I should have kept my big mouth shut last week when I was listing the various household appliances and sundry other items that required repair in 2020. I opined at the time that there wasn’t anything left to break. As I said, I have a very big mouth (insert sarcastic comment from Cantankerous Friend here). As we were waiting with high anticipation for my son’s family to arrive on Saturday the kitchen sink backed up and began spewing green spinach from the garbage disposal (a real exorcist moment). I quickly donned my plumber hat and insured the wife I would be able to remedy the situation.
I cleared out underneath
the sink and removed all the pipe attachments available. Eventually I had the entire
structure separated and was jamming a coat hanger down the pipe hoping to clear
whatever blockage was causing the backup. I reassembled the structure only to
find it wasn’t fixed. Since this was the limit of my abilities I was in a
quandary. I had very few illusions about the ability to get a same day plumber to
the house on a Saturday morning. I then reverted to my childhood listening to
commercials for Roto-Rooter. This sounded like a job for them. A quick check on
google and I was talking to a customer rep who asked if 11am would be okay. The
guy arrived and went through the same steps I did before he called in the big
guns and started the rooter machine down the pipe. 
One Seriously Happy Grandpa
Favorite Panamanian and BRS Devouring Mandarins 
BR3 Experimenting with Solid Food with ABFA
It was shortly after
drilling operations commenced that my son and his family arrived. I was therefore
deprived of the joyous reception I had planned in my head because we had to get
all masked up due to a stranger in our midst. I was able to finally pick up my granddaughters
again after the post-surgery prohibition. We bundled them all upstairs while
drilling maneuvers were underway. In short order the drain was opened and under
sink superstructure re-installed. The bill was as painful as you could imagine
but I was grateful for such a timely resolution. The Roto-Rooter guy also had
some good advice about what not to put down the garbage disposal. Apparently,
any starch (potatoes, rice, pasta), coffee, or egg shells contribute
significantly to blockages. I also got a monthly treatment liquid to pour down
the drain.
She Wears Her Food Well
BRS and FBR Conspiring Together
With all this
nonsense out of the way we settled down to the primary mission of the weekend –
enjoy our time with my Favorite Son, the ABFA and, of course, the BRS and BR3.
My Favorite Panamanian ferried up the granddaughter toy cache we keep in the basement
and the BRS and I were soon building a tower together. After my experience with
the FBR I expected the towers to be short lived as that agent of destruction sees
towers as simply something that cannot be left standing. The BRS was more
interested in seeing the marble travel down through all the passages we set up together.
While my Son Induces Nap Time with BR3
Dinner Time!
It was so fun to
finally have someone other than my wife and I under our roof again (I don’t count
the various repair guys as noted above). BR3 continues to grow like the
proverbial weed. She’s in the 98th percentile for size based on her Friday 6 month
checkup. How can she possibly be six months old already?! We also had Riggins
flitting around making his welcome canine presence notable. We scorched some
dead animal flesh and toped the meal off with a resurrection of my birthday
cake from the freezer. The Maine Musquetera’s confection maintained its
excellent taste and the BRS assisted me with some re-ignited candles.
A Very Happy Abuela
Tower Construction 
BR3 Wants to Help
That wasn’t our only combustible
experience. Shortly thereafter were outside with my style challenged fireplace toasting
marshmallows. I say “we” with the notable exception of my Favorite Panamanian.
It is, after all, late November, and she graciously volunteered to stay inside
and warm with BR3. My wife ventures outside when it is below 60 degrees in only
dire emergencies. While we were toasting I noticed the jacket the BRS was wearing
was a hand down from the FBR and the last time I was out there to share a fire
with a granddaughter, the FBR was wearing the same garment. 
Fire Time
Birthday Cake Resurrection 
BR3 is in the House!
After we satisfied that
pyromaniacal need we returned inside where, somehow, against all odds, my son
and I ended up down in the Man Cave watching the end of some entertaining
college football games. We followed this up with a serial watch of some
episodes of the Norsemen. My son and I share similar comic sensibilities and this
Norwegian show filmed in English reminded both of us as a toned down Monty
Python effort. It revolves around a Viking village in the eighth century and had
us both laughing together which is never a bad thing.
Melting Steel Again
Hojaldra Breakfast
Sunday morning was a
delight to have some early morning company when I descended the stairs. The BRS
volunteered to help me put up the flags. We then awaited the arrival of my Favorite
Panamanian and the obligatory hojaldra breakfast which the BRS is a huge fan
of. BR3 remains a bright addition to the family she seems very interested in
everything that goes on around her and offers a ready smile that could melt
steel. She realized she had to develop some sort of defense against her abuela’s
repeated neck kisses which are usually accompanied by energetic expressions of love
for her granddaughter. By the end of the visit BR3 would warily put up her
hands and smile as she readied for another attack.
Helping with Baby Sister
The BRS and I monitored
the birds of the backyard and I told her about my running battle with the squirrels.
We decided we should take a walk around the backyard woods to demonstrate where
they sit in the food chain. We were having a such a good time that we decided
to take a walk around the neighborhood. The BRS hasn’t met a wall that she doesn’t
want to walk across the top of. With that in mind we set out to test the tops
of every wall we came across. We had a rare (damned quarantine) siting of the neighborhood
mafiosos who came to the door to say hi while the BRS was mounted on their front
yard wall.
Helping me with the Flags
One of the funniest activities
of the weekend were the Facetime calls with the FBR. You could tell how much
she wanted to be with us, despite having a fun weekend at home with her
friends. She and the BRS figured out how to conduct a game of hide and seek
with the adults responsible for carrying the iPad around during the search
phase. I can’t wait for future Christmases when all these granddaughters are together
– my vision of heaven on earth.
FBR Facetimeing
Speaking of my New Jersey
based daughter and granddaughter I am seriously considering disowning both of
them based on the devious birthday gift they gave me. They’ve noted how fast I’ve
been moving through jigsaw puzzles and decided they had to do something to slow
me down. They gave me a puzzle, titled Night, which is a picture of the night
sky. It has had me swearing and otherwise cursing their evil intentions as I try
to put it together. All the pieces are the same type and fit where they’re not
supposed to so the frustration level is off the charts. Of course, after
enduring their laughs when I voiced these sentiments I now have to finish it. Their
evil plan has succeeded.
The Cursed Puzzle
The preceding
paragraph was written with my tongue firmly in cheek as I look forward to the challenge,
at least a little bit. The FBR will return to the Wingman school experience as
one of her teachers was possibly exposed to the virus and school has been shut
down for two weeks. 2020 just keeps coming, but at least their kitchen sink (and
ours!) work. What a truly fantastic way to end my birthday celebrations – as I
told my weekend visitors their presence
was the best birthday gift I could have possible wished for. 
FBR Showing Serious Attitude This Morning
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RECURRING CHARACTERS
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