Home Field Advantage

It’s been a fun week so far and that means it has flown by. The highlight was the Tuesday night WooSox baseball game. I’ve been anxious to get to a game but since my Favorite Panamanian wanted to attend, I had to be sure the weather was acceptable (above 70 and no rain). That wasn’t possible so far this spring with our Jekyll/Hyde weather. As we ventured into June, I figured it was safe to make the attempt. During various thunder runs both Keene Friend and the Cantankerous Friend indicated they would join me whenever I arrived at a date. Great Aunt, firmly converted to baseball fandom due to her long association with Soxfather, also wanted to come.

Fun Group

I waited until the extended forecast indicated Tuesday would be the best bet this week. The crucial error I made was believing an extended forecast about New England weather. It rained almost all day Tuesday and although it promised to break by game time, I wasn’t convinced. My Keene buddies showed up right on time, but Great Aunt had to beg off. She claims a house cleaning service showed up later than scheduled and she couldn’t make it. I believed her. The Cantankerous Friend opined that she saw the impending rain and decided she didn’t want to chance it. The remaining four arrived at Polar Park and found our seats. I’d brought a towel to dry off the seats from the day long rain. I’d hoped our seats would be under the overhang, protected from rain. I’d kind of promised my Favorite Panamanian that would be the case. I was wrong. The seats were good but three rows into the open sky. I kept my fingers crossed but, again, this is New England. At the start of the second inning, the rain started falling. My wife, who reacts to any rain, despite being from one of the rainiest countries on earth, the way any self-respecting cat would. She charged back onto the concourse, those eyes shooting daggers and recriminations my way.   

View from the Seats

In a major surprise, the Cantankerous Friend came to the rescue. There were a lot of open seats, and he led us to some four rows behind our original seats, safely under the overhang. We were then able to enjoy the rest of the game, despite the omnipresent mist. My Favorite Panamanian spent most of the game watching videos on her phone but emerged from that to catch the final couple innings. It was a very fun night, despite the weather, as I got to hang with my good friends, enjoying our shared Sox fandom.

The New Accent Wall 

Earlier in the day on Tuesday, my Favorite Panamanian’s first floor bathroom remake was completed when the wallpaper guy showed up to, well, wallpaper. I know here are people reading this who question hiring someone to perform this fairly simple task. This job required precision and patience. I am blessed with neither of these traits. I consider it money well spent and it came out looking great; as usual, my wife’s style sense is redeemed.

Finally, I had a very funny moment in my closet yesterday. Wow, that statement probably generated a lot of speculation. I was changing clothes in our closet when I looked to the side and nearly jumped out of my skin. My Favorite Panamanian has been changing out the winter clothes for the summer counterparts which left a couple shelves empty. Somehow, one of the granddaughter’s dolls was reclining on the empty shelf looking at me with very dead eyes. I may watch too many horror movies.

Scary Doll Checking me Out

Four movies fell in the A-Z watch, all keepers: Poltergeist – still scary, with great cast and Spielberg touch; Poseidon – nice remake of the original using CGI to make it scarier; Powder – one of my favorite movies of all time, great story about human possibility, superb acting and awesome musical score; Power Rangers – thought I was going to kick this but the young cast recaptured me and I enjoyed the watch.

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

Dad Day Reciting

I undertook a novel way to celebrate the Father’s Day weekend. I attended not one but two dance recitals. As I have written before about how much I “loved” these things, you can be rightly stunned. Yes, this makes three of these “experiences” I have undergone since our return from Panama. You can correctly surmise that the only factor that could influence me enough to subject myself to this pain would be the “granddaughter effect”. The BRS participated on Saturday while BR3 danced on Sunday. I’m still convinced the dance school organizer who put this on Father’s Day weekend belongs in the third level of hell, but, hey, my Favorite Panamanian loved it. She thought all the groups were great. Her operative phrase was “they’re so cute”. The cuteness was lost on me but I seriously loved watching the granddaughters in action.

