due to time constraints.) I have thought of quitting because I know I have an addiction but life just seems sweeter, more comforting, and more manageable with a cup of hot caffeine wafting from between my hands. And so I have accepted that this is my flaw….and try to keep it to only 2 cups max a day.

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  8. The fact that you made an entire post dedicated to coffee makes me so happy. LOVE! I’ve tried to give it up a few times over the years but it never sticks. There’s too much happiness/awakeness tied to the delicious beverage.

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  12. In the North of Australia they refuse to have day light saving, some say it’s because the curtains fade, or the cows don’t like it….?. We have day light saving until mid April. I hate the change over times too. It takes a week to get used to the change, coffee or no!

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  15. I love coffee!!! I’m no stranger too sleepiness and I have to have my coffee in the a.m. and a red bull in the afternoon (but not too late, because caffeine stays in your system for a long time and I have an early bedtime).

    The time change didn’t affect me too much, though, because I’m out the door at 5am and haven’t seen the sunlight on my morning drive since last fall.

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