Tag: #weekendcoffeeshare

Weekend Coffee Share #11

~ Sahara ~ 2 Comments

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If we were having coffee, we would settle into our usual spots, noticing, for the first time, there are people we have seen in the weeks prior. They are regulars, as we are, and this makes us feel good. We smile at the “regular” label. After we settle with our drinks, I pull out a long glass bottle: homemade Irish cream, a Christmas gift from a friend.  Isn’t this such a unique idea? I ask. I love Irish cream and its good, if not a little rough.

I tried to take the Wee One hiking this week, I tell you, because the weather was really nice where I live.  It was not so nice, however, at the site of the park, less than 20 miles away.  This take some getting used to: living in the mountains and how different things are at different elevations, even when the difference doesn’t seem that great.

If we were having coffee, I would tell you that I had a bit of a rough week and some anxious thoughts. I wonder if I need to go back to counseling. I’m annoyed by it, frankly, because its fucking work that I don’t want to have to do. It certainly wouldn’t hurt, you point out, and I agree. I also think that becoming involved with a faith community would help as well. I reached out to a couple of friends about it.

Cohiba has been sick and staying away from the Wee One, so I haven’t been able to sleep in or get some time away from her recently. Fortunately, her sleep schedule is better than it’s ever been. She’s taking two solid naps a day and I think she’s sleeping longer in the early morning. Even better, she’s starting to entertain herself in her crib, giving me a bit more time if I need it.

She’s also started humming when I sing and rock her to sleep.

If we were having coffee, I would tell you about meeting with another mother and having a girls night: wine and movies. It was a really good time and the first I’ve had since the Wee One was born. We tried watching Pitch Perfect. Your eyes light up and you start to chatter about how much you love it.  I wasn’t so into it, but maybe I need to see it from the beginning.  “Oh, you totally do,” I hear a voice from behind me.  I turn, and see one of the barista’s cleaning the table behind me.  “Sorry to eavesdrop, but I love that movie.  I recommend you give it another chance.” You talk with her about your favorite parts, and I lean over to get the bottle from my bag. May as well finish off the Irish cream.

 

Weekend Coffee Share #10

~ Sahara ~ 4 Comments

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If we were having coffee, our greeting hug would be long. Its been about a month since we’ve seen each other, and had the holidays and a lot of life in that time.

We’re meeting in a different place-an almost quintessential Seattle coffeehouse, in an A-frame with fresh flowers peeking out of odd corners and colorful art of winter animals-and we’re torn with the desire to look around and take in the environment.

If we were having coffee, I would tell you that the trip home wasn’t as relaxing as I had hoped, and I’m happy to be back in my own place. Things were tense with my own family, and you raise an eyebrow to hear that. Your mother? you guess, and I happily tell you that she and I seem to be back on track right now.  No, its someone else, and it was just tense. There was even one time I was afraid some of the trouble would be directed at my Wee One, so my mama hackles were up. I just hate when people are dicks, I say. Why do people have to be fucking dicks? You laugh at me in sympathy.

There was also that flooding and snow in the Midwest, which jacked up my flights and added to the already stressful prospect of flying with the baby. When we were with Cohiba’s family, though, he and I got to go out alone a few times, and that was nice. But I’m glad to be home and back to my routine with the Wee One. I didn’t even realize that we were so much in a routine until we got out of it.

If we were having coffee, I would tell you I got together with couch surfers! I haven’t seen these guys in so long. One of them is living in London, another lives in Costa Rica, another is recently married and pregnant, another just got back from living in Colorado, and another is getting treated for testicular cancer. Life, you know? But I was looking around the table and reflecting on the stories and memories I have with them all. Going home is good for that.

A couple at the table next to us is playing a tabletop game and they shuffle their deck of cards for the 10th time. Her hair and makeup are really well done, and we wonder if its a date.

If we were having coffee, we would talk about our upcoming plans for the year.  Not quite resolutions, but having the holidays behind us gives us the chance to think about the future without getting overwhelmed by immediate requirements. I plan to play the Seattle tourist, I say, and mention that I already went to the Seattle Art Museum to see a special Impressionism exhibit. I took the Week One because I know how important these next few years are to her neural development. I want to give her the best chance I can.10404183_10207177316942771_5304723161811167534_n

I’m planning to take her to a skiing lodge tomorrow.  I mean, Cohiba is going skiing with friends, and I’m going with them with the Wee One.  They just had a baby as well, and I’ll watch them both.  I have absolutely no desire to ski – Cohiba has tried! – but I want to see our friends and the mountains and, who knows? Maybe I’ll change my mind.

But I don’t think so.

 

 

 

 

Weekend Coffee Share #9

~ Sahara ~ Leave a comment

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If we were having coffee, you would be late and practically pushed in the door from the strength of the wind behind you. Is the wind always this strong in the winter? I ask you, and you shake your head and keep walking to the counter.  You return with a croissant and coffee, and talk a bit about Christmas shopping. I’m preparing to travel, I tell you, so I haven’t been making many purchases – I’ll have to fly with it all!

