Rhode Island Reminiscing

In what has become a cherished part of our annual Thanksgiving holiday we journeyed down to Rhode Island yesterday for a second Thanksgiving dinner at my sister’s house.  She’s a nurse and invariably has to work on the holiday so this tradition grew up around that inconvenience.  It is so much fun that we do it even when she has the holiday off.

Yesterday my sister was dealing with the loss, the night before, of her beloved mother in law, Miss Louise.  When I questioned whether she and the in laws still wanted to gather I got a resounding “Yes”.  After the month long campaign Miss Louise waged against her injury with her kids constantly at her side there was a real need to get together in a more mundane and festive environment.

Keene Friend Assisted Me Destroying the Turkey In My Glorious Apron

The forces gathered early in the day in Charlton, but not before I destroyed the piece of cake I secreted away earlier in the week.  It just so happened yesterday was also a keto holiday – damage would be done.  My daughter assisted in the cake destruction much to the consternation of my late arising wife who had designs on scoring another piece.

Second Thanksgiving Dinner With My Favorite People Surrounding Me

My son, the MEF, and the Keene Friend all arrived to make the journey to Rhode Island.  My sister had done her usual incredible job creating a fully realized Thanksgiving dinner and she left the turkey carving to me.  With the Keene Friend nobly keeping the bird from flying off the counter, I held forth with an electric knife.  I was able to don my traditional lady’s apron to keep that custom intact as well.

Where I spent Most of the Night Flanked by my Son in Law and Brother In Law

The food was fantastic but the company even better.  My brother in law was able to join us for the first time in years because he was not at work.  While we bemoaned the reason for his availability it was so much fun having him around to pelt with sports inquiries.  

My Daughter's Friend Meeting my Nephew's Gargantuan Turtle
I Don't Know What to Say About the Viking Garb 

Following the afternoon tryptophan comas we geared up for the second part of the day which was a gathering of my brother in law’s entire clan.  This is the favorite part of the day for me as we sit around the table and enjoy each others’ company.  It just never gets old and there’s a vibrant passing of conversation throughout the night ranging from subjects too obscure to the overriding emotion of the night – remembering Miss Louise.  

We also mourned the death of any real trivia battles because of the ability to, as my son in law put it – “consult the oracle” .  The combination of Google and I-phone is certainly a lot more reliable than it’s Delphic predecessor but it does take the fun out of arguing about who is right.

Miss Louise's Gift to Us
Her Fantastic Three Kids

I thought last night was a fitting tribute to the incredible Miss Louise as each of us were able to share our memories of her and it was unsurprising that she had touched so many of us so deeply.  She would have loved last night.  My daughter mentioned that on past Thanksgivings she would always stop by where Miss Louise was sitting and pass a few minutes catching up with her and how much she missed that this year.

I may not have mentioned it but there was also a significant amount of wine and beer sent down range, but you probably already figured that out.  We reluctantly took pity on the Keene Friend and my wife who volunteered for designated driver duty for the drive back to Charlton which would end after midnight.  It was a really mundane trip until my daughter decided to spice things up by hooking her I-phone into the car stereo system and playing calypso music really loud.  The car was soon rocking to Jump in the Line by Harry Belafonte and I’m sure we scared the hell out of the some of the people that passed by.  I was forced to counsel the wife on the restrictions on dancing while driving.  Fun ending to a fun day that everybody there really needed.

 

“There’s Just Something Special About Cousins”

I know I’ve written about this before but yesterday was the annual renewal of that declaration with the Thanksgiving gathering of the descendants from my father’s family.  He was the youngest of eight children who produced a startling number of progeny themselves.  Those aunts and uncles were some of the people I admired most growing up, sterling examples of the greatest generation.  The signature gathering of the family was always Thanksgiving.  The in laws were given Christmas but those magnificent brothers and sisters always came together for Thanksgiving in a tradition dating back to before World War 2.

