Well, that certainly was a weekend. I have to extend some heartfelt thanks to family and friends who made these past couple days so much fun. The chief perpetrator of the fun was my Favorite Panamanian who undertook to make Father’s Day very special for me. She had her own adventures, starting on Friday when she joined the Neighborhood Mafioso and other ladies for a performance of Girls Night - The Musical at the Hanover Theater, which I successfully dodged. That was easy because I wasn’t invited. I’m glad she had a great lady’s night out and apparently there were only four men in the entire theater so you can guess what kind of show it was. My Favorite Panamanian looked her usual elegant when leaving the house and came back with a huge smile on her face, the result of some very ribald conversations in the car driving back; she was hanging with some characters.
Saturday was supposed to involve more
hangout time with the Neighborhood Mafiosos, to include the male part so the equation
this time. We had a graduation party at one of the mafia’s Leicester home and
then, in a “WTF am I going for?” situation, a birthday party for the most
famous Worcester hairdresser, who was turning 60. I do owe a debt to the hairdresser
as he was the guy who introduced my wife to the Neighborhood Mafioso. Before we
got to either of those, my Favorite Panamanian had another health scare. While prepping
to leave she felt a sharp pain near her eye, which then filled up with blood;
as I said, scary. We went to the local urgent care clinic where she passed all
the tests for some thing really serious. The recommendation was, predictably, to
go to the local emergency room. Nope. After our last experience there, ‘nuff said.
Sunday's Assembled Dads and the Grandkids
She as feeling better so we promised she’d
see a doctor on Monday (she did, she’s fine) and headed out to join our friends
at the graduation party. After answering the concerned questions, we settled in
for a great time with friends. There was the usual accumulation of the
Panamanian Mafia and, in a real treat, our Czech Friends as well. We hadn’t seen
them yet this year and my shadow was celebrating her ascension to high school,
graduating from Middle School. A great afternoon reconnecting with these friends
as well as the other accumulated worthies. This was followed by a trip to a Shrewsbury
Street bar to celebrate the hairdresser with the Neighborhood Mafiosos. The bar
is owned by his daughter and was closed to host the party. I was impressed with
the number of people attending, including a large number of ladies. The hairdresser
is a bona fide character, Italian and beloved by his clientele. I don’t really
know him that well but that didn’t stop him from insisting I join him in doing
some mystery shots. So, he might be growing on me.
Favorite Panamanian Headed out Friday Night
With the Czech Friends 
The Mafia Saturday 
Our Fabulous Hosts and the Grad 
Great Party 
Hairdresser Party with the Mafiosos
Sunday, Father’s Day, dawned with my Favorite
Panamanian, despite not feeling her best, already up and preparing my
breakfast. Before that she showered me with a bunch of gifts. It’s what she
does. She wouldn’t let me do any chores as we prepared to leave for New Hampshire.
Great Aunt was joining us for that trip as we were heading north to celebrate the
day at the ABFA’s awesome parents’ home along with my son’s family. This has
become kind of a tradition with Mother’s Day here and Father’s Day there. I was
particularly excited as this was my first day off the diet after making weight.
I’d already invaded my stash in the freezer that morning, downing chocolate
chip cookies and a whoopie pie. 
Birthday Boy with his Sash
The BRS and BR3 were in full celebratory
mode as we arrived, running their other grandfather around the yard. The ABFA’s
dad has a really special relationship with the granddaughters and I couldn’t be
happier as it takes a lot of pressure off me. I was not ignored though. The BRS
engaged in a tickle war that would still be going on if she had her druthers. Both
young ladies were soon garbed in the results of their abuela’s latest shopping
forays. It was so good to be enfolded into the true sense of family as soon as
we arrived.
Dresses and Shoes Courtesy of Abuela
The ladies outdid themselves with the
meal, steaks and all the things I’ve been denying myself for the past month and
a half. I kept the bread basket directly in front of me for the entire meal
although I did share. I tried to pace myself, understanding there was still
dessert to come. There may have been an unplanned sofa nap involved, at least
until the granddaughters noticed. What an assortment of desserts it was, as
well. Chocolate pie, pound cake, and cookies. My denied digestive system was
being carpet bombed! It probably wasn’t smart, okay it definitely wasn’t smart,
to indulge in such reckless manner, but I’d been aiming for this day for a
while. 
Best Father's Day Gift - Time with Fam
The granddaughters were changing
clothes, switching from bathing suits to dresses faster than I could keep up
with. The ABFAs folks had a wading pool in the back yard which, despite the chilly
water, the grandkids could not stay away from. When I asked if they’d really
been swimming because their hair wasn’t wet, they responded by sticking their
heads under water each time they went into the pool from then on. The BRS was
fresh off a triumph in her latest swim lesson, where she completed two complete
lengths of the pool unassisted, well ahead of the rest of her class. It was a
great afternoon that, predictably, ended way too soon. I ended up back in the Man
Cave upon returning home, ending my day of overindulgence by enjoying my stored
piece of BR3 birthday cake from May. Well worth the wait, and a fitting send off
as I returned to the diet today.
Joined by my Favorite Son
Pool Time
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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