How I Start My Morning ...

Much of my day is routine.  Same ol' thing, over and over ... and over.  Some of it is quite boring.  Like scraping oatmeal off of the floor (yes I do this on a daily basis!) or picking the same books and toys up off the floor only to find them there again 10 minutes later.  {sigh}  But some of the routine is quite welcome.  Like nap time for the 3-year old!  Or dinnertime with everyone at the table.    

And ... my morning latte!  I am not a morning person.  Never have been.  But someone forgot to tell my 3-year old that.  When she wakes up, everyone is up!  I NEED that latte as a kick-start to my day.  

A few years ago hubby bought this hunkin' espresso machine.  Of course I did not get it.  What was wrong with coffee from my beloved French coffee press?  Ooo-la-lah!  But after breaking 3 of those presses (I won't tell you who broke them), I was forced to use the big machine if I wanted my morning kick.  

I have perfected my version of the perfect latte.  I start with half a mug of milk.  It has to be in my Salt Lake City 2002 Olympics mug.  No, we did not go to the Olympics.  Hubby happened to have a flight through SLC in 2003 and bought the mug on clearance in the airport gift shop.  He's very thoughtful when it comes to things like that. 

Then I hit the milk with a double shot of espresso.  Notice how the espresso goes from a strong, super dark liquid, to a thick, creamy frothy topping.  YUM

Now I take my perfect cup, sweeten it up a bit, then head out to the veranda to enjoy the view ...

Oh wait ... I don't have a veranda.  Dang.  I have a patio.  But I haven't cleaned the dust off the table and chairs.  And that Tuscany photo ... well at least it's the view I enjoy on my computer's desktop.  If I close my eyes as I'm sipping my perfect latte, it could almost be like I'm right there.  

Except for the sounds of ... "MOM, she won't get out of my room!"  And ... "he won't stop pushing me!"  Then my eyes pop open and I see this ...
Ok, ok ... let me finish my latte before I get back to reality ... and routine.

p.s.  The cat was getting tired of being left out of the blog.