"...[E]ven a bad cup of coffee is better than no coffee at all." - David Lynch

This is most definitely true.

I hadn't been a big coffee drinker until I met my wife. Before meeting her I would get an occasional mocha from the Starbucks at the bookstore in the mall, but that was rare. In my post-high school/pre-bar age days I would hang out at coffee shops (this was also in the mid-nineties when coffee shops were a dime a dozen) smoking cigarettes and trying to wax philosophical on subjects of great importance, such as "What cereal character's would win in a fight?" or "Could Superman lift Thor's hammer?" You know, really deep stuff. I drank coffee back then, but as I grew out of that phase of my life I also grew away from coffee.

I meet Christina at a local coffee shop. We had been "chatting" with one another online and via text message for a little while (a story for another time) but finally decided to meet at one of her favorite spots. I have been drinking coffee ever since. More so recently. I don't know what it is, but every morning I desire coffee. I'm not a coffee connoisseur. I don't know the difference in blends and beans and color and smell... but I know that I like coffee and I drink some every morning.

This morning I needed that cup of coffee more than ever. The compressor on our heating unit went out. Yes, we live in Arizona and having a heater is not that important for most of the year... but this time of year it drops down to less than 40° F (roughly 4° C) at night and inside our house it gets cold. Not to mention that Christina is sick with flu-like symptoms. So, I made sure that she and the baby (who will be 5 months old in a couple of days) were tucked in and comfortable in our bed... put and extra blanket on my son's bed and made sure he was nicely tucked in... and then I slept on the couch.

The idea of sleeping on the couch doesn't much bother me. In fact, I virtually grew up sleeping on a couch. When I would visit my dad on the weekends I slept on his couch. When I shared a studio apartment with a friend in Los Angeles I slept on the couch. When I had my own apartment I would very often sleep on my couch instead of my own bed. But I was much younger then and, although the idea of sleeping on the couch doesn't bother me (and I am happy to do it because my sick wife needs the rest), my body isn't as accommodating as it once was. My back is sore, my neck is tight, my legs ache... I'm definitely not the younger version of me who could sleep in such cramped positions and feel revitalized the next morning.

So, I got both children ready this morning; one for daycare and one for kindergarten. I kissed my wife good-bye, told her to get some rest and that I loved her, packed up the kids and headed out the door. On the way to drop my son off at school the baby fell asleep. I could hear her little moans and grunts from her car seat in the back as my son talked to me about Star Wars and which action figures he is hoping to get for Christmas. I listened, sipped at my coffee, and enjoyed every minute of the drive... as this is my favorite part of the day.