Catch Up

I’m just back from another Tuesday spent in David where we continue our stateside date night routine by seeing a movie. Movies have been a huge part of my life for the past few days as you can see below. Part of that is current release movies have been cropping up on the Super Streamer and I needed the psychic break after spending time preparing taxes. The break would prevent a similar appearance of a psychotic type. I watch the movies late into the night because I’m not brave enough to use my daytime stress release of boogie boarding. I’m convinced there are large and unfriendly creatures haunting the surf after dark.

Lunch in David Yesterday

The trip to David was fun as we were accompanied by our visiting Rhode Island friends. Since they haven’t rented a car, they are dependent on us for re-supply. We had lunch at TGI-Fridays which allowed me to quench my latent homesickness. My Favorite Panamanian permits this a couple times a year while we’re down here so I can emerge in an American style menu (without accompanying sub-zero temperatures). The Upstairs Neighbors were charged with properly celebrating the sunset which they did with their inimitable style. We hit the grocery store before dodging through early evening traffic back to Las Lajas.

Keeping the Faith

Rewarded

I think I’ve finally managed to master preparing our tax return remotely from here. The first couple years we stayed down here, I always scheduled our return before April 15^th to make sure I could get them in under the wire. As we descend further into internet dependency for all aspects of life and my kids have educated me beyond a knuckle dragging level of computer competency, I can now accumulate all needed information online. That’s not saying it’s easy. It isn’t. My tax situation is fairly simple but transferring that situation into a format the IRS and the People’s Republic of Taxxachusetts will recognize is anything but. There was a real sense of accomplishment when I received texts from old friend HR Block that both the state and the IRS had accepted my returns. Now, back to boogie boarding for the sheer fun of it.

Not

The date night movie was Send Help. I loved this much more than I thought I would. It’s a strange love child of Castaway, a gender switching The Devil Wears Prada, and The Most Dangerous Game. A heartless, rich, entitled, narcissistic boss (today’s go to villain type) is stranded on a desert isle with a nerdish female employee whom he recently overlooked in favor of a college buddy for a promotion. The female turns out to be an expert at survival and he now depends on her for survival. There are several plot twists and some real gross out moments but this works on a number of levels. Rachel McAdams towers as the female while Dylan O’Brien abandons his usual good guy personae as the boss. While the major twist is telegraphed too early, these two make up for that with outstanding performances. You have the usual Sam Raimi over the top-ness but it fits so well with the superb plot. Great Flick.

I was looking forward to the sequel to Greenland but Greenland 2 Migration was a disappointment. I was probably too invested in the ending of the first film which had the heroes reaching safety in Greenland while the world explodes around them. That safety is destroyed in the first twenty minutes of the sequel as Gerard Butler and wife, Morena Baccarin, set out in a handy lifeboat to reach Europe. Part of the whole concept of the first film was the entire world had been devastated and wiped clean of life. Europe apparently didn’t get that memo as there are several communities the heroes have to wade through to reach a rumored safe zone. This was nowhere near as exciting as the first film. One of the major plot points was having a walk across a ladder. Still, Butler and Baccarin are so good you can overlook the gaping plot holes. Hated the ending.

Anaconda has an amazing cast set up with an interesting plot. A group of losers try to recapture their vibe by creating a low budget remake of Anaconda. It turns out most of funniest gags were seen in the previews. Paul Ruud and especially Jack Black rescue the film from the depths, but it still lagged from what it could have been. Thandiwe Newton is criminally underused as is Steve Zahn. There are several laugh out loud moments but not enough to sustain the premise. The snake ends up being more cartoonish than scary. A disappointment.

I had better luck with The Wrecking Crew. I thought this would be a kind of silly buddy flick. It was, but it was also immensely entertaining. Jason Mamoa and Dave Bautista are fantastic as feuding brothers trying to solve their father’s Honolulu murder. They end up fighting international and home-grown criminal empires as well as the Yakuza. The Hawaii location brought back a lot of great memories of my time living there. Note – Honolulu traffic is never as sparse as shown here. Some great action scenes are ably handled by the athletic leads with the effective use of CGI when needed. My only concern was Bautista. He’s lost so much weight that he looks sickly at times; hopefully not in real life.

