Tuesday, October 21, 2008

Boring.

An obsession of mine is going to the convenience store alone to get a drink.

It's pretty simple really. Heading out on my own in my car, playing whatever music I'm loving at the moment, parking the car and getting out without opening additional car doors, grabbing a cup and filling it to the brim with cold ice and Dr. Pepper (and a shot of vanilla, whenever available) soothes my soul. It makes me feel like me.

I might not even drink any before I get home. A sip here or there, but only a little. It usually takes a few hours to get through the rest of the drink. I sip on it while I rest between moppings of the kitchen floor and while I move between tub and sink in cleaning the bathrooms. I leave it in random places; the sweaty moisture leaking down the cup to make rings on the counters and furniture.

It's pretty sad that I am choosing to blog about my Dr. Pepper consumption. But I like it. I miss it. I'm not currently drinking it, but I continue to like it and miss it. At certain times of the day, my mind automatically turns to the obtaining of a drink and the hours spent drinking. For me, part of what I like about it is in the getting. It's just what we did in our family.

I remember my sisters running down to the Maverick or the Circle C to get a Pepsi. Sunday dinner was often prefaced with Amy and I driving to the Harts up the road to fill up a few mugs. I remember she would always take the long way home through the fields; it used to drive me bonkers, because I like to get from point A to point B in the shortest amount of time possible. My mom would take Amy and I and our carpool friends to the convenience store to get sodas after gymnastics (yes, at 8:30 in the evening. I wonder why we never slept!).

Getting older, I'd drive take a drive with friends "to get a coke." It's a social thing, in a way. It's a private thing, in a way. It's a Utah-mormon, word-of-wisdom equivalent of taking a smoke break. And even one you can admit to your bishop.

Sigh. My hiatus from Dr. Pepper lives on. I fought the urge to run to the 7-11 yesterday; I resisted picking up a bottle from the pop machine today.

But it isn't fun. I don't feel any different or better or happier or less caffienated. I know it sounds pathetic.

But life is boring without Dr. Pepper.

9 comments:

Ginger said...

I say drink on! Kidding. There must be a reason you quit and if nothing else at least you know you have some will power.

BAK said...

Ginger - I can't really say I quit; I call it "taking a break."

Because, you know, I'll start again. But momentum can carry...for a while!!

Lucy said...

You are so funny. You're like my sisters - they love the soda run. Me, I like drink the soda, but the driving, getting in and out of my car and walking into the store - drives me crazy. If they're around, I have them pick one up for me. I know - none of the social benefits!

Um...I'm proud of you? :)

Anonymous said...

Dr. P is my drink of choice, too, and I've been particularly addicted lately.

It feels so good to drink! And I know you know what I mean!

Sigh.

Jeanette said...

Keep up the good fight girl! You can do it.

I am not like you, anything that requires me leaving my house just isn't worth it LOL, I would rather go without than have to run to the store to get it.

Isabel said...

This is such a "utah thing" and I miss it. Nobody here in Seattle would know what I was talking about if I said, "let's go and get a fresh beverage" (which is what Marci and I always called it!)

It is social and it is fun. But um, good luck with your "break"!

Amy Sorensen said...

I wish I could say it will get less boring.

but it doesn't really.

I think I have replaced "running to Holiday for a Pepsi" with "running to the fabric store to spend way too much money on Moda fabrics i will probably never have time to quilt." Not sure if the exchange rate on that one was a good deal.

BUT! Your kidneys are happier! Your liver is happier! your heart is happier! Your brain is happier!

Plus. I never knew the long-way-home drives made you nuts. i'm sorry. I will tell you why I drove that way sometime!

Melanie said...

I didn't understand the whole run-to-the-gas-station-for-a-drink thing until a few months ago. I spent the first 2 or 3 months of my pregnancy not wanting to go near carbonation, but then I did a complete 180 and wanted it ALL THE TIME! My poison is Diet DP, with a shot of cherry. It seems like the perfect start to a day of hard work, so I can totally relate to carrying it around the house while I clean bathrooms, vaccuum, whatever.

I'm just sort of gradually growing out of it, and actually haven't been to the Holiday on the corner at all this week. Wow! I'm not too worried about quitting just yet, but I see it in my future. Keep it up - I know it would be a lot harder being at work all day and just dying for that drink!

Melanie said...

I didn't understand the whole run-to-the-gas-station-for-a-drink thing until a few months ago. I spent the first 2 or 3 months of my pregnancy not wanting to go near carbonation, but then I did a complete 180 and wanted it ALL THE TIME! My poison is Diet DP, with a shot of cherry. It seems like the perfect start to a day of hard work, so I can totally relate to carrying it around the house while I clean bathrooms, vaccuum, whatever.

I'm just sort of gradually growing out of it, and actually haven't been to the Holiday on the corner at all this week. Wow! I'm not too worried about quitting just yet, but I see it in my future. Keep it up - I know it would be a lot harder being at work all day and just dying for that drink!