Party Time

The Christmas party season which was one of the most enduring casualties of the pandemic is making a comeback this year. We hadn’t had our traditional Christmas party for the past couple years. One of her friends mentioned to my Favorite Panamanian that this was missed and that was all it took. If I had made the suggestion, it would have been dismissed as yet another example of my excessive need to socialize. Be that as it may, she took the suggestion from the friend to heart and our annual Christmas party was reborn. We first had a negotiate another party Friday night, organized for the volunteers for our church. I got to go because I’m married to one of those volunteers (last time I volunteered for something, I ended up in a uniform for 27 years).

Favorite Panamanian and I Last Night

Neither my Favorite Panamanian nor I knew the people hosting, so I was a little concerned as we arrived. Especially since it was at the home of one of those houses with an incredible outdoor Christmas decoration display. I’m all in favor of those, despite now lacking the energy to accomplish it myself. The party turned out to be a great, if subdued time, as I was seated in close proximity to a plate of chocolate chip cookies. We struck up a conversation with a couple who were parents of next door neighbors of the hosts. They were life long residents of Worcester which is always fun to discuss since we are late comers to the city. He had also served in the Army, stationed in Germany about ten years before I got over there, so there were some notes compared about our European experiences. Since he arrived married, we stayed away from a discussion on English girls. Oh, and there was beer served, so it wasn’t all religious, as I had feared.

Wife Outside Friday Party Home

At the Friday Party Home
Must Insure Wife Doesn't Learn About this Feature

Saturday was spent in final prep for our party. My Favorite Panamanian had done a deep dive into Pinterest (damn that place) and came up with a series of games she wanted to play. I was charged with inflating a lot of red and green balloons. She took some pity of whatever my diminished lung capacity may be by buying a hand pump balloon inflator. I laughed when she showed it to me but I really appreciated it before my time with the balloons was finished. She then had me draw dice symbols on the balloons. That wasn’t much fun either. She remained decisively engaged in the kitchen creating her usual wide array of truly impressive hors d'oeuvres (Pinterest again) when she wasn’t finding another strand of lights to hang from unsuspecting house plants.

Appetizer Table Eventually Got Really Crowded

The Mafia Gathers

Too Much Food and Beautiful Women

The Balloon Game

Some of the Silly Gifts

Next Door Neighbors

The majority of the party goers were members of the Panamanian Mafia which insured a good time was going to be had. It was. We included a few of our neighbors, plus the Neighborhood Mafiosos, which one of our parties would not be complete without. I ate way, way too much food (as well as a “few” beers, sue me!). It was a great party and we had a lot of fun with the Pinterest sourced games. Although I’m not sure my wife was totally informed of the actual rules, we got creative when needed. It turned out the balloons were marked for destruction as part of the dice game with silly presents under each balloon after someone rolled the dice (hence the need for my earlier art work).

A Sample of Christmas Framed Photos

The Neighborhood Mafiosos

We were having such a good time I wasn’t paying a lot of attention to the time and surprised myself when I finally did to discover it was after midnight. That is bound to happen when you are surrounded by such excellent people celebrating my favorite time of the year. Since Panamanians were involved, dancing eventually started, led by my Favorite Panamanian. She was fueled with more than her usual adult beverage consumption since one of the guests had showed up with a pitcher of mojitos which she cannot resist and combined with her traditional sangria. I was reminded so much of the parties of our early marriage as it was near 1am and I was exhausted where she was still encouraging her compatriots to join her on the dance floor. This morning seemed to occur with entirely too much reality but it couldn’t dim a great time spent with good friends. Christmas season is officially kicked off.

The Dancing Starts Up

Wife, After 1AM, Trying to Rally the Troops

Too Much Fun

Two movies fell in my A-Z watch, both keepers: Hellboy, the new one, not as good as originals but some fun moments; and Hell or High Water, one of best films of last ten years, gets better every time I watch it, pre-Yellowstone Sheridan.

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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