Lord help me.......I'm a coffee creamer junkie...

I have come to the final realization......I am indeed ADDICTED to flavored coffee creamer. Holy crap when and how did this happen? I used to enjoy a flavored coffee treat only seasonally when Starbucks came out with their HOLIDAY cappuccinos.....and then I would maybe have those ONLY 1-2 times for the entire season.

Around that same time holiday flavored coffee creamers came out on the market.....and I tried them. Oh oh......this meant I could have access to my seasonal TREATS year-round. DAILY if I wanted.....all I had to do was go to the store and BUY the stuff and pour it into my daily coffees.

Well I love coffee. I can drink at least 2 cups every day.......and sometimes 4.......though I think I am in denial even about that. I make coffee twice per day........10 cups each time. I notice according to my coffee pot......only 4 cups are usually left in the pot when I am done drinking it.....so gee Melinda.......6+6=12 cups according to simple traditional math..but I justify all that because I know I never finish drinking the entire amount of coffee that is in my cup each time I pour one. I drink about half.....then it starts to get too cold and I end up dumping the rest. Okay....maybe I am in denial about that too. I DO sometimes finish most of the cup.....but I know it is sounding now like I make too much and dump too much hence I am wasting too much.

BUT BACK to the creamer problem. I LOVE HAZELNUT COFFEE CREAMER! Mixed in with my coffee or flavored coffee.......holy crap! I almost start to drool just thinking about it. This is sad people...freakin' sad!

I came to the realization that I was perhaps adding MORE than a mere 1 Tablespoon per cup the other day. (1 Tablespoon has 35 calories I believe.......5 gm sugar.....zero fats.....but still) when I started to notice I was buying 2 big bottles of creamer.....and they would be gone within five days. HELLO.......that is obviously WAY MORE than 1 Tablespoon per cup if each bottle has 63 -one Tablespoon servings! According to that ratio ONE bottle of creamer should be lasting me at least a month! More or less.

Somewhere along the way I have turned into a coffee-creamer junkie. I tried to wean off a month or so ago. I actually went through withdrawal symptoms....I was cranky.....okay perhaps even a bit bitchy.......and I really missed that cup of coffee with cream in it..especially in the late afternoon early evening as that was like a treat for me.....and made me feel good.....I needed my fix!

I drank my coffee black again which I can do and used to tremendously enjoy.......but found I did not enjoy it as much anymore.....and in fact.....many days went by that I did not drink any coffee at all. I just felt like why bother......it tasted too bitter and nasty most times without my creamer. (CRAP I can hear a whine when I type this which is so annoying)

I broke down and bought more cream. I realized I had a problem last night when I noticed Kroger had a sale on the creamers and I frantically grabbed 4 BIG BOTTLES!. FOUR!!! It is not cheap......and the rate I am going through it is sheer craziness.

Today I decided to see exactly HOW much creamer I really do add to my cup of coffee. I got the measuring spoons out.......and added ONE Tablespoon.....added the coffee.....tasted.......CRAP that was nasty! I could tell by the color even before I tasted it ...that it was NOT going to have enough creamer in it. SO I added ONE more Tablespoon......STILL not the way it normally tasted or looked to me. I added a third......and then a fourth. FINALLY it was about the same as I had been drinking it.

SO......I did some quick math without a calculator and realized EACH of my freaking cups of coffee was costing me at least 100+ calories now since I was adding the creamer to it! OVER ONE HUNDRED CALORIES!!! never mind the sugar content.

SO I know what I need to do.......I just am not sure how to do it. My subconscious brain is screaming out how UNFAIR it is to yank the bottle away from the baby so to speak....while my health conscious aspect is screaming LIVE LONGER damn it! I know I am going to have to wean......a COLD turkey approach did not work last time I tried it. SO these last four precious bottles of flavored coffee creamer are going to be milked for all they are worth. I will have to MEASURE my creamer in my coffee......and slowly decrease till I am off it.

How embarassing this whole subject is. How mortifying to see how quickly something can become addictive and it feels like something I need to have to just get through my normal day! I have to change this daily routine of treats back to ONLY 1-2 times per YEAR. I used to be able to drink all my coffees black......whether they were flavored or not. I need to get back to that. I need to drink more of my teas......I need an entire wing at a Betty Ford-like treatment center for coffee creamer junkies.....

Lord help me......and I say that SINCERELY......

my mom shared this movie with me this morning and it was so good I wanted to share it with you! ENJOY!

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Diary Of A Mad Black Woman...

OKAY......I actually watched a movie last night and it was this one. IF YOU HAVE NOT YET SEEN IT......you MUST! It is an excellent movie and very funny and I felt sent a superb message.

Helen McCarter has everything a woman wants: a nice house and rich husband. However her husband Charles throws her out of the house after admitting to an affair. A distraught Helen turns to her mother, grandmother Madea and cousin Brian who take her in and turn back to God. Helen learns for the first time in her life to stand up on her own two feet and is ready to remove herself from her relationship with Charles and move on with Orlando. But when her husband is almost killed by a vengeful client, Helen wonders if she has the heart to forgive him despite everything.