We Sit at Tables Seperated by Age Groups - Kind Of
I'm Getting Ominously Closer to the Top Rung

They’ve all left us now, two in laws remain from that generation, but their legacy was yesterday’s gathering for which I will be eternally grateful.  Since my cousins and I grew up with this annual get together it became something of almost legendary status.  It’s evolved over the years and migrated through a couple states but there is no denying the sheer joy of seeing those cousins you grew up idolizing. 


Daughter, Son in Law and Friend at Younguns Table

There were just over forty of us yesterday in a windswept New Hampshire home but as soon as I walked in the door I knew I was with family.  It’s hard to describe but there’s no awkwardness or adjustment period.  Even though we haven’t been together for a year there’s immediate symmetry and an almost breathless need to catch up with each other.  There’s never enough time to spend with the different cousins who came from as far away as Oregon and Colorado to partake.  Baby pictures of yet another emerging generation as well as a rocking video of a BMX racing cousin competed for time with everybody’s attention careening from cousin to cousin.  There was also a veritable pack of dogs, another family tradition, which added to the benevolent chaos.  It was in other words – Thanksgiving.



I Was at the Tweener Table

One of the family traditions has always been a football game after dinner.  We’ve played in the snow and rain but I don’t think we’ve ever played in a colder environment than yesterday.  I know I’m too old to be out there running around with the trailing two generations but I refuse to give it up.  It would be losing that precious link to the past when I chased down passes from my father at Aunt Margaret’s Baptist Hill home. 

The Game - Dogs Are Always Present and Part of Action

It Was So Friggin COLD!

I'm (Red Shirt) Battling a Favorite Cousin

So Much Fun

Buddy spent the entire time charging from one side of the vast field to  the other and landed a devastating blind side block on another dog who was charging in the other direction (it would have landed him a hefty fine in the NFL).  My daughter and her friend watched the game from the heated car (they even had the seat warmers on) but despite the penetrating cold I could not have been happier (well except when I dropped a sure touchdown pass).

My Son  in Law Shares a Last Name With Another Branch of Family
So We Gathered for a Dual Family Photo Of Those Affiliated

I was heartened (surprised) that so many of the cousins stopped by during the day to say they read this blog.  One even mentioned that my writing reminded her of her father, my father’s brother.  I was so touched because I admired her father more than a little and considered this lofty praise indeed.  I do feel a little intimidated meeting that standard though.  As I creakily (football exertions are not kind to a middle aged body) made my way to the car I performed the annual look to the stars and mouthed a silent thank you to my dad and his incredible siblings for the gift that is this Thanksgiving gathering.

Many of those blog reading cousins asked about Miss Louis and her unbelievable fight against doctor prognostications.   Late last night my sister called to report that Miss Louise had moved beyond her pain and passed away.  This brave lady held out against all odds to confound doctors who said she wouldn’t survive the week almost a month ago.  Her iron will wrapped inside such a gentle exterior allowed her some final cherished time with her beloved family.  They made the most of these last few weeks gathering daily at her bed side.  She knew she wasn’t long for this world but she departed it knowing she was loved intensely.  She and Mr. Peter are together again unfettered by their earthly limitations.  We’re still going to miss both of them beyond the ability of words to convey.

R.I.P. Lady of Iron

Another of our Thanksgiving traditions is to gather at my sister’s house the day after along with Miss Louise’s other children.  My sister assured me they all still wanted to gather, that it would be a good thing, but most of all because it was what Miss Louise would have wanted.

Diamonds in the Morass

Well, I survived the decent into the Connecticut quagmire yesterday and emerged with the sought after prize – daughter, son in law, and one of their friends.  Connecticut did try to be Connecticut on a number of occasions but I’ve now made this trip so many times over the past few years that we had a response and corresponding “short cut” ready. I almost felt like Patton and yelling, “I READ YOUR BOOK!”  I was ably assisted by first my wife and then the daughter with Google traffic on their I-Phones.  I made the profound statement – “we are leveraging technology!”.  I think I was the only one impressed.

