Chemdown

Daughter, FBR and my Nemesis Pee Wee

I’ve started the chemotherapy cream treatment for the spot on my chest now that the biopsy wound has finally healed. I never had a reaction to an earlier round, a few years ago, so while my Favorite Panamanian was reading off the long list of potential side effects I just nodded sagely as if I was paying close attention (a true art developed over a very long marriage). My tenuous grasp of common sense once again failed me as I should have known. For some reason the basal cells seem to take this attack on their existence as a true affront. I feel really drained.

Wingman Getting Doused by FBR this Past Weekend

And Loving It

We eschewed a date night movie since we already knocked out the big release over the weekend with our son and my wife had no intention of seeing a horror movie with me. We spent the night in the Man Cave with Keene Friend as we watched the Red Sox together. It was during that time, after the second application of the day, that I started to feel the effects of the treatment I had blissfully wished away. This is going to be a major pain the ass if it continues the entire scheduled eight weeks.

I knew I should have kept my mouth shut about the Red Sox. The day after I extol their brilliant season their best pitcher goes on the disabled list and they lose to a motley collection of Phillies because Drew Pomerantz seems disinclined to throw the ball anywhere near the plate. They looked like a different team last night and I blame myself. Wingman does also.

In Fifteen Years this Little guy Would
Relish this kind of Attention from the BRS

He reminded me of my fate tempting failure during our call last night. The FBR was a little under the weather having sprung a fever during the day and did not want to eat last night. This is a true indication of not feeling well because she is a veritable chow hound, usually consuming not only her meal but raiding the plates of others unwary enough to be seated nearby. My daughter had made her some soup and my wife chimed in that she had also made one of her trademark homemade soups. When the FBR learned this was because her abuela was also not feeling well, with a sore back, she immediately began offering the sage advice her vast experience of two years of existence could offer – it was awesome to listen to.

The Champ!

We also caught up with my Favorite Son and the BRS. The BRS has achieved her first championship at the ripe age of five months. I attribute her prowess to her overly athletic parents. My son received a report for the day care facility that the BRS had been proclaimed the “pooping champion” of the day care center. My son, after his shirt decorating experience of this past Saturday, needed no explanation. I’m just wondering how this will sell on her future resumes.

I polished off the next in my sprint through RW Peake’s excellent Marching with Caesar series, Rise of Germanicus. Peake’s hero Titus Pullo was sent back to Germania after losing his mind in a vengeful episode in Pannonia which resulted in the usual high body count of Pannonians. He finally gets promoted to centurion but then is summoned back to Pannonia by Tiberius to help Tiberius’ adopted son Germanicus Julius Caesar help quell yet another rebellion. Peake’s description of the everyday life of the Roman legionnaire continues to be fascinating and his portrayal of ancient close combat is nerve rattling. Pullo learns some very hard lessons on the price of leadership and the book ends with him limping back to Germania with a heavy heart. I think I’m reaching the end of the series which I will truly regret leaving behind.

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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