Finally, I saw The Housemaid. I thought this was going to be another in the long line of evil man Lifetime style movies. It was, but it was sneakily so good as well. This was supposed to be Sweeny’s movie, but Amanda Seyfried steals it. She plays a seemingly psychotic wife who hires Sweeny as a housemaid (yeah I know, what was she thinking!). There are some great twists along the way as perception of what is is constantly challenged as new information becomes available. Sweeny is also very good as the maid with a past trying to earn her way out of homelessness (semi-unbelievable). The final confrontation was well worth the trip getting there. Great movie.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------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; Upstairs Neighbors – American couple and great friends who live in condo above us in Panama; Wingmom – Wingman’s mom, of course

Voting and Welcome Punctures

Today was election day in the People’s Republic of Taxxachusetts, as well as elsewhere. Our election was only for local officials, but it still felt good casting the ballot. This may seem weird to some, but it is a special obligation. My Favorite Panamanian relishes the opportunity although I had to bring her up to date on who was running. Luckily, I had some insight from the time I worked with the transit agency as I had to endure some of the candidates in their roles as city councilors. While a couple were stalwart public officials, there were a couple that were attention whores who catered to what I call, “The Voices of Inappropriate Worth”. Worcester is run like a small town and just because you have a loud voice doesn’t mean you’re worth listening to. A lesson some of the politicians refuse to acknowledge. I assign that failure to lack of backbone and specifically avoided voting for them. Still, as I said above, it felt good to vote.

In more important and welcome news, my Favorite Panamanian has seemingly conquered her latest bout of vertigo. Our next-door neighbor recommended a physical therapist who had just opened his own practice in a neighboring town. He turned out to be fabulous. He employed a variety of techniques, including cupping (that process that leaves circular bruises) as well as acupuncture. This was a first for my wife and whatever he did, it worked. This was a true turning point because prior physical therapists had made the vertigo worse. As a young guy, willing to utilize a variety of techniques, we were both truly impressed and thankful.

This is a very busy week as it features Panamanian Independence Day followed by today’s Panamanian flag day. My very proud Favorite Panamanian directed that the Panamanian flag fly beneath my US flag in our yard each day for the month of November. I do this happily, although I have to consult references to insure I’m not flying it upside down (like I did on Monday (whoops). I also delved into the photo library to reuse a photo from 2021 when we had my mother-in-law in residence. My daughter came up from NYC to conduct an online presentation for her company to celebrate Hispanic Heritage month. Part of that presentation was joining her mother and grandmother on Deckzilla demonstrating Panamanian folk dancing in full costume. The picture is from that day and one that I treasure (as I do the ladies depicted).

3 Generations of Pulchritude

Six movies fell in the A-Z watch, all keepers: The Thing – awesome sci fi reboot with Russell just domaining as MacCready; Thirteen Ghosts – not as scary as I remembered but still awesome special effects; Three Kings – very funny send up of the first gulf war; The Three Musketeers (1973) – loved this classic telling, with Raquel Welch at the height of her “prowess” and Oliver Reed oozing screen presence; The Four Musketeers – not as much fun as the first but really just the same film continuing; This is the End – hilarious apocalyptic story with a total skewering of Hollywood self-importance.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------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

Giveth and Taketh

In my last post I was waxing happy if a bit astounded by the People’s Republic of Taxxachusetts actually returning some of their tax revenues to me. The universe has a way of balancing the scales as I’m sure the state’s action caused major ripples in the time/reality vortex. That balancing act took place this morning when our kitchen faucet finally gave up the ghost. I’ve been jury rigging the handle for a couple months now and my latest repair caused a piece to shear off. I could either try and find a replacement handle or go with a new faucet. I’ve come to despise the current faucet (c’mon that’s okay, it’s an inanimate object) so that decision was fairly easy and there went a significant portion of the refund. My Favorite Panamanian insisted on being included via Facetime call on the selection process at Home Depot. Now I just have to find someone to install it. Electricity and plumbing are something I don’t venture into lightly.

My A-Z effort ramped up over the past couple days and I ran into a granddaughter installed roadblock. You’ll have noticed in past posts that the whole A to Z effort wasn’t always strictly alphabetical. That was a result of the FBR and BRS, during their last visit, taking it upon themselves to rearrange my movie collection shelves. I started watching a movie and realized it was the second movie in a series for which I was sure I had the first. I went in search and so far it remains in the missing category. I’ve done a scan of the shelves with no luck, other than finding several of their other creative re-districting choices. It’s the Chronicles of Narnia so it would have had some appeal to them. Now I just have to figure out where it ended up. The BRS, particularly, has a habit of hiding things and whenever she and the FBR team up they become exponentially more dangerous. Chaos is their chosen forte (I guess they bred true). They, of course, deny all knowledge. I’ll let you know if it ever shows up.

Finally, and blessedly, my second most favorite night of the year has arrived (Christmas Eve will never be beaten). It’s the night before the annual hometown, birthday Pub Crawl! I just checked historical Frail Deeds posts and the first pub crawl which featured just myself and my Favorite Son for the entire crawl, took place in 2013. That means year will mark the 10^th annual crawl! Can you tell I’m a little excited?  It’s grown over the years as more friends have joined in after realizing the fun of hanging with friends can be, especially if liberally lubricated. We should have an all-star cast this year with the Pittsburgh College Roommate and his wife journeying back for the crawl as well as Kindergarten Friend, Keene Friend, Cantankerous Friend, the Connecticut River Boat Captain and a plethora of other worthies. Yep. Excited. Damned Excited!

