It’s
taken a few days to get back into the swing of things back in the US of A. Chief
among them was knocking off the blog posts about the trip, I felt compelled to
do that, even if they might have bored the hell out of you. I’ve also jumped
back into working out each morning. Part of the problem with having your
breakfast and dinner served to you each day is that all self-control (at least
mine) was destroyed. It was especially bad at breakfast where one of the
featured items was marble pound cake (didn’t even know it was a breakfast
item). That, along with the assorted chocolate donuts and rolls, well, you get
the picture. My carb free diet was helpless in the face of this opportunity to
cheat. Oh, and the Portuguese rolls a Rhode Island first exposed us to in the
last 1980s were served with every meal. I’d forgotten how good they were. The
first laps in the pool were predictably painful but with the combination of
that and the bike each morning, I’m back to the weight I was prior to
departure. I make that sound easy. It wasn’t, but, totally worth it considering
what all those carbs tasted like!
The
other adjustment was sleep patterns. I’ve always felt it was easier to adjust
going to Europe than coming back. I must be getting the hang of it or the travel
day with the extra seven hours tacked on made it easier. The first couple days
I woke up, wide awake at 5am, which helped with the workouts, but made my usual
midnight bedtime a little challenging. My Favorite Panamanian is happy because
it’s allowed her to get back to her earlier bedtime. I, according to her, have
corrupted her over the years, enticing her to the Man Cave to watch late nigh movies
and baseball games. Guilty.
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| Pistachio and Walnut Have Arrived |
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| Last Night While We Were Talking |
Catching
up on the rest of the family developments during our absence, a big event happened
in New Jersey. Those unrepentant lovers of cats welcomed two kittens to the hose,
Pistachio and Walnut (named by the FBR). While I had campaigned for a dog to
replace the late, lamented Pee Wee the Cat, there was no way these feline
devotees were going to budge. We spoke with them last night and it was obvious
both my daughter and especially the FBR, were in deep love already. The kittens
are rescue cats who were bonded in the rescue facility. Although I’ll never
admit it to anyone (guess I just did), I like cats also and look forward to
meeting these two new additions to the family.
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| Newly Ear Ringed |
The
other big news took place up in New Hampshire where both the BRS and BR3 had their
ears pierced. When we were talking with them the other night, I asked the girls
if it had hurt. My son blithely answered that it had not until he was loudly
contradicted by his daughters. I think they wanted me to know that they were brave
and holding up well under the situation. The very best news is that I get to
spend the weekend with these newly accoutered young ladies. We’re heading there
tomorrow to provide some grandparent babysitting. My Favorite Panamanian was
given some empathic guidance from the BRS (AKA the hojaldra queen) that she
expected hojaldras each morning. In additional welcome news, we’ll journey over
on Saturday together to experience the Keene Pumpkin Fest (a scaled down
version of its earlier glory) with Keene Friend.
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| BR3 in her Usual Calm Mode |
A
final note on our trip abroad. I was surprised at how fractured Spain is. I hadn’t
realized, before traveling there, how much each region maintains their own
cultural identity. I rarely saw a Spanish flag but each region proudly flew
their region’s flag. Each region also had their own language, although all
could speak Spanish, it seemed. The country is split into semi-autonomous
regions that mirror some of the ancient kingdoms. Along the northern coast we
ran into Galicians, Cantabrians, Asturians, the Basques, and when we returned through
the Pyrenees, the Aragonese and the Catalonians. It was all very splintered.
We’ve
seen a couple movies at the cinemas since our return, October always seems to
produce. Tron Ares might be the best of the three Tron movies over the past forty
years. Jeff Bridges is still hanging out in the electro-magnetic spectrum
giving advice to each new generation of digital explorers. Jared Leto is an
acquired taste but he’s very good in this as a troubled supercomputer program having
to decide which side he should take. The special effects are a quantum leap
forward. The only weak spot is the main villain who isn’t up to the level of
the rest of the cast who run all over him. Still, a very good sci-fi adventure,
well worth seeing on the big screen for the fantastic special effects.
Roofman
has a strange effect. You really want to like the “hero” but he’s an unrepentant
thief who, while extremely polite, is still ripping people off. It’s incredible
that this is a true story. Channing Tatum is perfectly cast as the likable lead
and effortlessly carries the entire film. The ladies watching get to see
extended views of his nether regions which will probably punch \up the box
office numbers (only fair). Usually movies will say this is based on a true
story but, again, this really happened with Tatum’s character living in a Toys ‘R
Us for months after escaping from prison. You have to force yourself to “like”
his character but Tatum makes that easy. A fun, if silly, dramedy.
Five
movies fell in the A-Z watch, three
keepers and two ejections: Stealth – really stupid action flick that even Jessica
Biel can’t save, eject; Steel Magnolias – love the snappy dialogue, especially between
McClaine and Dukakis; Stepmom - terrible, just terrible, luckily I didn’t buy
this, it came with my first DVD player, eject; The Sting – still stands up, Redford
and Newman, always magic together; Stranger than Fiction – just love this unconventional
love story about an IRS agent who’s impending doom is narrated by an author
that only he can hear, just magical with amazing cast.
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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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