Journey

It was one of those damned long day’s journey into night yesterday as, for reasons I’m still trying to understand, I stayed up very late to watch the end of the 7^th game of the world series even though I wasn’t invested in either team. In the end this is why we watch sports as the multimillionaires playing the game reverted to something we can all identify with – an inborn need to compete and win in a decisive game. It was highly entertaining if at the glacially slow pace that modern baseball has devolved to. There’ll be a lot of questions about the Houston manager’s pitching decisions but I had to admire the resolute nature of the eventual champs. The Nationals just refused to admit they were beaten and rallied late to stun the favored Astros.

BRS with Security Detail

Earlier in the day I had a nice conversation with my younger sister. She and her husband are doing some house hunting reconnaissance and wanted to know what I could tell them about the nearby town of Auburn where they were scoping out a house. It would be so cool to have her so close by. It’s at this point I have to tell myself not to get excited.

Beyond Words

My Favorite Panamanian and I were treated to conversations with both granddaughters energetically preparing for Halloween. The BRS was greeting everyone showing up at the door since their neighborhood had trick or treating last night. She wanted to be everybody’s friend while Riggins finally decided he had security responsibilities and barked at everybody, at least until they came within patting distance. At that point all ferocity succumbed to a well-placed pat on his head. The BRS donned the duck costume made famous by her elder cousin a couple years ago. She as every bit as cute as the FBR was when it was first unveiled. My granddaughters are nothing if not photogenic.

FBR Seeing New Front Yard Addition

It's Jack!!!

The FBR returned home from pre-school to a Wingman engineered surprise. I wrote yesterday about her fascination with Jack Skellington from a Nightmare Before Christmas. She came home to find an inflated Jack on her front lawn. The pictures showed her jumping up and down and eventually hugging her new idol. You just can’t make this kind of stuff up. She’s very excited about Halloween this year and is more prepared to defend her candy horde from the parental depredations she’s experienced in prior years.

FBR Hugs are the Best!

I’m getting excited as we head into November (how is that even possible!). This marks the series of events I spend all year anticipating: the FBR birthday, my birthday pub crawl, Thanksgiving celebrated twice, and finally Christmas, which for me remains a magical time of year. The foliage is still stunning around here but I think we’ll lose a lot of it tonight with a major wind storm blowing through. I’ll have to keep an eye on that dead tree I wrote about a couple weeks ago.

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RECURRING CHARACTERS                                            

BRS - Blog Reader the Sequel - second granddaughter; FBR - First Blog Reader - first granddaughter, ABFA – Amazing Best Family Athlete = my daughter in law; Wingman – my son in law; Keene Friends 1 & 2 – friends since high school from my home town of Keene, NH; Soxfather - my brother in law; Great Aunt = my elder sister; Cantankerous Friend – friend since grade school who likes to argue about everything, poses as radical leftist to attract women; Pittsburgh College Roommate – high school friend, also a “Minor Celebrity” in Pittsburgh; Deckzilla – our backyard deck which grew to monstrous dimensions once my wife got involved in planning; Maine and Virginia Musqueteras – two close friends of my wife – her US sisters, my wife is the 3^rd musquetera (musketeer); Riggins - also known as the Grandpuppy, son's dog, surrogate grandchild while awaiting arrival of the BRS; PanaGals – female relatives/friends of my wife from Panama; Panamanian/Latin Mafia – inevitable group of Latino friends my wife accumulates wherever we have lived & their spouses; Neighborhood Mafioso - wife's close friend and Panamanian mafia member, Favorite Panamanian - the wife (of course); First Friday – celebrations to mark the First Friday of the Week; Deckzilla Dude – senior citizen carpenter/contractor; Voices of Inappropriate Worth - members of public who come to every Worcester public meeting to complain, all are on public assistance along with demeanor issues

Energized

I found some time to write today because I was supposed to be sitting in a dentist chair right now. I fought through some central Worcester traffic including a really inconvenient funeral (to me not to mention the dead guy) procession to arrive ten minutes early only to find the dentist office all locked up. Weird. I eventually got someone on the phone who said she screwed up due to a family emergency and that I could come back as long as I didn’t mind waiting for an hour or so while the doctor caught up. Pass.

