9-Year Olding (Delayed Post #1)

An editorial comment here. We got back to the condo on Sunday, February 23^rd and learned the condo internet would be down until Wednesday at the earliest as they are installing a new wi-fi system. This means I can’t post this on Sunday as I am writing it. I’ll continue to write and then post when the internet returns. I’m sorry, because this means you’ll get an avalanche of news once Frail Deeds does return and you won’t be able to ration your exposure to my blighted text. So, you’ve got that to look forward (dread) to. I’m breaking up the posts up. This first will cover some of the last few days of the visit of my favorite daughter and the FBR.

Coming Out of the Surf with my Boogie Buddy

As I write this, they are safely back in frozen New Jersey and while we’re sad they’re gone I know Wingman is more than pleased to have his family back. This will also give my back a chance to recover. I looked in the mirror last night and it looks like I was locked in a cage with a pissed off cat. The top of my shoulders are scratched like the tabby thought I was the evening meal. The scratches are a result of the game the FBR decided we would play every time we were in the pool together (which was a lot). She would latch onto my swim shirt and my job was to find a way to dislodge her. Sounds simple. I know. It wasn’t.

FBR Spots my Daughter Relaxing on a Float

Daughter Ends up in the Water

She would dig her claws in and I would swim an extended time underwater only to find her grinning at me. It got to the point I would do a handstand followed by a backwards flip and she would still be there with her maddening smile. She is so at home in the water that I think some of my aquatic genes must have been passed down to her. The only way I could dislodge her was tickling but that seemed like cheating. The FBR agreed that it was. If I was free for a short time, she was in hot pursuit and while I could stay ahead of her for a while, she had reserves of energy only a nine year can tap into. I’m sixty years past that ability and would eventually tire resulting in the claws digging into the shoulders again. I loved it.

Miss my Crazy FBR

I was relieved at times by my Favorite Panamanian and daughter but the FBR seemed to save her most dedicated efforts for me. Both my daughter and wife learned it was not safe to mount one of the floating seats if the FBR was in the pool with them. She honed her technique by waiting until her target was resting comfortably and hem attacked to spill them into the water. As mentioned in an earlier post, she did not appreciate my attempts at my morning swimming workout. She either jumped on my shoulders when I tried to swim and waited until I was in full motion before she disconnected my anchor line. She thought this was high comedy.

We missed out on a couple sunsets due to the weather. In a true miscarriage of justice it’s rained a couple time in February. This is actually against the law at the height of what is supposed to be the dry season. Although we were chased inside by one storm just as we set up on the beach. We continued to watch the sunset from the balcony. The upstairs neighbors did likewise above us. That was the same night we had a cake making/dance party in the condo. I made the cake earlier and my Favorite Panamanian was making the frosting when she returned from Wednesday mass.

Rained Out Sunset

Crew Relocates to Balcony for Sunset

Rest of the Crew Upstairs

She found us marching up and down the exterior hallway. My daughter and the FBR were playing songs on her iPhone which broadcast them to a speaker which started the FBR dancing. I said I wanted a chance to choose some songs, so every third one was my choice (usually associated with some epic eye rolls from the daughter). Needless to say, I led off with Scotland the Brave in bagpipe music followed by a few marching songs. For every song, we would dance around the condo and the FBR thought this was high adventure. For my songs we did exaggerated marching which had us all laughing, which is what my wife saw hen she came out of the elevator. It was a nine-year-old kind of thing to do but, even at my advanced age, being a nine year old again is almost soul cleansing. Way too much fun.

Reading Time

Helping Abuela with Cake

Lots of Sprinkles

The FBR took a break from dancing/marching to help her abuela with the cake decorating. My Favorite Panamanian made the tactical error of letting the FBR decide how many sprinkles the cake needed. You can probably guess the result, nearly half a bottle of sprinkles met their fate that night. Earlier in the day we taken our visiting RI friends along with us when we went to lunch at the Las Lajas Beach Resort (home of the best cheeseburger in Panama). It was a chancy decision because our table was right next to the resort pool. I was expecting my water bug of a granddaughter to launch herself into the pool at any moment. Somehow she resisted but I know she was thinking about it. We followed this up with a trip into the village for some Sunset Pizza gelatos. While the FBR appreciated the ice cream, she was decidedly upset that owner’s small dog was not in residence. We’d actually run into the owners at the beach resort where they were also having lunch. The FBR opined that a dogless visit to the gelato place was unacceptable.

At Resort for Lunch - FBR Dangerously Close to Pool

Rest of Table

Gelato Time!

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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 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; 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