OKAY...DO NOT READ THE FOLLOWING EXTENDED PLOT IF YOU WISH TO SEE THE MOVIE AND DO NOT WANT TO KNOW HOW IT ENDS

The movie starts at a banquet for Charles who is a prominent Atlanta lawyer. As he accepts his award he thanks his lovely wife Helen of eighteen years for supporting him. As they arrive home he throws her out of the car while letting it be known that he hates her. In the morning she goes to his office and asks to see him because she brought him some lunch and suddenly she sees him with another woman named Brenda. He tells her to go home. Back home she discovers all her clothes being loaded into a U-Haul.

She goes inside to ask the maid what is going on and the maid tells her that Charles ordered her to pack up Helen’s things and to put these things in their place. Helen, thinking that the new dresses are hers puts on one and waits for Charles to come home and thank him. Little does she know that Charles is kicking her out and moving in his mistress, Brenda. Helen has nowhere to turn except to Madea a gun toting, grandmother figure who is a part of her extended family.

The next morning Madea and Helen go to Charles' house and tear it up. Charles and Brenda come home to their surprise and Madea nearly shoots Charles but instead cuts everything in half with a chainsaw claiming that half of everything belongs to Helen. They end up in court with Helen being released on bond and Madea being placed on house arrest. Madea has a house party where Brian introduces Helen to his friend Orlando. Helen and Orlando have already met since Orlando was hired by Charles to pack and move Helen out. Madea makes Helen find a job so that she can learn to be independent.

The cousin Brian is introduced and he has a wife Debra who is a drug addict and no longer lives with him or their two kids. It is revealed that Charles received his money through drug deals, and by buying off judges, when one of the people he helped forces him to be his lawyer.The client ends up shooting him because he couldn't get him acquitted. In the meantime love develops between Orlando and Helen and soon Orlando proposes to Helen. But when she finds out Charles is hurt she leaves and goes to the hospital without saying yes or no.

At the hospital the doctor tells Helen, Brian, and the mistress that Charles might be paralyzed or worse. The doctor asks them what to do if something should go wrong. The mistress tells him to let Charles die but since Helen is still legally his wife she tells him to do everything he can to save Charles. Charles is paralyzed and so Helen lets him know exactly what she thinks of how he treated her. She lets him sit in the same spot for days and then later comes in and tells him that he stinks. She gives him a bath by throwning in to the tub and he nearly drowns.

During these incidents she lectures him and later Charles tells Helen how much he loves her and wants to be with her. The next Sunday they are in church and Charles and Debra walk down the aisle to accept Jesus into their heart. Afterwards, the family gathers to celebrate and have lunch. At lunch Helen tells Charles that she loves him and that they will always be friends and then hands him the divorce papers signed. Helen runs out the door and Madea asks Helen where she is going and Helen says "I am going to get MY MAN!" She goes to find Orlando at work and there she professes her love for him and the two kiss and Orlando shouts “Hey everyone, This Woman wants to MARRY ME!”

SOME will think it corny and too religious related.....but I adored it. I am going to have to ask for this one for Christmas because it is one I could watch again and again.

Here are some clips:




SUPERB!


sigh...



DAMN!

I have become a gingerbread cookie-making machine....

Noah loves them.......and every couple of days it seems I am making another batch. Tonight was one of those times......I just finished 4 cookie sheets of another batch.....iced them too.

I know fall is on its way cause we have had a ton of rain and thunderstorms and it is getting dark very early.

I am starting to poop out.....I have had a busy day that started early......

hope everyone has a great evening

I want to paint you...

With my fingers...

As I close my eyes and move my hands

Across your body

Feeling the ripples in your muscles

And squeezing your hardness


I want to paint you


With my tongue...

As I trace an outline

Of every inch of your body

Taking time to rest

On all your pleasure points

And tease them with the tip of my tongue


I want to paint you


With my lips...

Kissing your neck

Your chest, your stomach, your thighs

Caressing your skin with my softness


I want to paint you


With my pussy...

Using your body as my canvas

And my wetness as the paint

I create powerful, rhythmic strokes

Brushing again and again

Until together we surrender and paint a masterpiece


Copyright ©2007 man&SippingTheVastSpring

Sunday........

I am planning on taking Noah to the county fair today......but so far it has been pouring down rain. SO......we may or may not at this point. I do feel a bit better today than I have so that is a plus!

It is very cool outside......and I have noticed it gets dark a lot earlier in the evenings now....so I know fall is not too far off. I love the fall and winter...I love the changing seasons........but getting dark so early takes some adjusting.....and I am not sure I ever get totally adjusted to it.

Stopped in at Hallmark yesterday. I LOVE Hallmark stores....they have so many amazing things out for fall already. I had to pick up a couple and some more candles. I am obsessed with candles. THESE are from Swan Creek Candle company and smell absolutely amazing. They are the kind of candle that smell so good you think you could eat them! I found a lemon shortbread cookie one.......something like that. OH MY.......I also got one of my favs carmelized pralines.....another BIG YUMMY!

sigh.......well......this will be short and sweet. Lots to do on my end.....and I think I see the sun trying to peek out.