So many birthdays seem to fall this
month, within the family and overall. Yesterday was my birthday and today both
my now elder sister (Great Aunt) and my “beloved” sister-in-law (Tia Loca) have
birthdays. This, of course, follows the truly epically celebrated birthday last
week of the FBR. So, birthday season. Our plan for my birthday was, unsurprisingly,
a steak dinner followed by a movie. See, totally predictable. Keene Friend reached
out offering to take me out for a dinner and a movie (he does know me) so we
invited him to come along. I felt really connected yesterday as so many friends
and family members reached out to wish me a happy birthday. Great Aunt (more on
her below) kept trying to call me during the movie (six different times). Later
in the day my daughter roundly castigated me for not knowing how to silent notifications
on my phone during a movie. A short tutorial followed. It was a quiet but very
enjoyable birthday and thanks again for all of you who reached out. It was
truly appreciated.
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| Birthday Dinner Yesterday |
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| I Got a Cake Too!!! |
I received a birthday shock yesterday as
well. I actually received an unplanned tax refund from the People’s Republic of
Taxxachusetts. I know. Shocking. The state legislature passed a bill back in
the 80s that required the state to refund collected taxes if their surplus exceeded
a certain amount. I’m sure there as a dedicated effort to bypass that requirement
but a check showed up yesterday. Wow. It wasn't huge but again, Wow! Also, for the first time I can ever
recall, it snowed on my birthday. I spent a lot of years in the deep south and other
tropical climes so it may have happened on November 15th before, but
this was a first for me. We received a couple inches overnight. I wasn’t
looking for it but as I walked upstairs from the Man Cave last evening, I
noticed everything outside was white. Weird to go from the 70s a couple days
ago to this, but, New England.
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| Deckzilla Last Night |
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Great Aunt a Few Years Ago
BR3 Looks Just Like Her |
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| A Few Christmases Ago in our Charlton Home |
Today is a powerful birthday date as
well. Both Great Aunt and Tia Loca have their date of births today. Great Aunt
and I are Irish Twins for a day but now I can kid her for being so much older
than I am. She counters with the fact that I’m the path to the same age within a
year. She’s had an unimaginably tough year with the departure of Soxfather and
I am once again truly struck by her internal strength and courage. I’m so proud
of my big (elder) sister. I’m going to pay for all the agism references though.
Tia Loca, on the other hand, has her own brother to contend with. They have a
fiery relationship and the text bombs started flowing very early this morning.
It’s fun to sit back and watch the carnage when those two go at it, good
naturedly of course (I think). She claims to be in her thirties but that would
make her nearly thirty-year-old son hard to explain.
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| The Always Elegant Tia Loca |
The birthday movie was Black Panther, Wakanda
Forever. I was excited to see this, as I am with most Marvel movies, and while
I enjoyed it, overall I was left with a feeling of “ehhh”. After the first Black Panther movie soared, I
was probably expecting too much. The filmmakers do an excellent job of honoring
the late Chadwick Boseman but their personal feelings of loss permeated the
movie a little too much. The action was broken up by long periods of navel contemplation.
I think they also erred by making Letitia Wright the lead which is understandable
as she was fantastic as a supporting actress. She just didn’t have the chops to
carry the movie and this was only too obvious when they finally bring Lupita
Nyong'o back. She should have been the focus, she’s that good. So, I enjoyed the
movie, who couldn’t when a de-humidifier is the ultimate weapon, but it was a
two hour movie crammed into nearly three hours (it felt longer).
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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; Connecticut
Riverboat Captain – another close friend from high school, renowned sailor
of the big river; 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 3rd 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
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