I’ve
always been fairly, if inaccurately, proud of my ability to stay healthy while
my Favorite Panamanian regularly battles seasonal colds. Last week she was engaged
in combat with her usual autumnal sinus cold which had me banished to the old
master bed room for a few days. Channeling that inaccurate feeling of superiority,
I returned to the marital bed a couple days too soon. Our upstairs neighbors
from the condo had departed Friday when the wifely affliction landed squarely
on me with spiked hobnailed boots. I’ve written before that I’m a very poor
patient, probably due to my time in the Army, where “good” Soldiers are
expected to ignore minor physical issues like colds or the odd fractured bone.
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| BRS on her Brand New Bike |
Apparently
I am now a full-fledged civilian because there was no ignoring this cold. The
additional problem involved the timing. We had a very busy weekend scheduled
with a trip up to New Hampshire to assist my son with the BRS and BR3 while the
ABFA was away, followed by a trip across the state for Keene Friend 2’s stepdaughter’s
wedding celebration, followed by our annual leaf peeping trip today. I claimed
to feel better later on Friday so we launched for New Hampshire although I
spent the entire weekend masked up while around the granddaughters, bringing
back unpleasant 2020 memories.
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| BR3 Ready for Dance Class |
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| Back Yard Practice with her Sister |
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| Chow Time |
The
granddaughters were oblivious to my condition and demanded I play the part of tickle
monster. Luckily they spent most of the time in the “safe zones” where the tickle
monster is not allowed so there wasn’t as much chasing involved. They also invented
a new game where they piled every blanket, pillow, and (strangely enough) placemats,
on top of me and then tried to steal them back while I defended the pile as “mine”.
I know it sounds extraordinarily silly (it was) but I haven’t laughed that hard
in a long time. The BRS had two birthday parties to attend over the weekend so
my wife and I were in charge of (in thrall to in reality) BR3. She remains chaos
incarnate in the best way possible.
 |
| The New Pile Game |
My
Favorite Panamanian finally convinced me that I had to stop the daily workout
routine until I was feeling better as the body needs some rest. There wasn’t a
lot of work involved in the new pillow game so she allowed that. She picked up
the slack with the ever-energetic granddaughter duo. My son was fully engaged all
weekend in the absence of his better half. We had planned on sneaking out Saturday
night to see the new Exorcist movie but he was admitted he was too tired to do that.
I now have to find a new partner for that as there is no way I’m seeing it
alone.
 |
| Test Drive |
 |
| Little Miss Chaos |
I
had to admit that I would be doing a serious disservice to Keene Friend 2’s assembled
family if I tried to attend the wedding party on Sunday. This is not the kind
of cold I would wish on my worst enemy (well, maybe him) but certainly not the
awesome people attending the party. We also postponed the annual leaf peeping
trip until later in the week where I plan on feeling better (that is still the idea).
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| Wife Picking up the Slack While I rest |
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| Shoe Decisions are Not Easy |
 |
| Down in NJ, Another FBR Tooth has Fallen |
So,
we’ve had to drift away from highly anticipated missions because I’m now a
civilian wimp who can’t easily ignore a simple cold. In my defense, it’s pretty
nasty. We’re also keeping an eye on Israel as we have a planned trip there in a
couple weeks. Hamas exploded out of the Gaza Strip over the weekend in an unprecedented
attack. The Israeli response will likely be swift and large portions of the
strip will become a parking lot. I can’t see how Israel can allow the Iranian surrogate,
Hamas, to remain in power after this, but it is going to be costly. I shouldn’t
worry about the money I’ve already spent when there are so many lives in real
danger there now. I’m guessing the Iranians were concerned about the real advancement
of Israeli diplomatic relations with Arab nations so they launched this operation
to require the Israeli response. The real losers here will be, as always, the Palestinians,
once again used as pawns.
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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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