The Dark Side

Many of you have expressed concern for many years now.  "It's not normal," you say.  "How do you function?"  "You must be exhausted."  Why, yes, friends, I usually am.  But no level of exhaustion has ever convinced me that coffee is worth drinking.  I can choke down tea only if social niceties demand it.  Carbonated beverages cause my stomach much regret.  I have survived 34 years without a caffeine addiction, but lo, I have been converted to the dark side; and I have my sister to blame thank.

Sometime in January, when children and husband were very sick, and mama was running low on nice, sweet unassuming sister popped over with a little envelope of something called chai latte.  "This is the good stuff," she promised.  "If you don't like it, call me and I'll come drink it.  Don't you pour that out."  I set it aside, knowing it would be like all the other failed attempts throughout the years to woo me to caffeine.  

I pulled it out on a Sunday morning after very few hours of sleep the night before.  And as my sister had promised, "It's definitely a mommy drink.  The smell will drive your children away so you can enjoy it in peace."  They abandoned the table and I was left alone to contemplate the threshold I may be crossing.  She had described it as a blend of spiced wassail and hot chocolate.  That doesn't sound very good, but friends, it was.  It was so good.  If ever I was to be converted, you had to know it would involve chocolate.

That particular envelope made a big mug of chai latte.  A big mug that probably should have been sipped over several hours.  I guzzled it before we left for church.  By the time we walked into our class, my heart was ready to leap out of my chest and my eyes wouldn't blink.  An incredible force, yet I had to harness it or it would be my undoing.

Over the last few weeks, my sister and I have perfected this concoction.  Other, more sage caffeine-drinkers are probably aware of this recipe, but we have found that a packet of hot coca mix added to a cup of spiced chai brewed from the cheap tea bags makes a wonderful elixir to carry mommy through a slow school morning or a long, rainy afternoon.  Or both.  Give it a try the next time you suffer from a severe case of rear-endus-draggus.  You know it has to be good if it won me over to the dark side.