The only thing we didn’t miss was the over turned car sitting in the highway just outside the New Haven train station.  It must have happened just before we arrived because we passed by the same location 15 minutes earlier and it was clean.  It was sad to see the debris from someone’s life strewn across the road.  There were not any ambulances there and no one was in the car so we’re hoping they lucked out.

The Diamonds in the Car - Getting out of NYC Must Have Been Tiring

Connecticut did get one lick in when a rest stop employee helped a Chinese tourist make off with my wife’s umbrella.  He’d seen it sitting on a shelf as a stream of tourists returned to their tour bus.  He convinced the last one that someone had forgotten their umbrella.  I watched all this and was silently commending the guy until my wife emerged and said her umbrella had been absconded with.  The guy offered to pay for it but my wife said not to worry.  I was astounded by her lack of concern for one of her favorite implements of survival.  She blithely reported she wasn’t concerned because the umbrella was one of mine, damn you Connecticut!

Our daughter’s friend had visited several times but had never experienced Zorba’s so you know where we went for dinner.  Since she reads the blog I was a little concerned it would live up to its lofty reputation.  Not to worry – a Zorba’s pizza cannot disappoint and there was a gorgeous waitress sighting.  The friend did turn the tables on me with a sneaky paying of the bill move from a distant seat that I am going to have to add to my repertoire.   

Great Time at Zorba's - Still Trying to Figure Out how She paid From Way Back There

While the rest of America was slowly making their way across the landscape to their Thanksgiving destinations we settled in for a couple of movies and beers (well the beer was mostly my idea).  One of the very best Wednesdays before Thanksgivings, ever.

Purgatorial Intro to Happiness

Today used to be the most dreaded event of the year for me – the day before Thanksgiving.  While I served in the military I always tried to make it home for Thanksgiving.  The decision was based on what I considered to be a day’s worth of driving range to New England.  My wife and I had starkly differing views of what constituted driving range.  My range extended as far south as Georgia and west to Northern Tennessee while she barely conceded Washington, D.C.

 She was the smarter of the two of us (something you already knew) but I was driven to return to home waters.  Driving anywhere on the day before Thanksgiving, when most of the US is heading somewhere for the holiday, has to be the closest we come to purgatory on earth.  The worst part of any driving trip is any fraction that passes through Connecticut and this Wednesday that state’s benighted highway system more closely resembles a parking lot.  It’s hard to get back to New England without passing through Connecticut, but not impossible.  I used to drive a hundred miles out of the way to avoid it.  It’s somehow ironic that I now live about five miles north of Connecticut.

A Typical Connecticut Driving Experience

I love that I no longer have to make those long drives and the annual opportunity to marvel at the capacity for human error.  I’ll sleep in tonight and drive up to New Hampshire tomorrow morning.  Of course I first have to go pick up my daughter and son in law who are joining us for the holiday.  You know where I have to go to get them, right?  Yep, a fun three hours driving through – CONNECTICUT!  It is truly testimony to how much I love those guys that I will do this willingly, excitedly, and without too much complaining (well except for here).  Just to make it a little more fun the Big Guy decided to bless us with some biblical level rain today – score!  Thank God for Google Traffic – He gives as well!

My daughter tried to coax me into waiting until this weekend to see the latest Hunger Games movie – Catching Fire.  After my last experience with weekend movie watching and the pack of rapid teeny boppers – I deferred.  My wife and I went to see this middle movie of the promised trilogy and were not disappointed. 

Jennifer Lawrence really is something special (news flash – huh).  I didn’t think there was any way a movie could capture the character of Katniss Everdeen because of the limits of the medium compared to a book but she pulls it off.  The middle movie is always the toughest because of the transitory nature of the plot – getting you set up for the climatic third but this movie stands on its own.  There’s action and a cool arc as we see the champions paraded around the country by the evil president while plotting their doom.  Donald Sutherland is perfect as the evil dude and the only miss in the cast is Josh Hutcherson who is clearly fighting above his talent level when paired with Lawrence.    

