Carnivoring

I knew I should have kept my mouth shut about power outages. I woke up this morning to find the power out and it remained so for about four hours. When will I learn? At least I had the memories of a First Friday extremely well spent to fall back on. The Upstairs Neighbor was celebrating his 70^th birthday and invited my Favorite Panamanian and I along for a dinner at Naturlamente, a nice boutique restaurant on the other side of the village. We were joined with a several other American ex-pats who live all year in Panama. It was a very fun group.

Dinner Last Night, Birthday Boy on Left

We first had to get through the Las Lajas sunset ceremony. We were treated to a fabulous showing although I felt guilty at having to leave before the true majesty of the secondary sunset manifested because we had the dinner reservation to honor. My Favorite Panamanian was already in the village attending a church retreat and we scooped her up on the way. We’ve become really close with the Upstairs Neighbors. I don’t think we’d enjoy our stay here half as much if we didn’t have these close friends just upstairs. He’s become my boogie boarding partner in crime and we compare notes daily on the state of the waves.

Sunset Yesterday

The Crew

She is a vegetarian, so I was shocked to learn the menu at the restaurant consisted of an all meat barbecue. It was an awesome collection of dead animal flesh. She’s requested this from the restaurant owner because the birthday boy doesn’t get meat very often and she might have heard about my tendencies as well. It was a very fun night celebrating our friend and getting to know the other members of the dinner party. As stated above, a well executed First Friday of the Week.

Birthday Boy

With HIs Cake

Back in New Hampshire my Favorite Son was dealing with his first ever surgery. His wrist had been bothering him for nearly a year and he finally had the outpatient procedure done yesterday. The anesthetic was still in force when we talked to him so he was in a good mood. This morning he was a little more serious but still glad it had been done. The BRS and BR3 were under strict orders to adjust their physical play levels with their dad while he recovers. The BRS is a born nurse and took this opportunity to spoil her dad by doing his makeup for him. Lucky guy. BR3 saw these results and demanded a chance to assert her own artistic display on his face. So he has that to look forward to.

BRS' Dad Makeup

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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