Flashing Eyes Day

More than 38 years ago I ran into a set of flashing eyes that changed my life forever. I was a young, dumb, and very single lieutenant running around the wilds of Panama on my first assignment as an officer. I was having more fun than it is probably legal but there was a big emptiness in my life. I turned around at the officers club one Friday night and that all changed when I was decisively engaged by a set of flashing eyes that decimated any defenses I had. I asked the owner of those eyes to marry me three days later.

Birthday Girl Dancing on the Beach with the FBR Last Year

Today is my Favorite Panamanian’s birthday (along with her twin sister’s) which she is celebrating with her family down in Panama. She’s taken a page out of our son’s playbook because she knows we’ll be celebrating it again next week when I arrive. She’s been a consummate Army wife (really the toughest job in the Army), a friend, and a fierce mother. I give her a hard time here on the blog at times pointing out her love of shopping but nothing can diminish the love and respect I have for this lady. She has an inborn ability to make friends with people as soon as she meets them. She’s the kind of gal people just enjoy being around. I’ve been the benefactor over these years and I haven’t always deserved her devotion. She’s been my rock or more correctly my lodestone and boy, do those eyes still flash. She can deploy them at will whenever she needs to win an argument. Happy Birthday Babe! See you next week!

In Europe Last September

Since she was down in Panama I was dateless for date night but went to the movies anyway (big surprise) and saw Birds of Prey. This is a really good movie and Margot Robbie owns the character proving she’s so much more than just a pretty face. She plays the Joker’s now ex-girlfriend and has all of Gotham City underworld after her. She forms a bond with several other very dangerous ladies to protect themselves. The villain is played with very cunning style by Ewan McGregor. This isn’t your typical DC Universe trope but laced with a lot of dazzling color as well as Robbie’s personality. The fights are well done and it’s obvious the ladies didn’t shy away from the physicality required. This is as light as DC gets but I thoroughly enjoyed the ride.

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RECURRING CHARACTERS                                           

BR3 – inbound granddaughter #3, 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; 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; Curbside Girls – close friends of my daughter acquired during her single days in Brooklyn