I am now an official producer of energy as my solar system went on line yesterday. After doing this I can’t believe how easy and inexpensive it was. I’m glad I dodged earlier efforts to sell me solar systems and hooked up with the company that I did. The company’s founder saw what Chinese industry was doing to the atmosphere and it became her life motivation to start a solar company. The very cool thing is I didn’t have to pay for the system or its installation. I’ll let you know if the system meets the promised standard in electric bill relief but I feel very green today. My 10^th grade science teacher who sent us out on the very first Earth Day would be proud of me. Let me know if you’re interested in contact with this company, total aces.

FBR's Latest Fascination

Last night calls with the granddaughters caused the usual spike in delight. The FBR recently became a huge fan of The Nightmare Before Christmas (I’m thinking Wingman was involved in this) and now wears a newly acquired Jack Skellington costume for all her dinners. There was a very funny moment between my son and the BRS last night. There is a constant contest between the two of them concerning drawers that the BRS knows she’s not supposed to open. My Favorite Son always patiently blocks her efforts. Last night she engaged in a game of closing doors while we were video chatting. Unbeknownst to my son this was just a ploy. We saw her close the door between them and when my son opened the door the BRS was in a  dead sprint to the room with the drawers. He was laughing so hard he found it hard to catch up with her. This is lady with a plan.

Date night last evening so a trip to the cinema was efforted. We saw Black and Blue which is a very good action movie. It was clearly trying to tap into the gaping divide between African-Americans and the police force that is supposed to serve them. Despite the overuse of clichés in that arena the movie is watchable because of Naomi Harris (Miss Moneypenny herself) and Tyrese Gibson. Harris, successfully hiding her English accent, plays a rookie New Orleans cop who witnesses the execution of a drug dealer by a supposedly super cop, played with his usual diabolical glee by Frank Grillo. Harris is forced to hide out in her original neighborhood which is uniformly antagonistic precisely because of the uniform she’s wearing. Luke Cage is horribly miscast as a drug kingpin, just too decent a guy to make that work. The rest of the cast is spot on and the action is non-stop. I really enjoyed this film although they had a hard time bringing it home, wandering in full camp mode but still enjoyable.

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RECURRING CHARACTERS                                           

BRS - Blog Reader the Sequel - second granddaughter; FBR - First Blog Reader - first granddaughter, ABFA – Amazing Best Family Athlete = my daughter in law; Wingman – my son in law; Keene Friends 1 & 2 – friends since high school from my home town of Keene, NH; Soxfather - my brother in law; Great Aunt = my elder sister; Cantankerous Friend – friend since grade school who likes to argue about everything, poses as radical leftist to attract women; Pittsburgh College Roommate – high school friend, also a “Minor Celebrity” in Pittsburgh; Deckzilla – our backyard deck which grew to monstrous dimensions once my wife got involved in planning; Maine and Virginia Musqueteras – two close friends of my wife – her US sisters, my wife is the 3^rd musquetera (musketeer); Riggins - also known as the Grandpuppy, son's dog, surrogate grandchild while awaiting arrival of the BRS; PanaGals – female relatives/friends of my wife from Panama; Panamanian/Latin Mafia – inevitable group of Latino friends my wife accumulates wherever we have lived & their spouses; Neighborhood Mafioso - wife's close friend and Panamanian mafia member, Favorite Panamanian - the wife (of course); First Friday – celebrations to mark the First Friday of the Week; Deckzilla Dude – senior citizen carpenter/contractor; Voices of Inappropriate Worth - members of public who come to every Worcester public meeting to complain, all are on public assistance along with demeanor issues

Disney Princessed

The only thing remotely redeemable about Mondays is the ability to reflect back on a weekend exceptionally well spent. That is certainly the case today which is a rare example for this level of contentment realized without the direct involvement (personal contact with) either of my children or the granddaughters. It is therefore an excellent assessment of the quality of people I‘m lucky enough to be acquainted with. Heading that august list would be my Favorite Panamanian as we knocked out a bunch of house projects as well as some partying.

