Always Read the Label

My wife, Carol Ann, took off Thursday to meet two girl friends whom she hasn't seen in 30 years or so and I was left to fend for myself. Before leaving, Carol Ann instructed Jamie, our 8-year old grandson who lives next door, that she would buy him a Lego set if he would "baby sit" me while she was gone. He did a good job of keeping an eye on me the entire weekend but he kept wanting to know when he would get the Lego set. I reminded him that his deal was with "Gamma" and he would have to wait until she got home on Monday. Needless to say, that didn't sit very well with him and, knowing that we have had a Lego set or two stashed away before, he was ready to search the house. I promised him there was no Lego set in the house and that I would take him to Walmart Sunday and buy him a Lego set. He reluctantly agreed to wait and stopped insisting on a search of the house.

Saturday night we camped out (in the motorhome in the back yard), ate pizza, and watched two animated movies before turning in. I warned Jamie not to wake me before the sun came up. I don't really know what time the sun comes up as it is always up ahead of me. He waited until 7:30 AM, which is early for someone accustomed to sleeping until 9:00 or 9:30 every morning. As soon as I was awake he wanted to know when we were going to Walmart. After coffee I said. I don't do anything before I have my coffee and I really needed it Sunday morning. I couldn't seem to stop yawning. Finally, around 9:00 AM we got in my truck and drove to Walmart. Jamie couldn't find the set he was looking for but "settled" on another. It was only about forty dollars or so. When we got home, I told him I was going to take a little nap while he put the Legos together. I slept very hard from about 10:00 until noon. Jamie had completed the construction of the Lego set and was watching cartoons on TV. I offered him a PB&J for lunch, after which I went out and puttered around the motor home in preparation for our trip to California this week.

This morning I had an especially hard time getting up. I even double-checked my meds to make sure I hadn't been taking my sleeping pill with my morning medicine! I managed to drag myself out of bed, determined to break through the wall of weariness. I dressed, fed the dog and cats and got out my cereal bowl and coffee cup. I have been very blessed because each morning Carol Ann wakes me up with a big cup of coffee, which I drink in bed. We have a Keurig coffee maker, which I know how to use, and we keep a supply of coffee pods in a kitchen drawer near the Keurig. This morning the drawer was empty. No problem. We keep several boxes in reserve. I went to the pantry and got a coffee pod from the same box I had been making my coffee from over the last 3 days. I accidentally dropped the box, spilling the pods out on the floor. I bent down and began picking them up when all of a sudden I saw something on the label that I had not noticed before. It was just a word. A very simple, but extremely important word, which seemed to jump out at me. It was that dreaded word, "DECAF." Oh, crap! No wonder I have felt like the living dead for the past 3 days! I've been drinking decaf!! I wasted no time in moving that stuff to the back of the shelf. I grabbed some real coffee and quickly brewed a 10 ounce mug of the precious liquid and guzzled it like a junkie needing a fix. As soon as I finished it I made another 10 ounces. I'm feeling much better now!