Trees and Memories

Well, the Christmas tree is up. After the kids left on Sunday, we returned to our old Charlton haunts to pick one up as anything surrounding Christmas was bound to lift spirits after the aforementioned departures. As usual, my involvement was getting the tree inside and standing with the lights on. After that point I am forbidden from participation in the decorating process. I think it has something to do with my absolute lack of any sense of style. Each year, when I see what my Favorite Panamanian renders, I understand. She has once again created a beautiful Christmas tree. Now, all we need are a few grandchildren careening around the house to herald the actual holiday.

Tree is Up, My Work is Done

So My Wife Could Do this

We awoke this morning to some really good news from Panama. The country has been in gridlock for months with most of the roads blocked in protest of a new contract the government signed with a Canadian mining company to open a huge open pit copper mine in the Panamanian rain forest. There was an outcry from the entire company as most people realized most of the money gleaned would end up in the politicians’ pickets while the environmental damage would be devastating. Yesterday the supreme court, bowing to the tidal wave of popular discontent, ruled the contract was unconstitutional and today the roads started opening up. My Favorite Panamanian was in tears upon hearing the news and spent most of the morning celebrating via Facetime with her family in Panama.

I know it’s hard to believe (based on how long the last post was) but I forgot to include one of the funniest moments from the past weekend. On Friday, at Great Aunt’s house, I was watching some football with Wingman when someone came in to tell me some horrible news. The ABFA had taken it upon herself to teach my Favorite Panamanian how to shop online. Anyone who knows my wife realizes she is an absolute savant when it comes to shopping but she has always been stymied when confronted with the electromagnetic spectrum, relying on me to make online purchases. I was happy with this brief respite from the relentless attack on financial resources my wife’s shopping usually entails. Upon hearing the news, I bellowed (loudly), “She did what!!!!” and set out for the table where the ABFA and my wife were sitting. The ABFA upon hearing my roar started sinking below table level cautioning everyone to be quiet. That’s where I found her when I came into the room and it was too funny. I love her and have no illusions about any of her lessons sticking. My Favorite Panamanian will never give up the primacy of grazing actual stores.

The ABFA, Hearing of my Approach

I heard of the passing of one of the biggest influences in my Army career today. Colonel Bill Williamson was my regimental commander in the Old Guard in the early 1980s and selected me for company command. I was thinking of getting out of the Army after command and he, more than anyone, convinced me to stay. He saw something in me and made sure my professional record noted that with phenomenal command performance reports. In a strange twist of fate, when I retired and began work in the transit industry we were reunited. He was a senior vice president in the company I went to work for and once again went out of his way to make sure I was being taken care of. He could never get me to stop calling him "Sir", even though we retired at the same rank. We exchanged emails over the past few years and when they stopped a month ago I began to wonder. I heard the news of his passing from one of my former transit contacts and it caused me to reflect on how much I owed him for my success in the Army. Tough, but a very fair commander, who taught me a lot.

R.I.P. Sir, Thanks for the Guidance

Two movies fell in my A-Z watch, both keepers: The Heat, so funny, with Bullock serving as able foil to hilarious McCarthy; and Heavy Metal, have always just loved this animated movie featuring everything an arrested adolescent would want in a move (is it possible to fall in love with a cartoon character(s)?).

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RECURRING CHARACTERS:                                     

ABFA – Amazing Best Family Athlete - my daughter in law; BR3 – Blog Reader #3 – granddaughter #3; BRS - Blog Reader the Sequel - second granddaughter; Cantankerous Friend – friend since grade school who likes to argue about everything, poses as radical leftist to attract women; CRC - Connecticut Riverboat Captain – another close friend from high school, renowned sailor of the big river; Curbside Girls – close friends of my daughter acquired during him her single days in Brooklyn; Deckzilla – our backyard deck which grew to monstrous dimensions once my wife got involved in planning; Favorite Panamanian - the wife (of course); FBR - First Blog Reader - first granddaughter; First Friday – celebrations to mark the First Friday of the Week; Great Aunt - my elder sister; Keene Friends 1 & 2 – friends since high school from my home town of Keene, NH; Kindergarten Friend – friend since kindergarten whom I reunited with after many years; Maine and Virginia Musqueteras – two close friends of my wife – her US sisters, my wife is the 3^rd Musquetera (musketeer); Namesake Nephew – son of Great Aunt and Soxfather named after me; Neighborhood Mafioso - wife's close friend and Panamanian mafia member; 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; PCR - Pittsburgh College Roommate– high school friend, also a “Minor Celebrity” in Pittsburgh; PCR+1 - Pittsburgh College Roommate’s wife; Riggins - also known as the Grandpuppy, son's dog; Soxfather - my brother in law; Tia Loca – wife’s younger sister; Wingman – my son in law; Wingmom – Wingman’s mom, of course

Smokin!!!

