Weekend Saved

My Favorite Panamanian and I were very excited for this upcoming weekend, all the way up to Thursday. We thought my daughter and the FBR were joining us for a surprise visit to my son and the ABFA at the beach. We called my daughter yesterday to ask what time she was arriving on Friday. She gave us a perplexed look and said that she was not coming up this weekend but the next. Both my wife and I were thunderstruck because we were certain we had scheduled with her for this weekend. She was just as adamant that it was the next. While I still think we were right, we should consider the principals in this controversy. On my side we have two senior citizens nearing 70 years of age. On the other we have an extremely bright young lady just edging into her forties. I’ll let you decide.

Very Fun Dinner Last Night

The upshot is that we had that rarest of occurrences, a fully unscheduled weekend. What to do? As usual our friends rode to the rescue. My Favorite Panamanian and the Neighborhood Mafioso cooked up an evening out involving dinner and dancing. Our usual “go to” location, the local legion post, wasn’t available so they reserved us a space at Maxwell Silverman’s Union Station Restaurant. I dropped everyone off in front and parked in the rear garage (more on that later). The station featured its usual exhibition of exotic flora and fauna whose behavior has improved since they installed a satellite police station on the premises. It was a great evening spent with friends although the selection of dancing music was not ideal. Any time we get to spend with these good friends is a win.

Thank You Ceddanne

When it was time to leave, I volunteered to make the walk back to the garage to retrieve the car and pick them up again. I made it all the way to the car when I realized I’d left the keys with my Favorite Panamanian. She thought the keys in my pocket made an ugly appearance on the dance floor. I was livid, with myself, for forgetting this (the 40-year-old’s side is looking more credible). I steamed while walking back to retrieve the keys. They all decided to walk back with me as I muttered to myself. My morale was fully restored as I checked the Red Sox score during the walk and found they had won their eighth straight game on a dramatic walk off home run. A quiet week (see the number of movies I watched below) therefore was redeemed by these good friends and the Sox. It will be further redeemed this afternoon when we journey north to link up with Keene Friend for a thunder run. Friends can rescue any situation, which ours did admirably.

Eight (!) movies fell in the A-Z watch, five keepers with three rejects (most ever): The Recruit – don’t know how they make a bad movie with Pacino and Farrell but they managed, reject; RED – awesome action comedy, with Willis and his merry bunch of retirees kicking butt, Helen Mirren rocking and rolling on a .50 cal, need I say more; RED 2 – not as much fun but still a great action comedy; Red Dawn (1984) – original still rocks, great young cast with iconic “Wolverine” shout; Red Dawn (2012) – they royally screwed up this remake, Hemsworth can’t save it and his band of rebels are mostly unlikable, especially Peck, who’s just terrible, reject; Red Heat – hasn’t aged well but still interesting chemistry between Ahnuld and Belushi, gritty crime drama; Red Planet – just love this Mars based drama (I think I’m the only one), Kilmer was a bona fide star; Red Riding Hood – my only defense is that I bought this sight unseen, so bad, Seyfried can’t save it from the abysmal acting of her two leading men, I may burn this instead of storing it away.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------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