The ABFA, the BRS and the Rock
Oops, I Mean my Son in their Moana Gear

My Daughter and her "Elsa"

But first I have to discuss the granddaughters since they are never far from my mind. Since Wingman was out in Minneapolis rehearsing for next year’s reunion tour, the FBR and my daughter were hanging out solo for the weekend. The FBR almost forgot to wear her costume to Saturday gymnastics class but remembered to transform into Frozen’s Elsa just in time. Both ladies seem to have a good time with that and a couple get togethers with friends. The BRS, not to be outdone, convinced my son’s family to transform into Disney characters with her (obviously) playing the lead role as Princess Moana of the Motunui (I know that because of previous education from the FBR). In a bit of type casting my Favorite Son donned as costume as Maui, played in the movie by the Rock. I was astounded at the similarity achieved once my son was garbed up.

FBR as Elsa

BRS as Moana

ABFA and Moana at Saturday Music Class

Partying Saturday Night

Back to my adventures, First Friday was a superb indicator of just how fine the weekend was going to be. This was needed after an unfortunate finger flaying episode when I gallantly volunteered to cut my wife’s bread when we went out for lunch that day (I’m very dangerous – mostly to myself). My Assistant GM always makes a big deal when he attends despite an extremely spotty attendance record at First Friday. When he does show up it’s usually just for a quick beer and then leaves. He was about to do the same when two of the youngest and undeniably beautiful female managers showed up to participate. For the first time he stayed until the end. I called it the “Young Blonde Effect”. He pled the fifth.

Deckzilla Birds at New Feeder

Saturday was a beautiful New England autumn day and I was assigned to garden duty by my Favorite Panamanian. She wanted to cut back the large hosta plants she has ringing her vast garden complex. This was a task right up my alley since I excel at destruction and leave the actual growing of things to my more accomplished better half. Apparently I was a little too good at it because she came out to find the now denuded landscape and gasped, stating that she had clearly told me (she didn’t) to keep a least one leaf per plant. We trimmed back the rest of the gardens together as she kept very close rein on my willingness to cut. One of the tasks I truly enjoyed was installing a new bird feeder on Deckzilla. The combination of squirrels and a lazy neighborhood hawk who refused to eat them had ruined an earlier version. For some reason I love watching birds although I’ve never taken it to the professional level. The birds were very happy with the addition although they would scatter whenever the hawk soared above hunting for something other than squirrel or the ubiquitous rabbits.

Soxfather with his Photogenic Siblings Saturday Night

Wife and Great Aunt at Namesake Nephew's House

We finished up the projects and headed south to a housewarming get together at my Namesake Nephew’s new house. We joined Soxfather’s family and Great Aunt to properly christen the new abode. I’ve written many times but it bears repeating just how much enjoyment I take out of these gatherings. The nephew’s dining room table was a perfect spot to gather family around and kid each other. I couldn’t believe it when it turned out to be after 11pm and I reluctantly handed over the keys to my Favorite Panamanian (I may have had a couple beers along the way). This was the first of what I hope to be many family gatherings at this house. It sits right next to a historical cemetery which I’m going to have to check out at some point. During my genealogical excavations I’ve learned that several of my ancestors from my mother’s side emigrated to the US through colonial Rhode Island.

Sunday was a depressing day weather wise with a steady rain the entire day. The aforementioned Assistant GM and his girlfriend joined us later in the day to watch the Patriots’ game in the Man Cave. That turned out to be a lot of fun as it was great to have someone to kid around with as the Patriots rolled to Belichick’s 300^th career win. The Browns actually fielded a lot of talent but couldn’t seem to get out of their own way, at one point turning the ball over to the Pats on three consecutive snaps. The Pats are still undefeated but their schedule turns tougher gong into November but it sure is fun to watch this defense. They’ve supplanted the offense as the strength of the team.

So another well spent weekend logged and the prospects for November are more than excellent with trips to New Jersey for the FBR‘s 4^th birthday party, to Keene for my annual birthday pub crawl, and the annual two day Thanksgiving extravaganza. I just love November. Despite all the leaves to pick up.

