Did YOU know that today is national coffee day?
No? Well I guess I shouldn't be surprised. What you don't know could fill a book, pal! Or a blog, for that matter.
Speaking of blogs... I guess ridiculing your readers isn't exactly the best way to start one, is it? Sorry; I forget these things. It has been a while.
Anyway, if I haven't offended you to the point of no return, I hope you'll stay with me because here's one thing you definitely didn't know: in a sense, coffee is indirectly responsible for the friendship (or blend, if you will) that you see before you--the magical pairing that is Jennanigans and Kelsery. That's right; I believe that this one beverage, in its own way, led to our becoming the two hot, addictive, irresistibly delicious and fantastic-smelling coffee beans in a pod that we are today... if you'll please excuse the disgustingly precious (but oh-so fitting!) metaphor.
And here's how!
Jenna and I have known each other most of our lives. A long, long time ago, back when we were both good little Catholic girls *holds for snickers*, the god our parents subscribed to smiled down upon us and had us seated at the same table in our weekly religion class. Jenna has since repressed this and all other memories of her tragically misspent Wednesday evenings as a youth, but as with most things regarding my fortune in finding Jenna, I will never forget it. (Thankfully both of us have since come to find humor in our Catholic upbringings, and our love of "The Vatican Rag" by Tom Lehrer and all things Sister Act comprises a considerable portion of the glue that binds us together.)
But while Jenna and I grew up close geographically, we were from different towns and attended separate schools for years. We really weren't thrown together again until junior high, which was long, long after we'd both seen the light and quit attending youth group/church altogether. Still, even in our small school we didn't really know each other. Sure, we had the same study hall in high school, and sure, we both elected to spend it in the band room rather than the cafetorium with the majority of other students, but that's where the similarities ended. We spent those 45 minutes at the end of each school day as differently as two girls could: Jenna, at a makeshift card table playing Mexican Rat Race with her all-male harem, and me, sitting solo in the corner typing Shakespearean sonnets (from memory!) into my graphing calculator.
Oh, how things change!!!
Fate would put us in close proximity once again when we both chose to attend our local liberal arts college (for reasons which escape us entirely today now that Jenna transferred, I graduated, and we both sold our souls to Iowa Student Loan as payment for a combined six years in hell). And herein lies the all important role coffee played in our blissful, if a bit belated, union. Finally, after years spent as strangers living under the same roof, we found a particular roof we both enjoyed spending time under: the roof of the college coffee shop.
I mentioned roofs far more in the previous sentence than I ever could have anticipated. My apologies.
Anyway: the coffee shop. I was an employee, and Jenna a coffee enthusiast, so our paths crossed at the counter on a regular basis. Sure, we saw each other elsewhere around campus--both of us were even in band--but looking back on it, I think the coffee shop is where our friendship truly blossomed (and besides, both of us hated band--and consequently anything/anyone related to band--so to credit that in any way for something good would be contrary to everything we believe in). Her love of caffeine brought her in daily, and my love of getting paid brought me in almost as often, so over time I got to know Jenna and/or her regular drink order much better.
...white chocolate café & cocoa with whipped cream and a shot of raspberry...
...Just sayin'.
It didn't take long for me to realize what I'd been missing out on all those years. I mean this girl loved Buffy and Sailor Moon even more than I did, for Christ sake! Before you know it, I was leaving the coffee shop after my late shift and heading straight for her dorm in an attempt to win her affections with broken scones. (It was a top-secret understanding, you should know, that coffee shop employees got to take home any scones that didn't make it through the day in one piece. Suffice it to say that a tray or two of perfectly gorgeous scones might have been... uh... "accidentally dropped" while under my watch.) In short, it worked: we became the fastest and best of pals, spending endless hours together frolicking merrily over the plains in her faithful Grand Am and belting Tenacious D lyrics with more gusto and frequency than anyone ever should.
MIND BULLETS!
So, dear reader, there you have it! An epic American tale, jam-packed with romance, intrigue, Atlanta-burning, baby-birthin', and more pop culture references (and mention of roofs) than either of us could ever have hoped for. And just as I promised, it was all brought to you by that faithful friend, whatever your blend, coffee: the other "Elixir of Life." (Oops--was that a Harry Potter reference? Yep. It sure was. Couldn't very well end my first post without one, could I?)
And J'Pie, I hope you'll consider this belated first blog another broken scone from me to you.
Cheers!
Kelsery
*Le Sigh*
ReplyDeleteOur story is the best story... : )
<3 Jennanigans