BRS & the Abuela

I Suspect These Two Will be Good Buds

There was a reunion of sorts yesterday up in Stratham, New Hampshire. My wife spent the first week of the BRS’ existence with her but hadn’t seen her since due to an extended time in Panama and a couple of other assorted reasons. She had been truly anxious to reunite and yesterday saw that come to pass. We loaded up the car with the bags of FBR clothes donated last week as well as the usual abundance of food my wife never fails to prepare when she is going to encounter our Favorite Son. I have it on good authority there was a chocolate pie involved.

A Co-Worker Fighting Cancer Stopped in at First Friday - Highlight of the Work Week

I don’t know for certain there as any recognition involved but as soon as we walked in the BRS and my Favorite Panamanian were as thick as thieves. I was able to pry her granddaughter away from her on a couple occasions but my wife certainly made the most of the reunion. The BRS is more expressive each day and she seemed to be genuinely intrigued by the near constant stream of Spanish aimed her way. My wife did relinquish her hold for the brief spells required for feeding and naps.

She Likes the Spanish

Bonding with Abuela - Riggins in Background

It was easy to see that the ABFA and my son have established a routine as the reality of having a child has settled in nicely. My son is especially adept at the walk around the house rocking walk to induce sleep ploy. The BRS smiles each time daddy takes over. I tried my hand at it as well but lacked his home field advantages. The BRS spent our entire walk together coolly assessing me to the point I felt I was found lacking in her eyes; maybe I should have tried some Spanish.

It was a nice family day spent hanging out together. We reincarnated their grill from its winter rest for some steak immolation and discussed an upcoming wall building project. Riggins scurried around vainly trying to reassert his dominance in the attention chain. While he failed at that he was still a lot of fun charging around except when he tried to sit on the BRS during her floor time.

During the brief interlude my wife did not have the BRS in her arms she organized the huge amount of clothes the FBR donated to her cousin. It was memory time as we saw many of the clothes associated with FBR memories passed on. I believe the BRS is set, clothes wise, for the next 18 months. This will do nothing to assuage my wife’s need to shop for her but one can hope.

The BRS Dominating a Ribbon

I enjoyed sitting on the couch next to my son for a long time watching both the Bruins and the Red Sox. It brought back cherished memories of similar times before he went and grew up on me. We still have the high five after Bruins goals down pat although with a little more circumspection with the BRS dozing in his lap. Riggins benefited from our time there as the ABFA got him outside to play more than the BRS-centric lifestyle usually allows.

Son Demonstrating the Nap Inducing Rock

Meanwhile in New Jersey

It was a very good day. We tried to video in our daughter and the FBR but they were decisively engaged with an impromptu neighborhood barbecue that sprung up so contact was fleeting. My daughter did provide the following video showing the FBR dancing with Wingman at his restaurant before it opened for the day. Hearts melted.

I Did Get a Couple Moments with my Granddaughter

Normalcy Inserted

Love this Photo of my Daughter and the FBR
Two Confident Young Ladies Striding into the Future Together

It seems the past few weeks have been hectic. We’ve had spring snow storms, wifely departures, wifely returns, surgical procedures, union negotiations, granddaughter boarding, and too many other things to properly credit. That’s what made last night kind of cool – the sheer normalcy that finally inserted itself into our lives. Thursday is becoming one of the nights Keene Friend stays over to mitigate the daily commute to and from Keene. Last night he took my wife and I out for dinner at Val’s in Holden.

Triking It

Glad Flowers are Growing Somehere

Only a Non-Dog Owner Would Do this

It was a very nice evening and conversation between old friends – again normal without any imperiling event looming on the horizon. We returned home for some Man Cave time starting out with the Red Sox but evolving to watching Molly’s Game (see below) when the Sox looked to be heading in the wrong direction. In a truly remarkable turn of events Keene Friend even stayed awake for the movie and the Sox came back to win.

