~A Bitter Swallow~

I've had to stop drinking coffee. While I've been thinking about doing this for awhile for health reasons, since I use so much cream and sugar, the actual having to do it part is bumming me out. But, it is making me too sick to keep trying. It upsets my stomach to the point where I gag while drinking it. The smell is nauseating. The heartburn that comes with it is awful.

But man, I sure do miss my morning ritual of waking up to a pot of coffee, sitting here at the computer and doing my morning email / blog reads, while sipping on that hot Cup 'o Joe. It was a nice, quiet way to start the day. And with the weather turning cold in the mornings now, I am especially missing it.

It's not just coffee that hurts my tummy. Everything I drink has been. Even water. That one is probably more tough for me than coffee. Mostly because I force myself to drink it anyway. Especially at work. Heartburn and all. Yes, even water gives me heartburn to drink.

Which, if it wasn't for the overwhelming nausea coffee gave me, I'd just suck it up and drink the coffee. Water upsets my stomach, but not nearly to that degree.

Soda is out of the question. About the only thing I've noticed that doesn't seem to have an affect is iced tea. So, I'm also thinking I'm going to have to look into hot tea or hot chocolate as my coffee alternative. See how those hot morning cups work out for me and my tummy.

I've been told I should go get my gall bladder looked at. An old friend of mine showed up at the library yesterday, and was telling me about how she had to go get her gall bladder removed soon. She began describing her symptoms from the beginning, and I had to groan, because it was exactly the same thing I've been going through for the past couple weeks. Apparently it gets pretty dang bad. Well, I have to wait until my insurance stuff arrives, and I'm still patiently waiting for that welcome packet. Maybe I need to stop being patient.

She did say she lost 15 pounds in one week though. That's something to be excited about. No pain, no gain right. Or in this case, loss.

Anyway. I should start focusing my mornings on writing. There is just so much distraction around me to write. It's hard, it's frustrating, and I'm lazy. That's just all there is to it. The opportune time for me to write around here is probably the least opportune time for my brain. I don't understand all these writers that talk about waking up and writing for a couple hours right off the bat. It takes my brain that long just to process it's awake. Maybe that's the key though- writing while still part-way in that dream state.

I could wind up with some rather interesting tales.

I need a laptop.

I need a dang cup of coffee!