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Caffeine

I made a huge mistake today.

It all started on Tuesday evening. I went to the gym because, HALLELUJAH! I actually got off of work in time to go to the gym for once- and I even went with another person. Exercise and socializing - yay, me!Afterwards, on my way to pick up my little man, I got a text from my mom and dad. "Don't pick up H at daycare, we have him."
At this point, I should've gone home and made my parents drop him off when they were done. But instead, I met them at the gates of hell, er, Walmart*, and while I was there, lo and behold, I discovered that Coke was on sale. I don't, as a rule, buy pop, because if I buy pop, my kids drink it and then I hate myself for letting my kids ingest garbage. But on Tuesday, since it was on sale and Walmart preys on its victims like sharks in a pool of bloody limbs, I bought JUST ONE case.

I put the Coke on the ledge in the garage when I got home. That way I'm less likely to drink it mindlessly 6 cans at a time. There it sat, harmlessly brightening my garage with its pretty red cardboard, until today.

Oh today. Today was a beautiful day, so when I got home for the evening, I spotted that case of pop and, after a mini debate in my head, grabbed a can and poured it over some ice so I could enjoy drinking it while my child played contentedly with the water table in the backyard.

Now, I love coffee. And Coca-Cola is delicious, especially on a warm day with cold, tinkling cubes of ice floating in all of its caramel colored goodness. However, I happen to be extremely sensitive to caffeine, a phenomenon that has only intensified the older I've gotten. If I drink coffee after 11 am, I will be up until 2 am. I think my body latches on to the energy and desperately refuses to let it go, like some crazed woman holding on to the last $50 TV on Black Friday. That's me. My body is a psychotic maniac desperate for the unbeatable deal of taking a swig of liquid and not being tired anymore.

Guess what happens when I drink Coke at 7:00 pm on a Friday night? Did you guess? I'll give you a few more minutes to come up with it. Ready? I'll tell you what happens. Currently, it's midnight and you know what I'm going to do after this? I can tell you because this has happened to me before.
1) Wash, dry, fold and put away the laundry.
2) Wash, dry and put away the dishes.
3) Pick up everything in the house that isn't in its place and put it away.
4) Dust.
5) Read for two more hours before forcing myself to shut my eyes and GO TO SLEEP ALREADY
6) Get up and let the dog out.
7) Start to fall asleep before the dog wants to come back in.
8) Wake up again completely because I had to stand up
9) Remain awake until exactly 52 minutes before the baby is awake for the day.

In retrospect, maybe I should drink caffeine at 7:00 pm every night.......*yawn*

Or, maybe not.





(*Disclaimer: I hate Walmart. Not in a "love/hate" kind of way, but in a visceral "hate isn't a strong enough word, I hope they get hit by a meteor and go the way of the dinosaurs" kind of way. I do like dinosaurs, though. Sad how they aren't around anymore......)

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