Tuesday's Tip (#36)

Here's a tip for you:

Change your name to Mary. Or Joe.

My name is Lissie. It's not hard to say. It rhymes with Missy. For some reason though, whenever I go to Starbucks, they really struggle with it. It's not like I'm asking for an Americano for Regina Phalange. I don't think my name is too unusual, but I can understand the confusion with "Lizzie."

(Not my name, but understandable and acceptable.)

I can also understand spelling it with a "y."

(Okay...not quite what I was thinking.)

Lately, though, they're not even close. I don't think I mumble. And I'm fairly certain that I e-nun-ci-ate.

Last week I had "Liney" and "Lieu." The same woman waits on me every day. She's very nice and wonderfully efficient. But, every day I say "Lissie." Then, repeats it back to me. I say the "S" and she repeats the "S." Does she just struggle with writing the "S"?

(Leei? How do I even pronounce that?)

(Lize rhymes with lies? I kind of like that. Say it slowly. It sounds fancy. "There goes Lize with her Venti Americano...")

So, I'm just going to change my name. Tomorrow, I'll have a Venti Americano for Bob. They can't possibly go wrong with that.

Have a tip to share? Or an unusual name? Feel free to leave a comment below...

...& be sure to check back every Tuesday for a new tip!

Tuesday's Tip (#27)

Here's a tip for you:

Buy two coffees.

Because I work at a pilot school, we do more hours of professional development than the other public schools in the district.  Inevitably, I forget to add our long days to my calendar. Which means that I find myself sitting in a two hour meeting after school totally distracted by the fact that my body is slowly dying from caffeine withdrawal. 

Not today! Today, I had the foresight to buy not one, but two, coffees. One for the morning and one for my meeting. I'm going to be so productive!

 

Have a tip to share? Or some cash to add to my Dunkin Donuts card? Feel free to leave a comment below...

...& be sure to check back every Tuesday for a new tip!

There Will Be Blood... & Coffee

I've talked about my caffeine addiction before. It's kind of the running theme in this crazy life.

Last week, I was completely exhausted and decided to treat myself to a latte at Starbucks. I don't usually go there because the coffee is twice as expensive as Dunkin Donuts. My caffeine habit what it is, we'd be broke in no time. I decided I deserved a little treat and went to Starbucks after I dropped the kids off at school. When I got there, I was happy to be running a little early (for once) because the line was almost out the door. I guess that's to be expected when ordering your coffee takes ten minutes. Yes, lady with the venti half-caf soy chai latte, I'm talking to you.

While waiting in this ridiculous line, some silly lady came in the door. At this point the line was pushing up against the door. Basically, her choice was to continue the line out the door, or make it go alongside the wall. Instead of these wise choices, she tried to get in front of me. Seriously. Line cutting. Which prompted me to tweet this:

Probably not one of my finer moments, but, for real? Are you so special that the basic rules of kindergarten don't apply to you? No cuts, no buts, no coconuts. That's all I have to say about that.

After gently edging out the pushy witch (all the while thinking violent thoughts), I finally made it to the front of the line. I ordered my venti nonfat latte and made a last minute decision to cancel out the "nonfat" with a pumpkin scone. Then I went and took out a loan for my breakfast. My real problems didn't start until they asked for a name for my cup. This whole name your drink thing is a struggle for me. My name is Lissie. For whatever reason, that name is just too difficult. I get a puzzled look, but I refuse to spell it. I haven't had my coffee, yet. That is way too much conversation. In hindsight, I'm thinking I should just say Jane or Mary. It would simplify the process. 

Luckily, I'm cool with the barista shouting out "LESSI" and knowing she probably means me. Unlike Irina in front of me. Who waited for an extra 10 minutes because the barista was putting the emphasis on the wrong syllable. 

The latte and scone were a terrific treat. A little pricey, and taxing on my patience, but a good thing on occasion. If I tried to brave that place on a daily basis, I'd be broke and probably end up hurting somebody.

How about you? Where do you get your daily fix?

Yum

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Tuesday's Tip (#23)

Here's a tip for you:

Prioritize.

You know when it's 8:57 am and you've already been up for four hours and done a million things? And you're still ten minutes away from work even though you need to be there in eight minutes? And you haven't stopped for coffee yet?

That's when you need to set your priorities straight. Go ahead and get in that coffee line. It's in everyone's best interest. 

Who are you kidding? You could be there two minutes late and be a caffeine-deprived zombie all day. Or, you could be there seven minutes late and be as sharp as a tack (at least until the post-caffeine crash).

So just go ahead and stop for your coffee. You're going to be late anyway. You may as well be late and awake. Do it for the children.

Have a tip to share? Or really good priorities? Feel free to leave a comment below...

...& be sure to check back every Tuesday for a new tip!

Tuesday's Tip (#21)

Here's a tip for you:

Get a sippy cup.

Not for your kids. For yourself. That way, when you're rushing out of the house, you won't be a fool who thinks they can travel with their coffee mug (not a travel mug). That would be silly. And result in at least 8 fluid ounces of lukewarm coffee ending up inside your bra as you try to drink and drive. It makes for a lovely perfume to wear to work, however. Eau de caffeine.

