Introduction: Coffee, Tea, and Me

I'm not a big coffee drinker.

Oh, I like coffee. Not black coffee. Not strong coffee. But something that resembles coffee. With lots of creamer and sugar. Perhaps flavored or with whipped cream on top.

This blog isn't going to be about coffee. But coffee led to this blog's creation. Before now, I had given some thought to creating a blog, but I had decided it wasn't really for me. Partly because I have mixed feelings about blogs (especially the monetization of them), and partly because I'm a pretty private person who is protective of my work—particularly my written work.

But I decided this week to make coffee (the first time I'd ever done it on my own—and yes, these are the words of a 27-year-old) and bring it to work. Many mornings I need a little boost, but I just power through because 1. The coffee at work is disgusting and 2. Remember all that cream and sugar I mentioned? Believe me, my body gets enough calories already. I don't need to add even more to my daily quota.

However, this week was a busy one, demanding a little extra dedication and brainpower, and by Tuesday morning I was still dragging. (I strongly believe Tuesdays are even worse than Mondays.) So I made coffee Wednesday morning. 

Sometimes I get in these moods where I become extremely motivated to do things. Organize my closet! Plant perennials in my parents' backyard! Get up early to exercise! (Ha.) Of course, these grand ideas always strike in the middle of the work day or after I've gone to bed, both times when I conveniently can't follow through on my plans. So I usually make a list (just in my head or actually on paper), which is enough to satisfy my surge of inspiration.

Mid-morning on Wednesday, inspiration hit me. Not only was I flying through my work, but my mind was also whirling with the thought of starting a blog. I had the perfect name for it already. But what would I write about? Who would read it? Would I want anyone reading it?

Today, Thursday, I had more coffee. And I found myself Googling free blogging platforms to use. And here we are.

I call myself a writer. At work I write, edit, and proofread. I explore plotlines and write dialogue in my head—and sometimes on paper (or a Word document), too. I love the creative aspects of writing, and I love the technical stuff. For example, my favorite punctuation mark is the em dash.

Em Dash Amy. Get it? Can you count how many times I've used my beloved em dash already?

My plan for this blog is just to write. I'm not looking to fill a niche, and I'm not looking to market myself. This is going to be about me and my passions, including but not limited to cats, gardening, food, decorating, fashion, music, Jesus, and grammar.

Which leads us to tea.

I'm discovering this week that a disturbingly high amount of people think "iced tea" is actually "ice tea." Just how a creative writing classmate in college thought it was "mash potatoes," not "mashed."

It's ICED TEA, everyone. ICED. I drink it just about every day—much more often than coffee. So trust me that I know how to spell it.