Columnist Susan Snyder: Keeping resolution is a grind

Tuesday, Jan. 4, 2005 | 8:18 a.m.

I gave up coffee for New Year's.

Three times.

In two days.

And by Monday, I resolved never to pull such a stunt again.

I have sick friends. So when we all discussed how hard it would be to give up certain habits or items, we decided to do so for a week.

And it was decided that I would give up coffee. So starting at 12:01 a.m. Saturday, I was no longer of the bean.

I was successful for seven hours and 33 minutes -- mostly because I slept six hours and 30 minutes of it. We celebrated New Year's Eve 19th-century style in Austin (Nevada, not Texas), and awoke Saturday to 18 degrees and piles of snow. The icicles had icicles.

And the International Cafe across the street had only -- you guessed it -- coffee until 11 a.m. It was as if I'd been dropped into an episode of "The Twilight Zone."

Well, of course I drank coffee. A big, fat cup of coffee! We had a long drive ahead. So I quit again after that, but not gracefully. When the time for the post-dinner cuppa rolled around Saturday evening, I asked The Other whether decaffeinated would be OK.

"I don't know the rules," he said. "But I am thinking you can't have anything with 'o-f-f-e-e' in it."

Yes, he is a very brave man. Runs fast, too.

By Sunday morning it seemed that time was standing still. I never realized how much I enjoyed my little rituals.

For example, that morning cup of coffee while watching birds on the back porch with The Cat? Gone. The cup that keeps me company in the shower? Gone. The one that I enjoy as we drive up to the Las Vegas Ski and Snowboard Resort? Gone.

The one that I sipped while standing over the litter box as I hid in the utility room? Sneaky. I washed the cup and put it back in the cupboard while The Other assembled his ski clothes. It was just a swallow, not a whole cup.

Also gone from my routine was our usual midmorning coffee break. So instead we sipped hot chocolate on the ski lodge deck.

It is not the same. And anyone who suggests substituting coffee with hot chocolate (and its calories) or tea doesn't have the faintest idea what drinking coffee is all about.

Real coffee-drinkers don't wait in line for something laced with caramel, chocolate sauce and whipped cream. We drink coffee. Black. We like it strong and miserable, and we like it all day long.

Tea bags do help -- when you freeze them and throw them at people.

By the time we came down the mountain Sunday afternoon, I was alternating between whimpering and defiance. The Other stopped at a Starbucks to use a coupon he'd received from The Cat for Christmas (don't ask). And I caved. So at 1:17 p.m. Sunday, I quit drinking coffee for a third time.

Monday, I managed to drag myself into work by 9 a.m. It was rainy, cold and I had lost my will to live. I then learned that everyone else in this ridiculous challenge had decided by New Year's Eve that it was a dumb idea. I drank three cups before 11 a.m. Addicted? Nah. I can quit any time I want to.

After all, I quit three times in one weekend.