Have a tip to share? Or a travel mug? Feel free to leave a comment below...

...& be sure to check back every Tuesday for a new tip!

Oops, I Did It Again...

I got a flat tire. Again. Apparently, the laws of Murphy were written explicitly for me. Flat tires do not happen when I'm just hanging out in my house on a Saturday. They happen when I am on my way to work. Or when Sophie has her early-release day from school and needs to be picked up in an hour. I am blessed to have an incredible family support system. If my father-in-law didn't come to my rescue (again), I'm not really sure what would've happened to the kids. I guess they'd still be at school waiting for me to get sorted out.


I have Fridays off. In theory, this sounds lovely. Every Friday, I think I am going to accomplish all sorts of tasks that have been put off all week. I think about the playdates I'll have with friends I haven't seen in a while. Unfortunately, the universe has conspired to make my Fridays a hectic mess. (I've already learned not to go to work on my day off since that is how I got my car towed away. Curse you, street cleaning day!)


This Friday started well. I dropped the kids off at school and headed to my mom's with Sean and Charlotte. Lala was going to make us breakfast. We hung out there for Moonstruck eggs and when I left, there was still plenty of time to get to Sophie's school for pick-up. Or so I thought.


Shortly after leaving my mom's house (with working tires!), I had to pull over on the side of the road because my front left tire was not only flat, but completely devoid of air. Just what you want when there are two little kids in the backseat and three more waiting to be picked up at school. Roadside assistance informed me that it would be an hour before someone could come and change the tire (which turned into 2 1/2). My poor father-in-law came and stayed with my car so I could take his car and pick up the kids. I made it to Sophie with a tire minute to spare.


All of the hassle made me want a coffee. I drove to the nearest Dunkin Donuts only to find that it had been closed for renovations. Seriously?? Who cares what it looks like? Just give me my caffeine! I decided that I really didn't feel like getting the kids out of the car, so I headed to the McDonald's drive-thru for a coffee. When the woman at the window handed it to me, I forgot which car I was driving. My father-in-law's car is smaller and lower than mine. I grabbed the cup and slammed it into the window frame. I spilled a ton of hot coffee all over myself and the steering wheel. The poor woman at the window started apologizing and throwing napkins at me. This - along with all of the other ridiculous events of the day - prompted me to start laughing maniacally. My sister was on the phone with me at the time and is still disturbed by what she could only describe as cackling. To top it all off, the coffee was horrible. I decided to take my sideshow into the local Starbuck's and treat myself to a latte. Clearly, I've got an addiction.


Once my coffee issues were addressed, I headed into the pick-up line at the big kids' school. This is where I discovered that I was going to have to get creative. I was driving a sedan. There aren't enough seats for all of my kids. I eventually did maneuver them into seat belts with some sharing involved. (Thank you to Alice for offering to help me shuttle some of the kids, though.) In the meantime, my father-in-law ended up wasting about 4 hours waiting for my tire to get replaced. It was a ridiculous day for him, for sure. I'm pretty certain he's going to retire from his own private roadside assistance. Unless he wants to capitalize on it and turn it into a legitimate business.


So, we are currently operating with full tires. But, it's the weekend and we have no plans. I'm sure the fates can arrange for something ridiculous in time for Monday morning...

Caffeine

I've always survived well on small amounts of sleep.  Ask any of my friends from college.  I was the queen of the "all-nighter" since I suffer from a hard-core case of procrastination-itis.  I should thank my lack of planning for preparing me for motherhood.

When you have a brand-new baby, everyone wants to know how the baby sleeps.  I've been blessed, 5 times, with really good sleepers.  Patrick, the oldest, was difficult to put to sleep, but would then go down for a solid 13 hours (where I would repeatedly make sure he was still breathing).  The others, as infants, were great, right from the start.

The problem, now, lies with the odds.  Odds are, one child won't wake up in the middle of the night too often.  Maybe once a week that child might wake up for a glass of water or to be comforted after a bad dream.  When there are five children involved, however, things change.  Somehow, there is some exponential shift in how many times someone will wake me up at night.

Someone wants a glass of water.  Bleary-eyed, I plod to the kitchen to honor the request.  Inevitably, no one else will wake up until I return to bed and make myself comfortable.  Someone else has just had a nightmare and can only be soothed by a glass of chocolate milk.  I curse you, Hershey's Syrup.

Situations like this go on all week.  Sometimes it's a nightmare or extreme thirst.  Sometimes someone just wants to chat at 3 am.  It doesn't help that I married a man capable of sleeping through Armageddon.  And I'm pretty sure the kids have orchestrated some evil plan to wear me down enough that I finally say yes to Chuck E. Cheese (oh, how I despise that place).  Whatever it is, there is one saving grace.

Coffee.

I get made fun of daily for carting around my EXTRA large from Dunkin Donuts.  My coworkers know that there is something wrong if that giant Styrofoam cup isn't in my hand.  Thank you to whomever decided to roast, grind and brew those little beans with hot water.  That and some good make-up allow me to function as almost human in society.

So here I sit, with my first cup of the day.  A steamy helping of survival.

This is what I bought to hang in my kitchen. Appropriate!