Normal again - and all it took was some caffeine

So, I've been caffeine-free for the past several years - ever since my sophomore year of college, actually.

It started completely by accident.  I don't drink coffee or tea, and the only soda's that I liked back then were sprite and root beer.  The cafeteria at college didn't offer root beer, so I just drank sprite whenever I got a soda.  Without my even realizing it, months passed with no caffeine being injected into my system.

I didn't realize what was going on until my sophomore year.  I had a big day, full of tests that I was dreading.  But the night before I was completely exhausted, and I went to bed about midnight, with the plan that I would get up early the next morning and get some more study time in.  So, 5 AM comes, I drag myself out of bed, go down to the vending machine, and buy a nice 20oz Code Red Mountain Dew.

And drink the whole thing.

Insert "Caffeine" in place of "Red Bull", and that about describes it.

By 6:30 AM, when my roommates started stirring, I was so worked up that I couldn't sit still.  I tried resting my eyes for a bit, but as soon as I did the world started spinning and I felt like I was falling.

Somehow I made it through my morning classes.

By lunchtime, I was still so jittery I was shaking.  I'm surprised that the essay test I had in History was readable!

By 4 PM I'd stopped shaking, but was still super jumpy.  Jumpy enough that my co-workers were commenting (and laughing).

I didn't fall asleep that night until 3 AM the next morning.

After all that?  I stopped drinking caffeine. 

Skip ahead a few years.  A few months ago, I started taking this medication that makes me tired.  No, tired is too casual a word ... exhausted.  We'd take Honey for a walk around the block, and I'd need a nap as soon as we got back.  It hasn't been fun.

This has been me.

So I've been slowly adding caffeine back into my diet.  A few weeks ago I started drinking a coca-cola everyday - and actually started feeling good again!  I could get things done!  I wasn't being a lazy bum and laying around the house all day!

Still, drinking that much coke isn't very healthy ...  so John and I started discussing options.  Coffee is out - although I'd love the energy boost that it would give me, I just cannot stand the taste.  As for tea - I'd never found a tea that I liked.  I like Chai Tea Lattes, but those aren't much healthier than Cokes!

This past weekend, I bought some Twinings of London Chai Tea bags, and started drinking that tea.  I'm not going to say that it's good - but it's drinkable.  (John says it's really good tea, though.)  I still need to add some cream and sugar to the tea, but I'm hoping over time to wean myself down.

The tea doesn't give me as much of a caffeine energy jolt as the Coke does, but it's more stable.  I can drink a cup of tea and get my work done.

I feel normal  again.  And it's wonderful!

Little Bits of Drama

Here are some small dramas that are happening right now.
My Work:
I'm in the middle of a company merger/consolidation.  Thankfully I have a job afterwards, but that's not the case for everyone.  I'm working with various committees to make sure everything transitions smoothly; which I honestly enjoy since I like knowing the details behind things.  But that's not the drama.

The drama is that one side of the company (the one I'm on) backed out of a planned joint event at the last moment, and now the other side is offended.  The people on my side are frustrated and annoyed because the other side keeps harping on it, while the people on the other side hasn't been directly told why my side backed out.  I'm in the middle, attempting mediation.  I managed to get our side calm enough to agree to address the issue calmly at the next meeting.  Let's hope the other side can react in a similar fashion.  This particular drama has been going on too long.

UPDATE:  Another situation exactly like this has just landed on my desk.  Argh!  We haven't finished cleaning up the last one!

John's School:
Most of John's classmates are amazing.  Very intelligent people from all over the world, who have also been kind enough to "adopt" me into their group.  The fact that I make them cookies doesn't hurt!

But some of his classmates are causing trouble in the lectures.  Some don't show up to lecture at all, even though there is a strict attendance policy (3 absences = failure).  Others spend the lecture interrupting the professor with stupid questions.  For instance, the professor explains a picture on the powerpoint.  The student raises their hand and asks, "Can you explain that picture?"  Not even exaggerating.  That happened.

This seems apt.

Those questions mean that the professor can't cover everything the professor needs to cover for the test.  Those same students have been known to raise their hand and say, "Excuse me, professor, but class ends in 5 minutes.  Can you just tell us what will be on the test?"  AFTER they had spent the whole two hours interrupting with stupid questions so that the professor got behind.

John's Labs:
John is in his second lab rotation, and although he says it's a good lab, he doesn't think it's a good fit for him.  We've been having an on/off discussion over the past few days about what he wants and expects out of  a lab.  For some reason, even though we were talking, we weren't communicating, and both of us were getting frustrated with the other one. 

Thankfully, we finally had a breakthrough last night and were able to talk it out.  We're good now.


On a completely different note, John and I decided that I need to try various types of tea.  The only tea I've ever tried is the tea made in the south, and I do not like it at all.  It tastes and feels like flavored water, and often leaves a bitter aftertaste.

I do like Chai tea, but can't drink that all the time due to how many calories are in it.  (But if I could, I would.  So good!)

So, probably starting soon I'll be trying various types of tea to decide if there is a tea out there I can drink.  I wonder if there is a place nearby where I could get samples...