My Nana and Papa always played cards. I have tons of memories of them sitting around their kitchen table with my Nana's brother & sister and even their father, my Great Grandfather. (Who was a rather amusing man, in a quiet and gentle way. He was from Italy and wore a fuzzy hat and always smelled good.) Often, I'd be upstairs "sleeping" while they'd laugh and joke deep into the night. I loved those nights, even though I could never play. I think even back then, I wrapped myself up in their laughter.
Playing cards wasn't their only addiction-they also played the lottery. Every night at 6pm we'd have to stop whatever we were doing to run into the den to hear the numbers being called while our eyes were glued to the little square pieces of paper laid before us, all the while praying that we'd "hit" at least a few. Then there were the scratch offs which, to this day, are given to most of us in birthday cards or stockings. But still, this was not what they loved the most. What they loved the most was going to the casino.
Being that they are from NY, Atlantic City was the obvious choice for them. They'd gallivant down on the weekends playing the slots for hours upon hours, always coming back with one story or another whether they won or not. Even when my Papa was too weak to walk around on his own and had to be in a wheel chair, they'd sit in front of the slot machines into the wee hours of the morning. Yes, my Nana and Papa love(d) to gamble...
Which is why it doesn't surprise me that most of their children do as well.
One aunt in particular-my favorite aunt-is a crazy gambling fool. Not really, of course, she just loves the thrill of it all, and the possibility of hitting it big like her parents often did. I bring this up because every time they come to visit my family in CT, her eyes get a sparkle in them as she says, "We should go to the casino". I'd say that at least half of the time, they actually DO go. My cousins typically stay at my parents house with my sisters and my niece and my mom, aunt and uncle and sometimes my Nana if she's up too, will go off to play.
Yesterday around 2pm my aunt leaned over to me and said, "We're going to the casino later-do you want to come?" Now, I'm without a job, as you may recall, but the thought of spending extra time alone with my most favorite aunt in the whole wide world-my aunt who is more like my older sister b/c she's only 9 years older than me, my aunt who I spent ever free minute with when I was little-made me want to go.
So I did.
I received some cash money from my Nana for Christmas and I took a small portion of that and allocated it to myself. It was $20. I figured that $20 was not going to be the end of me even if I do not (God forbid) find a job right away. $20 was not a lot to pay for the extra hours I would be with my aunt and her husband, also one of my favorites. I went, played and lost the $20 and that was that. They, however, won a hefty amount of money for the hour we gambled....lucky dogs!
The real story here though, is that while I was losing my money, I was also being stalked by a creeper. Everywhere I went, this creepy old man smiled and waved at me. He was drunk and dirtier than he should have been. The only way I can describe him is that he was "gray". I dunno...in any case, he tried talking to me so I got up and moved. A few minutes later, I looked around to see if I could located my family only to see that he had moved too! He looked over and said "Hi" and made a weird face-I think he was trying to be sexy but he really wasn't rocking that look.
We had planned on meeting at a certain spot at a certain time, and that time was approaching. I walked over but they were not yet there, so I decided to walk a bit in the casino to see if I could find them. Nope...but guess who I DID find?! The creeper! As quickly as I could, I began my trip back to the meeting spot-but he followed me! I could NOT shake this guy. He literally was following me everywhere I went and my aunt and uncle were no where to be found. (In the meantime, 2 other old men approached me and started talking to me-WTF? Did I have on Jean Nate and not know it?!) Finally, I decided to walk into the restroom in hopes of shaking this creeper and lo and behold when I came out he was nowhere to be found. I knew I'd be safe b/c there are so many people around, but it was still unnerving knowing I was being followed.
So, though I did not win any money, I had a really fun time with my aunt and uncle, even though I almost got kidnapped by a creepy old drunk man who was gray. :)
Knowing that I wouldn't have enough to keep me busy until fireworks, I decided to walk over to Faneuil Hall to see if anything was going on there. There wasn't, but the pictures came out pretty...
This was the case all over-city works trying feverishly to clean up the sidewalks so we would not fall.
Even still, I had too much time. Being that I was so close to the North End, I decided to take a walk over to Mike's Pastry for my favorite Rainbow Cookies in the entire world. (Considering for some reason, we don't get them at Christmas anymore!)
The line is always super long at Mike's so I figured it would take up a bit of time. I was so surprised to find that there was only 1 other person in line! I walked right up, ordered and was done within 5 minutes-a record! None of the restaurants were busy either. In fact, most were empty though the staff looked as though they were getting ready, so hopefully they had reservations. It would be sad if the economy was so bad that the North End didn't get business on NYE.
After walking around a bit more (and officially breaking into my box of pastries as I walked) I decided to skip the fireworks and just go home. It was WAY too cold and much too disappointing to wait. So I hopped back on the T and came home to hot tea, pizza and a glass of wine and thawed out nicely...
And bonus, I could see the fireworks I skipped from my window! It was really snowy and foggy out, so it's not the best picture, but you get the point!
