Spousal Eve

Today I retrieve my Favorite Panamanian who is returning from her surprise visit home to celebrate Panamanian Mothers’ Day with her mom. While I think she’ll be happy to see me there will be the requirement to adjust to snow and temperatures seventy degrees less than she’s leaving in Panama. Luckily she’ll also be returning to one of the busiest times of year for us leading up to hosting Christmas. The requisite decorating and Christmas cookie operation should commence almost immediately which will hopefully distract from her usual inspection of house cleanliness or lack thereof during her absence. I give it a shot while she’s gone but I think the phrase I’m looking for is “impossibly high standards”.

Daddy-Daughter Date Last Night

BRS in Action

New England Tough in the Snow

I didn’t get to talk to either of the granddaughters last night which was difficult to manage but both sets of parents sent me photos to assuage the pain. My daughter was away on a business trip so it was daddy-daughter night in New Jersey. On the one free weeknight Wingman has away from his restaurant the FBR requested they go out to dinner at, you guessed it, Wingman’s restaurant. They did try to reach me for a video chat but I was already seated in the movie theater and it’s incredibly bad form to answer calls in a darkened theater (someone should tell the lady who sat behind me last night that).

I escaped the empty house once again to see A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood. Tom Hanks is of course the only actor who should have been cast as the iconic and saintly Mr Rogers. Both exude kindness and Hanks wisely chose not to mimic Mr Rogers as much as capture his humanity. The plot is not centered on him as it is on a damaged magazine writer who is assigned to write a story about him. The writer is profoundly moved and begins to deal with issues in his own life. He goes into the story not believing Fred Rogers can be as nice as he is but find his shields inexorably challenged by Rogers bone deep decency. It’s a simple movie that will also cause you to think about how you deal with your own life’s challenges and if you’ve been as decent to the people in your life as you should be. That is the timeless lesson Mr Rogers left us with and hopefully this movie perpetuates.

Apparently Inherited the Family Book Reading Gene

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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; 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; Deckzilla – our backyard deck which grew to monstrous dimensions once my wife got involved in planning; Maine and Virginia Musqueteras – two close friends of my wife – her US sisters, my wife is the 3^rd musquetera (musketeer); Riggins - also known as the Grandpuppy, son's dog, surrogate grandchild while awaiting arrival of the BRS; PanaGals – female relatives/friends of my wife from Panama; Panamanian/Latin Mafia – inevitable group of Latino 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; Deckzilla Dude – senior citizen carpenter/contractor; 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