Partay!!

I forgot to mention during my last post’s devotion to the Christmas spirit that we had our annual Christmas party scheduled for last night. It did not disappoint so the Christmas spirit continues to build unabated within the homestead. I have a very special group of friends that gathered last night for that development. Of course, I had to get there first which meant surviving my Favorite Panamanian’s party prep. My kids are nodding in sympathy with me having endured similar procedures during their youth. This meant the house looked fabulous for the party and I owe a debt of gratitude to some early arriving friends who took the heat off me during the final (usually most contentious) hours. Our very good friends from Rhode Island, next door neighbors from the early 1990s, arrived a full hour and a half before party time. The two ladies immediately fell into a routine of helping each other while I was deemed non-essential amidst the conversation that always springs up when these two get together.

With Our Rhode Island Neighbors

This allowed me to escort my counterpart downstairs to explore the magnificence of the Man Cave and college football playoffs, which was eminently preferable to executing frantic last-minute orders from the wife. I was summoned to forage for some pine branches at one point but was otherwise left to my devices (always a dangerous proposition). We had an eclectic, very multi-national crowd for the party including elements of the Panamanian mafia, neighbors, and the Czech crew (including the Czech Shadow). The pre-meal blessing was conducted in English, Spanish, Portuguese, Arabic, Japanese, and Hindi. The only critical elements missing were the Neighborhood Mafiosos who had a prior engagement although they performed an important late party save, more on that later.

Where the Pine Branches Ended Up

Wife and I

Good Friends Including the Czechs Next to my Wife

When my partner and I came up from the Man Cave we found the two ladies had performed their usual magic. As party guests arrived, they donated a growing collection of delicacies to accompany the large ham my Favorite Panamanian had in the oven. There’s a shorthand when excellent people get together even if they don’t know each other well. That certainly took place last night. Since Panamanians were present, dancing soon broke out and in a huge development, that included my wife. She hadn’t tested the knee since well before her September surgery but there she was cutting the rug. She later admitted that didn’t even think about it, which is a good sign. Seeing her out there was a great morale boost because I know how important dancing is to her.

Wife Portraits

The ham was great as was the rest of the meal, not that I had any basis to judge because it included a lot of incredible dishes that my pickiness prevented me from sampling. The meal also saw the funniest moment of the night. My Czech Shadow was her usual saucy self throughout the night, kidding me about that pickiness. Her mom inadvisably mentioned that the Shadow would be auditioning for her high school play on Tuesday. This was met with some good natured kidding about how she should practice her song with us. She adamantly refused, scandalized that we would even ask for that. She kiddingly said she would sing as soon as I ate a piece of fruit, thinking herself safe. Unfortunately, for her, she made that declaration with parameters too wide. Everyone at the table had joined in the back and forth with the Shadow when I returned from the kitchen with an apple, the only fruit I will willingly eat.

Wife Back on the Dance Floor

The Shadow looked stunned as I consumed the apple. While her argument had been effectively destroyed, she maintained her refusal to sing. We had reached this impasse when my Favorite Panamanian came into the room equally stunned to see me eating one of her apples. While she had been out of the room for a while, she had been there earlier for the Shadow’s comment about my relationship with fruit. I asked her if she knew what my eating the fruit meant, and my wife immediately answered that the Shadow had to sing. The entire room erupted in laughter. I felt a little bad because I think the Shadow felt a little intimidated. I later told her that we would never force her to sing, and she was a good sport about it.

Sampling Some Hummus, Them, Not Me

Very Fun Crowd

Ready for Dinner

The final phase of the party was a series of games my wife’s journey through the internet produced. She and one of her friends came up with these table games for all to play. She placed me in charge for her games because she was searching the house for the dice needed to play Right, Left, and Center. I did the best I could at that point in the party but my ability to coach the crowd in how to flip cups on the counter was dismal at best. We finished the last game before the Right, Left, and Center game which my wife had insisted everyone bring three dollars to participate in. This is where the Neighborhood Mafioso saved the night. My wife called her and she volunteered her set of dice. I walked over to pick them up and the game was saved. I kept my streak alive by failing to win the game. I’ve played that darn game so many times over the years in a bunch of different environments and still haven’t won. That was a small price to pay for all the fun I had hanging out with these all too excellent friends, plus, you know, Christmas was involved.  

Game Time

Two movies fell in the A-Z watch, both keepers: The Music Man, dated, but still one of the best concluding songs in movie history, still echoing in my head; and My Big Fat Greek Wedding, forgot just how good the original was, completely heartwarming.

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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