Completely Sullied

The Queen of Scrunchy Face During Our Call Last Night

I had an unexpectedly quiet day at home yesterday given the theoretical presence of no less than three Panamanians in residence. My Favorite Panamanian took the Cousin of the Legendary Laugh and her husband into the great white north to visit The Maine Musquetera while I immersed myself in the opening moves of relocating my company’s entire operation across town in a few weeks. I think they had more fun than I did. When we finally did talk late last night she promised pictures but I think she got distracted and failed to send them. This is not an unexpected turn of events when she is in the company of family and the Maine Musquetera.

A Very Busy Young Lady

I did receive calls from both of the progeny, nearly simultaneously. I was able to read a book with the granddaughter who blessed me with her best assortment of scrunchy faces. The Favorite Son made one of his usual calls while commuting home from work but he was challenged for air time by the GPS lady so he may have been on a different mission, probably ABFA related.

My Son Out on His Grill Last Night Since They Have No Kitchen
The XOs are From the ABFA

I was charged by my wife to start the second phase of our hillside re-do in her absence since she has dozens of annual flowering plants that have languished in flower pots for the past year since she uprooted them from her vast Charlton gardens. I was supposed to level out the newly created garden behind the retaining wall I built and add in some more acceptable garden soil. Apparently the dirt there did not meet her lofty standards.

My Home Depot Haul Last Night - Heavier than it Looks

While in search of said high quality dirt, I made the mistake of walking down the building block aisle at Home Depot only to discover that they had restocked with the needed blocks for the next wall. I thought I was sunk until next spring but I was back in business. The only problem was that my wife had the Highlander with her in Maine. The Camry literally groaned under the weight I tried to distribute throughout but we made it back to the house with zero casualties. I felt so good about my success that I returned for another load. I was carrying those blocks out to the backyard when my back remembered what I put it through over the past month and disabused me about any ideas on a third trip.

The back was much more amenable to a trip to the movie theater for dateless date night. I saw Sully which is a really good movie. Somehow Clint Eastwood made a totally engaging movie where everyone seeing it knew everything about the critical event and how it all turned out. While that is a real tribute to his talent as a storyteller it’s also testament to the cast, led by Tom Hanks in his everyman mode again as well as Aaron Eckhart and Laura Linney in supporting roles. You are brought into the fateful 208 seconds again and again as well as the turmoil behind the scenes as corporate interests (Airbus) and their patsies FTSB bureaucrats tried to assign pilot error to the miracle on the Hudson. Again, you know how it turned out but I found myself riveted to the seat and totally immersed in the professionalism exhibited on so many levels. At a time when the politicians and their henchmen are trying to pull the country apart it was nice to see what we’re capable of in a crisis situation when all that noise is left behind.

I also finished off Noble Intentions, the next in the Jack Noble series by LT Ryan. I had almost given up on this series but decided to stick with it for one more book. I’m so glad I did because Ryan finally unleashes Noble instead of constantly kicking his ass. The writing was a little episodic which is understandable given this book was compiled from a series of stories but it still made for an excellent read. Noble is challenged when a nefarious master criminal kidnaps people near to Jack and he has to accept assassin work to get them back. He’s also drawn into a plot involving Russians which predictably gets very bloody. It was a damned good story told over multiple continents with a lot of well-drawn action. I guess I’ll stay with Mr. Noble for a while.

Pee Wee is Still a Little Leery of his New Freind

Escape Plan in Action - Mom in Hot Pursuit

Could Not Avoid Capture