Heaven in a Mug

OK, so the story of how I came to drink coffee is a bit strange. I had NEVER been a coffee drinker until my second pregnancy, with Rebekah. Yes, you did read that correctly. I heard the horrified gasps. I started drinking decaf when I was pregnant with Rebekah because I craved the taste of coffee, and I didn't feel OK about drinking the caffeinated version. Once Rebekah was born, I started drinking regular coffee...and now, 2 years later, my day isn't complete unless I have a good cup of coffee.

So, what constitutes a good cup of coffee, you ask? Well, for me, after living in Europe, I answer that question differently than I used to. I used to like the North American watered down version of coffee. Now, I prefer it a lot stronger. Although, if you talked to Kevin, he would say that he doesn't know how I tell the difference because I "doctor it up" with so much milk and sugar anyways. :-) So, I guess you could say that I like strong coffee, with milk and sugar. I actually really like cappuccino now. Before living in Switzerland, I didn't even know what cappuccino was.

Kevin was "converted" before I was. This is a great example of evolution out of necessity. You see, Kevin is NOT a morning person. He is the guy who will set his alarm for 7:37 a.m. in order to maximize the amount of time he can sleep. He leaves himself no extra time...no room for error. As a result of this, he never eats breakfast at home. So, he had to start having breakfast and his morning coffee at work.

coffee at work = strong European coffee

After we had been in Geneva for a while Kevin started talking about getting a "European" coffee machine. In other words, an expensive machine that makes espresso, cappuccino and the like...usually from coffee capsules, instead of loose ground coffee. So, having payed attention to his chit chat, just before Christmas and with our move on the horizon, I started researching coffee machines.

We ended up with a Nespresso machine. With George Clooney as the poster boy for the company, they can't be too bad, can they?! We looked into the possibility of buying one once in North America again, because of the power conversion issues, but an opportunity presented itself and we took it. The Nespresso machine that we wanted was on solde (sale) for 200 francs (about 200 CDN dollars) off the list price. Then there was a 100 franc rebate on top of that! By the time all was said and done, we ended up paying only 33 % of the retail price for the machine.

Then came the power conversion problems. We knew that we were moving back to North America when we bought the machine, and we knew we would want to take it with us. So, we started researching what type of adapter we would need in order to operate the machine in NA. We found out that we would have to spend about 70 dollars on a step up & step down transformer. That was fine, considering we had just saved 300 francs on the machine.

So, Kevin ordered the transformer online and it arrived in the mail the other day. Now, let me explain something...I knew that the transformer would be a black box that would have to sit on the counter next to the coffee machine. I knew that it would be "not little"....but let me tell you, I was shocked when I saw that thing! It is as big as the coffee maker itself, and I am not exaggerating when I tell you, I almost can't lift the thing! All I can say is, it is a good thing that we have a lot of counter space in our new house!

After all is said and done...I LOVE the new coffee machine. I actually use it more than Kevin does. Sometimes in the afternoon when I start to hit a wall, I just need a little "pick me up". A good cup of coffee does the trick. To have a moment to take a seat, put my feet up, and wrap my hands around a warm mug. I tell you, there is nothing like it....