A Tree is Planted in Korea

The big news circulating the globe today is the historic meeting between the leaders of the two Koreas. They proclaimed a plan to formally end the Korean War and denuclearize the peninsula. While on the surface this sounds like exotically good news I would offer a measure of caution. North Korea has never shown the slightest inclination to change their culture of cult like devotion to the Kim family and their burgeoning military. It would be a brilliant strategic move to engage with the south to convince them to stand down their military, send the American forces home, and open up the border. Once the final verses of Kum-by-yah are finished and everyone suitably complacent the North Korean army would march south, almost unopposed. While I fervently hope this scenario never happens and the chance for peace is real I find myself thinking of investing in concrete futures around Pusan.

I excitedly texted my daughter this morning recommending she see Molly’s Game since I thought she would love it. She, somewhat sardonically reminded me that she was the one that had recommended the film to me a while ago. I pleaded advanced age for not remembering. This is a really smart film with Sorkin’s usual snappy dialogue without which the movie would have grounded itself. It also buoyed by Jessica Chastain’s and Idris Elba’s usual mesmerizing presences. Chastain plays Molly Blum who falls into a life of hosting high stakes poker games but eventually running afoul of both sides of the law. While Blum’s story is fascinating I suspect Sorkin might have fallen a little bit in love with her because she comes across as almost too good to be true. Even with that it is a crackling good story told with pace and worth the watch for Chastain and Elba.

Hockey Night in the Man Cave

BRS - Yoga Girl

It goes without saying that the Panamanian hockey tradition is about as deep as the ice that forms on their rivers. In other words – non-existent. I was therefore heartened when my Favorite Panamanian directed that we watch last night’s game 7 matchup between the Bruins and the Maple Leafs. I’m still in the acquiescent mode as she is recovering from her procedure and figured when she decided to spend the evening with me in the Man Cave that I had some rom-com movie in my immediate future; so, like I said – heartened.

It was a great game as the Bruins dangled defeat in front of us until the final period before squashing the very talented Maple Leafs with four unanswered goals. Dedicated hockey fan my wife is not so she spent most of the game next to me engaged in various phone conversations. She did look up for the goals or to caution me when my exuberant language went a little too far south. It was a fun night together. We switched back to the Red Sox game between periods as they were also playing a Toronto team. It was a bad night for Toronto which went 0 for Boston in both contests.

How can She Be This Big - So Fast!

As you can see from the accompanying pictures the BRS continues to grow exponentially. My Favorite Son reports that the ABFA took the BRS to mommy-baby yoga class. The yoga was a lot more successful than the subsequent first ever attempt at a restaurant lunch with other class participants. I didn’t get all the details on that but one can imagine a two month old’s etiquette challenges. Her cousin the FBR reported in from New Jersey last night with her usual energy and parent confounding motivations. At one point she stole her mother’s IPad and took her grandparents on a tour of her ball tent.

Boston’s success against their Canadian neighbors was not the only triumph that made yesterday special. In a completely unprecedented move I was able to negotiate a contract extension with the union in a single sitting. It still has to be ratified by the membership but compared with the labor history of this union it is nothing short of astounding and a tribute to the union leadership.

Collective Breath

Best Morale Medicine Imaginable

I was really not looking forward to this week. Not just because it would be the de-compression week after the joyful boarding of the FBR last week at our house. I also have to conduct union negotiations which start today on a new contract. My biggest concern though was having my Favorite Panamanian back in the hospital yesterday so the doctors could send a camera back up into her brain. She had the initial procedure seven years ago where they found and repaired an aneurism in her head and located a smaller one they would monitor. I’m still amazed at the technology that allowed this repair to happen, twenty years ago she would probably have died.

Wife in the Recovery Room

Despite the marvelous technology I still worry intensely when she undergoes these procedures despite endeavoring to keep the proverbial stiff upper lip she doesn’t worry more than she already does. I brought her in at 7am yesterday and received a call at 930am that she was back in the recovery room. I went back to the hospital and spent the next couple hours waiting for the doctor’s report on his findings and measurements. Thankfully the news was uniformly good and she’ll only to have to go through this one more time, in three years; hence the explosive exhale of relief from the entire family. If that test is good they’ll close the book on testing. The coolest thing is how fast the turn around, significantly improved over the past few years. I had her home resting by 2pm.

