Coffee Mugs and other collectibles

Many of us have a series of things that we collect through life. I'm not a big collector, but I have a few things I like to gather. Just to confirm, a big collector is someone like Big Guy (my little brother) who collects shot glasses and has hundreds of them. He used to have comic books too, but may not anymore...I'm not sure. I do know that at one point he had enough that he could use their assessed value as capital toward a loan.

I don't so much collect as I have a few recurring favorite themes. Sometime back, I realized that my Christmas tree had more Angels and Bears than other ornaments. Not long after Hubby and I met, I must have told him about this (we did meet near Christmas time) and I am now the proud owner of at least two (I think 3) bears with angel's wings. While Christmas ornaments are the majority, I also have these two characters in non-Christmas items as well. Sitting here at my desk at work (on my lunch hour by the way), I can see at least two bears and two Angels decorating my office. There is also a hummingbird, which is another of my favorite figurine types, though I've never seen a hummingbird Christmas ornament.

But anyway, to get back to the main topic, the other thing that I collect a bit is coffee mugs. I have six in my glass case here in my office (one has an angel on it) and probably another 15-20 at home not counting the ones that are part of dish sets. I have them from several places I've visited over the years, and a few funny ones that were gifts. The two funniest are "Where's the d*$^ Fairy Godmother when you need her", and the "Make yourself at home...do the dishes" each sporting a rather frazzled looking housewife.

My two favorites however, are my Nescafe cup and my Ben & Jerrys mug. Remember the old commercial with the guy on the big sailboat who comes out on deck with his crystal clear coffee cup with the map of the world etched on the outside? He's drinking Nescafe by the way, as it was a Nescafe commercial. I loved that commercial, and I wanted one of those cups like crazy. My mom found one somehow and bought it for me decades ago. It no longer has the map imprint on it, just clear glass to the casual observer (but I still see the map every time I drink from it). This is my Saturday morning coffee cup. I usually get up earlier than Hubby and fix a small pot of coffee and relax with my favorite mug and a good book. My second favorite is a royal blue clear/translucent Ben & Jerry's mug that the Big Guy and Mrs. Guy bought for me at the Ben & Jerry's plant (I think) a few years ago. It is a larger mug than the Nescafe, and reserved for days when I'm going to only have one cup, but want it to be a good one.

I have a couple of other "favorites" that I use pretty often, but you can bet that everytime the dishwasher is run, those two will be in there getting ready for their next use (I've even been known to wash one or both by hand in an emergency).