Daftness and Being Stood Up

I’ve spent a couple days away from Frail Deeds because I’ve been decisively engaged with a certain Panamanian. The last few weeks it was almost like having a job again as I would clock in each morning to the back yard patio. With that work complete my Favorite Panamanian pounced. In a moment of being completely daft, I agreed to drive her to the Christmas Tree Shoppe. I know. What the hell was I thinking?! She knows the way well but her stated logic was that with an exit closed on a nearby highway I would know the back roads to avoid the backup. Realizing I might have been a bit neglectful in the spousal department over the past few weeks, I agreed and then did several gymnastically impossible back flips in my mind. At any rate I had a good book to read which kept me entertained on the car while she made her rampage through one of her favorite hunting grounds.

With the Late Great Aunt Yesterday

Yesterday there was no time for writing because “we” had decided the garage needed to be cleaned out. It did. But. The stated reason was this area will serve as the rain out backup location for her mother’s 90^th birthday party in September. That event, as well as the impending granddaughters’ arrival, have been ruling the roost for the past couple weeks. My Favorite Panamanian apparently exhausted herself with her Monday foray because she wasn’t feeling well so I set her up in a chair to sort her vast collection garden implements and supervise me while I emptied and then cleaned the garage. We have so much junk. I had to sandwich the garage cleaning around what was supposed to be our Tuesday date for lunch and a movie with Great Aunt.

BR3 & BRS Princessed Up

Their Morning Workout

Due to her feeling out of sorts, my wife decided to stay home but encouraged me to hang out with my sister. I was really looking forward to that and texted my sister when I arrived at the restaurant. When she answered right away, I knew we had a problem because she should have been driving at that point. She admitted to a senior moment and had focused on the time of the movie instead of the time she was supposed to be at the restaurant. So, stood up (for the first time since a pre-marital girlfriend in Panama) by not one but two of the most important ladies in my life. So it goes. I had a quick, and decidedly quiet solitary lunch and then snuck over to the Barnes and Noble for a half hour. I used to savor spending time in book stores before the advent of the kindle. It brought back so many memories of the times I would spend lost in the stacks.

FBR Helped Wingmom Make Dinner

And a Cake

Great Aunt was able to rally to my location in time for the movie (see below) which was a lot of fun. It was great to hear her laughing again. She came bearing gifts as well. I received my final 2021 Christmas gift! She also brought a bunch of pictures of our mother. She received them from mom’s late best friend’s (Tia Peg) daughter, who found them in her mother’s collection. My sister and I were both amazed because my mother adamantly refused to have her picture taken by us. That rule apparently didn’t apply when she was with Tia Peg. I’m going to scan and post a bunch of these pictures tomorrow; they brought back a load of good memories.

FBR at the Natural History Museum in NYC

Granddaughters. Yep, after a summer almost completely bereft of these excellent humans, we’re going to go full bore for a couple weeks. We’re going to have both the FBR and BRS for a week together and then another week with just the FBR. The ABFA and my son couldn’t part with the BRS for more than a week. BR3 is still a little young, according to her parents, but I look forward to having all three creating havoc at once with us, hopefully next year. That being said, the FBR and BRS are more than capable in the havoc department by themselves. The parents have sent along these photos for the week. The BRS and BR3 executing a calisthenics workout after saying goodbye to their dad in the morning. The FBR and Wingman are having a daddy/daughter week after he finished touring and she finished day camp. The pictures show how much fun all three granddaughters are having this summer.

More Scenes from Daddy/Daughter Week

The movie Great Aunt and I saw was Bullet Train. This received a lot of hype and I was afraid it was going to be one of those movies that had a great trailer but failed to deliver. This delivers. In spades, thanks to an incredible cast led by Brad Pitt. He is incredibly funny as a luck bereft hitman tangling with an bevy of his peers while spouting Zen phrases as he deals with some personal worth issues. All this occurs while hurtling along on a high-speed Japanese train. The characters are slowly revealed as the action builds to a truly incredible climactic battle royale. Pitt dominates as he tries to get his fellow assassins to talk things out instead of killing him. There are a couple of hilarious cameos as well which is always fun. It’s so hyper violent that you’re almost guilty at laughing but it’s too funny. I loved this movie.

I also saw Prey this week. I wonder why this movie wasn’t released in theaters because it certainly had the quality to beat out most competitors. This was the best predator movie since the original as it takes one of the baddies back in time to the early 1700s where he hunts Comanches. The early Texans would have told him that wasn’t going to be fun. The film is beautifully shot in a pristine pre-colonial western US. If it wasn’t bad enough for the Indians, they also have to fend off some French voyageurs who also run afoul of the predator setting up a free for all between the three competing elements. The Comanches are definitely the good guys and the movie is dominated by the Native American actress, Amber Midthunder. Keep an eye out for her, she has real screen presence. A very, very good movie.

Four movies fell in my A-Z effort, all keepers: Animal House (Blanks, right?), Anna (Besson with a waif like assassin), Annihilation (Weird but compelling), and Apocalypto (When Gibson still mattered)

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RECURRING CHARACTERS:                                        

ABFA – Amazing Best Family Athlete - my daughter in law; BR3 – Blog Reader #3 – granddaughter #3; BRS - Blog Reader the Sequel - second granddaughter; Cantankerous Friend – friend since grade school who likes to argue about everything, poses as radical leftist to attract women; Curbside Girls – close friends of my daughter acquired during her single days in Brooklyn; Deckzilla – our backyard deck which grew to monstrous dimensions once my wife got involved in planning; Favorite Panamanian - the wife (of course); FBR - First Blog Reader - first granddaughter; First Friday – celebrations to mark the First Friday of the Week; Great Aunt - my elder sister; Keene Friends 1 & 2 – friends since high school from my home town of Keene, NH; Kindergarten Friend – friend since kindergarten whom I reunited with after many years; Maine and Virginia Musqueteras – two close friends of my wife – her US sisters, my wife is the 3^rd musquetera (musketeer); Namesake Nephew – son of Great Aunt and Soxfather named after me; Neighborhood Mafioso - wife's close friend and Panamanian mafia member; 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; Pittsburgh College Roommate– high school friend, also a “Minor Celebrity” in Pittsburgh; Riggins - also known as the Grandpuppy, son's dog; Soxfather - my brother in law; Tia Loca – wife’s younger sister; Wingman – my son in law; Wingmom – Wingman’s mom, of course