My friend Joe

Waking to the sound of the insistent alarm clock buzzer, the aroma of freshly brewing coffee arouses my senses. Morning has arrived. I slowly reach over and turn the alarm to snooze, but the smell permeating the house keeps me from falling back to sleep. I drowsily swing my legs from beneath the warm covers and feel the crisp morning air on my bare skin. The sun has begun to break the horizon, and the whispers of daylight glow from the window. I reach over to turn the alarm clock off and wander downstairs to meet my faithful friend, Joe.

Coffee. Java. A cup of Joe. The aroma is distinct and familiar. As long as I can remember, my daily ritual has begun with hot, steaming Joe. As a young child, my mother would add hot coffee to my milk bottles to warm them. Later, I would learn to carefully pour the hot liquid into my own cup, measuring sugar from a teaspoon and splashing milk into the cup until it reached the perfect shade of creamy golden brown. With filled cup in hand, newspaper spread across my lap, I greet the morning from the porch as the sun rises. My dependable friend, a bottomless cup of intoxicating Joe, is nearby for the remainder of the day.

As technology has advanced, my enjoyment of coffee-making has grown. A burly percolator was the appliance of convenience when I began my friendship with muddy Joe. Now gracing my kitchen counter is a sleek Mr. Coffee automatic drip machine, with an auto-start feature that brews before I wake. On occasion, I pull out a brawny espresso machine and make a concentrated version of my robust friend, using exotic coffee beans I have freshly ground in an electric grinder. An electric can opener, making the opening of a can of commercial coffee a true act of pleasure, has replaced my macho hand-crank opener. I listen for the familiar pop as the blade cuts into the steel rim of the can, releasing the hiss of the pressure seal. My nostrils flare with the anticipation of the aroma of Joe. As the scent engulfs me, I feel euphoric and I am reassured by the knowledge that my friend is in the house. Life with Joe has become more comfortable and carefree, as the years have passed.

As the sun sets in the west each day, my desire for Joe wanes. Our relationship is a daytime affair that rarely breaks into the dusky light. I prepare for the next day by carefully decanting water into the sultry coffee maker, placing a fresh paper filter into the drip basket. I enjoy one last moment with my friend as I carefully scoop the dark brown flecks from the can into the filter. One last embrace by the strong scent of finely ground coffee accompanies me to bed as I drift off to sleep, waiting for the moment when the aroma of freshly brewed Joe wakens me as I hit the snooze button on the insistent alarm clock. The cycle begins again and I realize that Joe is more than just my friend. Joe is my first love.

Hatching the next generation of blog

So it's been 9 months since I stuck this blog up to 'hold mark'. I had good intentions back then, to actually get into the habit of tapping out a few notes. Major fail. But then, like everything good in life, it usually takes about 9 months, right? At least, I think MY favorite packages took that long!

For all my 'old friends' from MySpace blogging, "Hey! Good to see you again!" It's been a long time, but friendships cross timelines and we can pick up right where we left off.

And special greetings to those who I've yet to met. I'm a wee bit different than the average gal, and I admit it. I know I'm weird in a kewl way, so just embrace me (hey, watch where ya put that hand!)

I little bio for starters: I'm now 51 years old. (What the hell happened?! I'm thinking someone fast-forwarded the aging clock on me!) I've been a single mother to five offspring, only one left in the nest, but he keeps me busier than the other four did all together! I blog often about him, so you'll meet him. And yeah, I am biased, but once you get to know him, you will be too! I also have four grandchildren thanks to my oldest daughter (yes, she got the fertility genes too!) I have had a very interesting life, and many of my writings come from those experiences. I am slowing down a bit in life now, as my battle with Rheumatoid arthritis has taken it's toll on me, and forced me into early retirement and medical poverty. (Which isn't the end of the world, I'm learning. Sitting out on the lake in low income housing, watching the wildlife in beautiful Oregon isn't exactly Hell on earth!)

I haven't posted a blog over on MS for a long time. Hell, I haven't even logged in over there in so long, I may not even remember my password... I hear things have recently changed, so I probably will move the best of the blogs from there over here for safe-keeping. If you've read them before, I hope you don't mind. If you haven't, you'll get to see those random inklings of days gone by.

For now, I'm going to try to get at least one blog a week penned... catching up on the insanity I call life isn't always the easiest thing for me to put at the top of my list. Feel free to come poke me often to motivate me. I've gotten quite lazy in my old age ;o)

I may never figure out all the gizmos in formatting on this blog site or how to link to blogs, so if you have a blog up that you want me to add to my favorites, please, post a comment with a link! Reading blogs motivates me to write even more!

New things intimidate me.

So here I am.

Finally.

I was blogging on MySpace as Sandi's Random Inklings. But they kept changing the format on me and I ended up losing interest. Not that I didn't have things to say, cuz I did. But I just wasn't having fun. There were a few folks that had infiltrated my profile, and I ended up having a couple blogs deleted (important ones too!) so I stopped blogging. I don't like being censored. But I also don't like the drama bloggers who would take my simple comments and twist them to drastically different meanings and then rant on their own blogs about something they THOUGHT I said... whatever. I'm done with Junior High drama (except when I blab on it, heh!)

I'll get back into this blogging again. Let me make it a habit and I'll be back full force again. For now, just this lil baby step of starting a blog is a big enough change. I'm not sure where I want this one to go, so for now, just suffice to know... I'll Be Back!

Now, to figure out how to use the editing bar....