familia!

i had a super-shitty day at work. i kicked out a deaf guy (!) THREE times, and the last time he came in he actually said to me, "you call the cops." so i did. fuck that shit! he might have been deaf, but he was still a total asshole. disability does not excuse awful behavior. the end! and after all that shit, i didn't make one single sale. working on commission can suck eggs.

after that i came home, made a drink, and called my aunt charlotte. i'd been meaning to call her for a while because she has this crazy-good recipe for sticky buns that i cannot seem to replicate. i've looked all over for the recipe, i've looked for a similar recipe, but it wasn't right. i need her recipe. i must have it! i was telling pop about that, and he said, "you should call her." um, duh. so i did, and it was great. aunt charlotte is my grandmother's little sister; she was pretty much my dad's mom for a while, and she was one of the few aunts we visited as a kid. my pop loves her more than anything, and i have always been extra-fond of her, but i get shy when calling her. we ended up having this nice chat, she cracked me up (i think she is the funniest lady ever), i got to talk to a cousin of mine, and at the end of the call she said, "i love you, call back soon," and it was like a really good hug. i mean, aunt charlotte has 52 grandchildren and great-grandchildren, meaning there's at least 100 of us nieces and nephews. if she didn't remember me, i wouldn't be offended; but she does remember me, she loves me, and i might have the shittiest job on earth, but there's a lovely indian lady up north who would totally take me in. how can life be that bad when there are people that good out there? plus, when i hear that reservation accent, i just feel better about life. curious about what that sounds like? rent smoke signals. close your eyes and think about giant families having dinner, yelling kids, big hugs, the smell of never-ending pots of coffee, and you'll know how i feel when i talk to aunt charlotte. it's not that just she's indian that makes her amazing, she's just a really great aunt, who happens to be indian. you don't know what dinner can be until you've eaten it with fifty other people, juggling a baby on your lap, goofing with cousins, laughing about something dumb, and munching on something delicious. it's not always amazing being to be indian, but when it comes to dinner, it totally is. i'm a lucky girl.