Blog Free Weekend

Daughter and Son In Law - Two of the Best People in the World

I didn’t blog this entire past weekend because I was having too much fun, well that and a minor hangover.  I’m not saying I only blog when I’m not having fun but there was so much going on I didn’t have a chance to sit down.  On Friday my wife and I drove down to New Haven, Connecticut to pick up my daughter and son in law who were coming up via train to spend Mother’s Day weekend with us.  We hit Zorbas on our way home because we have been taunting my son in law with calls from there every time he couldn’t make it up.  He’s a touring musician and can’t visit as much as he or we would like.  We all have fond memories of our first dinner together at Zorbas so we felt the need to impale him with the fact that we were there and he was not.  We rectified that with a really entertaining dinner there.  Saturday was an incredibly busy day.  My wife let me mow the lawn without supervision as my back slowly improves, I actually missed her near the end but I was able to handle it.  It was so great and so much relief to have my son in law and daughter to help with lifting things around the house this weekend.  My son’s outstanding girlfriend drove two hours down to visit us for lunch on Saturday as well.  It was nice to be able to commiserate with someone else about how much we miss him.  Saturday night we hosted two of my cousins and a couple of their friends for dinner and adult beverages.  My cousin and I got into our usual beer drinking contest in which we both end up in last place by the end of the night, but oh the journey…  We were joined by a couple of their friends whom we had met at their place and hit it off with.  My wife worked hard all week in preparation and the food was fantastic.  Strangely all the guys ended up in one room and the gals in another for most of the night but it worked.  The guys moved into the family room to watch the Celtics edge out the Sixers in their first playoff game.  Buddy stayed out of his cage for the first time ever for one of our parties and behaved, most of the time.  He performed the valuable task of cleaning up any spilt beer, by the end of the night he figured out how to get the beer spilt for him.  It was a fun night of comradery and just the kind of time I envisioned when I retired here six years ago but that have been all too infrequent.  My son in law was trying to teach me what IPAs were as he consumed some very exotic beer.  Sunday was Mother’s Day and although it was low key I know the best present my wife received was having her daughter here.  My wife sometimes beats herself up for having been too strict as a mother but she doesn’t understand how much these kids love her.  It was nice to see her and our daughter hanging out together.  I love giving my wife presents because she is the absolute best at receiving them, so appreciative and truly excited about everything she receives.  She grew up extremely poor and is astounded and excited every time she receives a gift.  It’s something we all could emulate.  She was teary eyed reading the cards from us and a little chagrined when she opened the jewelry boxes she ran over in her car last week (see earlier post).  After lunch and a lazy afternoon we faced the detestable task of driving our daughter and son in law back to New Haven so they could return to their home.  It’s always chaotic at the train station when we drop them off and I can never manage the appropriate hugs as we have to keep the car moving after they disembark.  I missed them the moment they were out of sight.   After a lonely ride back to Massachusetts, my wife and I enjoyed a quiet dinner at a local restaurant and basked in the afterglow of a weekend well spent.


Buddy Cleaning Up After Me at Lunch

My Wife and I with Our Son's Fabulous Girlfriend

Three Really Nice People

Party Scene - Note Buddy Passed Out in Foreground

My Cousin Disagreeing With One of His Wife's Assertions

Wife Opening Mother's Day Card - There Goes the Makeup

Mother's Day - Wife Stepping up on a Wall so She's the Same Height