My 21st Birthday

My 21st birthday was stressful at first. Locked my keys in the trunk of my car. Spent most of the day doing homework and trying not to fall asleep.

I just wanted to cook Craig dinner for my birthday and then go to sleep afterwards but Ben and Melissa wanted to take me out. To dinner. For my birthday. Whoever heard of such a thing?

Anyway, I had no choice but to consent so we were all going to get together after Craig left lab. He didn't leave lab until 8:42 p.m. but it gave me just enough time to finish homework, do music practice, and shower before I had to meet everyone at Finn's. I chose Finn's Grill because of the three choices, I liked it best. Ruby Tuesday was associated with a less-than-happy memory and Tiger Town Tavern had horrible bathrooms. (I'm a snob about bathrooms). I've never been to Finn's before and it was closer than going to Anderson so we met up there. It wasn't until Craig called me as I was walking there that I found out it was a seafood place. Good thing they served more than just seafood. There were chicken and pork entreés as well. Neha ate beforehand since she was a vegetarian and George didn't eat anything. I originally thought that it was because he had already eaten, but it wasn't until later that I discovered he was living on $1.06. Craig ended up buying him pizza at Little Caesar's right before George took me to Tiger Town Tavern to get my free t-shirt. Now that I think about it, I'm glad I didn't choose Triple T's either because it was loud in there. Plus, there was this male announcer that kept saying, "Four or five? How many Free Willy movies were there? Four or five?"

"Five!" I said obnoxiously. Everyone should know that no movie franchise has ever made above four movies. Not in America, anyway.

Oh, I almost forgot about the gifts. Ben and Melissa had bought me this hilarious birthday card that was meant to be given to a cancer patient. Under any other circumstances, that would have been a very depressing card, but getting one for my birthday was priceless. In the pink Disney Princess gift bag were three other gifts: a kick-ass fedora that I (of course) put on immediately, a collectible tin of Yu-gi-oh cards (woo-hoo! Now I can one-up Craig!), and a tiny chocolate birthday cake with a fairy figurine on it. I can't wait to eat that tomorrow.

The waitress also gave me a gift: a free shot that was, like, the equivalent of three shots. It was in this whiskey tumbler that held fruit flavors, whiskey, and peach schnapps. Definitely much more alcoholic than the sex-on-the-beach drink I had previously ordered. As a matter of fact, she had given HER favorite shot because I had ordered her favorite cocktail. Well, after chugging the shot on an empty stomach, I...don't think I'm ever touching alcohol ever again. Seriously, that one shot made me dizzy for the rest of the meal.

Anyway, we all said goodnight soon after dinner and everyone went home. Apparently, Eric, Neha, and Qiu were all shocked that I didn't tell them it was my birthday dinner...Whoops. They were still nice enough to wish me happy birthday, give me a hug, and pay for my meal, respectively.

I was going to walk home by myself and do that meditative, reflective walk on my 21st birthday like I had planned, but after Craig bought George pizza, he insisted on driving us home. Actually, he was insistent on driving us home whether we bought him pizza or not, but...I digress.

Anyway, the last thing in this post is about..George. He gave me the front seat while Craig sat in the back (cramped, mind you) but that was probably because it was my birthday. When I slipped out of the car, however, I started prancing around in pain and shouting, "My butt hurts!" Apparently, alcohol DOES lower your inhibitions.

"I'm sorry," I apologized. "I don't censor myself when I'm drunk."
"Did you just say that your butt hurts?" George asked.
"Yes," I repeated.
"Awww, I'm sorry, Lan Chi," George said, hugging my side. By that time, Craig was out of the car and George said goodbye to us.
"You get one more hug," he said, hugging me again. "Because it's your birthday."

And...I end there.