Cup of Coffee with Katie

It's hard for me to believe, but you've been enjoying a "Cup of Coffee with Katie" for over a year and a half now; however, for quite some time before that, there was someone else who enjoyed a monthly cup of coffee with me: in real time, face-to-face, not through the interface of a digital screen. If you flip through my planners from the past few years (which yes, of course I keep!) you'll notice the same entry somewhere on almost every monthly calendar: Coffee with Linda. Linda was the first teacher I met at my new school when I arrived in Baltimore back in the summer of 2010. When I went to unload some boxes in my new middle school classroom, she was sitting across the hall at her desk in a classroom already decorated and prepared for the start of the new year (note: it was mid-July at this point). She and I were the 6th grade team that year and she helped me navigate the world of middle school: one which was completely foreign to this 2nd...

It was almost 2 years ago now when I wrote my post about the perils and pitfalls of dating in a celiac/food-allergy world. I closed that post by saying, “Keep searching until you find Mr. or Miss “Right for You” (which by the way means they also have to choose you back). I’ll let you know if I ever find that person for me. Until then, I’ll be driving solo down the open road, loving my life, and keeping an eye out for potential passengers…and occasionally belting out my own solo ballad of course :-)” Well, I’m a woman of my word, so this is me letting you know: I found him. Or really, he found me. We’ll just say we found each other…and I’ve never been so grateful for anything in my entire life. Meet… the Physicist. Our paths first crossed 7 years ago when he and I were both wrapping up our senior years of college (his at Notre Dame and mine at Villanova) when one April weekend, I landed in South Bend for ACE Orientation weekend. ACE is the service-through-teaching/gradua...