All Four Grandparents with the Dancing Queens

So, in total, three hours spent over the weekend, of which, seven minutes involved granddaughter participation. Yes, I’m grumpy about it. I’m old enough to qualify for that character defect. Other than those benighted presentations, it was a magical weekend, thanks to the ladies who endeavored tirelessly to insure the rest of the Father Day’s weekend was special for the three dads involved. My son, the ABFA’s dad, and myself were treated royally by the ladies. My Favorite Panamanian and I drove up on Saturday morning, through the seemingly requisite Saturday rain storm. It has rained every Saturday since we returned from Panama.

BRS After the Dance

Superstar

We arrived at my son’s house to find both he and the ABFA charging around shepherding the kids to swim lessons and then getting the BRS prepped for her recital. The ABFA drove us over while my son departed earlier to check the BRS in for her dances. The ABFA’s parents joined us just in time to sit down for the start of the dancing. Even the grumpy old man that I’ve become will admit there were some cute moments. The ABFA had secured fantastic seats in the second row from the stage that provided great views. Eventually the BRS appeared with her group for her first dance. She was awesome and, yes, I am biased, but I thought she was clearly the best dancer in her group. This impression was confirmed when she took the stage for her second dance. She has a secret advantage over her peers, she has her abuela’s dancing genes.

After the Dance

Proud Mom and Dad

We returned to my son’s home after the recital and the wives did not allow any of the guys to assist with chores. This predictably led my son and I to park ourselves on the couch to watch SportsCenter and compare notes on the Red Sox. Rumor has it we might have nodded off at certain points during our cogitations.  The ABFA’s dad performed his usual role of chasing the granddaughters around the yard. He eventually tired and my Favorite Panamanian paid the price as she attempted her afternoon rosary. I woke up long enough to see both granddaughters jumping on her. I don’t think she minded the interruption.

Son and I "Watching" SportsCenter

BR3 Remains a Moving Target

BRS Getting So Tall, She Can Reach the Hidden Candy

Wife Doing her Rosary

We all trooped back to the cars to rendezvous at the local favorite restaurant for a very fun Saturday dinner. The recital had continued after ours and the BRS spotted several dancers, still in costume, entering. I was lucky enough to be seated next to BR3 and across the table from the BRS. It made for a very entertaining dining experience. That dinner was one of the true highlights of the weekend. There is just something extremely special sitting around a table with family, even when you have to dodge the occasional granddaughter elbow. We returned home in time to get the youngest into bed while the rest of us settled down to watch the Red Sox versus the hated Yankees. When the Sox won on Friday, we figured they were in for some serious pain on Saturday from a better Yankee team. We were enjoyably stunned when the Sox steadily pulled ahead and hung on to beat the Yanks. A very nice Father’s Day weekend gift. We even stayed awake for the entire game.

Saturday Dinner

Sunday morning was a repeat of Saturday with both girls scheduled for swimming lessons followed by a frantic prep for BR3’s dance recital. This was preceded by a fantastic Father’s Day breakfast prepared by my Favorite Panamanian. She made fried dough for me, something that brought back memories of my mom. We were a little concerned as we headed for BR3’s recital because she’s liberally blessed with personality and last year’s recital saw her more interested with interacting with her friends than performing any dance moves. She proved she had acquired some discipline over the ensuing year which surprised the entire family. When her group finally (and blessedly) appeared, she was great. She forgot to smile but was obviously paying close attention to what she was supposed to be doing. I loved it.

BR3 Dance

Grand Finale - Teachers Shouldn't be in Front of kids

Following the recital we returned to the house where the guys set up to watch the Sox game while the ladies prepared a superb Father’s Day dinner. The Sox, once again, stunned us by winning again, sweeping the series from the Yankees. Totally unforeseen and something I’m sure to bring up with the Panamanian guy in the Seis Amigos. More on the Sox later.  All three ladies contributed to the meal, and these were some of the best steaks I’ve had in a long time. Father’s Days gifts were distributed and my son, once again, was way, way, too generous. As we drove home, I found my mind wandering constantly back to how blessed the three dads were this weekend by the ladies we are fortunate enough to be associated with.

