I’m
not sure how most people would define Nirvana but I think, for me at least, the
last few days could serve as a perfect example. I was already in Christmas mode
which friends and family knows means a serious amount of good spirits. When you
add consecutive days surrounded by friends and family swirling around the environment
then we’re talking serious illumination. It all started on Thursday night when
we were summoned across the street to hang out with the Neighborhood Mafioso
and another couple from the Panamanian Mafia. After a week of heavy Christmas prep
in the house, it was a perfect way to tie up the week. We’ll be so busy leading
up to the Panamanian deployment, this was also probably our last chance to hang
with these good friends.
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| The Three That Made The Weekend Extra Special |
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| Thursday Night Mafia Hangs |
Friday
brought the promise of the New Jersey bunch. They got an early start on what
was supposed to be a storm laden day but breezed in shortly after noon on a
fairly balmy day. That warm weather was due to abandon us, in decisive terms
over night. We went from temps in the 50s to wind chills of negative 17 degrees
on Saturday morning. Upon arrival, the FBR’s one and persistent question was
what time the BRS was going to show. Since my son’s family wasn’t arriving until
Saturday, the question wasn’t adequately answered until that point. She made due
with her grandparents until that point.
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| Abuela Administered Living Room Baths |
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| Christmas Eve Dinner |
We
had a very fun and anticipatory First Friday celebration as we were all gaming
towards the holiday. My daughter actually asked to watch a John Wayne movie Friday
night in the Man Cave (talk about an early Christmas present). She’s a film aficionado
and recently became interested in John Ford classics. Enter the Quiet Man. It certainly
pales in today’s woke world with the treatment of women but from a different age
and still a bona fide classic. It was a fun night in the Cave with my daughter,
Wingman, and Wingmom.
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| Trying to Get the Pose |
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| BR3 and BRS |
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| FBR & BRS Composing Letter to Santa |
Saturday,
Christmas Eve, dawned with the promise of my son’s family’s arrival. That event
was counted down by a very interested granddaughter. They pulled in and granddad
was forgotten about as the FBR dove into the expanded pool of three granddaughters.
The tree was stocked to its breaking point with the addition of the newest
arrival’s presents and we settled in for a text book Christmas Eve. I accompanied
the Favorite Panamanian to mass in order to cover all my bases.
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| BR3 Wasn't a Fan |
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| Panamanian Fam Joins the Fun |
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| The Christmas Cookie Depository |
My
Favorite Panamanian was placed in charge of silly games at the same time she prepared
a traditional Panamanian Christmas Eve dinner of a huge pork shoulder. While
that was cooking, she was also administering simulated bathes in the living
room for BR3. She found the old bassinette from earlier days and decided a
fully clothed bathing was in order. Her abuela was more than happy to oblige.
The ABFA bought matching pajama sets for the granddaughters which became the uniform
for that crew for the rest of the weekend.
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| Tree Fully Stocked |
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| Christmas Morning Anticipation |
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| Rady for the Onslaught |
As
we approached bedtime the BRS and FBR wrote their message to Santa Claus on a plate
which they liberally festooned with the overabundance of Christmas cookies we had
on hand, each family having brought a bunch. My wife’s Panamanian family joined
the festivities via video call. The FBR is really assuming a leadership role as
she has gotten older but it’s fun to see that run up against the very
independent BRS and especially BR3. It’s so fun to have Christmas Eve again
with all the childhood pent up excitement involved in preparing for Saint Nick.
Then again is the requirement to perform that function once they were finally,
blessedly asleep.
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| The Great Opening |
After
dinner and granddaughter sleep activities were concluded, the ABFA convinced us
to start the annual watching of Love Actually earlier than usual. That turned
out to be a great idea as we finished this beloved classic early enough to have
both the ABFA and my Favorite Panamanian watch the entire movie with us. It
also allowed my son and I an earlier start on preparing the Christmas turkey for
the next day’s dinner. In a sign I am really in the torch passing phase of my
life, my son did most of the work getting the turkey ready. It was prepped and
in the fridge much earlier than usual. I got up at 4am to get it in the oven so
we awoke to the smell of roasting turkey, a true sign of Christmas morning.
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| FBR With LOL House |
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| Daughter Preparing the Traditional Mimosas |
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| Mimosa Ladies |
The
granddaughters slept in until almost 630am and waited more patiently than I
would at their age to descend on their grandparents’ bed and declare Christmas officially
open. BR3 was retrieved from “her room” (our closet) and I was sent downstairs
to turn on the Christmas lights and music. I retuned to the front of the house
to see three huge smiles lighting up the stairwell. To say they were a bit anticipatory
would be a mild understatement.
