Wrapping Up

No, I’m not talking about proper football tackling form. The Man Cave had become the repository over the past month as Amazon (my contribution) and my Favorite Panamanian (boots on the ground shopping element) filled the office section with Christmas gifts. Since the buying phase was complete the dreaded wrapping chapter was upon us. I turned on the heat in the Cave which allowed my Favorite Panamanian to join me for the day long exercise. That meant football and the Bruins game were not available. We turned on some of those dopey Hallmark Christmas movies that infect the airwaves this time of year. My wife is in complete thrall to these and I have to admit I might have enjoyed them as well yesterday. That’s a comment on how much I love the holiday season.

Wife in the Cave Wrapping Station
The Wine Always Helps

Tree Stocking Starts

Latest Batch of Blossoms Blooming in Kitchen

By the end of the day every single present was wrapped and most ended up under the tree in anticipation of next week. Some of the bigger ones had to be strategically hidden from probing granddaughter eyes due in later this week. That was not the only Christmas related activities undertaken within the family this weekend. Both my daughter and son launched their own cookie baking efforts while my Favorite Panamanian augmented her own. The granddaughters play a critical role in this effort, playing the all-important taste testing agents. This is a vocation I also take a great deal of pride in, including braving determined countermeasures employed by my Favorite Panamanian. It warmed my heart to see the granddaughters seem particularly adept this year.

The Taste Testers - BR3

The BRS

Meanwhile in N.J. - the FBR

Son and Assistant

Blossoms Also Blooming in NH

Two movies fell in my A-Z effort, both keepers, Crocodile Dundee (still funny after all these years) and Crossing Over (simplistic immigration drama but Alice Eve, Yikes!!)

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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 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; 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