After the Dance

I have a couple updates I need to weigh in on. While we were driving back, my phone started pinging as both my son and Great Aunt passed on the news that the Sox had unexpectedly treaded their best hitter, Raphael Devers, away. I was not as surprised as he had evolved into a primadona after signing his immense contract. He pitched a fit in the spring when he was moved off third base, even though he was a terrible defender. He then petulantly refused to play first base. I noted several times over the weekend that he didn’t seem as engaged as his teammates. I know over the past few weeks I cringed when he got to bat in critical spots as he only seemed to thrive when the pressure wasn’t on him. They’re not as talented a team after the trade but I think they’ll be a better team. On the upside, I’m going to WooSox game tomorrow and may see some of the trade return there.

The other update, which I am honor bound by Great Aunt to reveal, involves my latest doctor’s appointment. The doctor was really happy with my test results. Her usual practice in in geriatrics and she said she loved having someone who wasn’t falling apart (despite my own opinions on the subject). She sent me for my annual PSA test which is a big deal this year. Today marks five years since I was diagnosed with prostate cancer and if the PSA test was clear, I’m considered to have beaten it. Late this afternoon I received the test results. My PSA levels remain undetectable. Talk about the best possible Father’s Day gift.

Two movies fell in the A-Z watch, both keepers: Point of No Return – excellent action take on Pygmalion, Bridget Fonda was so good; The Polar Express – weird watching this in June, but I love Christmas enough that I was still tearing up, CGI has improved so much since this was groundbreaking.

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

Moving On

It’s a transition week for the granddaughter corps. Today saw the BRS’ last day as a first grader. The ABFA provided these photos and the BRS looks more like a teenager than a second grader. I’m excited to see that whole gang this weekend for Father’s Day up in New Hampshire. Meanwhile, in New Jersey, both my daughter and the FBR had a big week as well. The FBR starred in her after school drama school play, Newsies. My daughter sent a video and the FBR once again dominated while on stage. She finished up the week with a presentation of her school project – about cats. I blame my Favorite Panamanian for that as she and the FBR always seem to end up watching funny cat videos whenever they’re together.

The New Second Grader with BR3

Seeing These Guys Tomorrow - Psyched!!

A crazy day back in the 508. The aforementioned Favorite Panamanian was in one of her cleaning frenzies, which is always dangerous country for certain retired Army officers who cohabitate with her. The problem lies with me sitting down at any point while she’s bouncing off the walls cleaning everything within reach. This is where I come in handy because I can reach a lot of things she can’t (the one-foot difference in height coming into play). I successfully negotiated that difficult terrain until late afternoon when I had the excuse of taking on the heating element painting that I wrote about in my last post. My wife directed I delay until today because it was supposed to be a rainy day.

Newsie Star

Showing her Mom the School Project

It turned out to be the best day of the week outside. That turned out to be a good thing as my Favorite Panamanian ultra-sensitive olfactory senses came into play once I started wielding the spray paint. I used an interesting mix of carboard which Amazon kindly donated by overpacking a small delivery this week. I sanded down the rust spots and then came the spray paint. I didn’t think much of it until my Favorite Panamanian started complaining about the smell. I then made the same mistake I’ve made countless times in our marriage and still haven’t learned; I reminded her that this whole project was her idea. Once I recovered from her return fire, I helped her move her paraphernalia (IPad) onto Deckzilla for the rest of the afternoon. She watched her Russian soap operas dubbed into Spanish (don’t ask) while the house aired out.

Before

After

It was a fantastic day with a gentle summer breeze cooling off Deckzilla. I joined her out there after the painting (the paint smell was profound). We stayed out there until it was time for the First Friday Family Facetime call. After a long day, it was so good seeing all those faces. Great Aunt reported her weekly new grandmother contentment report. Wingman couldn’t join us as he was touring with his band in D.C. for the weekend. I was under the impression, since the FBR was out with friends, that my daughter was distinctly enjoying having the house to herself. We’ve got an early morning tomorrow to drive up to New Hampshire where we’ll celebrate Father’s Day weekend with not one but two dance recitals. Be still my heart. At least I get to spend the non-recital time with some of my favorite people in the world.

