Snowed in and Loving It

Angry I'm Holding the Phone out of her reach

I haven’t blogged in a couple days because there are certain cardinal rules in life. One of those is that if you have a granddaughter available playing with her is infinitely more important, not to mention fun, than spouting my usual nonsense here. It has been an unusually potent couple of days with the First Blog Reader in residence. After cleaning up on Friday morning from the snow storm they flew into, the Deckzilla guy showed up to work on the floor which made for an interesting dynamic within the house.

First Friday with Great Aunt

My daughter had planned on working so Great Aunt rode to the rescue more than validating her nickname. They got to spend most of the day hanging out in the Man Cave while the noise and dust of the flooring project took place. Deckzilla Dude was amazed at how well my granddaughter handled the noise, especially of the pneumatic nail gun. He said most kids run away in terror at the sound. She, on the other hand, seemed mildly interested in what was going on and even slept through the cacophony during a couple of naps.

Giving Mom a Tour of Brew City

We celebrated their first full day back on the East Coast with a stopover at First Friday where my granddaughter once again dominated. She’s acquired a lot more mobility since her last visit and spent most of the time circulating through the restaurant, with either her mom, the Great Aunt, or myself in hot pursuit. It was almost too much fun. I had to take it easy because I had yet another late night ride to an airport awaiting me.

So Much Fun to Hang With

Wingman and Pee Wee the cat had spent an extra day extricating themselves from the evil clutches of L.A.  Late on Wednesday night they realized the two pods they had been packing all day would not be enough to move all of their household goods. They learned the age old lesson that the acquisition of a child has a geometric effect on the amount of stuff one acquires. He stayed behind to try and pull the proverbial rabbit out of a hat. He finally located a place that would allow him to order and pack the pod the same day. He loaded everything onto a rented truck, drove to that location, packed the pod, and then made his way to the airport with a very cranky cat.

Re-Acquainted with "Duck Duck"

He flew into Hartford a little after ten at night and I timed it perfectly if a little too close for comfort. I calculated the travel time from our old home is Charlton and forgot to factor in the additional time from Worcester. I walked up just as he was leaving the secure area with a heavy cat in tow. We drove home through a very determined snow storm. I’m glad they’re through with this whole west coast nonsense because no one in this family seems capable for flying without an accompanying snow storm.

Playing Catch with her uncle

Time to read

We only got five inches of snow but it seemed like a lot more when you’re driving on the interstate along with scads of flatlanders who have no idea on how to negotiate snow covered roads. It was so good to arrive home and reunite the ex-California clan under the same roof. Since it was well after midnight Wingman had to wait for his daughter greeting until Saturday morning. I was back out clearing the driveway again yesterday morning and performed a semi-acrobatic fall that included an attempt by my snow blower to drag me down the street since I had jury rigged the drive cable.

Exchanging Views with the ABFA

Brother and Sister Hangs

The day brightened considerably when both my favorite Son and the ABFA showed up to spend the day along with Riggins. The original plan was to spend the night but since we are having another of our seemingly daily blizzards today they had to leave last night. I was a little put out  because I’d changed sheets and thoroughly cleaned the master bath in anticipation of their stay. These events are usually on an entirely more lax schedule when my wife is not in residence. My granddaughter has taken particular umbrage to my well organized movie collection. She's made it her mission in life to remove as many as possible from the shelves and even enlisted my help. As I told my daughter, she can do anything she wants, Grampa's house rules. This is a stark difference in how my daughter remembered discipline in the house growing up. 

Giving me Pointers on Movie Storage

Helpless to Resist

The Aftermath

We spent the entire day hanging out in the Man Cave listening to children tunes and catching up with each other. We Facetimed in my wife as much as possible and I know it was hard for her to see us all together and being so far way. I attempted a steak dinner which everyone was polite enough to compliment as eatable. At some point in the evening I think everyone remarked that this was the type of day that made their move back to the east coast so exciting; these type get togethers would be more feasible and often. The First Blog Reader reveled in being the center of attention for both the human and canine populations. It was the kind of day I didn’t want to see the end of , but, well, you know it still happened.

The Birthday Girl

Finally today is the Favorite Panamanian’s birthday. She’s going to be able to celebrate with her twin sister and not have to contend with the blizzard we’re facing back here. I’m trying to encourage her to go out to eat but am running up against cultural issues surrounding the October death of her father. Her family is still in some sort of loosely defined mourning period which precludes them from celebrating anything. I will go on record as specifically prohibiting any kind of mourning period after my demise. I want a pub crawl done instead of a wake.

Today’s morale photo injection: