First Friday Fun

As anyone who reads this blog knows, I have always been a huge fan of celebrating the First Friday of the Week. I also find it personally devastating that I haven’t been in a bar since March; 2020 indeed. One of the best developments out of the restrictions forced upon us by the pandemic has been the First Friday Family FaceTime video chats. My daughter has organized them since the spring and it never fails to have a marked improvement in my morale. My daughter always receives a less than welcome text from me at 4:59pm requesting the start time. To her credit she always rushes to complete work to get us started.

BRS & BR3 in Matching Outfits Gifted by my Daughter

My overly large Mexican sombrero has become a signature feature of the calls although I am no longer allowed to perform my beer bottle balancing trick on its brim, especially since the cold weather forced us inside. I truly appreciate my two kids for putting up with these as I know what a challenge trying to have a conversation while chasing down my energetic granddaughters. A case in point would be last evening when the BRS figured out how to lock her dad, my son, out of the house. The rest of us laughed uncontrollably as the BRS looked out a side window, with a disturbing evil grin, at her frustrated dad.

Hard to Believe she can Manage an Evil Grin

Luckily he was outside awaiting the ritualistic Friday pizza delivery which he was able to bribe his way back into the house with. The other challenge for the call is that Friday night is movie night for the New Jersey bunch. If the FBR behaves all week in school she’s rewarded a full-on movie night with popcorn and all the fixings. After about thirty minutes of the First Friday FaceTime call she starts campaigning to end the call so they can get on with movie night. That leads to what has become one of the best parts of our Friday calls.

BR3 Now Objects to Lying Down
She Wants to Sit up and Observe

As both the kids’ families fall off the call my Favorite Panamanian and I continue the fun with Great Aunt and Soxfather. It has been so frustrating not to be able to hang out with them for so many months that this helps in a large way. Last night both kids were off by 5:40 but we continued laughing and reminiscing with the Rhode Islanders until after 7pm. It helps push back the loneliness of quarantine a little; especially as we march into the holiday season where so many beloved traditions will have to be modified. Long live First Friday!

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RECURRING CHARACTERS                                           

BR3 – 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