Coffee Talk

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Let's catch up over coffee! It's amazing that in spite of feeling like every day is groundhog day, I have things to share with you. What are you drinking? I'm excited to have some Starbucks Komodo Dragon in my cup. With a splash of half and half and a scoop of GLG Collagen, of course. My hubs gifted me with 2 bags of Starbucks for my birthday. I know, Mr Excitement, right? I'm actually good with it. Keep reading and you'll see why. 

If we were having coffee.... I'd share that my husband and I are doing some much needed upgrades to our home. We are still hoping to someday retire at the lake, but after living here for 23 years, we've become those people on our street. You know the ones--they don't have to decorate for Halloween because their house looks haunted. Ok, maybe it's not that bad, but I think he finally took the hint after the 3rd home repair contractor rang our doorbell to tell us about their services. Guys, he's a carpenter by trade. It's like the shoemaker's children have no shoes. I'm just excited to get a new sectional and a new stove--both of which I've already ordered. I'm not an HGTV person or anything like that, but a homeowner's gotta do some maintenance....

We need one of those too

If we were having coffee... I'd tell you that I'm in a fantasy football league again with the CrosssFit group. I recruited my son to be my co-manager this year--I needed help and yeah, I'm competitive-- and the first two weeks were a bust. Our running back blew out his ACL in the first quarter of the game. You get the picture. This week, my son found a running back to replace him in the draft pool. An unknown player for New England and yep, he scored 34 points last week. Our defense showed up. We won the week! Can we repeat this? Oh wait...

If we were having coffee... I'd tell you that I have not renewed my driver's license, even though it expired on my birthday. We are fortunate to have an extension through November, so I'm not breaking the law. I loathe going to the DMV. I'd rather go to the gynecologist. What really creams my coffee is the requirement for me to take a vision test. You know what I'm talking about. That machine that I have to put my face on? As if the DMV employees are properly sanitizing it between patients. I highly doubt their machine is properly calibrated, judging by the way people drive. Why can't I just bring a note from my eye doctor? 

If we were having coffee... I'd share with you the books I've read this month. Compared to last month, the choices available from the library were limited! I've got a bunch of books on hold, so hopefully, I'll have some good ones to recommend next month.

• Betty by Tiffany McDaniel was AMAZING. If you like books like Educated and The Glass Castle, you will love this story based on the author's mother's childhood in a dysfunctional Appalachian mixed-race family. Some parts are hard to get through--really unbelieveable-- but all I can say is wow. Loved it. 
• The Last Story of Mina Lee by Nancy Jooyoun Kim, by contrast, was kind of a slog. I should have DNF'd it but it got good reviews and I kept waiting for it to get better. That never happened. It wasn't a bad read, it was just meh. So many books I've read from Reese's book club have been like this for me, and it's become clear that I shouldn't choose books just because Reese recommends them!
• The Death of Vivek Oji by Akwaeke Emezi was available and it has gotten rave reviews by my favorite book bloggers. It's a coming of age story of a young boy in Nigeria who struggles with his identity. It also asks the question--do parents really know their children? Sigh. 

If we were having coffee...  I'd talk about the election. If you don't think your vote matters, I want to remind you that it does. I am blessed to care for many children who have emigrated to the US from war torn countries from around the world. They come to the US because, as one mom said to me this week as we talked about the debate, 'it's America and it's still great. You can be who you want to be." They come to our country to escape persecution for religious affiliation, for the color of their skin, or for speaking their minds. When I asked this very kind, caring mom, who is from Syria, what she thought about the presidential debate, she told me that in the past, Americans have always had 'good people as presidents' and we are used to it, so a lot of Americans don't vote. In her country, they don't have a voice. She said to me: "now you (Americans) know how important it is to vote".  

Don't let fear and intimidation keep you from voting. Our democracy depends on it. Do you still need to register to vote? Here's the site where you can get all the information. 

And wear your mask!!

What would you tell me over coffee? Any home projects going on at your place? Are you following football this year? Have you read any good books this month? Are you going to vote?

I'm linking up with Coco and Deborah for the Ultimate Coffee Date and with Fridays with Fairytales and Fitness.