Tabled

Star of the Day (any day)

A very quiet Sunday that allowed accomplishment of the myriad tasks required of me when I’m flying solo. The dirt in the flower pot excavated from the snow bank thawed enough over the weekend to finally plant the early arriving hibiscus tree my wife ordered. Now all that’s left to do is pray it doesn’t die before she comes home. I finished off another puzzle in the Man Cave while doing the grocery shopping, laundry, cooking and ironing required for the impending work week.

The Hopefully Hibiscus

My wife followed a decidedly different path by squiring her mother for a weekend getaway to central Panama. Her mother has been nearly confined to her house over the past few years as she administered to my father in law’s failing health. She’s always loved to travel and my wife took advantage of the free weekend to spoil her a little bit. When I talked to them last night my mother in law was still bubbling with excitement.

Wife and Mother in Law Yesterday

Wife Poolside at her Hotel

Trying to Make me Miss her More

Succeeding

Lot Less Snow Down there

I avoided the human wave attacks at the movie theater associated with the Beauty and the Beast and saw Table 19 all by myself which was kind of cool. I’ve always liked the Duplass’ brothers who took their usual quirky approach to the traditional wedding reception comedy. I’d watch Anna Kendrick paint a room and she ably carries the plot as the wrongly dumped maid of honor seated at the farthest table with “people who should have known to RSVP no”. While some of the subplots don’t always work, Stephen Merchant as a particularly inept, maybe criminal as well as Tony Revolori, the second best thing about the Grand Budapest Hotel, both shine in supporting roles. You won’t like all the characters depicted but that’s part of the fun. The predictable end does nothing to rob the enjoyment. This is almost too sly for some people to appreciate but I did and I’m not sure what that says about me.  

Dad - Let Me Tell You About How I ended up Here

Keene Friend is back home with his new roommate, the oxygen bottle, which will require some adjustment. The good news is he seems to finally be getting a full night’s sleep after failing to do so for months. I’ve got to find a way to sneak up there sometime this week which will be tough with budget wars looming. The First Blog Reader blessed me with two video calls yesterday which completely vanquished any ill-conceived notions of loneliness. She had her first exposure to fried chicken yesterday which was a rousing success. She was massacring a plate of mac and cheese when I caught up with her so she was 2 for 2 with family culinary traditions.