Cleveland Tea Party

Have you heard that tea is our newest rage in the house?

It's true.

Warm drinks have always been high on my radar, especially this time of year. I drink coffee as a dessert, a special treat from time to time. I would probably drink it more if I did not have such drastic and noticeable effects from the caffeine.

When I drink coffee, if feels like there is a special vein that is activated in my body that filters out the milk, sugar, coffee bean, and whatever flavored syrup has been added, and sends the caffeine to my brain like an express train. Within minutes of a few gulps, my heart starts beating more quickly, my thoughts begin racing, and my mouth starts yapping at even FASTER levels than normal.

On road trips with Nick, pre-preggers state, Nick would watch the evolution first hand. First, I'd be quietly content watching the trees out the window and then we'd exit to get food and if I was tired, I'd get a nice small coffee. By the time we're on the ramp heading back on the highway, my head is bopping toward the car roof and I'm playing 20 questions, laughing, and talking a mile a minute.

So, it's natural for me to look for substitues now that cooler weather has arrived and I yearn for something warm to drink. I've always loved tea as well. It's better for you anyway.

So I began drinking herbal tea, non-caffeinated. Then I began hearing that herbal tea can be bad for you during pregnancy. I don't drink gallons of it, an occassional raspberry leaf treat in the evening is just enough to settle me in for the evening. Getting over this cold has been rough and tea smoothes the road just a bit more for me.

But you can imagine my surprise when Nick and venture to Giant Eagle to grab groceries for the week and while I am elbow deep in the produce section, notice he has wandered away. He normally does this when he remembers we need practical things like toilet paper, his Pert Plus shampoo stock is low, or wants more granola bars in the house. I was even more shocked when I found him in the tea section, peering closely at the labels and, after finally deciding on something, tosses it in the cart.

"I'm really getting into tea," he confides.

"I noticed. It's really good for you. I'm going to start drinking it more once I've popped our son out."

"I just realize that I feel like drinking it when I'm reading," he muses.

Nick has this, like, tendency to pick really amazing books to read. You know, some people choose New York Times best sellers or the latest from David Sedaris. No, Nick chooses Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand. This book is something like 1300 pages long. Meanwhile, I am trying to balance reading my pregnancy books, online articles, links, research, and one fiction Wally Lamb book and then find my forehead falling backward because I fall asleep so easily these days. Pathetic.

Champion Nick is over halfway through Atlas Shrugged. And it was this book, apparently, where he heard his tea calling.

"Maybe we should get a tea kettle," I offered.

"I can't imagine they'd be that much," of course Nick thinks of the cost vs. benefit relationship.

"No, they're not expensive at all. And you can have a lot of hot water waiting for you in case you want another cup. You don't have to use the microwave or anything. It might be worth it." I, of course, get excited at any prospect to buy something for our kitchen, even if it's just a tea pot.

"Mhm, yeah. That's probably a good idea."

When Nick says "that's probably a good idea," that means his eyes turn from a yellow to a green light. It's the go ahead sign.

So, Nick has been experimenting with his new vice while I enviously sniff the fresh aroma from the next room. Last night he picked up the box and said, "I hope I'm going to look like this guy when I'm done drinking it." The tea box had an adorable and huge brown bear, tucked away in a couch by a fireplace, a red-striped frock for pjs and a matching hat. The tea was called SLEEPY BEAR.

I studied the picture, "I think this is what you're going to look like in about 50 years."

Nick hollered from the kitchen, "50 years? Try 15 minutes."