My 21st Birthday

Driving back from the Blue Chip Casino with my parents and Brendan on the night of my 21^st, I suddenly had the realization that alcohol is not nearly as cool as I thought it was.  It’s funny; I guess I always thought I would think that alcohol is fun.  And it is fun, but not in excess and not really to me.  Throughout the night I tried a variety of beverages.  I had a lemon drop shot with my dad, a cosmopolitan that I traded in for a pina colada, a fuzzy navel, and a white Russian.  They all tasted good or I wouldn’t have drunk them, but at the end of the night I didn’t like the slightly sick feeling in my stomach.  Despite having drunk them over the course of the entire night with food and water, I still felt a little queasy.  I didn’t throw up, and I didn’t wake up with a hangover, but I really didn’t enjoy that slightly sick feeling.  That got me to thinking that drinking isn’t really for me.  Don’t get me wrong, I’m still really enjoy having wine with dinner or even maybe going out with my girlfriends and have a strawberry daiquiri, but I have no desire to go to a bar, and I especially am not interested in fraternity parties.  I’m sure I will still have moments where I feel excited about alcohol, like when I buy liquor at a store for the first time or when I go out for a professional event and am able to drink or maybe even at a family reunion when my aunt gives me a glass of wine.  But for the most part, I think I’m going to lay low.  And I think that works for me; I’ll save money; I’ll remember my nights, and I will certainly have just as good of a time as everyone else.  I think the biggest reason people drink is to loosen up, but after considering social situations I have been in, I have never felt uncomfortable.  In fact, I feel more uncomfortable when I’m drinking.  I don’t like not having control over my body.  And, I don’t need alcohol to interact and talk with people; I’m crazy all on my own.  In fact, I don’t even need alcohol in my system to get up in front of a group of people and sing karaoke or dance like a moron.  That can be proven by the night of my homemade birthday meal.  On the 4^th, my mom made hot chicken casserole, apple sauce, cheese, pineapple and Hawaiian rolls for dinner.  After dinner, my family, Nicole and Brendan sang to me while I blew out the candles on the funfetti cake Nicole made me.  Once the food was finished, my family planned activities for me.  Eric sang and danced to “Believe” and insisted that I join in.  I did.  There was no alcohol involved.  I loved it.  After the song and dance routine, my parents had set up a scavenger hunt for me.  The first gift I found was a bag of Eric’s nipple hair.  I was a little nervous about the rest of the gifts, but they turned out to fun.  The last gift was one my dad hid, and it was almost impossible to find.  It required me taking a drawer out and reaching my hand back under a little ledge.  After activities, my Aunt Val brought my gift over.  They got me a really fun birthday girl martini glass.  After opening my gift, Brendan and I played my parents in bid euchre.  On my birthday eve, Brendan and I went out to breakfast with Stacy and Jake, traveled to the South Bend Museum of Art, went shopping, played cards with Poppy and had card night with Sarah and Mark.  On my actual birthday, Brendan woke me up with breakfast in bed and gave me my gifts.  He got me lotion, a homemade cook book and an alcohol almanac.  After breakfast, we got ready, got my license renewed (with a mean looking picture) and watched Fever Pitch.  After watching the movie, Stacy and Sarah came over to make me lunch.  That was a really nice surprise.  We drank sangrias and played Rummikub.  After lunch, Nicole and I got ready to go out, and then my Nanny and Po came over to give me my gift.  My parents also had me open their gifts; I ended up with some very nice presents.  After opening gifts, Nicole helped me finish getting ready and then we took pictures before leaving for Hacienda.  It was a very enjoyable 21^st birthday.