Genetic Predisposition

FBR Shopping Face - Just Like her Abuela

If there were any doubts as to the genetic heritage of the FBR they were further dispelled yesterday in New Jersey. My daughter squired the FBR on a shoe shopping expedition which must have had my wife’s ears burning because there can be no dispute that the FBR has inherited her abuela’s fascination with both the act of acquiring and then wearing a wide range of footwear. My daughter also reported that the FBR had very definite opinions on what was acceptable and what was not. As stated above my wife’s ears should have been aflame since this is definitely something I’ve observed in her on the rare occasions I’ve been dragged kicking and screaming on one of her shoe shopping expeditions.

Mission Accomplished

My Favorite Panamanian was in no shape to react yesterday however as the price for ignoring my admonitions about picking up the FBR on Saturday came home to roost. She threw her back out in two different locations which rendered her hors de combat for the entire day yesterday. I had my extensive training on Sunday operations during her winter absences to fall back upon so she was able to rest while I rushed around on the work week prep missions. There was the additional requirement for Icy Hot back pads for my grocery shopping excursions.

Hang out Time with a Friend

As she has a habit of doing she spent the entire preceding week moving furniture and huge flower posts around during her frenzied approach to home redecoration which led to the fragile back which the increasingly hefty FBR exacerbated. I’d like to think she’s learned her lesson but as soon as it feels better she’ll be back into attack mode, especially since her mother is just a week or so out from arriving.

I’ve religiously not written about the epic Red Sox this year because as with any true baseball fan, especially those of us in “the nation”, I’m superstitious and do not want to queer what’s going on at Fenway. I stand in awe of what the addition of Alex Cora as manager and JD Martinez as the long sought replacement for David Ortiz has accomplished. While the rest of the team is basically the same bunch of gutless underachievers as last year they apparently grew a spine over the winter and are a lot of fun to watch; yesterday being the latest example.

RECURRING CHARACTERS

BRS - Blog Reader the Sequel - second granddaughter; FBR - First Blog Reader - first granddaughter, ABFA – Amazing Best Family Athlete = my daughter in law, formerly known both as MEF – Most Excellent Fiancé & MEG – Most Excellent Girlfriend; Wingman – my son in law; Keene Friends 1 & 2 – friends since high school from my home town of Keene, NH; Soxfather - my brother in law; Great Aunt = my elder sister; Cantankerous Friend – friend since grade school who likes to argue about everything, poses as radical leftist to attract women; Pittsburgh College Roommate – high school friend, also a “minor Celebrity” in Pittsburgh; Maine and Virginia Musqueteras – two close friends of my wife – her US sisters, my wife is the 3^rdmusquetera (musketeer); Buddy – AKA the Wonder Pooch – family dog, a black lab – hates squirrels, died in 2017; Riggins - also known as the Grandpuppy, son's dog, surrogate grandchild while awaiting arrivcal of the BRS; PanaGals – female relatives/friends of my wife from Panama; Panamanian/Latin Mafia – inevitable group of Latin friends my wife accumulates wherever we have lived & their spouses; Neighborhood Mafioso - wife's close friend and Panamanian mafia member, Favorite Panamanian - the wife (of course); First Friday – celebrations to mark the First Friday of the Week; Excellent Boss – my former direct boss at work; Voices of Inappropriate Worth - members of public who come to every Worcester public meeting to complain, all are on public assistance along with demeanor issues

Possibilities

Some Tavern Bonding with the BRS

I find it hard to countenance that we are bearing down on August already and not just because my wife’s car inspection expires at the end of the month. It’s probably because I’ve been having more fun than is potentially legal. First though, a programming note. It was brought to my attention by the ABFA that some of her friends occasionally read the blog and are confused by the acronyms I use to describe the important people in my life. I do this to provide a semblance of privacy to these people in today’s all too interconnected world. When I responded that the recurring characters are all listed on the blog she rightly pointed out that, as with all good millennials, they only surf the internet on mobile devices which do not provide that feature. I pledged to correct my ways and from now will post the list of recurring characters at the bottom of each post. I was just surprised someone else was reading the blog.

