What I will do for a good Starbucks!!

So today I picked up the kiddies from school at 1:00 and headed through East Chase to get me a SB. I got tons of gift cards for my birthday (YEAH)!! I get my usual (grande mocha frappacino $4.40) and I usually just look at it for a minute or two after I drive off, anticipating that first delicious sip. I get all the way to the light on Taylor Road (you Montgomerians will understand) and take my first swig. Aaacckkkk. Awful. Pumpkin something. Spice something. I immediately do a U-turn (probably illegal) in my big ole Suburban and head back to the drive through. Wasn't sure whether or not to go in (but I had all 3 kids) or go back thru the drive thru. Went back thru the drive thru and explained that my mocha had some pumpkin spice in it. SB girl tells me to pull on around and she'll make another - that she's had another complaint earlier that morning. I pull around, wait in line, and when I get my Frap #2 and take a sip.... Aaackkkk. Awful again! OK, we went through this 4 times. Each time more pumpkin spice and each time a grande mocha frap goes in to the garbage can. She finally talks me in to a white mocha frap b/c it uses a different syrup (I guess). I take a sip of the VENTI (she's feeling sorry for me) and Aaackkkk. MORE PUMPKIN SPICE!!!!!!!! I'm thinking this taste is embedded in my tongue at this point. I finally tell her that I must just drive to the other SB by Publix (which I usually go to) and get a Frap that DOESN'T taste like pumpkins. She agrees and says she'll call them to tell them I'm coming since I've already paid her. So I drive over there, chewing a piece of gum on the way to rid my mouth of this taste ... good thing gas prices are falling.... Wasn't sure whether or not to go in (again) and head thru the drive thru. I order and try to explain why I'm there and she tells me to pull around. She has NO CLUE what I'm talking about, but proceeds with making my Mocha Frap. Another SB girl shows up and she confirms she received the all important call from the other SB and that my Frap is coming right up. I was afraid to take a sip, but did and it was YUMMY! 45 minutes later, Garrison is asleep in the back seat, an entire DVD of Letter Factory has BEEN over, and we head home! I am now very leary about that SB branch and will stick to my Publix spot from now on. I'm afraid that if I go there and get a perfectly good mocha frappacino, it will still taste like pumpkin spice. It was THAT traumatic to my mouth.

I did see (on both trips thru that drive thru) that they are having "open mike" night on Saturday night. Yes, at Starbucks. Yes, in Montgomery, Alabama. Lovely poems and such. If Jeff would not kill me I would actually go and see what open mike night in Montgomery could actually look like.