“I’m going to make him an offer he can’t refuse.” from The Godfather
Moving right along … the moving company’s van is on its merry way down to Mexico. We had a household full of items for our estate sale held over two days. Everything was spread throughout the house & patio and nicely staged by the company we hired for maximum $ale$ appeal to “move all the stuff accumulated over the years” – it was a success and now we’re ready to move on. We’re gladdened to think our former possessions hopefully found lovely homes and be the star of new memories for their new owners.
To kill time during our “banishment” from home throughout the estate sale process, we treated ourselves to a “Diners, Dives & Drive-ins” Long Beach hotspot, Schooner or Later for an al fresco lunch. Afterwards a movie matinee of “Operation Finale”. It’s a well-crafted period drama with Oscar written all over it.
Back home after the sale ended … a wave of sadness washed over me as I walked around a place that no longer felt like home. All the years’ gatherings: Christmas, Thanksgivings, Easter’s, Birthdays and just time spent together with family and friends … all the memories stamped into the DNA of the walls of this house and my ❤️
First time it made me wonder if I’m doing the right thing…..but it was off to the Mexican Consulate to sign off and finalize the itemized manifest (moving inventory) and just keep on moving forward.
It wasn’t all work. We gave ourselves some breaks here and there … got to relax with my Godfather and Tia in The Valley. Tia proceeded to stuff us fatter than a Thanksgiving turkey. The biggest surprise of the evening was her dessert – Arroz Con Leche, my absolute favorite comfort food of all time. I was as happy as a clam when a large portion to go was offered That happy little clam became a clam bed! I savored my prize slowly over the next two days using extreme self control.
We got to cram in a craving for Yang Chow’s Chinese restaurant downtown before departing for a Chinese starved Lake Chapala. Slippery Shrimp Need I say more?!
Friday night we had the great opportunity to once again see Cecile McLorin Salvant up close (literally at her feet in the front row) at Catalina Bar & Grill in Hollywood. She’s one of the brightest and soulful, young jazz vocalists. Ms. McLorin Salvant possesses a great sense of style and stylin’ eyewear, too. This time around she was accompanied by Sullivan Fortner. Together they explored the tradition of the piano-vocal duo and its expressive possibilities of improvisation to rhapsodize in harmony, melody and phrasing. It was a magical evening of music.
Sunday was my youngest great nephew’s baptismal. It was a small, but lovely immediate family-only ceremony with Portos serving as the caterer (another fave). We realized that this was the last time we’ll be seeing each other this year, so rather than saying goodbye we chose “Hasta Luego” as we all hugged and kissed.
We have spent the final week packing the last of our (too) many suitcases – it will most certainly translate into a healthy October increase in baggage fees for lucky Alaska Airlines! The past few weeks have felt like a continuous, emotional triple loop rollercoaster, but soon we’ll be off this ride and begin our Mexican journey.
I always start my blabing with a quote, but also ending this one with one:
“I have a lot of great memories, but I can’t imagine anything more exciting than the life I have now.”
Rob Lowe
