Recitation

First of all, as my old boss used to utter, let me say this, I had a fantastic time at my granddaughters’ dance recital. Granted, going in, I likened it to sitting for two and a half hours of dental work except for the five minutes one of the granddaughters were on stage. That was last year. This year was a lot more entertaining as it was shorter. I was also sitting next to my son which allowed some of the more comedic elements of the other acts to be fully appreciated. There was some truly high comedy as the smartly clad young ladies tried to follow their instructors’ guidance while staring out at the big crowd.

Post Recital Posing with Mom and Dad

My Favorite Panamanian and I journeyed up to New Hampshire Saturday afternoon in time for dinner with my son and his family. This was followed by a trip to a nearby ice cream palace. I must be getting used to this diet thing because it didn’t bother me (too much) to see everyone else enjoying one of my favorite delicacies on earth. Since it was a beautiful spring evening, a bunch of other kids also started showing up and both granddaughters immediately abandoned hanging out with grandparents for the more lucrative target of their peers. BR3 had a young fellow that was desperate for her attention (I remember those days). It was a cool little interlude. After the kids went to bed, my son and I set up shop in his massive home theater to watch a horror movie. That turned out to be a big mistake because Dreamkatcher (that’s how it’s spelled in the movie) was just flat terrible. Not worth the late night but I did get to hang with my son for a couple hours which is always welcome.

BR3 Wears her Chocolate well, Boy Next to her Trying to Get her Attention

BRS with her Buddies

Sunday was a maelstrom as breakfast was followed by church (us) while the ABFA and my son (mostly the ABFA) got the BRS and BR3 ready for their recital. We returned from church in time to ride with my son to the middle school which never has enough parking, especially when combined with a lacrosse tourney which was also taking place there. They had tickets for us in the second row from the stage which were great. We were joined by the ABFA’s incomparable parents and one of the ABFA’s favorite cousins. While the presentations were definitely amateur hour, it was obvious a lot of work and practice had gone into the dances. There was a particularly moving presentation when three dads danced with their very young daughters.

BR3 Pre-Dance Posing

There was a character in each group who was bound and determined to distinguish herself by standing out, usually in hilarious fashion. It was also impossibly cute. My son correctly predicted the BRS would be more successful than her younger sister since BR3 doesn’t like to follow directions. BR3’s group came out first and he was proved right as she spent the whole time looking at her friend next to her instead of the instructor who was trying to prompt the girls whom everybody else was looking at. The BRS spotted us at one point and gave us one of her patented chaos filled looks. It was all, way too funny. I loved it.

BR3 (c) Looking at Freind Instead of Instructor

Then She Spotted Us

Way Too Cute

BRS (2d from r)

Best One out there

The Grand Finale

After sitting through a lot more groups, the BRS came on with her group to perform break dancing to hip hop music. It was obvious she had put a lot of work into the dance and she was fantastic, clearly the best dancer in her group (I may be a little biased here). After the recital ended, we all moved outside to reunite with the dancers, distribute flowers to the divas, and take pictures. It was a great family event that I truly and unexpectedly enjoyed. Then it was back to their home to enjoy a barbecue while the dancers exhibited no lack of energy as they tried to run their other grandfather (ABFA’s dad) ragged outside. I hid inside once they captured him. I was exposed to some homemade chocolate chip cookies (a personal kryptonite) which I safely avoided but stole a few to put in the freezer for when the diet ends.

Post Dance Photo with Us

We left in the late afternoon after the two grandmothers snuck out for unplanned (in my mind at least) shopping. I told my Favorite Panamanian that I wanted to get on the road before the massive traffic descending from Maine jammed up the highways heading home. Luckily, we seemed to be just ahead of it and pulled into home a little before six. I thought I was going to have some extended Man Cave time until I heard a blood curdling scream from upstairs. I rushed up, expecting at least a small pool of blood only to find my wife near to tears explaining she had forgotten her makeup kit back at our son’s place. I knew my cave time was doomed as another ride into the teeth of Sunday traffic. We wouldn’t be going anywhere or doing anything without that (it also had her medications – so real-world need) kit.

And the ABFA's Folks, Our Lifesavers

I ate a gloomy dinner before we hit the road after telling my son we were headed back. We were just a few minutes out when he contacted us and said they would send the missing kit back with the ABFA’s parents who live a lot closer, near Nashua. We updated the navigation system and were in their driveway 30 minutes later, so fast, we beat them there. They are truly remarkably good friends who saved us a lot of tedious travel with this, eternally grateful. It’s always interesting to drive to Hudson as I pass by the exits on the highway that used to lead to the home of my first fiancé, laden with a lot of memories; but I digress. The kit was needed because we leave shortly for New Jersey to surprise the FBR. The Man Cave will have to wait.

Today’s weigh-in, at 24 pounds lost towards 25-pound goal, I’m thinking by end of week I’ll be feasting on all the sweets I have stored in the freezer!

In my A-Z watch, only one fell since I last posted, a definite keeper: Joe Versus the Volcano, one of my true favorites of all time, silly but poignant, can’t go wrong with Hanks and Ryan together, has one of my favorite scenes of all time when Joe, on his makeshift raft, looks up at a huge moon to embrace life.

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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; 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