Happy Birthday to me

I couldn’t decide what I wanted for my birthday today, so I got it all.

After therapy today, I had a big decision to make – how was I going to spend the rest of my birthday. Paul had to work, so there’s no meal with him. I could work, but I set up a boundary when I started writing again that I wasn’t going to do it on Wednesdays. I was also a little hungry and I wanted cake. So, I put on my street clothes and headed to the grocery store.

Let me explain my thought process here because there is a reason behind each of these purchases.

Starting on the left, is a cake. It’s actually four cakes. I had a hard time deciding which kind of cake I wanted and I can’t afford one of each. I knew I wanted yellow cake, but the store only sells slices of yellow cake. So, the four kinds was an easy decision. They are carrot, chocolate, German chocolate, and Red Velvet. I only like three of the flavors, so Paul is going to have to eat the Red Velvet cake.

Next up is my favorite water, Waiakea. Then, I get to drink tea out of my favorite mug, which was a gift to me several years ago.

The yellow cake is to the right of the tea cup. A few years ago someone asked me what my favorite cake was. When I said yellow, they were confused as they thought of yellowcake, a type of uranium concentrate powder. Honestly, she’s usually a smart lady. Yellow cake is still my favorite. Everyone also puts too much frosting on cakes, so I’ll be scraping most of that shit off.

On top of the yellow cake is an old comfort food I rarely eat anymore, but it’s my birthday and there it was screaming 2x the peanut butter at me. How could I not get it? When I was a little girl, my family was poor and we never purchased store bought cookies. Our cookies were always homemade and only for special times of the year. On the rare occasion I could pick the cookies we got, it was always Nutter Butter.

The store had two options for ice cream cake and I couldn’t decide so I got both. When I was little, my grandmother used to take me to Friendly’s for ice cream. It was expensive and sometimes it would just be the two of us. She usually got chocolate chip mint while I stuck with vanilla. When Friendly’s came out with their peanut butter sauce and then Reese’s peanut butter cup sundae I went with those as well. Friendly’s always reminds me of my grandma and home and her making me feel special.

Finally, if I eat at Taco John’s I’m getting one of two things – a chicken soft taco with no sauce or what’s front and center in the photograph. It’s a Taco Bravo with no sauce. I always forget to say no tomatoes, so Paul gets to eat those. For those not in the know, a Taco Bravo is a soft shell with refried beans smeared on it. Then, a hard shell is slapped in there with meat (no sauce), cheese, lettuce, and tomatoes.

And that’s how I celebrated my birthday today. I ate the Taco Bravo and half my yellow cake. The rest is going to take a while. My eyes have always been too big for my stomach.