BRS Getting So Big - So Fast

Since they open up one of the largest blood vessels in her upper thigh to pass the camera through she’ll be on bed rest for a couple days while that wound heals. During the couple hours we waited in the recovery room I entertained my wife with the accompanying photos of the BRS which my Favorite Son sent. They had the anticipated effect of cheering her abuela up significantly. Throughout the day I was struck by the dedication and care provided by the nurses assigned to my wife. While I may share some familial bias, nurses are some of my favorite people in the world – just special people.

FBR On the Move

And Shopping

The FBR was back in her accustomed New Jersey haunts and speeding around on her new tricycle despite a New England bred cold that dogged her a bit. I know she was pleased to have her mom and dad back although there were apparently some calls for her grandpa and abuela. We were in the midst of our nightly FaceTime call when an act of FBR misbehavior required an abrupt end. She’s not operating under grandparent rules anymore.

After feeding my wife her dinner in bed I was accused of excessive hovering. I was dispatched to the movie theater with our Tuesday boarder, the Keene Friend. I had my first bad experience with MoviePass on Monday night when it wouldn’t work. I went through the help desk and wanted to test it again last night. I think they figured out what a money losing prospect I will be and I’m now required to take a picture of each movie ticket I purchase. I guess they find it hard to believe I go to the movies as often as I do.

Keene Friend and I always loved seeing horror movies together and we took in Blumhouse’s Truth or Dare. There should be something to like about a horror movie. Making that statement provides an insight into what fails so miserably in this college aged body count flick. A group of “friends” engage in a haunted game of truth or dare while on spring break in Mexico and acquire the game’s resident demon along the way. All too quickly they realize the stakes as bodies and secrets fall with similar anticipation. It turns out they all weren’t very nice people to begin with except for a couple minor characters and you know they’re doomed. Other than an extremely disturbing Joker-like smile with which the demon announces his presence there wasn’t very much frightening about this. The ending was bizarrely out of whack with the entire plot line. Avoid this.

Where do I Begin?

Between my Two Sisters on Saturday

Yes, blog writing while living at the beck and call of a two year old are mutually exclusive options. I chose, rightfully and without a scintilla of regret, to follow the two year old around instead of making my usual nonsensical ramblings here on Frail Deeds. If that was the only reason I had to crow about a fabulous weekend then I would certainly be content but it only scratches the surface.

FBR and I at First Friday

Grandpa - A Truck!

We started the weekend out with a lively celebration of the First Friday of the Week which the FBR attended. She was just returned from a day at the mall with her abuela, dangerous territory indeed. She’s already demonstrated some shopping acumen which scares the bejesus out of me (apparently the shopping gene skips a generation).

Shopping with Abuela

Instead of charging around Brew City with either my wife or I in trail she was content to sit in my lap for the duration and expound of life. We also monitored Shrewsbury Street traffic and loudly announced the passing of any truck because the bar patrons needed to know that was happening just outside. We returned home and the FBR, deeply imbued with family traditions wanted nothing to do with spaghetti and demanded pizza because, well Friday, don’t ya know. She donned her winged princess dress to await the pizza delivery.

Mall had a Well received Play Area

I thought I’d seen the last of the dress after the pizza but one of her favorite books called upon the characters to don costume ball dresses and dance. She stopped the reading at that point and ran to get the costume back on and start dancing, usually with her abuela (who could not have been happier with this and the shopping). Saturday promised to be awesome because the FBR had not one but two great aunts descending upon her.

The Outfit

I Look Good! 

And can Still Trike

Watching for Pizza

Both of my sisters and brothers in law came up for an altogether too enjoyable afternoon with the FBR flitting about successfully charming everyone. I don’t see my younger sister anywhere near enough so this was a real treat for me as well. It’s taken me the better part of my life to realize the best part of life’s adventure is the time spent with family. I spent so much of my adulthood charging around the globe with the Army that I cherish these times with the people who’ve known me the longest.

