Senior Moment Baseball

It’s been a low-key week, which led to increased time in the Man Cave resulting in the fairly impressive A-Z haul below. This rest was needed as we’re heading into a weekend trip to New Jersey to help celebrate our daughter’s early birthday and spend time with the always energetic FBR. I’m firmly convinced that the FBR, as well as her cousins, have the ability to syphon energy out of me. They always seem to get more energy while mine rapidly depletes in their presence. Things that make you go, “hmmm”.  The FBR recently employed her vast energy fields to teach herself how to ride a bicycle. Their street was hosting a block party and my daughter looked up to see the FBR zooming around on a bike, something she’d never done before. Go figure.

At the Game Last Night with my Date

FBR Zooming Last Weekend

My Favorite Panamanian has spent the last few days preparing one of her signature birthday cakes for our eldest child. I’ve got to remember to bring Bonecrusher with us. Memory is an interesting phenomena. I don’t believe you really appreciate it enough until you get to be my advanced age. Take for instance the date night I lined up for my Favorite Panamanian and myself last week. The Worcester Red Sox season is dwindling down and I thought I would surprise her with tickets to last Wednesday’s game. We really enjoy going to these games but haven’t been able to hit as many as we would have liked this year. Anyways. She was excited last Wednesday when we pulled up to our usual parking spot to find it almost deserted. I started to wonder. That wonder became reality when we walked around the corner to find Polar Park all locked up and empty. A quick glance at the tickets confirmed that I’d bought admission to Wednesday’s game, but a week later.

Great Seats

To be honest, I had begun to suspect something earlier that morning when a WooSox player made Sportscenter top 10 plays and the play was obviously at a different location than Polar Park. A smart man, at that point, would have checked the tickets. The wife was a good sport, and it gave us something to look forward to, specifically last night when that date night finally happened. We had great seats and the WooSox won the game. We got to see one of their future superstars return from a year long absence by striking out the side. The best part was just hanging out with my Favorite Panamanian. All too often we get carried away with social activities involving other people, that I take for granted how much fun there is to be had just hanging out with the lady I’m married to. That I remember, but it was nice to get a reminder.

Eleven movies fell in the A-Z watch, all keepers: Soldier – underappreciated sci fi classic with Russell as lead; Something’s Gotta Give – awesome romcom with Keaton and Nicholson chewing up the scenery; Somewhere in Time – sappy but effective romcom with time travel; Sons of Katie Elder – classic John Wayne western; The Shootist – the Duke’s heartfelt farewell film; The Sorcerer’s Apprentice – Cage is superb in this Disney fantasy; The Sound of Music – classic filmmaking with Andrews at her peak; Source Code – very interesting sci fi groundhog day on a train about to be bombed; Soylent Green – hasn’t aged well but still like this 70s era sci fi; Spacehunter, Adventures in the Forbidden Zone – better than it was received, Strauss miscast as a Han Solo wannabe; Spartacus – one of best epics ever made, still astounded by the scope of the battle scenes.

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