I wanted a cup of coffee this morning.  That was all.  Granted a twelve ounce mug of decaf is a sad excuse for a good cup of coffee, but my caffeine-less kick rules these days.  Mom wanted a cup, too...regular.  Sure, no problem.  

In the kitchen, kettle boiling, I hunt for our one-cup filters.  Um, one in the sink, and WHERE is the other one?  Where?  Leah took it to work?  Ok, so one cup at a time...I can do this.

Mom's coffee safely brewing.  Where is the Vanilla Hazelnut decaf?  I ground the rest of it yesterday and put it in its little bag in the cupboard.  On tiptoe...come on...it has to be up there...craning my neck...hopping up and down.  Where?  Leah took it to work?  The whole bag?  Ok, I guess I can handle boring, unflavored, bland coffee, I'll just doctor it up...I can do this.

Drip, drip, splatter, splash...I whirl around to see a stream of brown, trickling over a granite edge, drizzling down the trash can and running across the floor.  Rats!  Overfilled the filter.  Clean up the mess and deliver the mug to the office, not without a few stubborn drops escaping as I try to "glide" across the floor.  'Sigh'  Can I do this?

Back to my mug and my kettle.  Pour a little boiling water, watch it disappear, sinking through the grounds.  Fascinating.  Pour a little more.  Add a little cinnamon.  Man, it's filtering slowly!  Tip my kettle more...and more...too far.  The lid falls off, releasing a cloud of steam that envelops my wrist.  Pain!  Steam burns are excruciating when you can't immediately drop the piece of cookware and escape.  The kettle is empty.  Ruefully rub my wrist and peer into my cup.  It is half full.  Half a cup...all that for half a cup.  Did I smile?  Perhaps...I don't remember.  I am now.  It was a good day.

Have any of you ever pondered the intricacies of playing the ukelele?  I probably never gave it more than a few seconds consideration in my life, and I confess, in those few seconds, I dismissed the instrument as undeserving of belonging to the guitar family, certainly not worth taking time to learn how to play.  The elegance of the classical guitar, the soothing rhythms of acoustic, the energy of a mandolin, even the spice of electric, but a ukelele...um...no.  Check out this link: 

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=1352016870638076087 

I was amazed.