Happy Abuela

Now to the fun part. It became something of a family tradition for my son’s birthday that there would be multiple celebrations. That evolved because with a birthday in July he would inevitably be caught up in our usual summer move while I was in the military. He would therefore have a birthday at the place we were leaving, another at the one we were moving to and in between celebrations at both my New Hampshire home and Panama since we routinely hit each of those places during our move.

BRS Mirror Games with Dad

It was only fitting then that we once again returned to Stratham yesterday to continue the week long marking of my Favorite Son’s birthday. We ran into the default traffic jam on I-495 north on Saturday morning but finally took an alternative I’ve been contemplating for years. I jumped off on Route 3 and rode up through Nashua, town of so many memories, then broke right for the coast and Stratham via 101 east. It turned out to be only about 12 miles further and without a single traffic slow down.

My Son and I in Front of Building he is Putting Up

It was important to arrive in timely fashion since the stated purpose of the trip was to accompany my son to a showing of the latest Mission Impossible film and we figured they wouldn’t hold the show time until we arrived. Unfortunately the ABFA and BRS were absent when we arrived so we just absconded with our son for the cinema which was every bit as fun as it always is. After the movie he took us down to his job site where he showed us the building he’s spent the better part of the past year supervising the erection of. I couldn’t help but think back to the little boy with a mop of blonde hair so excited about opening birthdays presents that predictably included another set of Lego building blocks which was where this whole engineering career started.

Happy Girl Enroute to Tavern

Decorating Dad's Shirt

My Favorite Panamanian was not having her best day. First she left her glasses in the theater but luckily remembered before we were out of the building. Then on the ride into Portsmouth she dropped her lipstick on the car seat. By the time she noticed a very large red blotch was resident on both the seat and her favorite white pants. Her cries of anguish from the back seat when she discovered this had both my son and I thinking some sort of major health crisis had occurred. In my wife’s eyes this was even more serious.

At the Tavern with the ABFA

Upon our return to Stratham we were reunited with the returned ABFA and BRS. We got a chance to hang out with them while a certain set of white pants underwent emergency cleansing efforts. My son and I tried to remove the stain from the car seat with a modicum of success – I don‘t know why it comes off so easily on guilty husbands’ collars but seems to permanently bond with leather seats.

The Latest Cake

After an appropriate nap and semi-successful laundry we took the birthday boy and his significant others out for a tavern dinner. It was the first time I’d been to this establishment, just a couple minutes from their house, but I really enjoyed the time there. I wasn’t the only one – the BRS seems to thrive in these type environments; testament to her genetic makeup I guess. She apparently thought her father’s shirt was too drab as she decided to add some feces based color to the bottom of it. My fastidious son was not overly pleased with the addition but the BRS is impossible to stay perturbed at. I mean look at that smile.

Riggins Finally Getting Some Alone Time with his Favorite Human

And Making the Most of It

My Favorite Panamanian has been suffering from a sore back and I admonished her not to spend too much time picking up the BRS but she ignored me of course, confessing she could not resist holding her granddaughter. I can actually understand this. After an all too short time at the tavern and the requisite birthday cake demolition we headed home with a day well spent in out kit bag.

FBR is on the Loose

Refusing to Smile for Grandpa

Already a Very Confident Climber

We tried to connect with the FBR but she was her usual highly mobile target. She was coming off an epic daddy-daughter day on Friday with Wingman. He sent the accompanying pictures to chronicle a day spent with friends chasing around the playground, park, and neighbor’s pool. We talked with them that evening and for the first time ever I could see the day’s expenditure of effort had taken its toll. She actually seemed a little tired which boggles the imagination of anybody who’s spent any time with her. She’s turning brown as a nut with all the time she spends outside despite the abundant sun screen she’s usually lathered with. That’s what a childhood should consist of instead of being cooped up inside glued to an electronic device.

FBR (m) Heading out for a Walk with Friends

Wonder Woman in Pool

Tom Cruise’s latest IMF mission actually does accomplish the impossible. It injects new life into a sixth sequel and I rarely use the word epic for this type genre but it certainly fits. The story is completely implausible but that is, of course, why the IMF team is needed. This time they’re chasing plutonium around the world and causing no end of traffic mishaps in Paris which must have sent insurance rates skyrocketing. Superman is along in a rare villainous turn which he handles adroitly. The movie also brings back some of the most beloved characters from earlier movies to either complete, or continue, their arcs. This was most notable in Rebecca Ferguson the only woman capable of keeping up with Ethan Hunt. I loved the movie with relentless action, characters you can invest in, and climatic scenes that will cause acrophobic fainting spells.

RECURRING CHARACTERS

BRS - Blog Reader the Sequel - second granddaughter; FBR - First Blog Reader - first granddaughter, ABFA – Amazing Best Family Athlete = my daughter in law, formerly known both as MEF – Most Excellent Fiancé & MEG – Most Excellent Girlfriend; Wingman – my son in law; Keene Friends 1 & 2 – friends since high school from my home town of Keene, NH; Soxfather - my brother in law; Great Aunt = my elder sister; Cantankerous Friend – friend since grade school who likes to argue about everything, poses as radical leftist to attract women; Pittsburgh College Roommate – high school friend, also a “minor Celebrity” in Pittsburgh; Maine and Virginia Musqueteras – two close friends of my wife – her US sisters, my wife is the 3^rdmusquetera (musketeer); Buddy – AKA the Wonder Pooch – family dog, a black lab – hates squirrels, died in 2017; Riggins - also known as the Grandpuppy, son's dog, surrogate grandchild while awaiting arrivcal of the BRS; PanaGals – female relatives/friends of my wife from Panama; Panamanian/Latin Mafia – inevitable group of Latin friends my wife accumulates wherever we have lived & their spouses; Neighborhood Mafioso - wife's close friend and Panamanian mafia member, Favorite Panamanian - the wife (of course); First Friday – celebrations to mark the First Friday of the Week; Excellent Boss – my former direct boss at work; Voices of Inappropriate Worth - members of public who come to every Worcester public meeting to complain, all are on public assistance along with demeanor issues

Moveable

Yesterday turned out to be a lot more of a popcorn emission than the critical decision making board meeting I had anticipated/hoped for. There’s been a yearlong battle between the governor’s office, his DOT minions, and the legislature on funding for public transportation. Those of us at the end of the food chain where the rubber literally meets the road have been in a weird limbo not knowing how or what to budget for the fiscal year we’re already operating in.

Compounding the task is the decision-challenged political leader whose last day is today. It was supposed to come to a head at yesterday’s meeting with a decision on this year’s budget. The Voices of Inappropriate Worth were out in force as were the union members demanding what I felt was a fairly easy decision. We’re talking politics so nothing is easy so no decision was made other than to reach out to the DOT for some sort of compromise deal. Next year’s retirement plans seem all the more tasty.

New Setup

My wife is facing the impending visit of my mother in law and like any dutiful Latina daughter has launched on another of her signature campaigns on cleaning the already sparkling clean house. While she was at it she decided two years was more than enough for a living room furniture arrangement and repositioned everything. While I complain I have to grumpily acknowledge she has a real eye for this kind of thing (something I totally lack) and I really like the new configuration.

If the morning board meeting and the FBR refusing to speak with us on our nightly call wasn’t insult enough I was safely hiding out in the Man Cave when I noticed a discoloration in the ceiling tile and an accompanying puddle on the couch. I traced it back to the first floor bathroom where the water input pipe was seeping. My very rusty plumber skills will be put to work attempting to fix this as I refuse to pay a professional plumber $400 just to replace a simple pipe. My Favorite Panamanian just hopes I don’t do too much damage before having to call in a plumber to rescue me from my ineptitude.

Unequaled

Birthday Boy and his New Buddy

Today is not a day that I take lightly because it marks the anniversary of the birth of my Favorite Son. He’s become the man I could see hidden behind the mop of blonde hair and earnest facial expressions I saw throughout the years of his youth. That means he’s exceeded any expectations I held which were lofty to begin with. These past few months he’s evolved into a new role that he ideally suited for – father. Although on certain levels I find it hard to believe my little superman is a father in his own right – that is only because I’m into denial mode when it comes to my own age.

