‘The Price Was Right’

                                                           

By kiki

Memories came rushing at me the other day when I saw this picture and Connie wearing that black dress. Memories of how Connie came about buying that dress. The decade of the '60s was when we were still young, and New Year's Eves were a time for us to go out to a Nite Club to celebrate the old year and welcome the new one. So just about every year in that decade, as the end of the year was coming to a close, Connie and I would go out looking for a New Year's Eve. Dress for her.

Her price range was from $50.00 to $75.00. That amount of money would, in those years, buy a woman an adorable dress. So circa 1966, we went out looking for a dress for her, we hit most of the ladies' stores on Whittier Blvd in East Los Angeles, and we couldn't find anything Connie liked; we decided to go into one more store; if we didn't find anything she wanted we would call it a night. The last store that we walked into was Melody Dress Shop. We started looking at some dresses; I picked a nice-looking little sexy black dress with lots of lace from the rack and showed it to Connie "oh, it's pretty," she told me. So I told her to try it on without looking at the price. When she came out of the dressing room, I started slobbering; man, she looked hot and dangerous in that short tight black dress! "Babe, you look just great," I said to her "you like it?" "hell yes, I like it, and it looks great on you too" While she was in the dressing room changing her clothes, I thought, 'man, she is going to look hot on New Year's Eve. I was also thinking about the price, thinking it would cost us a pretty penny.

Connie came out of the dressing room and handed me the dress, I looked at the price tag, and I almost fainted; the price for that beautiful dress was $13.98. When I told Connie the price, she told me, "I am not going to wear a 13-dollar dress on New Year's Eve!" I knew I had to use my best bullshit to convince her to buy the dress; hell, I would buy her two dresses at that price! "Babe, I think they just mislabeled the dress because in no way is that a 13-dollar dress," take it, I told her, "but I am going to be self-conscious" "Babe, nobody is going to know how much you paid for that BEAUTIFUL dress" I was using "beautiful" as much as I could "but I will" she replied. Finally, I asked her, "do you like the dress?" "Well, it is pretty" "okay, we'll take it," I told her "okay, but you better not tell anybody how much we paid for it!" she said to me with a stern voice. On New Year's Eve, We went to the Comet Nite Club in Los Nietos, and she was turning heads as we danced!!

My brother-in-law and my late sister, Danny and Mary Ellen Garcia, Connie, and I at the Comet Nite Club

Now that the dress is just a distant memory, I am safe telling the story of Connie's beautiful $13. 98 dress.

Another fun morning with Connie

                                              

                                                   By kiki

Had another fun morning with Connie today, we started off with breakfast. Of course, we both had menudo and a hard taco. While having breakfast and talking to her about sweet nothings I notice that her middle finger on her left hand kept coming up. I tried to take a picture with my iPhone, but her finger was too fast for me. After breakfast, we drove to the gas station to gas up her car, and I paid for the gas! She works to keep me in good cigars and good whiskey, so the least I can do is pay for her gas to get to work. After gassing up, she told me her car needed a wash, okay, we’ll go to the car wash but you are going to pay I told her, she said she would. I always take her car to get washed so I thought it would be a good idea if she learned how to take her car to the wash “babe, you need to learn how to bring your car to get wash” I said to her “why, are you going to die soon?” she asked me. Damn woman!!...While the car was been washed I told her that she needed to tip the guy that was working on her car “how much?” she asked “Couple of bucks is what I give them” she opened up her purse and she brought out 3 bucks “you are going to tip him 3 bucks?" I asked her “it's none of your business what I tip him” she told me….After getting the car washed we drove home, I parked the car on the driveway and she asked me “why did you park me like that?” I am still laughing!!!

Adame Family Reunion

 

 By kiki                                               

                                                   5-30-14

Going to a family reunion, okay, one side of the family, the rowdy side! Going to see aunts and cousins I haven't seen in years. Well, since the last time somebody died anyway. I also will be meeting some relatives for the first time. I also suspect that we will get drunk and start fighting with each other, you know, Mexican style!.. Orale Pues!!!!                                           

                                         

                                                   5-31-14

Had a great time at the Adame family reunion yesterday. There was a great turnout of familia Adame; I was also happy to see some relatives from the Baltazar and Melendez familia's there to join in the festivities, and we might have had a party crasher, or two, who walking by decided to join the fun. Met many relatives for the first time; see some that I hadn't seen in years. I was thrilled to see my mom's last two sisters, that are still with us, my aunt Tillie and aunt Vera. Also, I was happy that my sister Annie could make it from Texas. Somehow I neglected to shoot pictures of her, and I apologize, sis.

Though I had a great time, I was disappointed that nobody got drunk and no chingasos were thrown like I was expecting to; after all, it was a Mexican family reunion. The closest we came to seeing chingasos thrown was when I got exhausted and laid down on a picnic bench with my head on Connie's lap; from far away, my sister-in-law, Pat, saw me, and she thought it was her husband, my brother, Mando, lying down with his head on Connie's lap's, she came rushing with pumping fist and ready to duke it out with Connie, when she saw it was me she sat down and started laughing in that psycho laughter of hers… But, again, I had a great time visiting and meeting the familia Adame.