Three movies fell in the A-Z watch, all keepers: Please Don’t Eat the Daisies – Old Doris Day classic, hasn’t aged well; Point Break (1991) – surprised me at how well this was done, James Cameron with his wife directing, amazing cinematography; Point Break (2015) – pale attempt at an update, none of the charisma of the original, amazing stunts and extra points for Teresa Palmer.

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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

Unforeseen Standown Orders

One of the strangest things in our marriage occurred today. No, not what you think. My Favorite Panamanian has been after me for years to repaint the heating elements in two of our bathrooms. They’re showing some rust on top and have been so since we bought the house, so I’m on a nine-year delay in getting it done. I still don’t know how that happened, as she is usually much better at spousal supervision than this indicates. The elements are right next to the toilet and I think the prior owner had a young male child whose aim wasn’t as good as it needed to be; but enough of that theory, they need to get painted.

Beautiful Day Today, Front of the house

Now, as to today’s weirdness, I informed my Favorite Panamanian that I was going to get it done today, having bought the needed paint yesterday. I couldn’t brag about my initiative, because, well, the whole nine year wait. I was going to sand down the affected areas and then spray-paint the elements. As anyone who has been through New England weather for the past few weeks can attest, today is one of the first days that truly feels summerlike, while those past few weeks have been either cold, wet, or oppressive. My wife came in from a Deckzilla sojourn and informed me that it was too nice a day for me to be working on this project inside. I was stunned.

The Delayed Project

I probably should have pointed out that there was nothing that needed to be done outside and I would probably spend most of the freed-up time in the Man Cave (where I am now), but who am I to question her logic (43 years of marriage and counting). It brings to mind the whole concept of a gift horse. Anyways, it is a beautiful day outside (I just checked). We’re hoping the weather is headed towards a true New England summer. Considering that, I’m conspiring with Great Aunt, my wife, Keene Friend and the Cantankerous One to see a WooSox game next week, my first of the year (the weather has been that bad). I’m not buying the tickets until the long-range forecast comes in to confirm. Yes, hedging my bets.

I know the next couple lines I write are going to generate some emotion but it’s my opinion, so there. I’m glad overwhelming force has been sent in to quell the LA riots. It would be hypocritical of me to say it was overreach when I roundly criticized our idiot-in-chief for failing to do that on January 6^th, a few years ago. I won’t get into the whole escalation argument because we had, for well-known reasons, a violent mob occupying one of our major city’s streets waving a foreign flag, looting and burning. Symbols are important, especially given our 24-hour news exposure. Can you imagine a mob in another country waving the US flag and how well that would be received. I find that as reprehensible as the MAGA flags waved during the storming of the capitol. I’ve always thought blocking streets is not a legitimate protest tactic and is an attempt to forcibly impose the blockers’ views on the rest of us. Protest all you want, but, do it peacefully and don’t break the law (like blocking public thoroughfares). I am fully prepared to receive the unbridled wrath of my liberal friends now, bring it on (just don’t block my driveway).

Date night returned this week, and we took in the latest John Wick thriller, Ballerina. I was fully prepared to dislike this as a weak attempt to capture some Wickian magic. I was wrong. After a slow start this movie embraces the spirit of the Wick films and delivers. All credit deservedly goes to Ana de Armas who proves her 007 action cameo was no fluke, she is uniformly awesome as the main character/body-count-generator. She plays a student of that weird Belorussian dance studio that J.W. passed through. She’s on a revenge mission against a European cult that knocked off her parents. She kills her way to their home base and just when it looked like it couldn’t get any better, John Wick himself shows up, as this is set between earlier pictures, before his “demise”. I thought the dueling flamethrowers were especially poignant. This was a truly great movie, completely up to the high standards of the previous films. Thank you, Ms. Armas.