If there was a little too much hang wringing and angst about which of the male leads Katniss was going to choose I only had to look around the theater to understand.  I was one of very few males in the audience and the melodramatic elements had the double XXers in full swoon.  That being said – great flick that has something for us XYers as well.

Cakes and Mullahs

In what has become an alarming (but at least this week enjoyable) trend I was faced yesterday with work on short rest due to late night Patriots antics and falling off couches.  Luckily the holiday slow down seems to be seeping into everyone’s mentality or more likely I wasn’t the only one that spent early Monday morning watching the latest edition of the Manning face. 

In a cruel twist of fate someone at work had the temerity to have a birthday yesterday on a day that was not a keto holiday.  To rub some salt into the wound even the cake was unexpectedly awesome. This particular birthday girl is annually given a cake made of bark and roots, really natural kind of fare (in reality a carrot cake – gag!) In other words something I wouldn’t miss, at all.  Imagine my horror when confronted with a chocolate and vanilla cake festooned with butter frosting.  By the end of the day my resolve weakened to the point I stole a piece, brought it home and froze it for keto-free Friday.  My wife first exacted some kind of unbeknownst toll by lopping off a piece for herself.  

So Tough to Walk Away From!

Some major news emanating out of the Middle East where our president took a major gamble by agreeing to a limited deal with Iran on their nuclear program.  It’s so good Hilary is no longer the SecState because she is Clinton averse to causing ripples on her march to a nomination.    This is a bold move because it takes on two oddly aligned groups of American friends - Israeli interests and the Sunni side of the Persian Gulf. 

It doesn’t look like much of a deal from the outside but any step forward is historic when you’re talking US-Iran.  I liked the courage it takes to come out from behind the habitual stance of mutual assured hatred between our two peoples.  The ayatollahs finally allowed a sane president to take office who is willing to talk with the west –it’s good the opportunity isn’t wasted.

I spent most of my adult life dreaming of an opportunity to bring death and destruction upon the hostage takers of Tehran but we need to look to a new future.  I still wouldn’t trust the Iranians as far as I could throw a mullah but it has to start somewhere and this might even open up some dialogue on the morass Syria has sunk into – gravely assisted by Iran.  Every journey starts with that tough first step and in the Middle East there’s been a real dearth of opportunities like this.

Take A Seat Sidney

In my still simmering joy of the Red Sox run to glory and the Patriots’ roller coaster I’ve neglected the Bruins a little too much.  I caught most of their game last night as they took on the Penguins who boast the NHL’s answer to Lebron James in terms of maturity – Sidney Crosby.  The Bruins are a tough team and a lot of fun to watch.  They’ve got this undersized, undrafted defenseman named Krug who just keeps making plays.  Instead of collapsing when they gave up a tying goal in the last .02 seconds of the game they came out in OT with Krug scoring on an absolute rocket. 

I finished the sequel to the last book I wrote about, Thank You For Your Service, by David Finkel.  In this book he focuses on the recovery of several of the Soldiers he chronicled in The Good Soldiers.   He was obviously granted intimate access to the lives of a couple Soldiers dealing with PTSD and traumatic brain injury.  He also tells the story of a young widow of a Soldier killed in Iraq to compare her challenges with those of the wives dealing with husbands who left part of their souls in Iraq as well as some marked forever by a Soldier suicide.

Finkel, ever the journalist tries to find political issues with how society and the Army treat these wounded warriors.  What he finds however is an Army that is bending over backwards to help with efforts that start at the highest levels down to the unit.  He does capture the Army culture of refusing to admit to pain, “rub a little dirt on it and drive on” and how much it took to overcome that and get these Soldiers the help they need.