Two Sisters, Brother in Law and my Favorite Panamanian

Dinner Table

A couple months ago my younger sister started helping her husband with his sports memorabilia business and he reported revenues were up 51% since she started helping out. She’s had to kiss a few frogs along the way but I’m glad my little sis finally found her prince as he obviously appreciates her (and more than for the 51%). The only thing missing from the day were the absences of my Favorite Son, the ABFA and of course the BRS. We videoed them in after they returned from a family commitment of their own on the ABFA side of the equation.

Soxfather Time

Finally with Great Aunt

The day flew by much too quickly to accommodate the familial reunion sufficiently but I know my mother was looking down and smiling. We talked how much she would have doted on this newest crop of all female great-grandchildren. We made plans to continue the get togethers as we hope to become more of a part of each other’s lives. Soxfather and Great Aunt also provided the FBR with several Red Sox logo laden gifts since she will be forced to grow up in the heart of the Evil Empire.

Taking it Outside

Dancing with Abuela

The FBR continued her fascination with the Soxfather and even deigned to sit in Great Aunt’s lap for the first time in a long time. She could not help but beam (Great Aunt that is). The FBR spent the entire weekend supplying boundless energy. Anytime I sat or lay down she was immediately on station demanding I make space for her. As soon as she had that toe hold she proceeded to push until I was forced back on my feet and the games could continue.

Playing Catch with Soxfather

Great Aunt and Soxfather’s weekend with my grandchildren was not confined to our house though. On Sunday they traveled up to New Hampshire to meet the BRS for the first time. I could tell she was suitably impressed by their arrival. If she only knew the lengths they will go over the coming years to spoil her. We could not join them because we had to regretfully return the FBR to her New Jersey home.

Great Aunt Meets the BRS

Both Seem Happy with the Meet

Soxfather Sets out on his Next Conquest

Riggins Will not be Ignored

It was time for her to return. We were listening on the baby monitor Sunday morning to her usual morning soliloquy and heard the following, “I miss mom and dad. They’re my family. I love my family.” One of those moments you just have to go, “Awwww”. We drove down in the afternoon and the FBR handled the 3+ hour drive pretty well, until the last fifteen minutes. In the middle of negotiating the Garden State Parkway I found myself being pelted by goldfish crackers. She thought this was high comedy and quickly figured out here was nothing we could do about it in the current situation. It’s amazing all the different places we found goldfish after the drive. As soon as we turned on to her street she excitedly

Trying on Dresses with Abuela

A Work in Progress

Grandpa - You Didn't Really Want to Rest, Did You?

proclaimed that she was home and helped us out by pointing out where her house was.

We then made the mistake of taking a two year old fresh off three hours of being cooped up in a car seat to her favorite diner for dinner. We’re working on her “restaurant voice” as she loudly proclaimed whatever came into her head when she wasn’t throwing salt and pepper about. Despite all of this I can honestly state I enjoyed the time there with her because she has the capacity to lift your spirits at the same time  as exasperating on another level. In other words, she’s two years old.

Tea Time with Abuela

The FBR Figured Out How to Take Pictures During A FaceTime with her parents
She's Going to have to teach me How She Did it

My daughter and Wingman returned late in the evening and we reluctantly ceded supervision of the sleeping FBR. This past week has been truly heaven sent. We both admitted though that we were exhausted. Raising the young is rightfully consigned to the younger generation although it was a lot of fun to dip our feet into the pool on a temporary basis, again, grandparenting is life’s reward for all the challenges of parenting.

Already Miss This Little Imp More than I can Say

So Much Fun

We still had the drive home facing us. I decided to make a late night run home since I had to be at work today, figuring traffic around midnight would be significantly less. We set out from New Jersey at 11pm and pulled into Worcester a little after 2am. I was right about the traffic and it was almost surreal to drive through Connecticut without complaint, except from my wife about my eating habits. We reminisced that the drive reminded us of so many late night drives across the country during our Army days, usually with two children sleeping in the back seat. Again, we were decisively younger at the time and this morning dawned awfully early.