Down Side

I See the BRS This Weekend!

I’m really looking forward to this weekend (I do realize it is only Tuesday!) because I’ve been feeling uncharacteristically down for the last few days. I need to assure my Favorite Panamanian that this has nothing whatsoever to do with the weekend shopping forays with her I was subjected to, the imminent arrival of my mother in law (whom I adore), or the late night floor waxing exercise last night. It has more to do with external issues I have no control over but still have a direct and very imminent effect on my life. I’m not a control freak, despite the generally held opinions of some my less than stellar employees but I wish there weren’t so many hoops to jump through in modern life.

And the FBR!!!!!

Even as I write this I’m telling myself to “toughen up cupcake”. No one ever said life was easy (that would be my Mom) and the floor did come out looking fantastic. I just have to ranger my way through the rest of this work week because on Saturday I’ll have both of my kids, both of my granddaughters as well as a number of friends and family under my roof for the day which will have the required lift I’m seeking. It will vanquish the thoughts of politicians (national & local), doctors, contractors, union negotiators, 3^rd world bankers, Panamanian government bureaucracy, and that god damned crabgrass.

BRS Making New Friends

And Contemplating

Since we’ll be journeying down the maw of the Boston traffic maelstrom this evening to retrieve the aforementioned mother in law my wife and I scheduled a date night ahead of floor polishing last night. We went to see The Spy Who Dumped Me. This might have been a little too long but there can never be too much Kate McKinnon who’s back playing her usual character walking a thin line of sanity. Mila Kunis is playing her usual straight ”man” for McKinnon’s outlandishness and it works. There were several scenes where I was laughing out loud which is rare for me in a darkened theater. I really liked that the female characters were not victims although it would be easy to fall into that with plot of a gal (Kunis) literally dumped by a spy who has the entire intelligence world descending on her and her crazed gal pal. Instead they head out for Vienna and are soon bounding around the major cities of Europe one step ahead of assassins and smarmy operatives who consistently underestimate them. While most of their success is achieved accidently it is uniformly funny. Jane Curtin and Paul Reiser are hilarious in very small roles as completely inappropriate parents which makes sense since they spawned McKinnon. A good laugh when I needed one.

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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