For years — years — I’ve had an on again/off again love affair with java. Lest you have any doubt about that, take a peek at this circa 2006 Momover column.

One of the key reasons I frequently break up with coffee is that it can exacerbate my natural tendency to get all wound up. And recently, everyday life has gotten the best of me. Work has been plagued with drama and sadness, I’ve taken on beaucoup extracurricular assignments, and Hubby and I made a pact that we would bite the bullet and wean the wee lass off the night-time diapers.

As such, I’ve gotten into a vicious circle of not sleeping well, zombie-walking out of bed, downing coffee, working working working fretting fretting fretting and then hitting the hay again 15 hours later only to repeat the whole sinister loop again.

To regain a little balance, happiness and sleep, I know that the fastest and most effective thing to do is to subtract the coffee from the equation. I’ve done it before and it always works.

To help me stay on the wagon this time, I’ve been pawing through some of my favorite get-healthy books for inspiration. So indulge me, please, while I quote a passage from Skinny Bitch:

“Think about how widely accepted it has become that people need coffee to wake up. You should not need anything to wake up. If you can’t wake up without it, it’s because you are either addicted to caffeine, sleep-deprived or a generally unhealthy slob. It may seem like the end of the world to give up your daily dose…but it’s not heroin girls, and you’ll learn to live without it.”

Duly noted. Again.