My Morning Addiction

'Virgo
You are refreshed and ready to go. So be sure to take time to go to your kickboxing class or jog through the park or just walk around all morning long. You'll really feel the difference between what it's like to feel good and what it's like to feel great, when you take a good mood and add a healthy, active lifestyle. Today could be the beginning of some fantastic new habits. Good for you!'

Yeah, see even my horoscope is giving me props! Love that! And yes, although I am technically a Libra, I have so many planets in Virgo that I may as well admit I am an uptight, perfectionist. I am.

So, most people who know me, know that I have to have Starbuck's Cafe Verona to really start my morning right. I've tried Starbuck's regular House Blend, Sumatra, and even Maxwell House (which comes surprisingly close) but as long as my budget can afford it, I drink Cafe Verona in the morning. Yes... and I've gotten very good at taking care of my addiction. I travel with a tiny portable coffeepot and a baggie of Verona when I'm on the road--- except when I go to North Carolina. My daughter and son take care of me there. I have a Starbuck's card tucked in the back of my wallet for emergencies and I have the "Find the nearest Starbuck's" app on my iPhone. I'm covered. As a result of all this coffee drinking, I have LOTS of empty bags.

Now, if you look closely at a bag of Starbuck's coffee, they tell you that each time you bring in an empty bag to a shop, they will give you a free tall coffee. LOVE THAT!!! So, I do. I brought those bags in my luggage when I went out to San Francisco. After walking on the pier for hours, Mom and I sat down to two tall coffees at Starbuck's (I paid for the pumpkin cake.... yum!) for FREE! I took them when we went out to North Carolina in the airports and got more free coffee. Yes, I do love my Verona but my mom was starting to think things about me... I mean maybe it was tacky to drag those empty bags around the U.S. just for free coffee. But hey, why pass up FREE COFFEE!!!?

It's been Spring Break which means that I don't have to go to work early in the morning so I've been running beside Lake Pfluger. I know, I know, it's wasteful to drive out to the lake just to run beside water but it's Spring Break and I really miss water so I drive out there every other day just to listen to water lapping against the shoreline and watch blue heron hunting in the shoals as I struggle to look good as I run. (Although, I think my red face and huffing and puffing give me away despite my best intentions.) On the way out to the lake, I pass a Starbuck's. Not like thats unusual in America anymore. Even in my small town, we have four Starbuck's quite close and several other coffee shops as well. So I started thinking... I have all these empty coffee sacks... I pass by a Starbuck's... are you seeing where my mind went?

Yep. So this week, after I finished my run, I've been swinging into Starbuck's-- not the drive-thru (I, at least, try to minimize my carbon footprint that far.) and get myself a free tall.

Is it sad that the beauty in my life comes from such minor details? The sound of water, blue heron, mountain laurel in bloom, Zoey running beside me, AC/DC on my iPod, free coffee? Perhaps, but I am more than content with my beautiful life.

Salud!