Never The Empty Nest

In this episode, we discuss that ever-present, ever-frustrating, unbreakable, annoying, beautiful, one-of-a-kind bond between…hermanitas! Sisters, sisters! The fighting, the make-ups, the anecdotes of madness. It’s all in this episode. Also, one of the Rivera sisters (Christy) is actually the person responsible for making Richard Blanco (from Season 2) a poet! Oh, and there’s even a ladybug infestation in this episode. Fun and ….fortune?

Ruben Rabasa, who just played Uncle Walter in the 2022 remake of Father of the Bride, alongside Andy Garcia, is about to take the stage in his one person show, at 84-years-old. The show tells us the story of his spectacular life. Ruben has been in more movies to mention, sharing the screen with the likes of Adam Sandler and Colin Firth. Vanessa is the co-writer of his one-person show and Victoria Collado, who is also a guest in this episode, directs it. This is a beautiful work nest. A theatrical one. We talk about friendship, love, trust, birds, moms, and so much more.

Mom is still gone because she’s got some protruded discs. Ouch! Rest-up Yoda Mom.  Niko turns into a massive Mamma bear who actually has to get bleeped. Oops. Let’s just say there’s trouble in the first grade (Niko’s daughter’s class). Vanessa, meanwhile, is a walking zombie because she’s lost a close friend. She’s heartbroken. Together, Nicole and Vanessa tackle what low-grade depression means right now for everyone. Like, for the whole world. For the collective. They explore what our collective post-pandemic depresion means and how to get out of it.

Nicole’s husband, Jonathan, broke his jaw! Vanessa’s releasing @theamparoexperience on Instagram. Mom is missing (don’t worry, she’ll be back), but their guest, Natalie Cabo, who has acted with the Garcia sisters is now on a reality show called Twenty Somethings: Austin (Netflix) and she’s sharing all. Nat opens up about what it means to move out of the family nest for the first time with a robo camera to boot. She talks about the blind faith she had to have, the lack of privacy, the tricky financials, the quarter life crisis, new friends (Kiki!!), and… well, reality.

Richard Blanco was President Obama’s Inaugural poet, but he also means a whole lot to the Nest Crew personally because his poetry resonates on so many levels. This week, Blanco joins the nest to talk about how smaller, character-filled nests in Maine can sing beautifully, how you can be a Turkey on the outside but picadillo on the inside, how to make a holiday out of spam and peanut butter, and how to find what we don’t come to the page with…how to find that extra layer. Let’s just say he gives Yoda Mom a cryball, and somehow, we all locate some lost marbles.

Work/Life balance, it’s a thing. Jackie, Vanessa, and Nicole take a work/life balance test on air. Follow along with them, or just laugh with (at?) them as yoda mom gets called out for her secret-tortilla-chip obsession, Vanessa finds herself bragging, and Nicole tries to keep it cool (she’s the jelly). But who's the most balanced? Find out on this episode of NTEN!

The nest processes a problem they are having “live” on the program: When to get a caretaker for Maman (Jackie’s mom; Vanessa and Nicole’s Grandma). Jackie is in denial, Vanessa wants to do a family vision board, and Nicole can, typically, see all sides of the problem. But what’s the solution? This is, of course, a problem many families and nests are having as people live longer and more and more families grapple with aging parents and grandparents. What’s your take?

Emotional, Intellectual, Physical, Material, Spacial, and Sexual boundaries – the ladies hash all of them out in the hopes that breaking a few eggs will make an omelet and not a disaster. Meanwhile, Grandma is seeing kittens and blondes, which are making boundaries blurry, not to mention Covid-residue boundaries taking a toll on Jackie. Plus old anecdotes including one about teen-crossing-boundaries that ended in Vanessa jumping out of a moving car.  And all that’s just the start…

Today’s nest-guest takes all of us on a journey from the divine feminine to the Black Madonna, who represents transformation through fire. In fact, the very core of this episode is about transformation itself; what it means to start again. The ladies talk about holy places – from Christchurch to Tinder and The Corner Bar;  the airline industry and what it means to be a Swuban (Swiss-Cuban for those wondering). It all ends in a meditation for everyone, which will hopefully lead to yet another tiny moment of transformation.

While Vanessa is away at the Latin Grammys, the authors and creators of the book Designing Motherhood join the nest to talk about the framework of reproductive justice, about how their own nests have led them to who they are and what they believe about looking at motherhood through the lens of design. Nicole, Amber, Michelle and Jackie talk about the power of unconditional love, nursing, the ways in which we can be better here in the States, the choices mothers have had to make, and how to make those choices easier in the future. Vanessa will be very sorry she missed this!