A New Little Friend

I began to make my long drive home from Dennys around midnight. (I wonder why it's called midNIGHT when it's actually the first minute of morning? Hmmm. Strange. Anyway...) A dark and a heavy fog had settled in upon the long and windy road. (Another strange word. Windy and windy. One pronounced 'wYn-dy' and the other 'win-dy'. I hope I spelt that right. Man, my thought interruptions are interrupting my novel type sentences. I was trying to make it sound like a book, but I keep interrupting myself. So...) I found myself reflecting upon the eventful day that had just ended. Once again, another exciting day at Dennys.

When I had arrived, there was a table of 25+ coming in, and Jessica took them all by herself. I too was in the back room where we hosted the party, taking tables in the left over booths. My 1st table was a table of 9 that used to come into the Diner where I worked last year. The woman is just gorgeous, and should be in movies. The husband is Hispanic I believe, and they have 4 boys. I absolutely love waiting on them because they're just the nicest family. Today they had 3 extra people with them, and at the end of their meal, they left me a 20 dollar tip. This was the second time in my life since I'd made that much at one table. The 1st was the last time I worked.

This of course was only the 1st blessing of the day. My best friend from 5th to high school came in with her sort of new boyfriend to eat so I could meet him. He's a cutey for sure, but he has such a young look to him. He's one year younger than her, but apparently he treats her like a princess. He works at his church which I believe is called Skyline, and it is now a church of 3000. She loves him, and he treats her well. I have no objections. But I didn't get much of a chance to talk with them because as they sat down, the party left and another party of about 30 entered. Guess who's turn it was?

The crowd was the drama group. RHS Drama program has their own academy awards show they do every year. I, being an alumni, was invited, but had to work. I had a feeling they'd come in. The drama group has a bad reputation at Dennys. Even when I was there, we'd always come in, unexpected, no reservations, leave crappy tips, and somehow, a cheese stick would end up on the wall next to some poor, unsuspecting couple. We've been kicked out, told off, ect. Everyone else was snickering at me and laughing at me because "I got the crazy people." I loved every minute of it.

Donna Louden came in and hugged me and then introduced me to everyone in this way. "Hey, everyone, this is Jael. She's a drama alumni." At this point, the large mass began to cheer and clap for me. (That part was pretty great.) "She knows how crazy drama can be, so pleae be nice (isn't funny how she had to say that) and leave her a big tip. Like, a 100 dollar tip." She then left me in the lions den to go Danielle Spearman's birthday party.

Everything went really smooth. Coming from drama, I knew how to handle the crowd. I knew how to quiet them down and keep there attention. I couldn't help but laugh at the other waitresses who were trying to help me with drinks, and would come in and yell with great annoyance in their tones, but could not get anyone's attention.

Many people I knew from high school were there, plus josh and Andrew from GC. I had a lot of fun. They ended up leaving a 23 dollar tip, which was more than I expected, but over all, hanging out with "the drama crew" again was a blast, and made me wish I were once again part of that club, which really was unlike any other in the school. We really do become like a second family to each other. We spend so much time together, it's crazy.

So, I'm reflecting and pondering on all this when I am all of the sudden surprised by a GIANT MUTANT MOTH FLYING AROUND ABOVE MY DASH!!! I swear, it came out of no where. The sight of it's wings fluttering around my front window cause me to scream and swerve my car through the blind fog. I stop, regain my composure and begin to look for the moth. It flies up, but then disappears once more into the darkness. I am barely breathing. The King of all Moths is somewhere hidden in the shadows of my car. I promise you, I didn't give Dennys another thought the rest of the drive home.

As my speed began accelerate with my nervousness, I continued to look around my car for my new little friend. Of course, he's not showing his ugly face, so I look toward my steering wheel to check my speed, and there he is, resting right on the 50 mile/hr mark, wings spread, legs firmly planted on the plastic covering, beckoning me to try and catch him. I shriek once more and then grab my water bottle. I'm about to dump the remaining contents out the window so I can catch the little monster, but then decide that would be a waist, so I chug it But in the middle of my drink, he moves once more to a place my water bottle wont reach, and yet now, he's even closer to me.

5 minutes away from home. I stare at him most of the drive. He's not moving. I finally park, and prepare to catch him with my bottle. I try to slide it where he is, pretty sure my plan will fail to accomplish what I had desired. I was right. Mr. Scary Moth Man flies under my butt, and while screaming and swinging into the air at nothing in particular, I jump out my car. The Moth disappears...

I slowly stick my head back in the car, then climb up on my seat, and carefully search for the beast, but he, the clever little devil, is in hiding. I think, perhaps he's flown out of the car, but as if I had thought out loud, there he was flying past my face and into the back seat. He parks it by the handle on the roof, and I grab a plastic bag from target, ready to capture, but once again I miss and he flies away. I might have seen him fly out the door, but again I'm not sure, so I wait. I sit back down and look around a little more. Maybe he was gone. Maybe I was free at last. I may have seen him fly out. I think I saw him fly out. My suspicions were confirmed when he flew back in right past my nose and back into the car. Once again I scream, jumped out, and deciding it was no longer worth it, slammed the door shut. SO I may or may not have the Mutant Moth chilling in my car right now. If I ever catch him, I promise not to kill him, that is, if the heat doesn't get him first.

I may have learned a valuable lesson from all this, but I can't think of it right now. It's almost 2 in the morning, and I still have to review and spell check all this. But I'll leave you with this. The best part about blessing other people is seeing their faces when you do. I've been asking God for more opportunities to give, and there has been so many, and I just love to see how happy people look when you bless them. Give somebody something of value today, and see what a difference it makes in your own day.

Love you all.

Jael