The Soldiers’ and their wives’ stories are heartbreaking and serves the same purpose as his earlier book in laying out the cost of sending fighting men into the inferno.  My wife owns a t-shirt that reads, “Army Wife, Toughest Job in the Army” – a fundamental truth.  A good read that should be required of all political leaders.

Jumping at the Conclusion

My educatory weekend continued well into Sunday night and early Monday morning.  I learned that my couch was not meant to be jumped upon, but more on than later. 

The day began with a little controversy.  I prepared for my weekly Sunday afternoon of slack jawed amazement of the glory that is the NFL Red Zone when I could not find my favorite lounge pants.  I am reluctant to assume couch potato position #1 without this most suitable of garb.  For some reason my wife does not share my fascination with these loud yellow, but extremely comfortable trousers while I’ve come to think of myself as a minor fashion explosion.  Their missing status led me to accuse her of consigning them to wherever all my favorite t-shirts end up whenever they sprout their inevitable first hole.  She feigned, I mean claimed, innocence and the pants magically reappeared.

My Awesome Lounge Pants in Couch Potato Position #1
I'm Sitting Where I Should Not Have Been Jumping (see below)

Buddy was prepared for another afternoon of football as he ran ahead of me and established residency in Couch Potato position #1.  After a short discussion (I might have mentioned the word “SQUIRRELS!”) he graciously allowed me to sit down.  To my ultimate horror the Red Zone did not appear as required. 

Buddy Awaiting My Arrival for Football Viewing

I got a white screen promising it would appear at 1pm, since it was already 1:15pm I checked outside for signs of an impending apocalypse.  I logged on to the cable company’s and red zone’s web sites with no resolution.  I tried an email to my cable company which said I was not properly asking one of their pre-loaded questions, panic set in.  I was making my way through the interminable phone tree of the cable company when the Red Zone miraculously appeared and peace was restored to the galaxy.  I think I can get credit with the doc for a stress test.

The Day's Big Stressor - Photo Taken at 1:25pm

All of this paled to the battle last night between the Patriots and the Broncos – the latest match up between Tom Brady and Peyton Manning.  I was happy to see the wind swirling and the temperatures dipping.  While Peyton is an absolute juggernaut inside a dome or in good weather, he’s a real “Nancy-Boy” when it comes to harsh winter conditions.  Brady on the other hands tends to thrive.  I saw the warm ups and could tell Manning was having a really hard time with the conditions, in a harsher crowd I might mention that his female parts seem to be hurting. 

So all was set up for a decisive Patriot’s win except the football gods can be harsh with over confidence.  The Patriots’ coughed up the ball repeatedly and even though Manning struggled they were soundly beating the Pats at half-time 24-0, it was embarrassing.  My wife was doing some sewing and politely asked why I was no longer communicating with her.  I’m guessing she thought my response was less than polite.

I was rationalizing that at least I would get a full night sleep when the second half started and the Patriot’s showed up in force.  Brady laid a smack down on the preening Denver defense that wilted under the onslaught.  By the end of the third quarter the Patriots were within striking distance and the look on Manning’s face was worth the price of admission by itself.

The Manning Face - Hey Peyton - Think You Have Enough Snivel Gear On?

The game went into overtime and Monday but there was no way I was giving up on the game.  When the last Patriot’s drive seemed to fail and they lined up for a punt I resigned/hoped for at least a tie.  Then the football gods showed up again when old friend Welker showed his true colors. 

Sweet!! Thank You Wesley - Nice to See You Contributing Again to a Patriots' Win

I was roundly criticized by friends (especially a certain Cantankerous One) because I wasn’t upset when the Patriots let Welker leave after last season.  I still held Saint Wesley responsible for a Super Bowl loss when he dropped a crucial pass that would have sealed the win.  I felt completely vindicated when he dropped two important passes last night but the best came as the punt headed his way late in overtime.  Instead of catching the punt he wimped out and failed to warn teammates away.  The ball hit one of them; the Patriots recovered and kicked a game winning field goal. 

