Returned

You’ve all heard the old expression about absence and the effect on the heart fondness quotient. It turns out, there may be a seed of truth in it or I’m just getting to be a sentimental old fart. Your guess is as good as mine. While I had a really fun time, especially Saturday, during her absence, I really missed the Favorite Panamanian. I guess I kind of like her. Or Something. It must be after all these years together that I grew accustomed to having her as part of the fabric of my everyday existence. I definitely felt like something was missing. I picked her up Sunday night at our old church in Charlton where she was still beaming from the time she got to spend “with Jesus”. As I’ve stated before, being married to me probably ups the needed spousal prayer levels and this was an opportunity to indulge in that. I’m just glad she’s home, riding herd on me, as I realized I just might need it.

She's Back!!!!

Yesterday was a big event with the arrival of our mattress. I covered, in excruciating detail, last week the saga of the mattresses. Based on the experience of my daughter and Wingman with their Leesa mattress we ordered one. Wingman told me to be ready for a strange experience since the very large mattress would arrive in a relatively small box, that would weigh a ton. He was right. Getting that damned box up the stairs was the best workout I’ve had in a long time. I felt like I’d run five miles (really fast). The Leesa factory must employ some savagely robust hydraulic machines because the king-sized mattress and two pillows emerged from the box looking like a small bedroll. Five minutes after I removed the plastic wrap and then punctured/removed the vacuum seal, I had a huge king-sized mattress. It will keep expanding for a few more days but it’s probably at the 98% level. We slept on it last night and my daughter/Wingman’s reports were not exaggerated. Blissful is a word that leaps to mind.

The Box

Just Before Expansion and Moving of Old Box Spring

We Are in Business

A friend posted this meme of Facebook the other day and it captured a truth I noticed on the recent pub crawl. While all my fellow classmates of the KHS 1973 were heroically engaged with each other, there were several groups of “youngsters” in the bars who seemed more interested in their phones than in the people they were allegedly socializing with. Oh well, whatever floats your boat. I’m happy with the 70’s version. That is a rare statement about the 1970s, from anyone who lived through them.

The wins keep coming this week as we launch into my second favorite holiday of the year. The New Jersey bunch arrives tomorrow, followed by son’s family on Friday when we’ll all journey to Rhode Island for Great Aunt’s annual, and always epic, Second Thanksgiving celebration. The good news being that due to a recent kitchen cabinet renovation she located the electric knife she always lost the day before it was needed. She now has three. I had a fun morning with the electrician today. We had a circuit breaker that kept tripping and since one of the items connected to it was the house wi-fi, it was noticeable. I ran an extension cord from upstairs down to the basement to keep that running (as you can imagine, a big hit with my wife). We called our reliable old electrician from Charlton who fixed not only that but four other minor projects that weren’t serious enough to warrant a call on their own. Electricity and plumbing are two areas I leave to the experts.

Four movies fell in the A-Z watch, all keepers: Monty Python and the Holy Grail, possibly the funniest movie ever made; Mortal Engines, much better than you might have heard, silly concept but well executed; Moulin Rouge, thought I would get rid of this because of grating performance of woefully miscast Nicole Kidman but rest of cast and sheer joy of movie still moves me; and The Mountain Men, love this frontier buddy flick, Brian Keith should be considered a national treasure.

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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 her single days in Brooklyn; Czech Connection – Czech couple who’ve become good friends along with their daughter (the Czech Shadow); 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 (whom I miss more than I can ever explain); Tia Loca – wife’s younger sister; Wingman – my son in law; Wingmom – Wingman’s mom, of course