I’m still adjusting to having to wear long pants, shoes, and socks again. It’s a process. I finally finished unpacking early Saturday morning. For my Favorite Panamanian, well, it’s yet another process. We’re hoping by early this week her unpacking will finish. Family and friends have made our return to the States everything we could have hoped for. On our way to the grocery store on Friday we stopped off at the Neighborhood Mafioso’s house to report our return. She wasn’t home but her husband promised to pass our news on. We were on our third aisle in the supermarket when she called and a couple moments later, we were invited to join them and another couple friends for a night of dancing at the Auburn Legion Post.
Fun Friday Night Group
I
was a little concerned the injured foot would limit my mobility when it came to
dancing. My Favorite Panamanian opined that it would keep me from bouncing around
too much which she has tried to curb opposite me on dance floors for nearly a
half century. It was too much fun hanging with these good friends again. It
certainly softened the blow of leaving the great friends we have in Panama behind.
That recovery was further embellished Saturday when we drove up to New
Hampshire to link up with my son and his family. Getting there was a little
educational as I found myself driving in an environment where most traffic laws
are respected (I haven’t been to Rhode Island yet). This is in direct contrast to
where I’ve been driving for the last four months. In Panama, it is survival of
the fittest where every stop sign is treated as a pick-up game of chicken to
see who will actually slow down, God forbid actually stop. 
With my Dance Partner
Obligatory Gifts from Abuela Upon Arrival
Having
the BRS and BR3 charging across the driveway to deliver granddaughter hugs completed
the feeling of being home again. I just wished the FBR and her parental units weren’t
so far away. I made a rookie tactical error with mother day gifting. My Favorite
Panamanian is a recognized master of the shopping art and there we were, in her
tax-free shopping heaven. My error, telling her to go shopping and pick out
whatever she wanted for Mother’s Day gifts. The ABFA and BRS accompanied her.
My son and I were left at home to frolic (okay, that was mostly BR3) in the
backyard, prepping for an evening bonfire. I received a call from my Favorite Panamanian
where she apologized for the damage she was doing. She revealed that, much like
her cousin the FBR, the BRS had inherited her abuela’s shopping genes and was a
huge help in the acquisition phase. When my wife told me how much she was spending,
my son overheard and was laughing his head off at my predicament. His laughter
came to a screeching halt when he received a text from the ABFA who had
overheard my wife’s end of the conversation and admitted she was outdoing her mother-in-law.
BR3 Demonstrating Gymnastics Progress
Neighbor's Flowering Trees Begged for Photos
S'More's Boss 
BR3 Ready 
Son and his Fam 
BR3 Giving her Abuela Pointers 
Those Trees Again 
Mother, Son, Daughter
This
morning’s wakeup featured the requisite hojaldras where the BRS once again
asserted her dominance as the family hojaldra queen. Somehow, and I still
trying to figure out how she did it, my Favorite Panamanian convinced everyone
to join her for Sunday mass. The ladies looked thoroughly fetching in their Sunday
garb. BR3 came up to me to show me her dress and told me, “I know. I look very
cute in this.” The granddaughters handled the service with aplomb and we decided
to celebrate with lunch at the nearby 110 Grill. My son had declared the ladies were restricted
to one rest room visit. This was needed as the last time we were there, the
ABFA spent more time escorting them to the lady’s room than at the table. The
BRS took on the role of advocate protesting her dad’s ruling to no avail. They
both snuck in an extra visit, the ABFA is a softy. It was a very fun weekend
with this bunch and, once again, cementing the feelings of being home. 
ABFA and BRS
Ladies in Front of the ABFA's Daffodils 
Riggins Keeping on Eye on his Charges 
Sunday Lunch 
BR3 Celebrating Bike Day at School on Friday
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With her Mom
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; Seis Amigos
- two couples from our condo complex and my wife and I; 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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