House Emptied as Pana-Girls Storm NYC

Mom and Daughter Together in NYC

Yesterday the travelling cavalcade that is the beautiful Pana-Gals departed for their much anticipated trip to New York City.  I programmed the GPS in the car for the New Haven train station and hoped for the best.  I received periodic updates throughout the day.

They made it to New Haven for the train they hoped for which amazed me to no end.  I find it very suspicious that they can meet timelines when they want to.  They were met at Grand Central Station by my daughter and son in law who played host and got them to their hotel near Times Square.  They headed over to Brooklyn for lunch and a visit to my daughter’s apartment before returning to Manhattan for dinner and a Broadway show (Phantom of the Opera).

They picked the coldest day in several years for the trip so shopping was curtailed although I’m certain it was not eliminated from the itinerary.  I was very proud of my wife for taking the lead in getting everybody to New York, something she usually depends on me for.  I did have to message her, while she was still on the train, what the plot for the Phantom of the Opera was; so she could explain it to the gals.  I must have done a poor job because my daughter wrote on her facebook update that she had done the same thing in person.

I was left with a very lonely house.  I guess I’ve become accustomed to having the Pana-Gals roaming the place and providing the vitality or more appropriately the “salsa”.  That was certainly missing last night as Buddy and I consoled each other in the unearthly quiet.  He seemed to miss them even more as I think he’s become addicted to their attention.

I took the opportunity to go see the highly acclaimed movie Zero Dark Thirty which for me was kind of, “mehhh.”  I can understand the buzz for the acting which was top notch on every level.  I had a big problem with the artistic license taken with the real events surrounding the hunt for Bin Laden.  The staging of the final assault was also kind of dumb.  I think this was another case where my expectations for the film were too high to be realized.  It was okay but the pacing was ponderous.

I’m also kind of pissed that pop culture has stolen one of my favorite pieces of military jargon.  We used zero dark thirty constantly in the military since we always seemed to be doing important things in the dark before anybody sane was out of bed (I guess that was the point).

My Son in Law in Grand Central Station
Adding Baggage Guard to his Resume

They Were Not Loving the Cold

Son in Law, Daughter, Sister in Law, Wife on Subway Ride

My Sister in Law Working on Her English in Brooklyn
She Always Speaks Better After a Couple Beers

Broadway Bound Beauties (photo by JMJ)

Okay But not Great