I have a bad habit.  Okay, I have several bad habits.  I cuss like a… I would say sailor, but the last few I’ve met don’t cuss a lot, so I’ll just say I cuss a lot.  I like a good writing pen, I love paint and I can’t seem to turn down any chocolate (that’s a whole other entry).  But the thing that is the worst, I collect tea and I drink quite a bit of it.

Some history: When growing up, we didn’t have sodas a lot.  My Mom wasn’t one of those Mom’s who didn’t want us to have them, she just didn’t think about it when at the store.  She started to work for the Post Office when I was either 4 or 5 (I don’t remember which) so my Dad could start his own business (he worked at both of the local news papers – the Houston Post {it’s no longer in operation} and the Houston Chronicle, in the plate room).  Since she cooked every night, did all the household chores and helped me and my sister with what all we needed, she didn’t have a huge amount of time.  So when we went to the grocery store, it was get in, get out and no one gets hurt.  She only went once a week and she was very efficient in all her actions.  She still is.  The point of this is to say that since we didn’t have sodas, we drank a lot of tea.

In the 70’s (sorry, I just dated myself), if there was tea in bags, I didn’t know about that.  All our tea was loose and it was always Lipton.  God forbid that you bring a box of any other type of tea in the house.  I don’t even remember if there was anything else.  I don’t even know if the grocery has a generic tea.  Always Lipton in that yellow and red box…  I remember thinking when they included the tea ball in the box, that was the greatest thing ever.  No more tea grounds all over the cooktop when you forgot about it and it boils over.

My dinner time chore was to set the table and pour the tea.  My sister was supposed to put the ice in the glasses, but she hates doing that.  There wasn’t an ice maker in the freezer (I don’t even know if they made those yet), so you had to fill up ice trays, which was and still is the bane of our existence.  Anyway, when I’d go to pour the tea, I always spilled it and it got all over the place.

So what does any of this have to do with, well anything?
You’ll have to wait for Part 2 for that.