In which I rediscover the glories of caffination in boosting productivity

Before I was a Mommy, I was a Professional.  I wore eyeliner.  And heels.  And the occasional string of pearls when I needed to appear older and more experienced than I actually was.  And I drank A LOT of coffee.  I started at home before I left for work, continued as I checked my overloaded email inbox, faced the unavoidable afternoon slump, and sat through long, boring  interesting and always relevant meetings.  In fact, there was a time that I thought, "How will I ever be able to be pregnant and not drink coffee?"  Then, lo and behold, doctors started advising that one cup of caffeinated coffee per day was allowable during pregnancy!  Thank you, Lord!  So. We got pregnant.  (Just kidding - we didn't get pregnant just because I found out I could still drink coffee.)

I promise.

Anyway, I continued to drink one cup of coffee every morning until the eighth month of pregnancy when I began to think about the ramifications of caffeine on nursing and realized that I had better just go ahead and give it up, so I switched to decaf.  And really, lets be honest, one measly cup of coffee is no match for fatigue like a freight train during that last trimester anyway.

And so, I have not had caffeine in any measurable amount for an entire year.

And then on Monday ... well, I was feeling groggy ... fatigued ... downright sleepy, as I suppose many of us do on Monday mornings.  And Monday at Casa de Trautman is Laundry Day, and to be honest, I just didn't think I could face it.  Enter the little bit of half-caff coffee grounds lurking in the back of my pantry.  The little Caffeine Angel (or is it a Devil?) started whispering, "Oh, it's just half-caff.  It probably won't even make a difference.  Little Man won't need to nurse for another four hours, so it will be completely out of your system by then anyway.  How are you going to fulfill your wifely duties if you can't stay awake?  Jesus would want you to serve your family!  I can help you with that!"

And so, I made a cup.

And let me TELL you ... I didn't stop moving for another six hours.  I washed, dried, folded and put away three loads of laundry.  I cleaned out and organized Benjamin's closet.  I washed a huge pile of dishes.  I made blueberry muffins for breakfast. I made two batches of baby food.  I did a whole bunch of other stuff that I can't even remember because tasks were getting checked off my list so fast it was just one big blur.

I kid you not.

And then, after dinner, it hit me.  The post-caffeine-high-mack-truck-of-worn-out that i didn't even see coming.  Tuesday morning was painful.  And no caffeine to be had anywhere in the house.  "It's okay," I thought, "I'll be fine. I've done without it for a year."  And then Wednesday morning, more painful still.

And so, yes, that was me leaving our local buy-in-bulk-cuz-its-cheaper-even-though-you-have-nowhere-to-store-it place with a three pound bag of coffee this afternoon.

Hello again, caffeine!  I've missed you!