First, I greatly
enjoy entertaining...and I like to think I'm pretty good at it. I spend a
lot of my time trying to please everyone...which is nearly impossible...but
entertaining seems to fall perfectly into that genre. I can come up with a
reason to entertain for almost any day. Weeknight casual dinner party?
Check...and still get the kids in bed on time! Football game? Must have
an 'At Home Tailgate Party'! Birthday? Yep, fire up the grill and let's
celebrate! There doesn't have to be a 'good reason', I can always make
one up. ; ) Kinect dance off with friend? Sure, and we'll make that an
appetizers and desserts game night while we're at it. See, you can have a
party for anything! And I love it. I love the cooking...mixing drinks (alchy
and non)...chit-chat...it's all just plain fun.
But I mainly love
coffee...MMMmmm...so good. It can be decaf or not. It's the warm cup of
flavored fantasticness that is so important. My dad will tell you that
it's 'froo froo' coffee that I drink. He likes his plain black from the
pot...preferably unflavored Folgers or Starbucks Espresso. I like
flavored coffee. With a variety of creamers. But as soon as you take a
sip of that warm, inviting concoction, there's no turning back. On a cold
day, it warms you from the inside and what better people to share that treat
with than a group of friends?! So, on Thursdays, we meet at my
house...brew our favorite cup (the hubbs got me a Keurig last year so now we
can all have a different flavor if we want...and it turns out that I actually
DRINK less coffee and WASTE less coffee...double bonus). It is a casual
group. Very come-as-you-are. Some come straight from the gym...some come
from running errands...whatever floats your boat. All I ask is that you don't
show up before 9:30am...gives me time to get K to school and even run an errand
or two (or straighten up my house or bake yummy treats)...and you'll either
need to leave (or hang out at my house alone for a bit) so I can go get K from
school. Usually, though, folks start arriving around 9:45 and are heading
out around lunch time. Works out perfectly since C still naps each
afternoon.
Coffee Group is
also a great way to keep my housework in check. LOL. Not that I keep my house
in magazine cover condition, but I do like certain things a certain way when we
are going to have company. So, in addition to spending the morning with
an amazing group of ladies (and sometimes a husband here or there...depending
on work schedules, vacation and whatnot...but the boys are welcome), I get to
start my weekend with a freshly straightened house. I love that. Somehow our
house is always messiest on the weekends. Of course, there are 4 of us here to
create dirty dishes, clothes and contribute to clutter...but that also means
there are 4 of us here to clean up such things as well...never works that way,
though. The house is always more cluttered on Sunday evening than any other day
of the week. Especially Thursday!
Additionally, it's a great
way to indulge my desire to bake. I love baking and cooking. The older I
get, the more I love it and the stronger my desire to learn how to make more
and more things. However I do not have a desire to consume more and more
calories! K barely eats enough to keep a baby bird alive...C eats in spells,
but it is impossible to know in advance if tomorrow is going to be a 'hungry'
day or not. If it is, I might as well just put out a perma-buffet for him and
let him eat all day...if it's not then he'll eat even less than K. Annoying.
And then there's the hubbs. He likes to think that he's a well-rounded eater.
He's not. He has his favorites and sticks to them. And he is not a fan of
sweets. So, assuming I bake a fantastic dessert and it happens to be a
day that neither K nor C are hungry...it will just sit there...staring at me.
Did I mention that I am definitely a sweets-lover? Ugh! So...I can mitigate all
of that by baking on Wednesday night or Thursday morning…and then passing off
said baked deliciousness to everyone at Coffee Group. Now, I don't bake every
week; just whenever the mood strikes me. I try to let everyone know the night
before so that they can plan to snack here the following morning, though.
Mostly, though, it is a wonderful, casual morning spent with great
friends. The group varies based on
appointments, travel and various scheduling conflicts. But regardless of who shows up, it is a
relaxed morning of fellowship in a world where our lives can so quickly turn
into a whirlwind of activities.
Stay-at-home moms get a couple of hours of adult chit-chat. Youngsters
still at home during the day get some interaction with others…both adults and children. C looks forward to ‘Friends Day’ as much as I
look forward to Coffee Group…good thing they are the same event. ; ) LOL. So,
ladies (and gents), thanks for making Thursday one of my most favorite days of
the week!
~Jac
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