Wake up and smell the coffee! Or is it smell the coffee and wake up?

I'm raising my coffee cup to Connie this morning for sending me this 'blog fodder'. Some interesting info on coffee...

That morning coffee is just the thing to get the brain in gear and the body moving. But it turns out that just the aroma of coffee also gets some of our genes up and at ‘em. That’s according to research in the June 25th issue of the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry. The authors report that a sniff of coffee turns on several genes in the brain in ways that help diminish the impact of sleep deprivation. In rats, at least.

Rats that were stressed by lack of sleep were exposed to the smell of coffee. Seventeen different genes got activated in their brains. And thirteen of them produced proteins known to protect nerve cells from the damaging effects of stress. While there have been numerous studies analyzing the health impact of the ingredients ingested when drinking coffee, the researchers say that this is the first study to examine the effects of coffee’s aroma. So maybe you don’t have to shell out that four dollars for the latte—just walk by the counter…[old TV ad: “smell the honest coffee smell, ahhh, smell it!”]

I am off work today -- HOORAY!!! Will be heading to the grocery soon and doing some last minute clean up. Everybody pitched in last night with some chores so I don't have as much to do today. Our guests should be here about 5pm.

Tonight we're going to the Redbirds game. I'm really looking forward to it. Sadly, it's the first game we've been to all season. Shame on us. It will be fun. Can't wait for those BBQ nachos -yum!

Tom Cruise turns 46 today but I really don't care. I'm totally over him.

Dog Days -- typically the hottest 40 days of the year -- begin today. From the forecast I just heard, it looks like we're off to a good start there.

And finally, here is the Bloggie Doggie who sometimes looks like a bear rug....