Great husband to ABFA

Superb Father to the BRS

My Best Friend

He truly has become the man he was destined to be and that’s not easy for anyone, much less an Army brat towed all over the world with a father absent for long periods of time. The cool thing about having adult children is getting to know them as equal, fellow adults. In the last decade I’ve come to fully appreciate the depth of my Favorite Son’s character. He’s succeeded at every test life has thrown him. I’d like to be able to take credit for some of that evolution but as I said above I recognized the inherent quality from his earliest days.

Superman From Earliest Age

Making Christmas Dinner Together

Hanging with the BRS

He’ll pooh pooh these comments of an overly proud dad (which I am, of course) but I know that anybody reading this who knows him will acknowledge the simple truth. He’s an outstanding husband to the ABFA and a fantastic father to the BRS. Despite this and a very successful professional career he’s best at the first role he ever took on – a son truly sent form heaven.

New Trees on Either Side of Door

My Favorite Panamanian finally acquired a long held dream of owning a pair of curly-cue pine trees to flank the front door. I’m not sure where the fascination with this specific set of flora came from but it was undeniable. She scoured central Massachusetts yesterday before finally locating an acceptable pair in Auburn. I returned home on a hot rainy afternoon with the task of sticking them into the ground. Luckily she was distracted by moving all of the first floor furniture around so I was able to work unsupervised. I do not know where she gets the energy.

On Tuesday night we went to see Equalizer 2 on date night. Denzel is back in John Creasy mode as the semi-silent predator inflicting justice where needed. This sequel didn’t play as well as the original because it tried to jump into international espionage instead of keeping the equalizing local, which was the strength of the story. The action sequences were everything that could be hoped for although there was too much thoughtful consideration liberally spiced between them. I get it, watching Denzel operate can be mesmerizing, but the director seemed to forget all about pacing as he almost lovingly lingers on Denzel in pensive mode. This is a perfect role for Denzel because he brings the gravitas needed for vigilante justice to be acceptable. Despite all this it’s well worth the watch if only to see the pre-eminent actor of this generation in peak form.

Lining Up

The Colormeister with a Prescient t shirt Message

Ahh Mondays!!! While the first day of the work week is bad enough, when it follows a weekend where I got to hang out with my most excellent high school classmates as well as one of the granddaughters – it’s almost too much to bear. I have my weekly staff meeting on Monday morning and as I was looking around the table trying to focus I was imagining how much I’d rather be back at Scores on Saturday or the Sea Dog Brewing Company on Sunday. Life, however, is uniformly unfair in this regard as time maintained its awkward tendency to keep moving inexorably forward. I guess that’s what makes the fleeting intervals spent with important people so special.

The Result with Obligatory Stickers as Well

Regarding special. My wife and I had a very nice FaceTime chat with the FBR last evening while she was devouring gnocchi. My daughter’s train was running late so Wingman was alone scrambling to keep up with the FBR’s consumption rate which was almost terrifying. Earlier in the day Wingman reported a milestone in the coloring book arena. The FBR has always been a big fan of coloring in general and coloring books specifically. She’s always taken the abstract artist approach and the resulting creations resemble a Jackson Pollock creation. Wingman, as he is wont to do, spent some time with his daughter yesterday explaining what coloring inside the lines was all about. No further instruction as needed and she immediately began doing it. He sent the evidence which was truly impressive. My son and I had the same reaction when we saw it – she’s already better at this than we are.

After chick flick purgatory on Sunday my wife and I were back at the theater last night to see something blow up and the usually explosive Rock was a seemingly perfect solution in Skyscraper. This was a formulaic rip off of Die Hard without the needed edge or sly humor. This surprised me because Johnson is so good at this type role but he may be starting to take himself too seriously. He’s framed with starting a fire in the tallest building in the world that traps his family above the fire. The predictable demonstrations of the Rock’s upper body strength ensue as despicable bad guys pursue a laughably bad plan to destroy the building. Neve Campbell is a welcome addition as the competent wife and the Asian actors were particularly good. They couldn’t rescue this however as the Rock playing sensitive is not what we go to see a Rock movie for. There were a lot of acrophobic inducing stunts but this played more like a TV disaster movie versus a summer blockbuster. A rare miss for the Rock while playing in his strong suit.

