I couldn’t sleep.  Too many thoughts running through my head.  My alarm went off at 4:40am to go to the gym and I realized I couldn’t make it to class  and back to shower because I have an early morning meeting in Saratoga. Now I am up so I turn to my old friend, coffee.

I have not been able to stomach any coffee for over 2 weeks. Not since that wide rash of the stomach bug in my house.  I have been on a tea bender and have consumed so much chamomile that I feel like it is oozing from my pores.  It’s time to man up and try  a cup. So now I have that glorious steaming cup in my hand and we’ll see how it goes. (ahhh…it’s good)

Lent is well upon us and I have not taken a gut check on how I have been doing.  You may recall I was unsure what to give up and I was going to play it by ear.  Last year was my year without cheese. Ugh, that was painful.  I give up chocolate every year and this year was no different. Summary: I have limited my intake of cheese, restrained my alcohol consumption and absolutely no chocolate.  I have been doing more and with some success. I am not going to list these things because the beauty of doing something good for someone is in the fact that the act is done without praise.  It is between me and that person and that moment in time.  I will share one story. One morning I was at Perreca’s Bakery in Schenectady.  The clientele is predominantly Italian and I love going there.  The bread is heavenly and the smell when you walk in reminds me of my grandmother’s kitchen.  It is crowded on this morning and I am relegated to the back of the line, back of the store.  No problem as I sit there and drool over the imported olives and cheeses in the case.  I strike up a lovely conversation with an older gentleman who shared some great stories with me of the ‘old days’ when he hung out here with the baker into the wee hours. “We sleep, while they make bread”, he said.  He was delightful and the time passed quickly in line.  He introduced me to his son and grandson and we laughed for another few minutes.  I left there with my warm ‘large long’ bread and a happy heart. I hope he did too.

That’s what it’s about.

So my gut tells me I can still do better on the do more, and work on the struggle with the give up.  And so far, that coffee is settling just fine. I’m back!