Thank You Mr Brady - The reports of Your Demise Have Been Greatly Exaggerated

It sucked that such a great game ended in this way but it was proof that Welker’s pucker factor is still a problem.  Now as to the lesson I learned about jumping on the couch.  When the ball bounced off the Bronco’s leg I jumped up on the couch and started yelling.  Buddy, confused jumped up with me.  This caused me to lose my balance and head backwards.

There comes a point in a situation like this that you know you’re going to fall and you start assessing ways to minimize the upcoming pain.  I was able to execute an extremely rusty parachute landing fall (first in over two decades) behind the couch although I did forget the part of tucking in my elbows (just a flesh wound).  The hardwood (they're not kidding) floor was a little softer than a dry season Panamanian Drop Zone (but not much).  I didn’t care at this point because the Patriots won.  My wife opined that I was probably too old to execute these type gyrations.  As with most things, she’s probably right, but what a great game.

Lessons Delivered

I learned some very important things yesterday.  Chief among them was not referring to large hands when those hands are being used to support the posterior of a lady, luckily the lady was my wife.  I thought I was being exceedingly clever by calling attention to the fact that in an old family photo I was using my hand to support the wife’s slender and well formed backside (yes I’m in the recovery mode). I made the mistake by calling attention to the fact that I had large hands to perform the task. 

The Photo That Got Me Into Trouble
Note my Slender and Well Formed Hands!

A female friend upon seeing the caption commented that I was probably in trouble for that comment.  I was still mystified but showed the wife what I posted and she confirmed I was an idiot and delivered a well aimed blow upside my apparently bereft cranium.  So it goes.

I also learned that sending e-mails at the height of First Fridays is not necessarily the brightest thing to do.  My wife asked me yesterday if I’d gotten an answer back from the email I’d sent to our son in law from Zorba’s.  I then remembered (vaguely) that I had sent something.  We were wondering over pizza what to get him for Christmas so I’d volunteered to send an immediate email.  An I-Phone keyboard was not built with me in mind and apparently after a few beers I’m not at the height of literary prowess.  This is what I sent:

“needs some help.  Wants to. Buy u shirts jackets etc For Xmas. Needs guidance. Please send style you prefer. Excuse typing have had a few. Beers. Love u.”

I received a very bemused response yesterday with some information and this sign off:

“What a great email. Ha.”

I dressed my wounds, both literal and figurative while my wife left to start her Christmas onslaught of shopping.  She realizes including me is the worst possible choice (see I’ve won at least one battle over the last 31 years!).  Buddy and I embarked on finishing up the winterizing of the garage.  When I backed the car out I let Buddy get into the back seat; mainly so I wouldn’t run over him as he darts around.

Garage Before

Once I got the car out I opened the door but he refused to get out.  He apparently was holding out for a much longer ride (he loves hanging out the window).  I went about cleaning the garage, putting the mower away and emplacing the poles to mark the edges of the driveway.  Buddy usually takes these opportunities to continue his squirrel monitoring operations in the front yard but he was firmly parked inside the car with the door open.

Buddy Staging his Sit-in

It took me a little over an hour to finish everything off and be ready to move the car back into the garage but there was Buddy patiently (rare use of the word patient and Buddy in same sentence) staging his sit- in.  Since the wife wasn’t around to counsel me on the idiocy I took the car out for a ten mile drive with Buddy joyously hanging out the window and occasionally commenting at some of the people and pets we passed.  I felt better afterwards and as soon as we pulled back into the house he jumped right out and chased a squirrel.

Garage After

My wife’s shopping foray lasted longer than she anticipated (who saw that coming?) so the movie matinee we were going to see was shifted to the evening.  I hate going to the movies on Friday and Saturday nights because of the big crowds and teeny boppers.  As with many small towns the boppers get dropped off by parents and form packs bent on annoying the rest of us.  We had a gang of them in the back of the theater who spent the entire movie running up and down the stairs in some sort of pre-pubescent mating ritual.  I'm firmly entering the curmudgeon phase of life.