I’m going to be on the road for a couple of weeks, and I’m going to miss Washington. You aren’t planning to leave the region, maybe go to Oregon, because a lot of people who live here are from Oregon. That is only one place on my list of places to visit while I live out here, I tell you, and you invite me for a visit with your family anytime. I want to go to Montana, Northern California and retrace steps I took in high school to the northwestern point on Washington and Tatoosh island.

If we were having coffee, I would tell you about being a Seattle tourist and going to Pike Place Market. It was a lot of fun and not as far or hard to get to as I thought it would be.  Perhaps I am used to Mid-Western distances, but it used to take me 30ish minutes to drive to work every morning (and then a half hour back, or, if I took the bus, a 30 minute walk to and from the bus stop, plus an hour to the city), so driving 30 minutes to the Market or 20 minutes to story time in another town is nothing. Even with the horrible traffic – and it really does suck – its not that bad.

Ooh! But I saw one of the tent cities I’d heard about! I tell you, and you make a face of confusion. It seems that the city of Seattle actually allows homeless people to build up “tent cities” to live in.  St. Louis doesn’t officially permit tent cities, though they line the river bank, particularly on the south side of the city. I remember visiting a few of them on the north side, about where they want to build the new football stadium right now. My agency had a Mobile Outreach team and I went with them to visit some of the folks living in the tents.  We brought boxes of sandwiches and bottles of water, and checked in with people. A few people asked specific questions about vet representatives or clothing giveaways. They were working on getting their lives back together, though they were living off the grid.

If we were having coffee, we would each comment on how much we’ll miss meeting over the next few weeks and wonder if we could Skype? Or just text messages. This makes me think of a conversation I had with some friends last night. Some of us were in St. Louis, I was in Seattle, another one of us was in Costa Rica, and the other was in London. It was so cool for all of us to be chatting together in real time.

We’re going to meet for Sunday brunch after Christmas. We all used to be travel buddies, traveling together or visiting people and places based on each other’s recommendation. Now two of us are married, two are living abroad, and I have the Wee One. Oh, the places we’ve gone! It’ll be fun.

We part, eager to return with stories and insights.

 

 

 

 

Weekend Coffee Share #8

~ Sahara ~ Leave a comment

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If we were having coffee, you wouldn’t have sat down before you asked me about the craft fair I did on Thursday. Oh Lord, I begin. What an experience. In your haste, you drop a large bit of coffee cake on your lap and have to run over to get a napkin. But you gesture for me to keep going, and I tell you about how small I felt when I first got there.

The tables were all the same size, but they were all decorated and looked huge. There were displays with cloths hanging off of them, and arrangements set up in the front of the tables. I just had a small selection of crocheted coffee sleeves with a few fingerless gloves. I did have a sign I drew and looks pretty cool, and you say something encouraging to that and ask if I sold anything. I sold enough to make up the price of the table and $5 more.  That’s a good thing! you say encouragingly, and ask me if I’m going to do another one. I’m not sure, I say, though I learned a lot in this experience, so if I do, I’ll be better prepared.

If we were having coffee, I would tell you about the girl who was at the table next to me, Rachel – really cool with awesome hair. It was a little dreaded and went down to her waist. She was easy to talk to and invited me to another fair she’s hosting at her ballet studio next weekend.

She had a number of different items she was selling, not just one thing, which gave me the idea that I could sell an assortment of things I made. Are there other things you want to make? You ask me. I talk about the sign I had made; I had included some Zendoodle-inspired drawings around the letters, and I had been thinking about doing some drawings to sell. I told Rachel as much, and she suggested drawing them on cards to sell so then people can either buy them to give or to frame. You agree that was very cool of her. I ordered some plain cards on Amazon that night.  You’ll have to make me something! you insist, and I promise I will.

Oh, and another thing! I tell you that an article I wrote for SheKnows was run, and that was exciting. Now I have earned the Experts Among Us badge on my blog. 🙂 It was a week of doing new things, and its good.

If we were having coffee, I would tell you about the playdate I had at my house yesterday. I have friends in Washington! I say excitedly. And our apartment is so clean. Not only did I vacuum, Cohiba and I got things really cleaned and thing put in places, so kind of organized.  It’ll look better once we get the furniture we’re planning to get (once the reimbursement check comes from the move) but it is so much better.I also went to a holiday thing with some other mom friends, and went into the trenches with them as one of the babies threw up on her mom. We all worked together to clean up our friend and monitor the other babies – it was fun.

This was a wonderful week of new things, and its good.

 

 

Weekend Coffee Share #6

~ Sahara ~ 1 Comment

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If we were having coffee, one of us would be late, probably you. You had been to a Halloween party last night, and the we had the annual time change. The time changes always mess us up when we have appointments, and I would normally be late, too. This year, though, for better or worse, my little time keeper will make sure I recognize the extra hour. You apologize and things spill out of your bag as you rush to get here. I offer to fetch you a cup while you get settled. You thank me when I come back and ask me how the Wee One adjusted to the time change.  I roll my eyes and tell about what high hopes I had as I sat in in my running car listening to spooky classical music as she napped in her car seat. She’s struggling today, I reflect.

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