Dance Genes Confirmed

My Favorite Panamanian and I journeyed down to New Jersey this past weekend to confirm if her dancing genes had been passed down to the FBR.  This will be my month of granddaughter dance recitals and this was the first. While I love watching the granddaughters in action, the recitals are akin to some diabolical torture invented by a truly sadistic mind, except of course, when my granddaughters are on stage. It’s testament to my deep, abiding love for these gals that I willingly submit to these sessions.

3 Generations of Pulchritude

We tried one of my old tricks to deal with my traffic nemesis, the benighted state of Connecticut’s highway system. That trick involves shooting the gap between the rush hours on a weekday, in this case Friday. My prior successes with this strategy was not realized, however. The usual 3.5-hour trip ended up being an hour longer but had the requisite prize of arriving at my daughter’s house to be greeted by her and Wingman. My daughter and wife took off almost immediately to pick up the FBR from school. I had had enough time in the car at that point (Connecticut does that to me) so I got to hang with Wingman.

FBR Zooming at Pizza Place

The FBR arrived in tears after learning her planned sleepover with a friend had been canceled when the birthday girl came down sick. Her morale recovered when my daughter offered the chance to go to the movies with us to see the latest animated release, Lilo and Stitch. Speaking of genes, my movie watching genes have clearly been inherited by the FBR. While the movie was forgettable, the time with my daughter and granddaughter was not. Before the movie, we walked down the street for the obligatory Friday night pizza. A new pizza place opened just down the street and became a big favorite for them.

Movie Time

While we were there, I made my usual attempt for a selfie capturing the table. The FBR, who was zooming around the parking lot on roller blades, pulled up and told me she would take the photo. After we all assumed our best poses, she claimed to have taken the photo. When I checked the results, she had snapped a picture of herself and glided away laughing when I discovered it. I came down Saturday morning to find the FBR, an early riser, had found my phone and I was now the proud owner of forty-seven selfies of an early morning FBR.

My Attempted Photo at Pizza Place

FBR's Photo of the Table

1 of the 47 Selfies I found on my Phone

She had to rally for a dress rehearsal for her dance recital. We linked up with her and my daughter for lunch at a favorite eatery that specialized in breakfast offerings. While I was little stymied by the very specialized menu (nothing like the simple fare I adhere to), I saw an old friend, who rode to the rescue. Anyone who spent any time in the Army knows what SOS is, the last two letters stand for “on a shingle”. You don’t need much of an imagination to guess what an infantryman would insert for the first letter of this delicacy. Anyways I had a biscuit with gravy (turkey instead of Army beef) and I was reminded of so many breakfasts in the field back in the day. Hot meals were rare in the field but I can remember rushing by the table to score a couple pieces of toast with the milky gravy laced with beef (at least I think it was beef).

Saturday Lunch

Saturday evening called for the other big event of the weekend. Tomorrow is Wingman’s birthday and we celebrated it, in accordance with his wishes, by going out to dinner at an exclusive steak house (you can see why I like Wingman). Roots Steakhouse is a NYC type steak house in nearby Summit, New Jersey. While the prices were certainly up to NYC levels, the night was so much fun and the food more than worth what we paid. We had a very entertaining waiter who made the evening even better. When he learned we were celebrating Wingman’s birthday, he provided a complementary, huge sundae that the entire table partook of. After an immense steak and probably more than my fair share of that sundae, there is no truth to the rumor that I had trouble getting my belly behind the steering wheel for the ride home.

FBR Reading at Saturday Dinner

Wingman with his Sundae

Great Steak Place

That Sundae Again

Sunday was recital day and the FBR didn’t want anyone seeing her costume ahead of time. The recital took place in a high school theater. We were expressly warned that photos and videos could not be taken during the performance which I thought was kind of silly but abided by it. I was “lucky” enough to have an older lady sitting in front of me who brought a booster seat which combined with her “tall” hair meant I had to lean around her to see the stage. We had just sat down when my daughter informed me that the FBR’s dance was in the 27^th group, according to the program. I have mentioned before how much I “love” these recitals, didn’t I? My Favorite Panamanian has a much better attitude about these things and thoroughly enjoyed the parade of acts which he thought were “so cute”.  

FBR in her Dance Costume

The day and my attitude were completely rescued when the FBR marched onto stage. My daughter had tried to temper my expectations but saying the FBR was the only in her group that had only one year of classes. That made her performance all the more remarkable. She was clearly the best dancer in the entire group. The only one in synch with the music. The kid also has stage presence. I know what you’re thinking. I am understandably biased when it comes to granddaughters but she really was the best in the group and smiled the entire time, like she knew it. So, her abuela’s dancing genes have been redeemed in the FBR’s along with Wingman’s performance abilities. A very long afternoon waiting for this golden time, but, in the end, more than worth it.

Very Proud Parents with the Star

Equally Proud Grandparents

We stayed in New Jersey to test another one of my Connecticut amelioration tactics. I’ve found leaving after 7pm will usually mean Connecticut has pretty well cleared up by the time we pass through. Everything went according to plan until about 20 miles short of Hartford where the interstate went from three lanes to one. Connecticut pulled this trick when it realized I was making near record time. The hold up was only for about twenty minutes but still more than unwelcome. We were home by 11pm and I was still smiling, thinking about how well the FBR had done.

Wife's Vast Garden Complex Starting to Bloom

Three movies fell in the A-Z watch, two keepers and one ejection: Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief – silly story but saved by great cast and interesting connection to Greek mythology;  Percy Jackson Sea of Monsters – less likable sequel but still has Daddarro; The Perils of Gwendoline in the Land of Yik Yak – couldn’t remember why I have this, probably to see Tawney Kitaen naked, been there done that, supremely stupid French movie, eject. 

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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