Resurrected Bliss

My normal weekend of solitude was decisively vanquished yesterday when I awoke in a house inhabited by at least one of my kids. My son and I followed the bachelor code of mumbled good mornings and some Sports Center before heading out to watch a horror movie (see below for how that went) before the saner influence of the ABFA arrived.

Hanging With the ABFA and Son

The ABFA arrived in the late afternoon with her parents. They’d spent the morning out snow shoeing in what used to be Benson’s Wild Animal Farm – an iconic destination of my youth. We were soon gathered around my son’s IPad and some snacks that had the Wonder Pooch in hot pursuit while son and ABFA explained some of the details of the our joint May cruise to Bermuda. The parental units are all rookies when it comes to ocean liners so they regaled us with some inside tips from their experiences. My wife joined us from Panama via FaceTime before she departed for some Joron Zepeda dance floor time.

Having Ocean Lining Explained to Us

We adjourned to Chuck’s Steakhouse for an extremely enjoyable dinner where we were also joined by my Rhode Island sister and Brother in Law. My son immediately latched on to his uncle to discuss the vagaries of Latino power hitters incapable of hitting a curve ball and their subsequent Far East adventures. The rest of us compared notes on the winter from the seventh level of hell as my sister showed her son practicing parachute landing falls from her second floor roof when he was supposed to be removing snow from said roof.

Too Much Fun Hanging With These Guys

As with all these type gatherings time seemed to go into overdrive. We spent two hours at Chuck’s but it seemed to be over in a flash. My son and ABFA returned home with me while the rest departed for their home. I feel blessed that such splendid people took time out of their lives to help relieve my spouseless condition and inject some family time into the equation. The excellent food sent downrange necessitated some vegetative state time on the family room couch where my son was less than impressed with Birdman but I got to hang out with them just the same.

Dinner at Chuck's

Earlier in the day the horror movie we took in, The Lazarus Effect, was just this side of terrible. I’d watch Olivia Wilde hang wallpaper and she’s the only redeeming thing about this failed film. The director apparently shared my fascination with Ms. Wilde because we were treated to close-ups of her face that only her dermatologist should administer.

She plays a scientist trying to bring the dead back to life and succeeding with a dog before she dies in an accident and, you guessed it, her boyfriend uses the system to bring her back. She comes back all Lucy-like without the redeeming social skills, apparently something came back with her. The first half of the movie works but falls completely apart in the second when we should be reaping the benefits of the setup. Still I got to hang out with my favorite fellow horror movie fan, so I had that going for me.

Meanwhile, Somewhere in Texas