Sentimental Stuff, Superstition and Sausage

I damn near broke my back yesterday lifting boxes and furniture out of a truck and moving them into storage. My cousin and his girlfriend are moving back to the Bay Area after living in Pasadena for a year. Moving is one of the toughest things to do. You never realize how much you own until you empty out your closets, fill boxes up, and carry everything into a moving van. When you finally leave with high hopes and look at the place which is no longer yours, you can't help but have great memories even for a place you hated.

Girls are better organized when packing but have a hard time throwing away the things they know they no longer need. Everything has a sentimental value even though its kept in an old box tucked away in a closet only to be rediscovered the next time they move. And even if its something that is useless and never comes out ot the box, we get in trouble for suggesting it go in the dumpsters instead of taking up space. I know there are things that we all own and we dread the possibility that it will forever be lost when we move.

There are only two things that I own and use everyday that I cannot live without. They are replaceable but I refuse to use anything else or buy new ones. The first is a Zippo lighter which I've had for seven years. There is nothing special about it; it wasn't passed down from one family member to another and there is nothing printed or engraved on it. I just feel funny smoking a cigarette that wasn't lit with that lighter. I know its weird; I think cigarettes taste different without it. The lighter has its own personality. All the scratches were created by its owner. It has followed me through college, to every bar that I've gone to, and into the hands of strangers itching for their fix of nicotine.

The second thing I can't live without is a ballpen which I've had since high school. It's a simple six dollar pen and for years I've been buying refills for it. My hands can't properly hold any different pen and my penmanship turns into chicken scratch if I use just anything laying around in the office. The only thing that stops me from replacing this is superstition. I've used this pen in every writing contest I've entered in high school, every test in college and every document I've signed. The days that I'm without my pen and need it, I feel like everything will go downhill and bad luck will come my way.

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Just had lunch today with my sis, cousin and his girlfriend. We were supposed to go to our favorite Italian deli but they were closed and on vacation until the 13th. If you're ever in the Willow Glen area in San Jose, check out La Villa and get yourself some ravioli and Italian sausage. We ended up at a place called Amato's which specializes in Philly Cheese Steaks and cheese fries- real heart stopping, artery clogging pleasure. I'm damn sure that La Villa would've been open if I had my pen in my pocket.