The Architect and the Author

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RECURRING CHARACTERS                                           

BRS - Blog Reader the Sequel - second granddaughter; FBR - First Blog Reader - first granddaughter, ABFA – Amazing Best Family Athlete = my daughter in law; Wingman – my son in law; Keene Friends 1 & 2 – friends since high school from my home town of Keene, NH; Soxfather - my brother in law; Great Aunt = my elder sister; Cantankerous Friend – friend since grade school who likes to argue about everything, poses as radical leftist to attract women; Pittsburgh College Roommate – high school friend, also a “Minor Celebrity” in Pittsburgh; Deckzilla – our backyard deck which grew to monstrous dimensions once my wife got involved in planning; Maine and Virginia Musqueteras – two close friends of my wife – her US sisters, my wife is the 3^rd musquetera (musketeer); Riggins - also known as the Grandpuppy, son's dog, surrogate grandchild while awaiting arrival of the BRS; PanaGals – female relatives/friends of my wife from Panama; Panamanian/Latin Mafia – inevitable group of Latino friends my wife accumulates wherever we have lived & their spouses; Neighborhood Mafioso - wife's close friend and Panamanian mafia member, Favorite Panamanian - the wife (of course); First Friday – celebrations to mark the First Friday of the Week; Deckzilla Dude – senior citizen carpenter/contractor; Voices of Inappropriate Worth - members of public who come to every Worcester public meeting to complain, all are on public assistance along with demeanor issues

Friday – In all Its Glory

Each Friday is an entity in and of itself and I try to treat each with the proper amount of respect. Today is no different and will require the weekly pilgrimage to Brew City to pay the appropriate level of relevance to this most favorite day of the week. Beer will be involved. Some weeks require it; alright you got me, all weeks, but more so this week because it was so mundane, at least at work. I almost (a big almost) wish things were busier at work so the work week wouldn’t literally crawl by. Except for a surprise Wednesday meeting I had conveniently forgotten about until that morning the rest of the week passed by with the viscosity of peanut butter.

My Favorite Panamanian had her own little adventure yesterday. She’d acquired some new plants (because we can never have enough) up in Maine but had forgotten them at my son’s house during her trek south. We had to do a hasty oil change Wednesday night for her car so she could set out for New Hampshire on Thursday to recover the plants. She enlisted the company of another member of the Worcester Chapter of the Panamanian mafia for company. She’d asked me for the address of the Newington shopping center (where incidentally I once purchased an unredeemed engagement ring) so I suspected there would be shopping involved in the trip. We also recently received a very generous Home Depot gift card from the solar company and that was burning a hole in certain pockets. So my wife’s three hour trip (there and back) turned Gilligan-esque when I returned home to an empty house as the sun was setting and she hadn’t even left New Hampshire yet.

I took advantage of her absence to sneak away to the theater to see a movie I would never get my wife to see. For some reason she doesn’t want to see zombies dismembered, go figure. Zombieland: Double Tap retains the very fun attitude of the original. Our Oscar nominated crew of zombie killers have taken up residence in the ruins of the White House which lends itself to some serious gags. I missed Woody’s obsession with Twinkies but it’s been replaced with an Elvis mania which leads him to Rosario Dawson – never a bad thing. It’s all escapist fun despite the constant zombie attacks with some really funny zingers aimed at millennials. I know critics who take themselves way too seriously will be upset with actors of this caliber taking up this kind of fare but it is pure unadulterated fun and would have been really silly (alright more silly) with lesser actors. Make sure to stay for all of the credits for your Bill Murray fix who re-appears despite the hole blown in his chest in the first movie.

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RECURRING CHARACTERS                                           

BRS - Blog Reader the Sequel - second granddaughter; FBR - First Blog Reader - first granddaughter, ABFA – Amazing Best Family Athlete = my daughter in law; Wingman – my son in law; Keene Friends 1 & 2 – friends since high school from my home town of Keene, NH; Soxfather - my brother in law; Great Aunt = my elder sister; Cantankerous Friend – friend since grade school who likes to argue about everything, poses as radical leftist to attract women; Pittsburgh College Roommate – high school friend, also a “Minor Celebrity” in Pittsburgh; Deckzilla – our backyard deck which grew to monstrous dimensions once my wife got involved in planning; Maine and Virginia Musqueteras – two close friends of my wife – her US sisters, my wife is the 3^rd musquetera (musketeer); Riggins - also known as the Grandpuppy, son's dog, surrogate grandchild while awaiting arrival of the BRS; PanaGals – female relatives/friends of my wife from Panama; Panamanian/Latin Mafia – inevitable group of Latino friends my wife accumulates wherever we have lived & their spouses; Neighborhood Mafioso - wife's close friend and Panamanian mafia member, Favorite Panamanian - the wife (of course); First Friday – celebrations to mark the First Friday of the Week; Deckzilla Dude – senior citizen carpenter/contractor; Voices of Inappropriate Worth - members of public who come to every Worcester public meeting to complain, all are on public assistance along with demeanor issues