The movie itself, Delivery Man, surprised the heck out of me.  I went in expecting an over the top comedy centered around a guy who finds out that he’s the father of over 500 grown kids due to a vigorous policy of sperm donations twenty years before.  It turned out to be a really nice film about a guy finding himself, connecting with life in general and the importance of family.  Vince Vaughn portrays the prodigious procreator and finally tones it down enough to be genuinely likable.  It’s the best thing he’s done in years and shows some real heart. 

We came out of the theater staring daggers at the parents lined up to retrieve the pack boppers and found everything coated in snow.  Glad I got that winterizing done.

Return to Form Down Memory Lane

Yesterday was all about getting back into the Friday routine which was difficult because work (of all things!)  kept intruding.  Undaunted by this egregious attack on my desire to finish what had been a pretty tough week off we persevered.  My excellent boss decreed that a First Friday was required.

Our Table At Brew City Last Night

I am not one to argue the logic of marking the passage of the first Friday of the week so I finished off a meeting with the union and became the quartering party at Brew City.  My excellent boss showed up and we were soon joined by another co-worker who brought along a visiting relative from County Sligo in Ireland.  She turned out to be a lot of fun to hang out with and our more than outstanding waitress kept supplying us with complementary hand made potato chips.

While this was a very good start of Friday evening it only got better when I returned home to a mildly disapproving wife (might have been a tad late and overly effusive).  I think she knew how much I needed the break and we were soon firmly attached to the bar at Zorba’s.  Since we were a little later than usual we had to wait for a table.

The owner was back and noticed us at the bar and we were summarily moved to a table and blessed with the gorgeously competent waitress I’ve written about before.  I think the owner was trying to make up for the only bad experience we had at Zorba’s in the hundreds of times we’ve been there.  The pizza arrived almost before the first beer was down range.  I was admiring the competence of the waitress when I got kicked under the table.  I’m guessing my admiration as she walked away had drifted south from competence.

The Company was Awesome at Zorba's Last Night

I’ve come to treasure these Friday nights at Zorba’s with my wife and I’ve trained myself to studiously ignore the large televisions festooned around the place spewing all manner of sports.  It’s become a time to catch up with each other without the siren lure of the couch or telephones to pull us away from each other.  It really is like a date except it’s with the person who knows me best in the world (hence the kick) and vice versa. 

And the Desserts Were Not Too Shabby
Thank God for Keto Vacation Day

During the day yesterday I was delving into the nether regions of my brief case and found a memory stick that I had completely forgotten about.  It was covered in dust and debris and I was curious about what was on it.  It turned out to have hundreds of photos from years ago.  I spent the entire lunch hour going through them and wandering down some great memories.  I picked a few to share.

We've Been Hanging with the Keene Friend For a While Now

My Son (Red Shirt) Surrounded by his Friends at One of his Epic Summer Parties 

My Daughter Sleeping on Christmas Morn with Two Old Friends
Estrella and Skyla - Gone but not Forgotten

My Daughter (Yellow Dress) and Her Friends at her NYC Bacherlotte Party

My Daughter and I in the Vintage Limo About to Walk Her Down that Scary Aisle

The Fam - Luckily I have Large Hands

The Fam Grows - Adding Son in Law and Buddy the Wonder Pooch

The Fam in Panama

My Wife's Epic Flip Cup Win Defeating Eight Guys
Ask Her About it

My Wife and I at the Academy Awards Theater

We Did Not Check into this Motel

Putting Plastic Nails on My Daughter's Disapproving Cat Mindy
New Leather Couch - Don't You Know

Special Place in My Heart for Skyla Larma - Warrior Princess

My Son (Squatting in front) and His Magnificent Friends in the Back Yard

Vegas Baby!

Christmas Morn With Big Sister - Last Time We Had a Small Tree

Christmas Morn Again - The Name One of My Daughter's Early Boyfriends Bestowed On Me