Crowded Return

All good things must come to an end, or at least that’s what passes as common wisdom states. You don’t have to like it but there it is. In my case this meant an end to our ten-day sojourn in Northern New Jersey with my Favorite Daughter and her family. With Wingmom now in residence along with the returned Wingman, our services were no longer required for the FBR watch. Both my daughter and Wingman were very appreciative of our efforts but I felt guilty for accepting their thanks as I felt I should be paying them for the opportunity to hang out with my eldest granddaughter and them.

Saying Goodbye to Abuela

The departure was fraught with a little drama as the FBR staged a meltdown. I blame myself because I mentioned to her that we were leaving and her mood changed almost immediately and she staged the emotional scene shortly thereafter. Consigned to her room to cogitate on her emotional state, she was eventually talked back down by my daughter and the departure effort continued. That included one last shoulder ride around the first floor. This may have to come to an end in the foreseeable future due to the dual effect of her getting taller and me older. It was still a lot of fun, even if she had to duck to get through some doorways.

The FBR is an ardent user of her mother’s iPad, to the point telling her to log off becomes a flash point and not for the weak to try to enforce. She promises every time she is granted permission to use it that this time is different but she’s always at some critical, unable to disengage point when called upon to get off. We practiced that some yesterday with the first blushes of success. “Listening” was a big theme during our visit, hopefully helping her get ready for kindergarten in a few weeks. I know she’ll be a super hero there.

iPad in Use, Approach with Caution

Our departure usually is grounds for waterworks from our eldest granddaughter but the arrival of Wingmom and her pets seems to have helped in that area. I also left a cache of whoopie pies in the freezer. While the FBR was still sad she was still in the mildly euphoric state of finally having a dog in the house. Harley is a great little dog that I can already see starting to bond with the desperately affectionate FBR. While we were slogging through our return, we received these photos showing the FBR proudly squiring Harley around the neighborhood.

FBR with her new Buddies

As to that slogging, I have to admit, my hated nemesis, Connecticut has lured me into complacency over the past couple years. I’d made the trip to and from New Jersey many times without a significant hold up. That winning streak came to a startling halt yesterday. I was doing my usual herding cats moves trying to get my Favorite Panamanian to leave. She was engrossed in a long conversation with Wingmom over the breakfast table while I wall loading the car. I told her the later we left the worse the traffic would be. I hate being right sometimes.

FBR and Harley

The Garden State Parkway was much slower than usual but I thought I was home free after getting across the Mario Cuomo Bridge without a big problem. Here’s where my old enemy asserted itself. We came to a grinding halt as we approached Connecticut and it took nearly an hour to go twenty miles. When we finally got going again, Connecticut instituted its old policy of calling for stop and go traffic in 65 MPH zones for no apparent reason. You could almost forgive if there was construction or an accident causing this but it was just Connecticut being Connecticut.

She Said she was Still Leaving Poop Pickup to Wingmom

We hadn’t even reached Hartford by the time I should have been pulling into my driveway. Our faithful GPS and some road signs somewhat gleefully informed us that there was a huge back up at the Mass Pike as we approached Massachusetts but I was finally in territory I knew. It’s always frustrating to sit in traffic when you know the locals know their way around the backup you’re sitting in. I got off a couple exits early, avoided the back up, and stopped for a very late lunch at our old stomping grounds at the Sturbridge Cracker Barrel. We then made out way over back roads, occasionally seeing the parking lot the Mass Pike was through gaps in the trees.

This was a marked relief after the first four hours of our usual three hour trip. We arrived home to find the resident PanaGal had returned from Niagara Fall and spent some time cleaning the house, unbidden. While I loved our stay with my daughter’s family it was good to get back into the familiar Man Cave and to sleep on our own bed last night. Before gong to bed though I binge watched a couple more episodes of Happy Endings, a show my daughter and Wingman hooked me on during our stay. I also still missed giving shoulder rides though. A lot.

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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; Wingmom – Wingman’s mom, of course; 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; Kindergarten Friend – friend since kindergarten whom I reunited with after many years; 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