Some late-night blog writing is required
since I plan to devote all the usual waking hours to enjoying my usual Christmas
high. That unfairly burgeoning sense of joy was given a huge boost earlier
today with the arrival of my daughter and the FBR. Before I get to that I have
to report on a fairly frustrating Friday (unusual for that day of the week). I
was excited all week long because my former most excellent boss and the guy who
followed me as general manger were planning on meeting up for a First Friday
gathering. The New England winter finally decided to show up which put the
kibosh on that plan since my former boos was traveling across the state. I was
further frustrated driving around the city on gift related errands. We only got
about two inches of snow but traffic was snarled everywhere. It seems we’ve
lost something since my youth when I remember anything less than six inches of
snow caused no problems getting around. Of course, I lived in a small town with
a population used to snow and not a large city with an unfair percentage of flatlanders.
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| Guarding the FBR's Stuffies |
Morale was therefore dented but unbowed
when it received the expected major influx of joy with the aforementioned arrival.
They also delivered a bounty of Christmas cookies. Wingman had to stay home for
work so he won’t be with us until Monday. The FBR was excited about the minimal
amount of snow. Fifteen minutes after she arrived, she had linked up with the next
door neighbors granddaughter, donned her snow suit, borrowed her abuela’s snow
boots and was sliding down the back hill. She was taking particular care to
avoid her abuela’s Virgin Mary statue, remembering the decapitation situation
of a few years ago. The FBR must have inherited some of my New Hampshire genes
that her mother avoided as she embraces the cold versus cowering from it (like
my wife and daughter).
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| This Much Snow Shouldn't be a Problem |
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| They're Here! With Cookies!!!!! |
She returned from conquering the hill to
unveil the first Christmas present she received, a karaoke set from Wingmom. She
and her mom were soon belting out songs, with a decided preference for Taylor
Swift. They drew my Favorite Panamanian into a performance of Feliz Navidad. We
all started laughing when she had trouble with the line, “I want to wish you a Merry
Christmas”. It turned out she thought the phrase was, “I want to wish you an
American Christmas”. She did great with the Spanish part of the song. I
maintained my lifelong determination not to inflict my singing voice on
anybody, much less people I love as much as these. The FBR then promoted me to
be caretaker of her stuffed animals and equipped me with some goofy glasses to perform
the task (so much better than singing).
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| FBR on the Hill |
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| Karaoke Time |
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| Very Melodic |
After dinner the FBR demanded a movie night
since she missed her usual Friday because she was assisting her mom with cookie
preparation (truly God’s work). We all descended into the Man Cave to watch A Christmas
Story to enjoy Ralphie’s quests for his Red Rider. After a popcorn filled granddaughter
retired for the night, my daughter and I watched the latest Clint Eastwood directorial
effort which was really good. I truly enjoy watching movies with either of my
kids, even if I don’t like the movie, the company is just that good. So, here I
sit, around midnight, just savoring the Christmas spirit and looking forward to
further embellishment tomorrow when my son’s family shows up. Life is good.
Six movies fell in the A-Z watch, all
keepers: No Country for Old Men, almost a perfect movie despite the haircut; No
Hard Feelings, Ms. Lawrence is simply fantastic; North Dallas Forty, some major
plot holes but stark look at 1970s NFL; Notting Hill, Roberts and Grant at
their peaks; The November Man, Brosnan back in the spy genre in great thriller;
and No Way Out, dated but loved seeing some of my old haunts from DC area, including
where I used to run every day.
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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 her single days in Brooklyn; Czech Connection
– Czech couple who’ve become good friends along with their daughter (the Czech
Shadow); 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 3rd 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; Seis Amigos
- two couples from our condo complex and my wife and I; Soxfather – my brother-in-law (whom I miss more than I can ever
explain); Tia Loca – wife’s younger sister; Wingman – my son in law; Wingmom – Wingman’s mom, of course
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