We’re smack dab in the middle of my favorite time of year as the trees are in the midst of their annual descent into amazing colors New England is so justifiably famous for. Growing up here, I never realized what a special treat I was subjected to every year. I thought everybody had the colors we had. Spending most of my military career a long distance from home I came to appreciate it more when I retired and came home. Every year my Favorite Panamanian and I used the Columbus Day holiday to trek through the mountains of Western Massachusetts, Vermont, and New Hampshire to enjoy the scenery. Now that I’m retired, for good, we can choose other days for that trip, hopefully tomorrow.
I
finished another puzzle, a first for me. This marked the first time I ever
attempted a 2000 piece puzzle. It will be the last. I had to bring in a special
table in order to fit the damned thing, which compromised my view of football. So,
you can see it was a serious issue. I thought for a while that I was putting a
1,999 piece puzzle together until I found the 2000th piece which had tried to
escape by latching onto the bottom of my shoe. Balance has been restored to the
Man Cave with the large table back in the garage.
Lunch at the Yard House
Speaking
of the garage, my Favorite Panamanian’s return on Sunday was marred by a
mistake in judgment by her husband. It wasn’t the first, and certainly will not
the last. We had talked about changing positions of the cars in the garage with
the arrival of the new, longer Highlander. She was opposed. In an attempt to
show her the merits of my position I moved my GR86 into the Highlander’s
traditional space ahead of her return. I wanted to show her the added space this
would provide. I was met with stony silence and my internal spousal alarm was
sounding with a large “Ruh Roh!”. Two days later she had calmed down enough to
actually try it and in doing so, figured out this meant easier access for her
to use my car, which has now become “our” car. So, the cars have been switched
but not without casualties.
Last 2000 Piece Puzzle I Ever Attempt
We
had our final meeting with the lawyer yesterday to complete all the “what
happens when I die” paperwork. Since I was now back in her good graces, I
invited her out for an extended date night by taking her to lunch before the movie.
A new restaurant/bar called the Yard House opened this year and we took a shot there.
It was a very expansive place with great burgers and superb service and did I
mention all the sports TVs adorning the place. I really liked it. I was on weekday
behavior, so no beer, but I noticed an impressive bank of beer taps that would
make my favorite beer snobs, Wingman and my son, very happy. That led me to
thinking (I know, dangerous, that) that there are now enough bars at the plaza
to conduct a mini-pub crawl there. I’m still in recon mode from last weekend. In
addition to the Yard House, there is Longhorn’s Steakhouse, Applebee’s, 110
Grill, TGI Friday’s, Red Robin, and Chatter’s Bar and Grill. Yes. A target rich
environment.
View from Lawyer's Office
We Live on Hill in Far Left Distance
Those Taps
We
saw the movie Verity. I didn’t read the book, and I enjoyed the ride because I
wasn’t encumbered by literary preconceptions. This is an excellent thriller/mystery,
and I was impressed with Dakota Johnson who more than held her own with Ann Hathaway
and Josh Hartnett. She plays a struggling writer offered an opportunity to
ghost write books in a popular series for a famous author who’s become an
invalid (Hathaway). She goes to live in their beautiful but creepy Vermont
mansion and becomes embroiled in both tragedy and romance. I can’t say much
about all that without giving away the interesting plot twists, but it was a
very enjoyable, adult level plot that didn’t take a predictable way out. The
film also features the bloodiest meet-cute moment in cinema history. A good
watch that I thoroughly enjoyed. 
Namesake Nephew's Daughter Helping Supervise
Great Aunt's Kitchen Renovation
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; Upstairs Neighbors – American
couple and great friends who live in condo above us in Panama; Wingmom – Wingman’s mom, of course
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