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The Chronicles of Nani On Video

I am overcoming my inability to type with my ability to talk (and talk and talk and talk) I'll be posting a video every week on my YouTube channel. I'll be posting those videos here too along with an occasional regular blog in the mix. (As long as my hands are up to doing the extra typing.)

You'll be able to watch the videos here, but I encourage you to stop by my channel at YouTube once I'm up and running to follow me and get my numbers started!


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Monday, December 26, 2011

Monday Mug Shot


SpongeBob Squarepants

It was a very coffee Christmas in Naniland! My surprise gifts from my cousin were just the start of something…something truly inspired and caffeinated!

Okay, technically, the SpongeBob mugs aren’t coffee mugs. They came with packets of hot chocolate. Believe it or not, they are marketed for kids! I’m a SpongeBob fan. I even watch it when there are no kids around. I credit Tori and Rina for introducing me when they were little. Much in the Bugs Bunny spirit, SpongeBob Squarepants is written on 2 levels, for the kids and their parents. There are so many references and musical moments tipping their hats to the 80s that a parent of kids in the 90s can’t help but laugh along. That includes an actively participating aunt of kids born in 1994! So when David saw the SpongeBob mug set sitting next to the Disney Princess set he picked out for JP, he picked it up for me. I’m guessing that he bought them at the same time because going back to a store a second time is so NOT a guy thing.


A week after my surprise K-Cups from my Cuz, we hosted UNO and the Fabulous Dessert Bar. Sheri brought me the sweetest gift basket! Now, she had not read my blog about the difference between a coffee gift from a man and a coffee gift from a woman, but she gave me a half pound bag of Starbucks Christmas Blend with a few packages of cookies to go with, which included a Caramel Macchiato Biscotti that was heavenly, and a wonderfully aromatic rosemary “tree.”



Sheri apologized because she’d forgotten about me having the Keurig Brewer, but I’d told her it was fine because Starbucks Christmas Blend is a holiday favorite of mine that doesn’t come in K-Cups and I could use my My K-Cup adapter to make Christmas Blend cups. When I posted pictures from UNO on Facebook, she apologized again about not getting K-Cups, an unnecessary apology because I am SO glad to have my Starbucks Holiday Blend, but even more unnecessary with the reply I gave to her comment. “And then the Keurig died, so you kinda saved Christmas. ”

It’s true! On December 19, the Keurig was acting up. It was only brewing a half a cup of coffee. I went to the help page to troubleshoot. I descaled it, running undiluted vinegar through it, a few times, still a half cup of vinegar. Then I went through the steps for unclogging the spout where the coffee comes out. Now it wouldn’t stay closed. When I did coax it to staying closed, the first time it still only brewed a half cup. I brushed the exit spout again. This time it stayed closed but as the water was heating, it popped open with a force that made me jump. The coffee pot that I considered our best wedding gift died less than 4 days before our third anniversary.

I was looking for a new Keurig maker as soon as the final drip fell from the old maker. I mean, never having stale coffee, a great variety, not overdoing the caffeine and the fact that from when we got it, the maker lived 2-1/2 years of everyday use with moving parts that are moved quite a bit by human hands for every cup, it really was quite durable and the coffee that wasn’t wasted alone paid for the extra cost of the portion packs. I chose the Keurig Elite, which is a small upgrade from what we had. The old pot was a B30, a single cup at a time pot that required a water refill for each cup. The elite was a little more expensive than the original price on the old brewer, but not much and it has a water reservoir so you can make one cup right after another without adding water. The reviews on it are great. I don’t buy for myself at this time of year, well maybe now after Christmas, but I figured I’d be able to use my coffee bucks, that is the coffee fund I save from my blog sponsor earnings, to buy the Elite by the end of January. I haven’t made an 11th Street Coffee purchase in a few months, so I’m not far from affording the Elite!

A friend suggested on Twitter that I could “ask Santa Dave” for the coffee maker. But I’d already asked for a wand scanner for scrapbooking and truth be told, I wouldn’t buy myself the wand scanner, not right away, because it’s a want not a need. Yeah, coffee is a NEED! I told David that too.

Working my way up to Christmas Eve I’d made a pot of coffee on Wednesday and kept it in the thermos carafe. The second day it was warm and I nuked a cup to get it hot. Friday it was cold and I nuked the last cup. Dilemma: Christmas Eve morning coffee. I can make a pot of the Christmas Blend, but then we’re reheating day old coffee on Christmas morning, or I can go without and make fresh for Christmas. David’s answer? “This is too big to wrap, so you get it early.” MY new Keurig Elite! On Christmas morning, I got my bag of Verona and 2 boxes of K-Cups from “Santa Dave” too! It was a Joyously Java Christmas indeed!

By the way, David and I are going out to pick out the rest of the main gift, probably in January my wand scanner! Remember what I said about giving and receiving? I’m spoiled generous!

5 comments:

Nancy said...

Sounds like Santa was very good to you! Enjoy! :)

Bev said...

Very cute cups...but old coffee microwaved:(...LOL

Edna B said...

Isn't it nice to be spoiled? My Michael always spoiled me, then my brother did, and Tootsie spoils me wicked! I just love it!

I'm so glad you had a wonderful Christmas. Enjoy your wand when you get it. Have a great day, hugs, Edna B.

Ronalyn said...

My niece got me into Sponge Bob too! My first episode was where he couldn't tie his shoes, but Gary could. Funny how I remember that!

seamhead gypsy said...

A few years ago our daughter wandered over to sponge bob. At the time she was a weeeee bit young for the sponge humor. So I told her, "we don't watch sponge bob.". To this day she repeats that quote when the topic of sponge bob comes up. We both like phineas and ferb however. But your sponge bob mugs look pretty cool!

And what does Santa David mean to big to wrap? I wrapped my wife's! It used a lot of paper and it was a pain in the arse to actually wrap but it wasn't too big.

Enjoy your new K machine. Kathy is going to take hers to the office so I still won't get to see what all the excitement is with them.