Stuck

I have acquired a situation that I am entirely at peace with. I am left alone in the condo complex with only my Favorite Panamanian as company. This marks the first time since I returned from the States that we find ourselves alone. My wife’s singularly spectacular family has performed the admirable task of lifting me from the blues, along with old friend Travis McGee. The last of our family guests departed this morning as my wife’s nephew and his girlfriend embarked on their return to Panama City. They were great company over the past few days, not in the least because they became my nightly movie buddies. My Favorite Panamanian is a much tougher customer as she refuses to watch anything she has seen in the last ten years and anything older than that is usually dismissed as too old. You can understand my dilemma. My nephew is a movie nut so you can also see why we get along. We spent the last couple nights watching 007, crossing the sands of Arrakis, and fighting Zuul. I’m going to miss them tonight as I search for a suitable movie on Netflix or the Super Stream. At least my spouse appreciates my popcorn game, honed to a fine edge over the past sixty plus years.

With my Movie Buddies This Morning

With My Favorite Panamanian

Being stuck with my wife is not a bad state of affairs at all. After the maelstrom of activity and emotions over the past month, it will be nice for a little bit of solitude. We’re not the only ones stuck. The company that has been contracted to paint the condo complex was moving a large piece of equipment into position yesterday when it sunk into the sand. Over the next six hours they unsuccessfully struggled to find a way to free it. They picked up the effort this morning and after three more hours they finally got it out of the hole it had dug for itself. It happened right below our condo so it allowed for some entertainment value. I don’t think the guys trying to free it shared our fascination.

The Stuck Entertainment

Sunset Last Night

After a weekend with a choked off internet (whenever the complex is full) I was finally able to have clear FaceTime calls last evening with the “kids”. BR3 learned the word “happy” in pre-school yesterday and was applying it to virtually every situation she found herself in. The BRS achieved a long awaited goal when she declared to her very pleased parents that she was too old to use her “binky” at bedtime. As I’ve watched them from afar these past few months the BRS seems to have entered one of those rapid development phases as she’s seems to have changed the most. The FBR grudgingly is living up to the promise she made to me a couple weeks ago to not run away when the FaceTime call comes in. I say grudgingly because she glares at the screen while I talk with her mom.  She still has an excellent heart though as my daughter reports that the first person the FBR wants to call each night at dinner is Great Aunt. So, I have been replaced as a priority for all the right reasons. I don’t think Great Aunt minds at all.

Crowded Beach This Morning

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RECURRING CHARACTERS                                           

BR3 – Blog Reader #3 – granddaughter #3, 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; Wingmom – Wingman’s mom, of course; 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; Kindergarten Friend – friend since kindergarten whom I reunited with after many years; 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; 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; Curbside Girls – close friends of my daughter acquired during her single days in Brooklyn