Cup one- 16 oz. dark roast drip coffee, black, in my favourite mug: 4am

Thank god for pre-set coffee machines.  I don’t know what I’d do if my coffee wasn’t already ready for me when I woke up- probably collapse on the kitchen floor while grinding the coffee beans and making breakfast.  This one gets me through prep time.  Shower, dress, hair, make-up, food.

Cup two- another 16 oz. dark roast drip coffee, with Non-fat milk and artificial sweetner… still in my favourite mug: 4:50am

10 minutes before I have to leave for work.  I’ve got some extra time.  The hubby won’t miss one extra cup of coffee.  I’m probably actually preventing some of it from going to waste.

Cup three- Starbucks, Triple Grande Non-fat Pumpkin Spice Latte (no whip), in one of those horrible paper cups:  7am

There’s a reason they call it a “coffee break”.  I don’t actually need more caffeine (yet), but this is a social thing.  Sit, sip my coffee, chat with my coworkers

Cup four- “Medium” disgusting conveiniance store drip coffee, something they call a medium roast, but you wouldn’t actually be able to tell because it’s brewed so strong it feels like it’s burning your teeth right out of your mouth: 12:00pm

Mid-commute from work to campus, and I haven’t fallen asleep yet.  I’m sure that I’ll feel more energized once I actually get moving again.  Sitting on the bus forever would make anyone sleepy.  In the meantime, another cup of coffee should help.  Whatever the gas station by Brentwood skytrain station is (I didn’t really pay attention): I’m never drinking their coffee again.

Cup five- some sort of funny mint and lemon herbal tea: 4:00pm

If I have another cup of coffee now, I won’t be able to sleep, though… if I don’t have another cup of coffee, I may fall asleep in my next class.  Let’s put this whole “mind over matter” business to the test.  Maybe if I drink some decaf tea I can convince myself that I’m actually drinking coffee, and give myself and extra energy boost psychologically.

This surprisingly lasted me until the end of class at 8:30pm, and until I got on the bus back to the skytrain station.  It was at this point that I did fall asleep, and take the bus too far, ending up in some residential area of Burnaby where I don’t know my way around, and having a lovely 20 minute walk BACK to the station.  In the mean time, I missed two buses going in the right direction by about half a block, but did manage to wake myself up via some good old physical activity.  I probably should have just had the extra cup of coffee though.  It would have gotten me home to bed about half an hour quicker, and on a day like this, sleep is exactly what I need.