Pop Tarts + Ceiling Tiles = Good Times to be Had

Last Thursday, the office threw a surprise birthday party for Phil. The planning started Tuesday, when Kim drew me aside and asked if Kelsey and I would be willing to make a Pop Tart run, explaining that Phil is a huge fan of Pop Tarts. I agreed, and, on Wednesday, Kelsey and I made a trip to CVS (Brooks is better!!! But sadly too far to walk to...) with the orders to buy 3 boxes of the toaster-pastry-goodness: "the kinds your mom would be appalled to see you eat." Sadly, as Kelsey had forewarned, CVS only had the run-of-the-mill flavors, so we chose the most extravagant of the selection - Frosted Strawberry, S'mores, and French Toast.

When I arrived at the office on Thursday morning, Kim beckoned me into her office and asked me to start assembling what was to be a giant Pop Tart cake. Hiding in the back corner of her office, I began to get my ingredients ready - the 3 boxes of PTs, a tube of decorative cake icing, and a little bottle of star-shaped sprinkles. I could tell the office was going to be sugar high that day.

After everything was ready, Kim ran off to find something to put our creation on. She returned with an old ceiling tile she had found in the kitchen area, which seemed like a great idea for a platter until a corner fell off in her hand. She hastily fixed it, and it looked as good as new. I covered the tile with paper towels and proceeded to make a quilt of Pop Tarts. When it was all assembled (with a pretty cool quilted design, I must say, in spite of myself) I wrote "Happy Birthday P to the DAV" on it with the vanilla icing, and then sprinkled the little stars on my creation liberally. It was beautiful.

Kim gathered together all who were in the office at that moment (only Kelsey, Nik, Janet, and Marc were absent... I think) and I carried the cake into the main office as we all sang "Happy Birthday" to the unsuspecting birthday boy, who was perched at his station. It was a slightly awkward moment, as I did not know whether I should hand the cake to Phil or if I should hold it until the song ended, so I kind of dithered in the middle of the room until I decided to shove it into the waiting hands of Phil. He was quite speechless until he noticed the Pop Tarts, and then understanding laughter abounded.

There was one moment of horror, when Phil went to place the cake on Janet's desk, when the ceiling tile cracked in his very hands and the cake threatened to rain on the desk and smear Janet's computer with icing. Luckily, Phil's reflexes were lightning-fast, and we were saved from devastation. The look of utter horror did remain in our eyes for a while, until the sugar finally kicked in moments later.

Unfortunately for my dental health, I really gained a taste for frosted Pop Tarts with icing and sprinkles...