Midnight Wake-Ups and Pumpkin Spice Coffee

 

Dave was gone for a week.  He was out at moose camp with my brother, his brother, our oldest boy and two other friends.  He left on Friday after work and was spending the week.  I was home, holding down the fort and watching the dogs...or the dogs were watching out for me.

When Dave is gone, the dogs are on high alert.  They bark at all the falling leaves, the neighbors leaving for work, the same neighbors getting home from work, the mailman and the garbage crew.  It is a good thing they protect me from all that, and it works because not one mailman or neighbor leaving for work has murdered me and none of the falling leaves have broken in. I'm so glad those dogs take such good care of me.

Well, while Dave is gone, the dogs sleep in my room, I don't sleep very easy when I'm in the house alone.  Hershey has his little bed next to the baseboard heater and the big dogs each have a bed on either side of our bed. Tek is on Dave's side and Mooree is on my side.  I have to climb into bed from the bottom and crawl up to my pillow, but it all works.  

So, we were all settled down in bed after we got the text from Dave that he had made it into camp (I wait up to make sure he makes it so I can call for help if he doesn't) and we were sound asleep.  Suddenly both big dogs jump up, run to the top of the stairs and start barking.  This, of course, wakes me up.  I jump out of bed and then have this dilemma: do I put on sweat pants first or grab my gun first?  If I grab my gun and have to shoot an intruder, then I'm stuck there without pants.  I'll have to call 911, the paramedics will come, the police will come and when is a good time to put on pants after you shoot someone?  But, if I put on pants first and someone comes up the stairs, I'll be putting on my pants mid-leg and won't have my gun or be able to run into the closet to get it. What was I going to do?

So I grabbed the gun first.  Nobody wants to see me without pants on, not even an intruder, but I figured shoot first, get dressed later.  

And the dogs were still barking.

I finally peeked around the corner and down the stairs and didn't see anything.  The dogs did not run down the stairs, just sat at the top barking down.  I figured the dogs had been barking long enough that an intruder would have heard them and left.  I turned on the hall light, the dogs ran down the stairs, and I followed them, gun in hand.  Nothing.  I checked that the doors were all locked, the windows all closed, nothing.  I let the dogs outside and they took care of business and came back inside calm.  We went back to bed. In no time at all the dogs were all asleep, Hershey was snoring, but I was wide awake.  The adrenaline coursing through my veins made sleep pretty hard that night, even with my gun on my nightstand.

The next morning Later that morning, at 5:30 when Hershey gets me up (no, he didn't sleep any later after his midnight rampage) I was moving pretty slow.  There was no way I was going to make it through the morning without some help.  I made up a batch of this pumpkin spice cream mix and had a couple pumpkin spice lattes.  This make a big batch so I can enjoy it all fall.  Hopefully tomorrow I can enjoy a cup without falling asleep in the middle of it.

And lesson learned: When the husband is gone, sleep with sweatpants on.

This makes a nice little gift for your pumpkin spice
latte loving friends.

Pumpkin Spice Latte Mix

1 cup butter, softened

1/2 - 1 cup brown sugar substitute, depending on how sweet you want your coffee. I like Sukrin Gold

1/4 cup sugar free maple syrup, I like Choc Zero

1 Tbsp. vanilla extract

1 Tbsp. pumpkin pie spice

1 cup heavy cream, room temperature

In a medium bowl cream together butter, brown sugar substitute, maple syrup substitute, vanilla and pumpkin pie spice.  With blender running on low, slowly pour in heavy cream and mix until completely incorporated. Makes about 2 1/2 cups of creamer.

To make Pumpkin Spice Coffee

Add 1-2 tbsp. PSL mix to each hot cup of coffee. Blend with a handheld milk frother or blend in your mixer.

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September 28, 2020  Sunrise 7:53 am  Sunset 7:57 pm  Temp H 46/ L 38°F