{"id":1027,"date":"2013-07-27T02:00:20","date_gmt":"2013-07-27T02:00:20","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/kandynolesstevens.com\/?p=1027"},"modified":"2013-07-27T02:00:20","modified_gmt":"2013-07-27T02:00:20","slug":"one-lump-or-two","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.realsweetgrace.com\/blog\/?p=1027","title":{"rendered":"One lump or two"},"content":{"rendered":"

Well, um . . . none, if you are referring to coffee.\u00a0 Southern-style sweet tea is another thing altogether.\u00a0 I am almost embarrassed to admit how much sugar goes into a gallon of that, but today, I am talking about java \u2013 the caffeinated lifeblood for many.\u00a0 In my entire life, I have probably\u00a0drank about 11 sips of coffee.\u00a0 The last time I tried coffee in my middle 20\u2019s, I became violently ill with the stomach flu and have never touched the stuff again.\u00a0 (There was no direct correlation between my illness and the 3 swallows of coffee I drank that day, but let\u2019s just say the experience left a lasting impression. )<\/p>\n

My loathe opinion of coffee has put me in some awkward situations as an adult as it seems many friends \u00a0want to hold impromptu meetings at one local coffee shop or another.\u00a0 Not my idea of a good time, as the smell sometimes is too much for me.\u00a0 However, I do regularly meet for \u201ccoffee and show-n-tell\u201d with some of my favorite octo- and nonagenarians at our favorite gathering spot.\u00a0 I just order a Coke while we visit and share the latest project of our heart and hands work.<\/p>\n

Fortunately, I didn\u2019t allow my dislikes to sway my decision to attend \u201cCoffee with Ingeborg\u201d in which the writer Lauraine Snelling would attend clad as her famous book character Ingeborg Bjorklund.\u00a0 During \u201ccoffee\u201d, we would have a chance to visit with the determined Ingeborg (and other characters) as well as enjoy wonderful Scandinavian goodies, music, and entertainment.<\/p>\n

\"coffee<\/a><\/p>\n

So what does a non-coffee drinker do when she has the opportunity to \u201cmeet\u201d one of her favorite characters?\u00a0 She invites along her sisters-in-law who also have the same addiction to the book series AND<\/span><\/i><\/b> who happen to be non-coffee drinkers.\u00a0 \u00a0We all decided to put on our big girl pants and dive in \u2013 even if it meant proving the old adage \u201cMisery loves company\u201d true.<\/p>\n

I won\u2019t give away too much about\u00a0the day, because I believe \u201cCoffee with Ingeborg\u201d might be a regular event for the author.\u00a0 I really detest spoilers; so, I won\u2019t ruin the mystique for the next attendees. We enjoyed the atmosphere, hearing the guests\u2019 questions and the stories shared in response.\u00a0 It was somewhat like a homecoming for me as well, because all of my new writer friends (sans one) were in attendance. Warm smiles across the aisles and later, genuine embraces reminded me that we had been brought together once again as part of God\u2019s miraculous plan.<\/p>\n

With my vivid imagination and child-like faith, I could almost picture the novels’ characters aging in time and their children constructing the very building (a memorial hall) where we were visiting.\u00a0 While purely fictional, those characters are based off the faith-filled, hard-working, salt of the earth immigrants that settled the lands of the plains.\u00a0 Even the adorable bathroom curtains were a reminder of the yearned for landmarks that legitimized towns.\u00a0 The dainty lace depicted rolling plains with a schoolhouse and church replete with steeple \u2013 both believed by the settlers were necessary to create a better life for their children.\u00a0 Such was the way of the prairie!<\/p>\n

We had a delightful afternoon.\u00a0 I cherished the time spent with the sisters (as we seldom do anything together without our kids). \u00a0We thoroughly enjoyed all seven Norwegian delicacies lovingly prepared by members of the local historical society. And we washed them down with water<\/i><\/b>.\u00a0 Thankfully, imbibing coffee was optional.\u00a0 It\u2019s a good thing too, because if it was a requirement, I would have been looking for a nice houseplant in one of the corners.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Well, um . . . none, if you are referring to coffee.\u00a0 Southern-style sweet tea is another thing altogether.\u00a0 I am almost embarrassed to admit how much sugar goes into a gallon of that, but today, I am talking about java \u2013 the caffeinated lifeblood for many.\u00a0 In my entire life, I have probably\u00a0drank about […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[2],"tags":[64,110,198,201,304,312,701,448,704,705],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.realsweetgrace.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1027"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.realsweetgrace.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.realsweetgrace.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.realsweetgrace.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.realsweetgrace.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1027"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/www.realsweetgrace.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1027\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.realsweetgrace.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1027"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.realsweetgrace.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1027"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.realsweetgrace.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1027"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}