Dance Off

Decibel levels returned to customary levels at home with yesterday’s return of my Favorite Panamanian from her northern adventures. Prior to leaving my son’s home she engaged in what has become a patented move with her granddaughters. Anyone who knows my wife will not be surprised that this involved dancing. She and the BRS danced together prior to the BRS’ leaving for daycare. The BRS may look like pure gringa but she definitely has some Latina spiciness running through her bloodstream because she was totally on board with the dancing. The ABFA sent a video of the two of them dancing and the BRS was totally hanging with my Favorite Panamanian which I know from long experience on the dance floor is no easy task.

Abuela Dance Off

Yesterday I also let my corporate bosses know about my planned retirement in 2020 which was a huge step because heretofore I’d just been kicking the date down the road. They were appreciative of the advance notice and now I have a semi-definite mark on the wall. I found it kind of liberating. It will interesting to watch over the next few months as my various staff members start circling around the guy I’ve groomed to take over for me. I’m at peace with the decision because while the money is nice (check that – very nice), if life has taught me anything it is the value of time with the people you love. Since I don’t really need the very nice level of income I want the freedom to spend more time with those people while I’m still a few years short of complete dotage (insert Cantankerous Friend insult here). I’m sure that last sentence has sent some of those people scurrying for cover concerning my impending ability to visit them.

Since I had a date available again for date night we were at the cinema to see Maleficent: Mistress of Evil. I wasn’t totally invested in these characters from the first movie – especially Jolie whom I think is wandering into some sort of permanent “weirdness” however she is definitely the best part of this movie. She done up in signature makeup for the part but her eyes are singularly eloquent and made me a fan (against extremely long odds). The story is very silly with Jolie’s adopted daughter marrying into a royal family that includes Michelle Pfeiffer chewing up some scenery as the evil step mother. This all devolves into a war between humans and fairy folk, augmented by a previously unknown branch of Maleficent’s family.  It’s tough for Disney to do war since they don’t want anybody hurt, much less killed. The movie is worth seeing for the Jolie-Pfeiffer faceoff but the rest of the cast is uniformly forgettable. There is a lesson here – you’d better be a step-master guru if you’re going to fight in this palace. I grew tired just watching all the staircases involved but definitely worth a see – if for no other reason than Jolie’s performance (and I can’t believe I’m saying that).

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RECURRING CHARACTERS                                            

BRS - Blog Reader the Sequel - second granddaughter; FBR - First Blog Reader - first granddaughter, ABFA – Amazing Best Family Athlete = my daughter in law; Wingman – my son in law; Keene Friends 1 & 2 – friends since high school from my home town of Keene, NH; Soxfather - my brother in law; Great Aunt = my elder sister; Cantankerous Friend – friend since grade school who likes to argue about everything, poses as radical leftist to attract women; Pittsburgh College Roommate – high school friend, also a “Minor Celebrity” in Pittsburgh; Deckzilla – our backyard deck which grew to monstrous dimensions once my wife got involved in planning; Maine and Virginia Musqueteras – two close friends of my wife – her US sisters, my wife is the 3^rd musquetera (musketeer); Riggins - also known as the Grandpuppy, son's dog, surrogate grandchild while awaiting arrival of the BRS; PanaGals – female relatives/friends of my wife from Panama; Panamanian/Latin Mafia – inevitable group of Latino friends my wife accumulates wherever we have lived & their spouses; Neighborhood Mafioso - wife's close friend and Panamanian mafia member, Favorite Panamanian - the wife (of course); First Friday – celebrations to mark the First Friday of the Week; Deckzilla Dude – senior citizen carpenter/contractor; Voices of Inappropriate Worth - members of public who come to every Worcester public meeting to complain, all are on public assistance along with demeanor issues

Wrapped Up

The ABFA celebrated her birthday yesterday with the able assistance of, in no uncertain order, my Favorite Son, the BRS, and my Favorite Panamanian. Her co-workers also got into the act as she walked into her office to find everything giftwrapped including her computer. One of the big events earlier in my wife’s visit there was a combined FaceTime call featuring both the FBR and the BRS. The ABFA captured a video of the exchange which is too large to put here but, you’ll have to take my word on this, it was devastatingly charming. The two granddaughters took turns singing to each other. The FBR, being all of three, was much more polished in her technique. The BRS more than compensated for her lack of skill with an abundance of enthusiasm. Again, too funny and delightful for words.