Crisscrossing Away

KHS '73  Assembly - Guest of Honor on Right

I spent another one of those weekends crisscrossing New England but it was for eminently good reasons as at each point of the compass I encountered some really special people. One of the “Dream Girls” of my high school class was returning for a short visit from her Atlanta home. A few weeks ago a group of us scheduled a gathering at Scores Sports Bar in downtown Keene to welcome her home and give her a chance to see as many friends as possible during her compressed time back home.

A true barometer of the esteem she is held in was the enthusiastic response to the call for the gathering. It was a very fun afternoon as high school friends rotated in and out of the bar. The biggest surprise was my Favorite Panamanian’s decision to remain with Keene Friend, Cantankerous Friend, and I for the entire time, eschewing her usual escape to tax free hunting grounds.

Raising my Fist at the Far End of Table

As the afternoon waned no one wanted to let go of the company and a friend of the guest of honor invited everyone over to his house for an after party. I’d never been to his house before but his directions of five houses past the covered bridge were pure New Hampshire and very accurate. We set up shop in his beautiful back yard along the banks of the Ashuelot River and continued the fun. A young man showed up, a guest of the host’s daughter, and started performing magic tricks. I’m not sure if it’s a comment on how much beer I had sent down range or he was really as good as I thought he was but he had the whole group stumped and very impressed with his level of prestidigadoo.

After party - Wife in Rear Next to Keene Freind

As the sun set we headed back to Keene Friend’s house for the night. Since I’d spent the entire morning moving furniture back into place after completion of the hard wood floor project I didn’t last much longer. My wife was of the opinion that this was more due to the fun and alcohol that had been consumed versus any physical labor. She’s such a heathen.

At the Sea Dog

We set out after breakfast on Sunday on the next leg of our journey as we crossed the state to surprise my Favorite Son. They weren’t expecting us but his birthday is this week and we showed up on his doorstep with presents and an offer to take them out for lunch. As with any new parents housebound by the responsibilities of a newborn they were very ready to escape with us. The ABFA recommended a newly opened restaurant in nearby Exeter, the Sea Dog Brewing Company. The BRS was more than ready to party and entertained all of us throughout lunch. She’s taking after her cousin, the FBR, in realizing when she has a captive audience that hangs on her every gesture. After a brief peekaboo game with her grandfather she went to her default trick – making raspberry sounds. The restaurant was a nice surprise as we were seated on the second floor with views of the Squamscottt River flowing right below us.

Proud Papa

Very Happy Abuela

Real Connection with These two

We had to depart all too soon on the final leg of our journey since we had a late afternoon appointment with Deckzilla Dude to discuss plans for the addition to the house. The rainy weather was emptying Maine out earlier than normal so there was more traffic than is socially acceptable but we still made it home in time for the meeting. My input was limited to grunts and gestures since this was about taste and style, not exactly my strong suits.

We ended the day at the theater trying to make up for our backlog of missed movies over the past couple weeks. I acquiesced to take one for the team and immerse myself in estrogen by escorting my wife to see Mamma Mia, Here We Go Again. The first Mamma Mia is potentially my wife’s favorite movie of all time but they used nearly all of the best ABBA songs in the first movie and the only time this second one takes off is when they repeated a couple of those. The entire cast is back dealing with a family tragedy while at the same time a series of flashbacks reveal how the original Meryl Streep character ended up pregnant on a Greek island. Lily James once again dominates but this just didn’t have the heart of the first movie and suffered a definite lack of Streep for most of the movie. It does finish strongly despite the presence of a very creaky Cher and not just because they finally included my favorite Abba song, Fernando. Speaking of Cher, she was a disaster as age seems to finally have caught up with her. Plastic surgery has ravaged her face to the extent she’s incapable of facial expression and she looked to need a walker for the limited dance moves that were called for. I need to get back to the movies tonight and see something blow up.