That’s an expression I shared with my son, when he was a young lad, each night as he went to bed. We said it with a fist bump. We’d gotten it from the Jim Carrey movie, Mask. I said it a couple of times early on Thanksgiving in his honor even though he was miles away. That was due to the early wakeup I provided to the entire neighborhood. As usual, I prepared the turkey the night before so all I had to do in the morning was put it in the oven. I got up just before six AM to do just that. I sleepily stuck it in and retreated back to the warmth of the marital bed. I had just fallen asleep when every smoke alarm in the house went off. I charged out of bed and when I opened the bedroom door was greeted by a wall of thick smoke. This was only fifteen minutes after I had put the turkey in. I ran downstairs through the fog and reached the oven expecting a flaming morass. While smoke was billowing, there were no flames.

Smoke Free Thanksgiving Dinner

I rescued the turkey, turned the oven off, and noted what looked like a pool of fat that was obviously the source of all the smoke. Since the turkey was not leaking I figured it was something I failed to notice before putting the turkey in (C’mon it was 6am!). My daughter had made a cheese cake the night before and apparently a large amount of butter snuck out and pooled in the bottom of the oven. Back to Thanksgiving morning, needless to say, everybody in the house was now wide awake and the neighbors were about to join them. I sent the very anxious FBR down to the Man Cave with her mom while Wingman and I opened every door and window in the house to clear the smoke while the alarms continued to peal. I was at the front door trying to fan the smoke out when I realized I was still in my sleeping attire, my underwear. I figured at this point the neighbors were entertained enough and snuck upstairs for more appropriate clothing. After twenty of the longest minutes of my life the very thick smoke dissipated to enough that the smoke alarms finally stopped. It only took an hour to get the house cleared of the smoke. Smokin, indeed.

Daughter Arrives!

FBR Greeted with Abuela Hugs

FBR Christmas Crafting with Abuela

The holiday weekend started a lot less noisily with the Wednesday arrival of my daughter, Wingman, and the FBR. They made good time though the traffic swamps of Connecticut and it finally felt like a holiday around the house. While my daughter worked on her predestined cheese cake, the FBR joined her abuela working on Christmas crafts and her annual gingerbread house. I was drafted into the house construction where the FBR accepted about 15% of my suggestions.

Lending my Expertise

As chronicled above, our Thanksgiving got off to an early start. Our usual plans fell through this year and it was kind of nice to remain at home, not having travel, and enjoying the company. The turkey, despite its smoky baptism, turned out remarkably well and we arranged ourselves around the newly acquired round table for a great Thanksgiving dinner. The tryptophan kicked in, combined with the early morning shenanigans led to some late afternoon drooping eyelids but the FBR would not tolerate grandfather napping. I remained awake to insure safety of my nether regions from one of her patented pell-mell charges and leaps into my unsuspecting lap.

Squirrel Into the Pumpkin 

All Three Granddaughters in Residence!

Friday dawned less eventfully although the FBR provided her usual 7am wakeup leap onto her semi-conscious grandfather. After breakfast we set up for the BRS/BR3 watch. To her credit, the FBR only asked every twenty minutes when her cousins would arrive. In the meantime, we watched the very fat back yard squirrel (veteran of many bird feeder incidents) feasting on our front step pumpkins. He had chewed a hole in the side to get at the interior and at times all that was visible was his tail as he burrowed into the pumpkin. I found the pumpkin in the middle of the yard earlier as he had apparently got his head stuck in the pumpkin before he enlarged the access hole. All this nature watching was interrupted to the very excited arrival of the cousins.

BR3, Renowned Bacon Forager

Son and I in Great Aunt's Kitchen

Abuela Entertaining FBR and BRS

Meeting Namesake Nephew's Family

The big event of the day was the annual day after Thanksgiving gathering at Great Aunt’s house. When our mother was still alive, we scheduled this dinner to include her since I usually spent actual Turkey Day with my father’s family’s dinner. We’ve always had so much fun that we continued the tradition after my mom passed. Last year was a little scary for Great Aunt since it was the first one without Soxfather. When that was an unbridled success, Great Aunt actually looked forward to it this year. The granddaughters were assigned to the grandparent car while their parents traveled to Great Aunt’s house in a separate car. Their logic was quickly evident as BR3 got car sick before we were out of Worcester. As usual, my Favorite Panamanian was a true hero in the situation. After we pulled over, she produced a remarkable amount of cleaning supplies and BR3 was sanitized and ready to go in short order.

Remy and FBR

Cousins!!