ABFA's Office All Wrapped Up

The FBR and I had a fun time last night as we connected when she was eating dinner for the first time at the kitchen island. She instantly corrected me that it was properly called a ”counter’ and not an “island” – obviously questioning my intelligence on this point. We negotiated our way through her dinner with my position being her “abracadabras” to get me to do silly things needed constant replenishment by her finishing her vegetables.  Grandpas can be sneaky too. We finished the call with a demonstration of her purple vampire teeth.

Toothed Up FBR 

BRS Playing in her Kitchen Cubby While Abuela Works

My geographic bachelorhood hopeful ends today with the return of my wife from her adventures up north. It will be good to have some supervision back on site. Considering that last statement, I may have been married too long at this point. I spent last night safely bundled up in the Man Cave for the Patriots Monday night game against the hated Jets. In what may be a landmark event, by the end of the night I was actually feeling sorry for the Jets quarterback, a young guy who came into the game brimming with confidence. The Patriots defense brutalized him to the point he admitted he was seeing ghosts on the field; evidence that agreeing to wear a microphone for the broadcast was not well thought out. The Patriots remained undefeated with a 33-0 beatdown of the boys in green.

Poor S.O.B.

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RECURRING CHARACTERS                                           

BRS - Blog Reader the Sequel - second granddaughter; FBR - First Blog Reader - first granddaughter, ABFA – Amazing Best Family Athlete = my daughter in law; Wingman – my son in law; Keene Friends 1 & 2 – friends since high school from my home town of Keene, NH; Soxfather - my brother in law; Great Aunt = my elder sister; Cantankerous Friend – friend since grade school who likes to argue about everything, poses as radical leftist to attract women; Pittsburgh College Roommate – high school friend, also a “Minor Celebrity” in Pittsburgh; Deckzilla – our backyard deck which grew to monstrous dimensions once my wife got involved in planning; Maine and Virginia Musqueteras – two close friends of my wife – her US sisters, my wife is the 3^rd musquetera (musketeer); Riggins - also known as the Grandpuppy, son's dog, surrogate grandchild while awaiting arrival of the BRS; PanaGals – female relatives/friends of my wife from Panama; Panamanian/Latin Mafia – inevitable group of Latino friends my wife accumulates wherever we have lived & their spouses; Neighborhood Mafioso - wife's close friend and Panamanian mafia member, Favorite Panamanian - the wife (of course); First Friday – celebrations to mark the First Friday of the Week; Deckzilla Dude – senior citizen carpenter/contractor; Voices of Inappropriate Worth - members of public who come to every Worcester public meeting to complain, all are on public assistance along with demeanor issues

Pint Sized Assistance

BRS Happy to Have her Abuela in Residence

My Favorite Panamanian completed her weekend of dancing and partying with the Maine Musquetera and descended on our son’s house last evening as she made her way south. She was greeted with great acclaim by the BRS who seems to enjoy adults whom she can claim complete autonomy over. I caught up with them just after her arrival and the BRS was still in the serial smiling mode. My wife is staying over again tonight because of the auspicious nature of this date. That auspiciousness derives from the birth of my favorite daughter in law – the renowned ABFA. My Favorite Son is now free to properly recognize his beautiful wife’s birthday since they have a dedicate babysitter in residence.

Birthday Girl ABFA and her Beau

 

Wife up in Maine

With her Gal Pals

Looking for Trouble

Friday Night Dancing

The Lakeside Cottage they Stayed at

I’ve been receiving a steady stream of photos this morning from my wife as she spends the day with the BRS. The BRS has for some unknown reason taken a real interest in laundry from her earliest days. This usually involves seeing a basket of clean clothes and proceeding directly to distributing said clothes throughout the house on the floor. Her abuela had her loading the dryer this morning so I guess that qualifies as progress. I’m glad those two are getting to spend some time together – I get the impression they’re going to be good buds in the future.

