I want to start a countdown to Florida. We're leaving on the 27 and I just want to countdown to departure. That way, if someone was an ass to me, I'd be able to say, "Hey, it ain't no thang, I'm going to Florida in (X number of days)." And for the record, I don't think I've ever said, "It ain't no thang," unless I was drunk, and that doesn't count.

I miss the sun. And the waves. And the water, and the tank tops, and the warmth. Oh, and did I mention the sun? And I do believe that going to Kristen is going to rock, despite the fact that guys seem to flock to her and I'm going to have to socialize with her castoffs, because I can't be rude to anybody.

I've been thinking about the girls I work with and how our relationships have developed over the years. When I first started working there, I hated T.T. and I didn't really like Kristen, even thought I didn't really have a reason to, except that she hung out with bitches and that made her a bitch by association. I was scared of Theresa. I did like Trish, although she seemed too old to ever be my friend. And I liked Tish, because everyone likes Tish. She's a generally likable person.

Now, I'm very close with T.T., and I'm getting closer to Trish and Kristen. Tisha will always be someone to have good conversations with, and even though Theresa still scares me sometimes, I love her to death. I love them all to death. Those girls are my family.

Honestly, there've been times in my life that I couldn't make it through without their help. Like the day I was supposed to graduate and everyone else was and all my friends and former classmates came in and I generally felt like shit. Then, just as I was about to burst into tears, Trisha called me into the office and said, "Rachel, let me ask you something. Are you happy in your life?" To which I answered, "Yeah, most of the time." And she said, "Then what does it matter?" And that was exactly what I needed.

And of course, the whole thing last summer. Without those girls, I would've collapsed. I seriously couldn't have made it without them there saying, "Rach, you're going to make it through this. This isn't the end of the world." Which of course, it wasn't, although it felt like it at the time.

And the good times too. Christmas last year, the whole summer I was 17, the late nights and the early mornings. The time Tisha came to work, still drunk, after hopping the fence on someone's pool and swimming in her underwear at 4 in the morning. The whole Danny's Crew going out until 3 in the morning every week on Wednesday or Thursday (this is actually still ongoing). Dating customers and regretting it later (this just may be my case, I don't know how the other girls feel). Getting out of every speeding ticket ever given to us in Brownstown because we know the cops and we give them free pops. The times we've spazzed out on customers (including me, a few weeks ago, throwing my bottle of water because it was either that or punch the guy).

I don't know. I once wrote that I had enough bad memories to last me five lifetimes, or something like that. But that place has almost made up for it.

And you would never understand it unless you've been there.