It is a cloudy Saturday in October of 2021. I am going to be working all day. Oddly, this gives me a comforting sense of normalcy. This past week felt more normal than any week since the pandemic began. I went to the offices of clients and the consulting firm that I work for three of five of the days this week. I attended client working sessions and an internal company working session. We had a client dinner, which I more than loved.
On a social front, Little Chirp and I had dinner with friends not once, but twice! Dinners with friends are something that I miss the most. Tuesday’s dinner was all about Little Chirp. My two house guests and I treated Little Chirp to dinner for cooking dinner for us most of the week. By Wednesday, two more house guests had arrived. I did not get home until late on Wednesday night, so I did not see my second set of guests until the next morning when I drove them to the Methodist center for a doctor’s appointment.
Thursday was a long day for both me and my second set of house guests, who are my sweet little nephew’s grandparents. The grandfather had doctor’s visits from seven in the morning until around 5 PM. While they were at the Methodist center, I was in back-to-back meetings. It was after 6 PM when we got home. Little Chirp had already cooked dinner three nights this week, so we decided it was steak night!
I loved the intensity of the week, but I am exhausted. With the time lost to commuting, back-to-back meetings that were not on my calendar at the start of the week, and the decision to spend time with Little Chirp instead of logging back in to work when I got home each evening, I did not get all my work done during the week. I need to work today to catch up. It is like old times.
I am now experimenting with my cold brew coffee. Cold brew coffee is simply coffee brewed in cold water instead of the normal steeping process of hot water and coffee grounds. While hot coffee takes minutes to brew, cold brew coffee takes an entire day to brew. The end result of having never heated the coffee beans is a much smoother, less acidic coffee. It so good. Once one has cold brew on a regular basis; one wants to turn their nose up at traditional hot brew coffee.
No, I do not drink my coffee cold, but many people do. I brew it cold, and then I warm it up when I drink it. I sometimes brew it myself in my French press coffee pot. I more often buy cold brew concentrate from the store, which is simply concentrated coffee made with a cold brew method. One adds water to the concentrate, and voila they have coffee! I had been heating my delicious cold brew up in the microwave. This morning, I boiled water in a tea pot on the stove, and then I lowered the heat and added my cold brew concentrate. The coffee came out with a smooth taste at a perfect temperature.
A cup of cold brew in my special new coffee mug, kittens laying on my desk, and my doggie snuggled up next to me is the perfect way to start my Saturday work day. If I skip lunch, I will be finished with work in time to go for a run, shower and enjoy a nice dinner.
It is the little things in life…