Eight movies fell in the A-Z watch (Wow!), four keepers and four ejections(again, Wow!): Planet of the Apes (2001) – Wahlberg is no Heston but Bonham-Carter was strangely attractive as an ape, go figure; Planet of the Apes (1968) – a classic and the original, one of greatest endings in cinema history; Beneath Planet of the Apes – plays like a bad 70s TV show, terrible follow up, eject; Escape from the Planet of the Apes – another terrible movie with shoddy production values, eject; Conquest of the Planet of the Apes – continued mediocrity, the apes replaced cats and dogs!, eject; Battle for the Planet of the Apes – at least these awful movies kept Roddy McDowell employed, they didn’t even try to disguise the plastic ape masks, eject; Play Misty for Me – Eastwood’s initial directorial effort is amazing, stands up well, figures Lucille Bluth started out as a homicidal maniac, she is so scary in this, I remember when I thought Eastwood's character was the coolest guy in the world, forgive me, it was the 70s; Pleasantville – just flat love this movie and innovative (at the time) switch between color and B&W, one of my favorite scenes of all time when the colored art work is revealed to a soaring movie score.

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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

Sodden Peace

We’re getting what has become the signature weekend weather for 2025, a steady rainfall. For the first weekend since our return from Panama neither my Favorite Panamanian nor I have anything on our schedule so it has become a vegetative day. I thought retirement would hold a lot more of these than it does. Somehow days get filled up and are gone is truly accelerated mode. This modality comes more from doing things we enjoy versus the drudgery of employment, but still, it seems almost unfair that time now moves so much faster. I can remember my elders telling a younger version of myself to enjoy my youth because it is fleeting. I wished I had listened harder.

Saturated Deckzilla Today

In celebration of our unencumbered day we decided to sleep in. That’s not as easy as it sounds. I blame the Army because sleeping beyond 7am is almost impossible for me despite staying up until after midnight. Assisted by some entertaining dreams, I pushed on beyond the usual wakeup. I assign all responsibility for this welcome development to that blessed Leesa mattress and the steady rain beating down on the roof. It helped that the preceding weekdays had been liberally filled with physical labor.

Front Yard Not Any Better

I celebrated the First Friday of the Week with a lunch date with my Favorite Panamanian. We returned to Holden and Quinn’s which was up to the task of providing an excellent time. We returned home in time to engage in the Family Facetime call which was well attended for the first time in a while. I was thinking of ending this tradition but then we have a call like last night and all those thoughts retreat. My son was dealing with the usual cacophony associated with the BRS and BR3. My daughter was assisting the FBR with hosting a sleepover for the gal who was sick last week and everything was right with the world in that case. Great Aunt had a busy week, successfully managing multiple visits with her granddaughter.

Great Aunt Enjoying her Granddaughter

Once we ended the call, I realized two things: it was still Friday and that I missed seeing our Upstairs Neighbors from Panama because Friday was always our day to hang out. I solved that by reaching out via video call and catching her at home in Arizona. Her husband was still working but it was fun catching up with her and it felt like Friday again. We completed that Seis Amigo connection this morning when my wife received a call from the Panamanian element of the Seis. They’re up in Toronto celebrating the graduation of their son from college. Again, good to hear the voices of so many remembered great times in Panama.

Six movies fell in the A-Z watch, all keepers: Pirates of the Caribbean, At World’s End – best of the pirates movies;  Pirates of the Caribbean On Stranger Tides – always love seeing Penelope Cruz, but this is last pirates movie I have as it shows a descent; Pitch Black – origins of Riddick, loved Rahda Mitchell in this; Planes, Trains, and Automobiles – still incredibly funny, John Candy was a national treasure; Dawn of the Planet of the Apes – great action flick as I start in the three versions of the Apes starting with most recent; War of Planet of the Apes – really dark follow on film with a deadly Woody Harrelson.  

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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