Hair Finally long Enough for Two Pigtails

Which She Dominates

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RECURRING CHARACTERS                                            

BRS - Blog Reader the Sequel - second granddaughter; FBR - First Blog Reader - first granddaughter, ABFA – Amazing Best Family Athlete = my daughter in law; Wingman – my son in law; Keene Friends 1 & 2 – friends since high school from my home town of Keene, NH; Soxfather - my brother in law; Great Aunt = my elder sister; Cantankerous Friend – friend since grade school who likes to argue about everything, poses as radical leftist to attract women; Pittsburgh College Roommate – high school friend, also a “Minor Celebrity” in Pittsburgh; Deckzilla – our backyard deck which grew to monstrous dimensions once my wife got involved in planning; Maine and Virginia Musqueteras – two close friends of my wife – her US sisters, my wife is the 3^rd musquetera (musketeer); Riggins - also known as the Grandpuppy, son's dog, surrogate grandchild while awaiting arrival of the BRS; PanaGals – female relatives/friends of my wife from Panama; Panamanian/Latin Mafia – inevitable group of Latino friends my wife accumulates wherever we have lived & their spouses; Neighborhood Mafioso - wife's close friend and Panamanian mafia member, Favorite Panamanian - the wife (of course); First Friday – celebrations to mark the First Friday of the Week; Deckzilla Dude – senior citizen carpenter/contractor; Voices of Inappropriate Worth - members of public who come to every Worcester public meeting to complain, all are on public assistance along with demeanor issues

Haunted

I’ve written before about how blessed I’ve been in my life as far as the friend department. That was validated yesterday with another return to my home town. The stated reason was a reconnaissance of the first bar of the upcoming birthday pub crawl. The real reason as that after mowing the lawn to insure my leaf removal system was operational I knew the empty house was not where I wanted to spend the rest of my weekend. My Favorite Panamanian was continuing her Maine sojourn with her fellow musquetera. Keene Friend agreed to host me and accompany me on my reconnaissance.

The First Bunch

The recon was needed because Penuche’s Ale House, the first bar on the birthday pub crawl, was recently sold and closed for over a month for renovations. I had to confirm this old hometown haunt was still available for the crawl. I know I could I have done that with a simple phone call but you can never overestimate the importance of actual boots on the ground reconnaissance, and yes, beer was involved. So were my friends. Keene Friend and I arrived and were shortly joined by a couple of high school classmates. The Connecticut River Boat Captain (whose birthday it was) as well as my best buddy from kindergarten. It was somewhat nostalgic that I could look out the window of Penuche’s and see that kindergarten (there’s nothing like going home). We were kind of mystified about what the renovations had been since it looked virtually the same but it had been significantly cleaned up which was welcome since the level of effort in that area might have required explosives. Forty years of beer drinking excess does build up a certain level of grime (to be absolutely clear I’m talking about Penuche’s). We accomplished one of our trademark semi-inebriated calls to the Pittsburgh College Roommate.

Later Joined by Keene Freind 2

It was a great afternoon as our ranks were swelled with the arrival of another high school classmate - Keene Friend 2. His wife is also out of town (Argentina, don’t cry!) so he was free to join us for some post-Penuche’s football at Keene Friend’s nearby home. I fielded a call from the FBR who was a little confused by my exotic location. It was a great evening of football and baseball as we got to root against the Yankees. I saw most of the games although some time was spent inspecting the underside of my eyelids (there had been a lot of beer sent downrange earlier). Both Keene Friends eventually retired as I stayed up to hopefully watch the end of the Yankee’s season. It was almost midnight as I saw the Yankees tie the game in the 9^th inning. I was so pissed I headed upstairs to bed and only learned this morning their season did in fact end a half inning later. So I consider yesterday a complete win, mostly because of the excellent friends I got to spend time with.

