Delayed brew

This past weekend was nice. Relaxing. A little Saturday golf, a few beers, another round of Friends DVDs, seeing a little more yellow and orange in the trees south of our place. Sipping coffee in front of the fireplace early in the mornings, only to later sip some wine and cook great meals. Devin even baked his first pie from scratch, and I can say that I'm incredibly impressed with the result.

It's hard to consider something "perfect," but this weekend was pretty darn close. Although it involved cleaning the kitchen three or four times and a few loads of laundry, which still need to be put away, it had its moments where I just sat back and smiled. All in all, life's pretty good right now.

Except it was Sunday, and that meant back to work Monday. For once I was going to be ahead of the game and program the coffee maker to have a whole pot brewed by 6:30 a.m. so Devin and I could both take some to work and spice it with a fresh batch of Devin's homemade syrup. Usually around 6:50, I'm frantically pouring water and coffee grounds as I'm still getting myself put together, still banking on running out the door before 7. Can you believe that almost never happens?

Side note: If I don't drive out of the complex gates at or before 6:58 a.m., I will undoubtedly be late for work. For some reason, two minutes later, traffic triples and I hit almost every light. Long story short, the West Center/Industrial construction project needs to end. Give me back my two lanes!

Anyhoo, I was on top of things! As I was filling the carafe with water, I could already smell Monday morning's coffee and taste that sweet, spiced syrup. And I was proud of myself for, after probably four months now, again making use of the ability to set a delay brew on our coffee maker. So, I'm pouring the water in and keeping an eye on the Friends episode playing in the next room. I emptied the carafe, looked at the water reaching the 10-cup fill line on the machine and mumbled, "I swear I filled it to 12. Weird."

Dreams of Monday morning coffee, down the drain.

I did fill the carafe to twelve. The other two cups had already leaked from the machine, onto the counter and began spilling over the edge, down the cabinets and all over the kitchen floor. Panicked, I reached into the towel drawer grabbed a stack of bar towels that had just been folded - pretty much the only laundry from the day that had been put away - and plopped them at the edge of the counter to control the flood. And in a few seconds, they were already saturated. I grabbed the coffee maker and dribbled water all across the floor from the counter to the sink, where it finished emptying. I ran to the closet for a bath towel and threw that on the floor. Then, disappointed and betrayed, I stared at my coffee maker. We just made coffee together this morning! What are you doing to me?! Did I mention this is about 9:45 p.m....on a Sunday?

Devin's reaction: "What did you do?" Excuse me? Grr...ask the coffee maker what its deal is!

Devin's second reaction: "Can I take it apart?"

I couldn't even mourn the loss. The only thing going through my mind was I can't drink the icky work coffee! We have to get another one! It's already 10 p.m. To Wal-Mart!

We spent what seemed like 10 minutes staring at the line of coffee makers, and sadly, I couldn't commit to one. If we're going to spend $80 for a coffee maker, I want to explore the options, read reviews, check out other stores, etc. So, we returned home, and Devin pulled out the backup. The four-cup machine. Four cups? Yep, that's going to have to brew a couple rounds in the morning.

They don't exactly compare, but I got my coffee this morning!

Good news: I got my morning coffee, and it's pretty tasty. Tonight when Devin gets home, we'll probably venture out in search of a larger replacement. Based on reviews for several brands and models, I think it's going to be a leap of faith. Apparently all coffee makers on the market either leak, make the coffee taste and smell like plastic, don't heat the coffee or have random design flaws. Choosing a coffee maker shouldn't have to be so much work.

Maybe we should just stick to the French press. Maybe we should invest in a larger press. Maybe that wouldn't help me get out the door before 7 a.m.

Here's to a good cup of coffee to make the search a little more bearable. Happy Monday. *Cheers*