Insights Garnered by Sneezing with Coffee in your Mouth

Have you ever sneezed with something in your mouth? When my kids were babies, I remember this occasionally happening and it seems they were always eating rice cereal when this happened. Spewing rice cereal across the highchair into my face and beyond was cute then. Now? Not so much...Sneezing these days is not so simple.

This morning as I sat drinking my coffee while checking Facebook Newsfeed, reading my email and the newspaper - a necessary routine that I began sometime around 2007, I sneezed only to have my Starbucks Via speckle across my computer screen and settle into a pattern along the front of my t-shirt.

Really, sneezing was the least of my worries. You see, sneezing at almost 40 takes on a whole new meaning that I never imagined at 20, 30 or even 35. Yeah, all those women out there who are almost 40 and have ever had children KNOW exactly what I am talking about, don't you? Yep, so not only did I sneeze and loose my coffee but I also peed myself a little...Look y'all, quit thinking in your head 'I can't believe she is writing this'. You know you are laughing like hell at my misfortune. And that is OK by me, you should be.  I laughed too...after I cleaned up my mess, took a shower and threw back a Zyrtec (hoping that would head off any more sneezing episodes for the day).

As I write this, the ways I have changed since becoming middle-aged are seemingly glaring at me!  Never before 35 did I need a morning routine that included coffee. In fact, back then I resisted anything with routine. And contrary to popular belief, I don't think my kids have suffered in monumental ways as a result of me neglecting this aspect of them growing up. I hope they have learned to be spontaneous and always open to new opportunities. Seriously my morning routine came about, I think, as a way to control what is going on in my life.

Around 2007, I was celebrating my victory over breast cancer while at the same time devastated by my brother's diagnosis of metastasized colon cancer. I was also trying to make up for the lost time in grad school, and lost time with my family and friends that had been put on the back burner while I dealt with my diagnosis. 2007 sent me reeling into an out-of-control-of-life state. The way I go about taking control is to first look for order. To establish order, I developed a routine. The first routine that I established was this coffee and reading habit. It was calming and I was in complete control. For some reason this routine has stuck. This is probably due to a couple factors. First, I like this easing into the day sort of thing so that I can gather all my thoughts. This should be no surprise, after all I am almost 40 so thought-gathering should be needed, right?

I also think that this habit has turned into an addiction. Hi, my name is Melony and I am addicted to the caffeine jolt that ONLY Starbucks Extra Bold Via can provide. I simply cannot do everything that I want to do without it. Plus the caffeine that this addiction offers seems to help curb my appetite...hmmm from the looks of the scale and the floppiness of my skin (it isn't fat, it is thick skin), I might want to re-think the one cup and add another (We'll save this conversation for a later post, Ok?). And so my morning routine has carried over into the present and provides me with way to control my day.

Who knew that an innocent sneeze could lead to such insights? Aren't you glad you stopped by today?

Enjoy your day and middle-aged folks, if you too are feeling out-of-control try a morning routine but just don't sneeze with coffee in your mouth.

My First Blog-- Why I am doing this

So, I'll be 40 soon and yep, I consider that to be middle-aged. Some may think this is a little too old for middle-age and others may see this as being too young. I really don't think I would make for a happy 80 year old. Really-- at the young tender age of 39, I am impatient and can be cantankerous. I hear these sorts of things get worse with age. Lord help my children is all I can say. If I am still around at 80, they'll probably be as happy as they are now (what 7th grader is EVER happy?? and the 11th grader is convinced that I am his mom just to nag him). Anyway, a lot has happened in my almost 40 years of life that I think others can benefit from. I have been fortunate to have some really great friends and some really bad friends. I've had opportunities to handle terrible circumstances with grace and dignity and have also failed miserably at dealing with some circumstances. So, I am hoping to take the life's lessons that I've learned and continue to learn and explore them through writing.

I think this blogging thing may help me achieve some balance in my life that has been missing for sometime now. Through the process of writing, I can think, reflect and share. I enjoy writing but it has been a really long time since I have written for just ME and I want to take that back. I hope you'll feel free to comment and share your experiences as you wish! I love learning about other people and this is your invitation to join me in my journey.