I caved. CAVED.

I blame Takeisha, the barista. I point a finger at her and scream to the Heavens that it’s NOT MY FAULT.

I meant to order a grande decaf. I did. But the coffee machine was broken. Broken, I tell you. They only had espresso drinks. Only. Had. Espresso. Drinks.

Takeisha knows my plight. She sees my expanding belly and watches me John-Wayne-swagger into the Safeway every morning for my run-of-the-mill (though still better than what I make at home with exactly the same ingredients! What’s that about?) coffee. I told her on New Years Eve that this was IT. No more mochas. No more delicious “hot chocolate with a splash of coffee” drinks, as Shaun calls them. No more choca-laca-love-a-cuppa JOY for me.

She taunted me with her thick gooey tub of chocolate syrup and her fresh roasted beans. (THAT didn’t sound right, but I’m leaving it, because it’s TRUE). The line was building behind me. I felt a tinge of reserve, and then the sweet free-fall of giving in.

“DO IT,” I said, and swiped my card before I could turn back.

And here I sit, on my pillow of regret, loving every calorie-and-angel-laden sip.

Cheers!
Fatty

Howard Jones, No One Is To Blame

That is, until I saw this:

If I were even on a reasonable diet, two of these would knock me out for the day. And sometimes do.

They don’t do much to nourish a growing baby, either, if I decided to just have two peppermint mochas a day.

But, oh, are they good for the soul. Cheers!

Van Morrison, Oh The Warm Feeling

We still don’t know who won the Starbucks puzzle, but as I sip my Americano (okay, I went with the extra shot), I am just glad to finally know what the question/answer was.  Look here for a much better explanation than I could give you — I still feel a bit nauseous.

Well, in my heart I am.

What an embarrassing show. That last puzzle was just balls-to-the-wall. HARD, don’t you think? The three of us were on speaker phone, and by the time an hour had passed I am not sure we had more than one answer (across or down) that we were confident of. Finally, I called the number you’re supposed to call when you have the answer (which you have found by completing the puzzle and figuring out the question!), and was told by Cheerily-Recorded Ms. Starbucks that they had a potential winner. She did thank me for my time though. I’m not sure she knows how much time we all spent on this, but I did feel cared about.

Fine. No more Starbucks for me. Not for a month. Well, at least not this week. Or until tomorrow. OK…just an Americano, nothing fancy. And no extra shots. Am I taking more Splenda packets with me than I need when I leave? You betcha.

Nice lady from Starbucks called to tell me I was in the final 750 people who get to play the tie-breaker. Nice that I know two of the others (Mom and Dad got slots too), so we are actually competing against 747 other people. Even better odds! We have to go to a particular web site at 5PM, download a puzzle, solve it, and be the first person to call a particular number with the answer. If we get a message that the lines are closed, we ain’t the winner.

Remember that moment before the “gun” goes off during the Presidential physical fitness tests in grade school? I inevitably stumbled as I pushed off the blocks for the shuttle run, realized my shoe was untied as the other kids shot around the corner for the 600-yard dash, or had some sort of wardrobe malfunction involving a revealed nipple during the flex-arm hang. I hope my computer holds out at 5PM when Starbucks yells, “Go!” Otherwise I just might pee, which is another indelible memory from those nervous days.

I need a cup of coffee!

That’s right, folks. Amy Fanning and her Mom and Dad, Amelia and Lynn Alexander, are in the final 750 puzzlers to go for the top prize of coffee for life in the Starbucks Ultimate Crossword Challenge. At least we think we are…according to the rules as we understand them. We got together in person at lunchtime, hammered out our final answers to the six previous puzzles, logged on at the appropriate time, answered the question and got to the next step. An hour later, we had to call in with everyone else with yet another answer to get to the final stage, which is actually a new puzzle tomorrow. We got through and were recorded, and told that we will get a call tomorrow telling us where to find the next challenge. Then it becomes a “fast fingers” contest as we have to be the first to call in with the right answer for the win.

It was almost as exciting as scoring tickets by phone to every single Prince show up and down the Eastern seaboard when I was, what, 18? Philadelphia, Baltimore, Fairfax, Hampton Roads, Greensborough. Bam, bam, bam. My fingers were flyin’.

We’ve had such a good time together getting to this point. My mother was nervous, and Dad was focused and on task. I was just so excited to have them both here — and to be staring an endless Americano in the snout.

They bought me a decaf triple grande skim mocha to celebrate.

Tune in tomorrow, people.

I am such a coffee ho. I looove me some Starbucks coffee. I am also a complete crossword geek — I find immense pleasure in a Sunday morning (or Saturday evening if you subscribe!) Washington Post crossword puzzle AND an Americano. I’m all for independent coffee shops not getting smashed out by the big corporate giant(s), but Starbucks really is the best coffee! Now that they have put a little kiosk in my Safeway, I can actually crawl there if necessary.

This morning I went to the Starbucks web site to register my gift card (Valentine’s Day from Mom and Dad, don’t you know), and I saw this. Now, I don’t mean to encourage anyone else to participate, because I am going to win. But you can go ahead and play, just for fun.

In the meantime, I am so excited I need to lay down. How embarrassing.