OK, so it was not technically My Favorite Late Night Italian Place's last day last (Sunday) night. The owner is selling it. But unless something major happens -- and she's afraid that the new owners won't show up to sign the papers this (Monday) afternoon -- Sunday was her last day working there and owning the place.
Just like I thought it would be, it was packed that evening. When I go there I am often the only one. But then again, I go there close to midnight, not during dinnertime. Anyway it was packed, and I like to think it was because they heard it was her last day. For sentimentality's sake, I got what was from my early days eating at My Favorite Late Night Italian Place my go-to dish: spaghetti with a side salad.
Shortly before I finished my meal the owner came out from the kitchen where she was busy all night. We talked, I wished her well, I got a picture from her, and for the first time ever, we embraced each other. Then her family took out the cake (ice cream cake from Dairy Queen ... had a piece ... man, haven't had DQ ice cream cake in years) wishing her well in her retirement. And that's when her son reached out to hold her ... and she laid her head on her shoulder and held him for a long, long time. We talked afterward and she was wiping the tears from her eyes.
This is bittersweet to her. But from our conversations, from both last night and a few weeks ago, she is ready to stop. I hope she does.
I may not see her ever again. But at least I have her picture. I should make it my Facebook profile pic for the week.
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There is one week before this promotional free book on Mother's Shutterfly expires. She has wanted me to generate a photo book for my niece, and it's been a struggle to 1) upload the photos, 2) teach Mother how to upload the photos, and 3) understand how Shutterfly works.
I still don't know how Shutterfly works, but this free book offer expires Sunday, and we're no where near getting it done. I tried to make headway since Mother says she has uploaded the pictures she has of her granddaughter, but I ran into a roadblock. Apparently Shutterfly just insists that we pick the style of each page for the photobook -- you know, we have to get creative. Mother and I both thought that we could just order up the book, show Shutterfly the photos and say, "Here, do it."
Instead we are asked to pick the style of each of the pages, and the front cover too. There are dozens of formats to choose from -- one photo per page, two, five, 11 for two-page spreads, text only, pictures and text, etc. Not only do we have to determine which styles to use, we also have to choose which pictures go where. Right now I'm not sure we can put in all 200+ photos of my niece; I thought that was a given. So now we have to do triage and select several for this book. And what if the book is not free after all, or if the book is free but technically we still have to pay for the photos or something? If that's the case, I know Mother will say "Forget it" and we'll never even think about this project again, because she would feel she got suckered into a raw deal.
Because of this overwhelming task, we are to sit down in front of her computer Monday and figure this out. Pray for both of us.
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