8:10 am

My morning coffee (decaf) is perfect.
The espresso pot makes just enough for me to have half a cup. I never drink a full mug of coffee so this is the perfect amount.
It's hot when I pour it - this was not always the case when I came downstairs to a pot brewed earlier and left on the warmer, and I can add foamed half and half if I want to pretend I am at a coffee shop.

Middle is the only one of our kids who likes coffee (caf) and I so rarely know what kinds of things he enjoys that it is a treat to make him a cup.

I think coffee, like alcohol, is something people teach themselves to like.
Oldest would love to enjoy wine and coffee but seems not to have a taste for either. Of course, he would never admit this, but he never asks for coffee or buys himself a cup and I am forever pouring out the wine he has asked for at dinner.

Youngest says he will never drink either. Youngest has very strict views. I don't imagine he will change his mind, not that I care, but it is interesting to me that he is so serious on the topic.

I made No-Knead bread yesterday. I had read a quick version of it on the internet somewhere and I applied some of the principles to the recipe I use. Instead of dusting with flour at certain intervals I rubbed oil on the dough. It was much easier to handle, made less of a mess in the kitchen and the crust is golden and crispier.

I have finished Christmas shopping for everyone but the boys. We have been working on a project for our extended families since last winter and I chose the same gifts for the boy cousins and the girl cousins. I do, however, need to come up with a special birthday present (mid December) for my goddaughter. In the past I have gotten her a gift card for clothes at one or another store - but this year I'm thinking of a handbag or gift card at Zappos. We'll see.

All three boys know what they'd like for Christmas so, at this point, it's a matter of budget.
Oldest would like accessories for his dirt bike.
Middle (whose birthday is 12/7) is thinking of combining gifts and asking for a camera, and Youngest would like a tablet. The only problem with asking for a tablet is that (as I understand it) the cheaper ones are no good and the expensive ones are very difficult to learn to use.
K will take Middle and Youngest to a place in town to look at cameras and pallets and try to figure it all out.

K is busy working on a video project with a very tight deadline. He doesn't mind working under those conditions but it does mean 12 hours a day in his "office."

I can hear the dining room clock ticking and I'd like to go back to bed.
It's not in the cards.