Its December again, 21st. to be exact and I was about to turn 20-something.....er....yeah something, and working at the time at a huge mall in Torrance, CA. for MAC cosmetics, in the Macy's Department Store. I was living with my little brother Lloyd (little as in barely 2 yrs younger than me, and 6'4" tall), to save money so I could move to NYC. It was a day like any other. Wake up nauseatingly early with a slight headache from last nights drinks at V-Room. Throw on lots of make up, as this is key to maintaining a job I have no desire to look forward to anymore. Selling make up for four years to insecure and whiney women had lost its glory after the 2nd year with good old MAC. Grab a coffee and cheese danish (this morning ritual of coffee and danishes resulted in 11 cavities later....ugh!), morning paper work and my morning mediation of....."I'm almost out of here"...*sigh...."I'm almost out of here"...*sigh.....nom nom nom on danish.
The day lightened up as the caffeine that buzzed through my body gave me a false sense of well being and accomplishment as I was one more.......yes again....closer to leaving Cali for New York. Throughout the day co-workers asked what I was doing for my birthday and wished me a happy one, when and if they remembered, given the frenzy of retail around the holidays, its easy to forget about yourself and a friends birthday that is waaaayyy to close to Christmas.
Lunch time came and I felt grateful for the hour that I was about to have with just "ME". I went to the food court area of the mall. What was it going to be today....hmmm......
Oh how I love your chicken nuggets dipped heavily in Polynesian sauce. With your fancy fries that look like snow flakes, dunked in a pool of frying grease for my soul. NO WAIT.....maybe I'll go to....
Yesh, I love your cherry lemonade (sugar.....sugar....sugar....the secret ingredient) and cheese dog on a stick. And how I love to watch the silly high school girl dip my dog in the cornmeal of a heart attack batter....dipped heavenly in vegetable oil, to see it finally come to me all brown and dough-y. Hold the mustard and ketchup please. NO NO NO.....wait....maybe I should eat.....
Oh so guilty I am for loving your "baked ziti". Possibly the worst italian chain ever, but that baked ziti. SO cheesy and yummy with a little extra red sauce for heart burn later. Oh you know I want a garlic bread roll on the side, and oh hell, throw in a fountain coke for a super sugar crash later.
Alone I sit, after 30 or so minutes trying to decide on my fate of diabetes with a side of high blood pressure. Lets just say......whichever choice I decided on that day has contributed to where I am now....practically a vegan.....ahahahahhahaa......no seriously.....anyways.....thats another story, moving on.
Its 6 o'clock......I'm oughta here. Say good-bye and see ya later to my select fly ladies that I will see tonight over birthday cocktails. As I get closer and closer to my car that is tucked away in a monster parking garage, thankfully on the first floor, I see what looks like balloons on my windshield wipers. Umm....yes its balloons. Happy birthday balloons, as I squeal like a little girl who just won the beauty pageant. My mind starts to go craze. Who knew I parked my car here but my co-workers. They must have put their money together and plotted to do this sweet gesture for lil ole me. As I pondered going back to where I just happily clocked out of a long arduous work day, my phone rang in my hand and I was caught out of my daze. It was my little brother Lloyd. I gather he was calling to wish me a happy birthday....*cough cough, umm...naturally.
"hey nickster....WaaaSSSS Up! Did you find the balloons okay on your car?" Wait.....what...."you left these balloons on my car?".....I suddenly choke up with excitement and start laughing out loud. Lloyd goes on and says "yeah man, Josh and I drove around for like an hour trying to find your car". Hilarious! Luckily for my brother and his best friend Josh, I drove a really crappy beat up car. You know the look. Let me scream it out for you, I'm the Pinto amongst the Jaguars...this actually might be a re-occuring theme....
As I laughed and blushed with my brother on the phone. I couldn't believe he thought of such an awesome way to say that he loves me. Aaaaannnnd..... drove around a parking lot in his big work van to tie balloons on my windshield. One of the best birthday presents ever. Love ya bro!
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