Yesterday was my first Father’s Day as a father. It started with a sweet suprise, as Norah decided to sleep in until 8:30. The extra hour and a half plus of sleep was greatly appreciated by both Mommy and Daddy. After I showered and Norah had some breakfast, as per B’s instructions, I took Norah out to run some errands. Because it was raining, we skipped the stroller, and filled the Vibe with gas, made our way to Canadian Tire for some Borax to kill ants, and to Safeway for some cream to kill the bitterness of black coffee. This took about 45 minutes, and I called B to make sure it was alright that I come home. She said it was.
When I got home I immediately smelled bacon and coffee. Is there a better smell? I was told to stay out of the kitchen, and Norah and I played in the living room while breakfast was put on the table. A few minutes later, B asked if I was going to drink my coffee, and I noticed that there was a steaming cup waiting for me at the table. I tossed in some of the newly purchased cream and sipped as Norah jumped in her jumper. The coffee was strong and delicious.
Once breakfast was on the table, B called me from the living room and we put Norah in her chair while we ate. She watched and gurgled and cooed. I gulped and chewed and licked my lips. B had prepared french toast (my favourite) and bacon (my favourite). Just so that we didn’t totally clog our arteries, she also had berries and yogurt which we both ate first (and quickly) before tucking in to the real meal.
In between bites, B told me to open my gift, and I picked up the card and present on the table. The card was from Norah (I could tell by the developing penmanship – her y was backwards) and the present was a book – “My Love Will Be With You” – I read the book, which was very sweet and has beautiful drawings, teared up a bit, and gave my two lovely ladies a hug and kiss. We finished eating and B said she would clean everything up so Norah and I went back to the living room and I read her some books. (FYI, this means I held a book in front of her that she tried to eat while I recited it from memory while trying to minimize water damage to the book.)
Before taking Norah to the living room, I put the newly-purchased cream in the fridge. B was in the bathroom, and I wanted to put it away so it wouldn’t get too warm. However, when I went to the fridge, I noticed something was out of place on the counter. Instead of seeing (and silently cursing) our white, 12-cup coffee maker that leaks when you brew coffee, I saw a brand-spanking new Keurig Coffee Maker. I have been coveting a new, non-leaking, coffee maker for some time, but every time I brought it up, Brenda would poo-poo the suggestion, arguing that ours is fine, and that we shouldn’t spend the money on a new one. Turns out this was all a clever ruse to prevent me from ruining my present!
However, I now had a problem. B hadn’t seen my inital reaction of shock and joy when I saw the maker — she was out of the room. Not sure what to do, I pretended I didn’t see the maker. An hour later, when I was sweeping the floor and asked B to dump the dustpan so as to not go into the kitchen, she caught me in a ruse of my own. “You saw it!” she said, and I had to admit that I had. I am a terrible faker. She was a bit miffed that she didn’t get to see my reaction, and a bit miffed that I pretended not to see it. I told her that it didn’t matter because it was an awesome surprise, no matter when I was surprised.
Now, though the Keurig is the Mercedes of coffee makers (our old maker was the Dodge Neon of coffee makers) I was concerned that it was wasteful. The premise is that you put in a K-Cup (a small plastic cup with ground coffee beans in it) and hot water (at exactly 192 degrees Fahrenheit) is injected through the cup and into your waiting mug below. The coffee is always hot and always fresh. This saves having your maker on all day, as you work your way through the 10 cups in the pot. However, the plastic waste that comes with using the Keurig cannot be ignored. Though the store B bought the Keurig at will take in the old K-cups and recycle them, it all still seems rather wasteful to me. The cups wouldn’t need to be recycled if they weren’t used! I didn’t bring this up to B, not wanting to take the shine off of the thoughtful gift, but she must have already had the conversation in her head, because she informed me that we were on the waiting list for the My-K-Cup, a reusable filter that lets you brew whatever coffee you want in the Keurig. Score!
The rest of the day was lovely as well, as Norah decided to have two long naps instead of her usual 4 short ones, and we got some time to visit with each other and prepare for our trip to see my mom in Hawaii. We leave Saturday morning for two weeks, and can’t wait. It will be Norah’s first trip out of Saskatchewan and her first trip to Grandma Honey and Papa Mike’s on Big Island. Though we’ve traveled all through Southeast Asia when we lived in Cambodia, we’ve never done it with a 5 month old baby. I’m sure it will be a new adventure — I’ll keep you posted!
http://montanamusclecars.com/images/Inventory/82Mercedes300D.jpg
Can you believe they let me jump in this thing? It can’t be safe! No wonder I love it so much.
What are you doing in my jungle?
The neck is my favourite part of the giraffe. Bony, yes, but tasty nonetheless.
See any resemblance?
I know, pink, right? How stereotypical.
