Maddy Barone Send Message

Dear God, in a meeting this morning we were informed that mandatory overtime has been extended through February and increased from 5 hours a week to 7. As soon as that meeting was over I headed to my drawer of tea. If it hadn’t been work hours it might have been something stronger that went into the cup!

This really is a lovely cup. Smooth and strong, just what a morning calls for, especially after getting news you really didn’t want.

I’m going to like that extra money on the check. Say it again: I’m going to like that extra money on the check.

(and just between us, my boss is a jerk. That has nothing to do with the overtime. It’s more about my teensy little raise. My 14.5 years in this position and the experience I bring is worth a he!! of a lot more than 1.2%)

I realize that for a lot of people working 9 or 10 hours a day isn’t any big thing. ut it’s killing me. Or actually, I think it’s the evening commitments that are killing me. Monday it’s my local writer’s group critique meeting, Tuesday night it’s my university class, Wednesday night it’s church, and this week, Thursday it’s supper with friends. So I work from 6:30 am until 4:30 or 5:00, and then have to be somewhere an hour or two later. Last night I went to class, sat in the back and started crying. I got up, went home and punch back into work for another hour. I think I’m crazy.

I decided I needed a good breakfast tea this morning. I love this one. It’s robust without being astringent or bitter, and it re-steeps quite well. I got three good cups out of one teaspoon of leaf.

Tonight I’m playing hooky from church. I really enjoy it because Wednesday night is really laid back and I get to hang with friends. But really, I’m in need of some ME time. Tomorrow during our team meeting we’ll find out if the mandatory overtime is going to be extended. Fingers crossed for “no” LOL

This is my evening cup. I can’t quite decide if I like it or not. My first sip was while it was quite hot, and it wasn’t good. As it cooled, I found myself enjoying it more. So, I think yes, I like it. Not a favorite, but I can finish drinking the rest of the skinny tin with no trouble. I just need to remember to allow it to cool a bit.

My tummy is a little unhappy today (I should NOT have eaten lunch a the mall. I know better), so I’ve had a couple of cups of this today. It might not be a cure, but it can’t hurt. Peppermint tea should always be in the tea chest, and this one is as good as any bagged tea and better than some.

Is it WRONG that I like bagged tea? I mean, a lot of bagged teas are not as high a quality as loose leaf, but it’s so darned convenient.

I finished the very last of this. There wasn’t quite a teaspoonful left so I augmented with a pinch of plain Ceylon. Quite tasty. A little sweet, but not that annoying artificial sweetness. Just about a perfect cup. I haven’t had a tea from 52Teas that I haven’t enjoyed. When I finally do get down to my Twenty Teas tea chest, one of the revolving teas will always be one from them.

This is a wonderful, rich black tea. It has a smooth yet robust flavor. Maybe I should have saved it for tomorrow morning, but I was in the mood for this one now, so I brewed it up this evening. Really nummy on a cold winter night with sugar cookies. nom nom nom.

Decided to pull this out for this evening’s tea. It is darned cold here so I’m wearing a pair of handknit wool socks, a flannel granny nightie and my heavy robe. I’ve spent most of the evening sipping tea and knitting while I watched the Packers/Cardinals game. I was born in Milwaukee, so you can imagine how tragic I think the Packer loss is. Sigh. It was a heck of a game even if we did lose.

I have enough of this tea left to make one more cup. maybe tomorrow night. I’m not sure I can force myself to drive to church tomorrow. The wind chill is -38 F now, and is expected to be between -45 and -50 tomorrow morning. There’s not enough tea in the world to keep me warm outside tomorrow.

My last bag of this! We are entering our deep freeze weekend, so I will be drinking LOTS of tea in the next three or four days. Right now it’s -4F (-20C) and that’s the warmest it will be until Tuesday. It’s possible that I will skip church on Sunday as it is expected to be -23 with a wind chill of -40. It will get up to -12F during the afternoon, but Monday will be even colder. See? Excellent tea drinking weather! The perfect weekend to snuggle at home with a book and tea.

I am not tremendously fond of rooibos, but it’s not bad here. I’ve been impressed with the Mariage Freres teas I’ve tried. Although I won’t stock this one in my 20 Teas tea chest I’m glad to have tried it.

Wow, what an awesome tea experience! I chose to drink this one on my morning break. So nice! Smooth, creamy, almost sweet on its own. When I finally work myself down to my 20 teas, this one will have a spot in the tea drawer. So glad I ordered a sample of this.

The not so nice news today is the passing of Alan Rickman. I was sad when I heard about David Bowie, but the news about Alan Rickman is even more devastating. Since the Potter books came out on Audible I’ve been getting one every few weeks and listening. Whenever the narrator speaks Snape’s dialogue I picture Alan Rickman. Sadness.