BRS with New Family Acquisition

BR3 in Rare Quiet Moment

FBR in Remy's Cage

BRS Follows Suit

Great Aunt has figured out getting the Thanksgiving dinner prepped. She even remembered to remove the giblets from the turkey before cooking it (nope, she’s never going to live doing that (twice) down). I was quickly assigned the task of carving the turkey while the completely recovered BR3 stole bacon from the turkey. The two older cousins were in hot pursuit of Great Aunt’s pet menagerie. Remy was not safe from their attention even when he retreated into his cage. We met my Namesake Nephew’s new family for the first time and they fit in with our crazy family with minimal effort, very nice people. The dinner is always followed by the best part of the day, the evening gathering with Soxfather’s family around the table. Soxfather’s sister made her usual calumnious remarks about my photographic abilities which meant I had to make the usual surreptitious photos happen. As usual, one of the nights I look forward to all year long lived up to my lofty expectations, completely due to Soxfather’s and Namesake Nephew’s families.

Great Aunt Dinner

Saturday morning meant a three-granddaughter wakeup call for the grandparents and the usual chants of “We want hojaldras!” aimed at their abuela. We followed this up with what has become a recent Thanksgiving weekend tradition, a granddaughter trip to the cinema. We saw Wish, the origin story for the famous fairy godmother, so that deep seated mystery has finally been explained. The movie was a lot of fun and it marked the first time ever in a movie theater for BR3. Her five-minute attention span had always kept her parents from including her. At the end of the movie, waking up for her climatic nap in my son’s lap, she proudly proclaimed, “I did it! I can go to the movies now!!”

Post Dinner Fun at Great Aunt's

Soxfather Sister Photo Series

After the movie was a lot of fun utilizing the escalator to move up a level for lunch at the nearby Red Robin. The granddaughters are so much fun together as they are old enough for a little leeway as we move around. Their two mothers had been shopping while we were at the movies and joined us at the restaurant which wasn’t the best of news for the ABFA, as it meant serial trips to the rest room with each daughter. Wingman wasn’t with us as he had journeyed down to Connecticut to link up with some long lost friends for the day. As soon as we returned home from lunch, all three granddaughters launched on gingerbread house construction. I spent most of the time chasing down the little round candies that were generously distributed onto the floor during the construction frenzy.

FBR Savoring Sweets

Hojaldra Breakfast!!

Movie Time!

My son and the ABFA also had some friend reunion requirements up in New Hampshire which precipitated their Saturday departure. The house was a lot quieter as now only one granddaughter was raiding their abuela’s burgeoning shoe supply and stomping around the house in high heels. My daughter and I settled into the Man Cave, after the exhausted FBR retired for the night, to watch some cinema. My daughter and Keene Friend are the only ones brave enough to try and buy me movies due to my overstocked library. They both scored with birthday presents which we watched together Saturday night in the Man Cave. They are listed below in the A-Z watch.

Escalator Adventures

Exploring

Red Robin Lunch

FBR and BR3 at Red Robin

Sunday saw the inevitable departures which were as depressing as imagined as this also marks the end of my second favorite time of year which includes, in short order, FBR Birthday, my birthday, Great Aunt/Tia Loca birthday, pub crawl (!), and Thanksgiving. I can state, without risk of error, that this year was truly memorable for each of these events. It’s hard to be depressed though as I get to lounge with the memories generated this past couple weeks and get ready for my absolute favorite time of year – Christmas!!!

Saturday Gingerbread Frenzy

Three movies fell in my A-Z watch, all keepers, new additions to the library and classics: Stagecoach, the movie that made John Wayne a star; Night of the Hunter, Mitchum is so scary as the murderous preacher; and Red River, the Duke playing against type as a villain and Clift just oozes charisma.

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RECURRING CHARACTERS:                                     

ABFA – Amazing Best Family Athlete - my daughter in law; BR3 – Blog Reader #3 – granddaughter #3; BRS - Blog Reader the Sequel - second granddaughter; Cantankerous Friend – friend since grade school who likes to argue about everything, poses as radical leftist to attract women; CRC - Connecticut Riverboat Captain – another close friend from high school, renowned sailor of the big river; Curbside Girls – close friends of my daughter acquired during him her single days in Brooklyn; Deckzilla – our backyard deck which grew to monstrous dimensions once my wife got involved in planning; Favorite Panamanian - the wife (of course); FBR - First Blog Reader - first granddaughter; First Friday – celebrations to mark the First Friday of the Week; Great Aunt - my elder sister; Keene Friends 1 & 2 – friends since high school from my home town of Keene, NH; Kindergarten Friend – friend since kindergarten whom I reunited with after many years; Maine and Virginia Musqueteras – two close friends of my wife – her US sisters, my wife is the 3^rd Musquetera (musketeer); Namesake Nephew – son of Great Aunt and Soxfather named after me; Neighborhood Mafioso - wife's close friend and Panamanian mafia member; 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; PCR - Pittsburgh College Roommate– high school friend, also a “Minor Celebrity” in Pittsburgh; PCR+1 - Pittsburgh College Roommate’s wife; Riggins - also known as the Grandpuppy, son's dog; Soxfather - my brother in law; Tia Loca – wife’s younger sister; Wingman – my son in law; Wingmom – Wingman’s mom, of course