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| Christmas Morn Breakfast |
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| Then Dinner |
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| The Big Table |
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| From the Other End |
They
were excited to see the full stockings hung on the fireplace. I was allowed to distribute
presents this year. Last year the FBR decided, with her new reading ability,
she was going to do it. She must have figured out it was a lot more fun opening
presents that trying to read my handwriting. As the gifts were doled out I
could see the FBR getting a bit nervous. Her cousins were getting a larger
number of gifts and she still hadn’t scored the LOL house that was her most
ardent wish. We got near the end when I pushed the biggest prize onto the floor
towards my wife. The FBR’s spirits immediately soared when I revealed I had “accidently”
mislabeled the gift and it was actually for her. The LOL house was revealed and
all was right with the world, as only a very happy FBR can make it. Wingman looked
a little pale at the prospect of having the transport this huge box, along with
the other gifts, home.
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| Karaoke Time |
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| Daughter and her Niece |
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| So. Much. Fun. |
I
was delegated to assist BR3 with gift opening. As with most two-year-olds, she
was more interested in playing with the latest gift than moving on to the next.
She got into the swing of it but later in the day when additional gifts arrived,
she said the only way she wanted to open them was in the same manner we had
earlier with her in my lap. Great Aunt arrived with a car vastly overloaded
with additional gifts along with her trusty companion Remy, the golden lab. In
short order the ABFA’s peerless parents also arrived bringing Riggins with
them. It felt more like a Christmas of my childhood with now three dogs
circling though the house dodging granddaughters and keeping the kitchen floor
immaculate.
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| Bring on the Dancing Girls |
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| Gingerbread House Created on Friday |
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| FBR With her Two Grandmas |
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| The Stars |
After
the sun set and dinner was effectively consigned to the ages, we engaged in further
festivities. This included some impromptu karaoke using some newly gifted FBR microphones.
The ABFA demonstrated that she also has a fantastic singing voice to add to her
athletic prowess. Since my Favorite Panamanian was involved, dancing eventually
started up. A very fun evening in which the granddaughters took full advantage
of, when they weren’t sneaking surreptitious cookies off the counter. The ABFA’s
dad offered horseback rides around the first floor but did not count on the
numerous repeat orders from all three. It was, in short, everything I could
have hoped for from a Christmas day, expect for certain absences, that is.
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| Brother and Sis |
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| Christmas Morn Upstairs' Assembly |
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| First Steps Christmas Morn |
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| Stockings Emptied |
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| BRS Hard at Work |
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| FBR Happy |
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| Son and I With Turkey |
The
youngest participants had to depart upstairs for bed being, at this point, completely
exhausted. Keene Friend chose this moment to make his annual late arrival, coming
from another celebration. We had a lively conversation with him late into Christmas
night. It was the final act of the day that had more than lived up to even my
lofty expectations. The greatest gift Christmas provides is this annual gathering
of people I hold most dear and offers the opportunity to laugh and embrace the
gift of life bestowed upon us. These people really are beyond my poor ability to
describe their worth, especially to me on this most beloved of all days.
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| BRS Doing my Nails |
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| With the Artiste |
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| Son and BR3 |
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| ABFA's Dad's Nails Got Hit as Well |
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| ABFA's Mom at Karaoke Time |
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| Riggins Watching the Silly Humans |
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| BR3 Not up for Grandparent Photo |
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| The Other Two Were Though |
Today
was spent picking up the pieces of the prolonged celebration. I had it fairly
easy compared to my son and Wingman. They had to pack their cars with their Christmas
acquisitions and also allow space for three granddaughters and Wingmom, along
with Harley, Wingmom’s dog. My son had a deal with a full length mirror in
addition to the BRS and BR3. He succeeded with the BRS and BR3 encased and surrounded
by bags. Luckily, they both fell asleep immediately upon hitting the road. Wingman faced an even tougher challenge with the
huge LOL house and a drive three times as long. Somehow, he managed to get everything
into the car. Harley spent the trip in Wingmom’s lap for the entire drive home.
So ends another Christmas with a now very empty house, seemingly more so than
possible compared to the very full weekend.
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| FBR Watching me Counsel her Toys |
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| BRS Encased for her Return Home |
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| Wingman with his Puzzle |
Three
movies fell in my A-Z effort, two keepers and one, not so much, The Darkest
Hour (when they could still make movies in Moscow), Darkest Knight (what the
hell was I thinking, no idea how I ended up with this travesty), and The DaVinci
Code (Hanks can do anything, even makes this work)
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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; CRC - Connecticut
Riverboat Captain – another close friend from high school, renowned sailor
of the big river; Curbside Girls – close
friends of my daughter acquired during him 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; PCR - Pittsburgh College Roommate– high
school friend, also a “Minor Celebrity” in Pittsburgh; PCR+1 - Pittsburgh College Roommate’s wife; 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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