In Settling

The Return of Wingman has a Certain Young Lady Happy

We seem to be on the down slope of the cresting wave of moving activities. As I reported yesterday, my new best friend, my Geek Squad partner, showed up yesterday on his own initiative to fully deploy the new sound system in my man cave. I think I’m in love. Central air is still a few weeks away but I don’t have to worry about that in the cave as it’s below ground and comfortably cool regardless. I just wish we could get all the unpacking done. I am so tired of being sore. Apparently you use a lot of seldom employed muscles when you move furniture around. As anybody with a middle-aged body will tell you – that comes with a price tag. I knew I should have bought stock in Motrin. The house is feeling more and more like a home as my wife performs her usual miracles.

This Guy(the Grandpuppy) is Getting Huge

I may have made a tactical error yesterday by showing her how easy it is to drive to one of her favorite box stores since it was festooned with flowers. I can see her glancing at the hillside behind our new home and imagining the garden she’s going to create there. Our stated mission was to return the extra lawnmower I picked up on Father’s Day but she soon wandered into the flower area and I was doomed. Luckily there was a Barnes and Noble nearby where I could pass some nostalgic time with an old friend (rows of actual books) the Kindle denies me. Last evening, while I was organizing the mass of boxes in the garage my wife was out on the massive deck talking with her new acquisitions while she transplanted them into more suitable pots. We were also finally able to connect with the California contingent while our granddaughter was still awake. She hasn’t been gone a week yet and she’s already acquired some new talents. She actually waved to us (one of those new aptitudes) and it almost burst my heart. She’s also continued her habit of inventing new games. It was good to see the family intact again with Wingman’s return. My granddaughter could not stop smiling whenever she looked over at her dad; heartwarming.

She's Outgrown Her First Car Seat
Taking the New One out for a Spin

The rush is on to complete the unpacking so we can wring some fun out of the upcoming holiday weekend. There’s an annual pool party at a friend’s house on Saturday. That’s followed up by a planned drive up to Keene late on Sunday to link up with Keene Friend for the Alumni Field fireworks display, an indelible part of my personal history with my hometown. Still tired and sore from the cumulative efforts of the week my wife and I took the man cave out for a spin late last night. We used the newly gifted Blu-ray player to connect to Netflix and continue into season 2 of Parenthood and followed that with a movie with a lot of explosions. The sound system was everything I hoped it would be; the walls were shaking.