Cup of Joe

I don't remember the details very well, but I do remember the conversation. Mike was asking me to stop off at Starbucks to get him TWO coffee tumblers. I tried to explain that we had a few at home, maybe ONE would be sufficient. No, he insisted on TWO. That was about two months ago. Why did it take me until tonight to figure out what he was doing? Who knows, but it didn't occur to me.

This is what he has been doing- Mike gets up at 5:15am. After he gets ready he goes downstairs and makes TWO cups of coffee which he puts in his Starbucks tumblers. I am still in bed at this point. :) He leaves the house at 5:40am and picks up a guy named Billy. Billy is the other coffee drinker. The two of them drive up to Goleta (45 minutes North; without traffic) for work everyday. My precious, thoughtful husband brings coffee to his friend. His sweetness makes me smile, and miss him; he is in Ohio this week.

The timing of the package at our doorstep today could not have been planned any better. Or maybe, coffee was on my mind and that is how I figured out the TWO cup mystery. Either way, I have a surprise waiting for my SWEET. Mike and I don't exchange gifts during 'expected holiday exchanges'. We are NOT surprise people (he will see this post before he gets home; yep, no surprise really). Christmas, Birthdays and Anniversaries are gift-less, that is unless we specifically ask for something (side note- we are getting a new camera for our Anniversary in June). Our first few years of marriage, if we gave anything it was homemade. Now it's nothing at all and that's how we like it. This allows us to be spontaneous and at the same time get what we REALLY want. We feel the freedom to get something special (a new purse or tennis racquet) when we are out shopping together. Christmas, for example, to us feels like a burden; just get me something because you are expected to. It's insanity if you ask me! Our gift getting and giving theory doesn't work for everyone, but it does for us.

Now for the non-surprise. I ordered Mike a single cup coffee maker. I know it will be special and it will make his morning routine easier. It wasn't a gift checked off my holiday gift buying list; why, because I don't have one! And that, my friends, is freeing.