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RECURRING CHARACTERS                                           

BRS - Blog Reader the Sequel - second granddaughter; FBR - First Blog Reader - first granddaughter, ABFA – Amazing Best Family Athlete = my daughter in law; Wingman – my son in law; Keene Friends 1 & 2 – friends since high school from my home town of Keene, NH; Soxfather - my brother in law; Great Aunt = my elder sister; Cantankerous Friend – friend since grade school who likes to argue about everything, poses as radical leftist to attract women; Pittsburgh College Roommate – high school friend, also a “Minor Celebrity” in Pittsburgh; Deckzilla – our backyard deck which grew to monstrous dimensions once my wife got involved in planning; Maine and Virginia Musqueteras – two close friends of my wife – her US sisters, my wife is the 3^rd musquetera (musketeer); Riggins - also known as the Grandpuppy, son's dog, surrogate grandchild while awaiting arrival of the BRS; PanaGals – female relatives/friends of my wife from Panama; Panamanian/Latin Mafia – inevitable group of Latino friends my wife accumulates wherever we have lived & their spouses; Neighborhood Mafioso - wife's close friend and Panamanian mafia member, Favorite Panamanian - the wife (of course); First Friday – celebrations to mark the First Friday of the Week; Deckzilla Dude – senior citizen carpenter/contractor; Voices of Inappropriate Worth - members of public who come to every Worcester public meeting to complain, all are on public assistance along with demeanor issues

Winded

New England is recovering from a hefty wind storm earlier this week. This raises a very intriguing question about my back yard safety. I have a hillside behind the house that has a number of tall pines trees. Many of them were damaged in the 2009 ice storm with their tops broken off and several died. We moved into the house three years ago and there was one that looked to be on the verge of falling over. I paced it out when I was building my terraces and estimate when it falls, if it falls in the direction of the house, that the only thing it would take out is the grill, which needs replacement anyways.

The Spa Destroyer

I mention this because somehow the damned thing is still there, significantly beating the odds. A huge healthy tree twenty feet to the left was toppled by winds earlier this year with a huge assist to a lightning bolt. The scrappy dead tree just laughs at the fallen titan. Every time there’s a wind storm, like a couple days ago, I look out expecting it to be gone. Now I’ve transitioned to abject admiration for its scrappiness. I have to get out there today and mow the lawn short as my usual fallen leaves removal system is not working optimally. All of the leaves are not getting blown down the hill.

The Admirable Former Tree

I’m heading north to conduct additional reconnaissance needed for next month’s birthday pub crawl. This will be much less costly than my usual forays because my Favorite Panamanian will not be with me to take advantage of shopping opportunities while Keene Friend and I recon. Of course, she’s up in Maine with her fellow musquetera, so I’m confident it’s probably even more expensive since there’s a sales tax up there.

Sick Day Lunch 

Pee Wee Bonding

The FBR checked in last night after seriously messing up her mother’s planned spa day. My daughter had the day off after the big office move but the FBR spent most of Thursday night coughing so she stayed home from day care to hang with my daughter – hence no spa. It sounded like they had a good time together as the FBR’s cough mysteriously disappeared as well.

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RECURRING CHARACTERS                                            

BRS - Blog Reader the Sequel - second granddaughter; FBR - First Blog Reader - first granddaughter, ABFA – Amazing Best Family Athlete = my daughter in law; Wingman – my son in law; Keene Friends 1 & 2 – friends since high school from my home town of Keene, NH; Soxfather - my brother in law; Great Aunt = my elder sister; Cantankerous Friend – friend since grade school who likes to argue about everything, poses as radical leftist to attract women; Pittsburgh College Roommate – high school friend, also a “Minor Celebrity” in Pittsburgh; Deckzilla – our backyard deck which grew to monstrous dimensions once my wife got involved in planning; Maine and Virginia Musqueteras – two close friends of my wife – her US sisters, my wife is the 3^rd musquetera (musketeer); Riggins - also known as the Grandpuppy, son's dog, surrogate grandchild while awaiting arrival of the BRS; PanaGals – female relatives/friends of my wife from Panama; Panamanian/Latin Mafia – inevitable group of Latino friends my wife accumulates wherever we have lived & their spouses; Neighborhood Mafioso - wife's close friend and Panamanian mafia member, Favorite Panamanian - the wife (of course); First Friday – celebrations to mark the First Friday of the Week; Deckzilla Dude – senior citizen carpenter/contractor; Voices of Inappropriate Worth - members of public who come to every Worcester public meeting to complain, all are on public assistance along with demeanor issues