Son & I 1st Bar of 1st Crawl

Celebrating Reaching the Last Bar of 1st Crawl

Five movies fell in my A-Z effort, all keepers, Christmas Vacation (best Vacation movie, by far, and best Chase movie which, granted, isn’t saying a whole lot), Chronicle (found footage of angst ridden teens acquiring superhuman powers – great cast), Chronicles of Narnia Prince Caspian (been there, done that, in the first movie (as I recall), still a very engaging cast), Chronicles of Riddick (bit overblown but epic CGI and it’s got Thandie!), and Riddick (back to basics and well served as Riddick fights a planet, monsters, and mercs).

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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; 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; 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; Pittsburgh College Roommate– high school friend, also a “Minor Celebrity” in Pittsburgh; Riggins - also known as the Grandpuppy, son's dog; Soxfather - my brother in law; Tia Loca – wife’s younger sister; Wingman – my son in law; Wingmom – Wingman’s mom, of course

Birthday Season

So many birthdays seem to fall this month, within the family and overall. Yesterday was my birthday and today both my now elder sister (Great Aunt) and my “beloved” sister-in-law (Tia Loca) have birthdays. This, of course, follows the truly epically celebrated birthday last week of the FBR. So, birthday season. Our plan for my birthday was, unsurprisingly, a steak dinner followed by a movie. See, totally predictable. Keene Friend reached out offering to take me out for a dinner and a movie (he does know me) so we invited him to come along. I felt really connected yesterday as so many friends and family members reached out to wish me a happy birthday. Great Aunt (more on her below) kept trying to call me during the movie (six different times). Later in the day my daughter roundly castigated me for not knowing how to silent notifications on my phone during a movie. A short tutorial followed. It was a quiet but very enjoyable birthday and thanks again for all of you who reached out. It was truly appreciated.

Birthday Dinner Yesterday

I Got a Cake Too!!!

I received a birthday shock yesterday as well. I actually received an unplanned tax refund from the People’s Republic of Taxxachusetts. I know. Shocking. The state legislature passed a bill back in the 80s that required the state to refund collected taxes if their surplus exceeded a certain amount. I’m sure there as a dedicated effort to bypass that requirement but a check showed up yesterday. Wow.  It wasn't huge but again, Wow! Also, for the first time I can ever recall, it snowed on my birthday. I spent a lot of years in the deep south and other tropical climes so it may have happened on November 15^th before, but this was a first for me. We received a couple inches overnight. I wasn’t looking for it but as I walked upstairs from the Man Cave last evening, I noticed everything outside was white. Weird to go from the 70s a couple days ago to this, but, New England.

Deckzilla Last Night

Great Aunt a Few Years Ago
BR3 Looks Just Like Her

A Few Christmases Ago in our Charlton Home

Today is a powerful birthday date as well. Both Great Aunt and Tia Loca have their date of births today. Great Aunt and I are Irish Twins for a day but now I can kid her for being so much older than I am. She counters with the fact that I’m the path to the same age within a year. She’s had an unimaginably tough year with the departure of Soxfather and I am once again truly struck by her internal strength and courage. I’m so proud of my big (elder) sister. I’m going to pay for all the agism references though. Tia Loca, on the other hand, has her own brother to contend with. They have a fiery relationship and the text bombs started flowing very early this morning. It’s fun to sit back and watch the carnage when those two go at it, good naturedly of course (I think). She claims to be in her thirties but that would make her nearly thirty-year-old son hard to explain.

The Always Elegant Tia Loca

The birthday movie was Black Panther, Wakanda Forever. I was excited to see this, as I am with most Marvel movies, and while I enjoyed it, overall I was left with a feeling of “ehhh”.  After the first Black Panther movie soared, I was probably expecting too much. The filmmakers do an excellent job of honoring the late Chadwick Boseman but their personal feelings of loss permeated the movie a little too much. The action was broken up by long periods of navel contemplation. I think they also erred by making Letitia Wright the lead which is understandable as she was fantastic as a supporting actress. She just didn’t have the chops to carry the movie and this was only too obvious when they finally bring Lupita Nyong'o back. She should have been the focus, she’s that good. So, I enjoyed the movie, who couldn’t when a de-humidifier is the ultimate weapon, but it was a two hour movie crammed into nearly three hours (it felt longer).

Three movies fell in my A-Z effort, all keepers, Born Free (out of order because of granddaughter invasion of movie shelves – still madly in love with Virginia McKenna), Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (pure schmaltz, but lovely, especially Miss Scrumptious), and A Christmas Story (may be the best holiday movie of all time, captured an era)

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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; 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; 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; Pittsburgh College Roommate– high school friend, also a “Minor Celebrity” in Pittsburgh; Riggins - also known as the Grandpuppy, son's dog; Soxfather - my brother in law; Tia Loca – wife’s younger sister; Wingman – my son in law; Wingmom – Wingman’s mom, of course

Texas, Syria Style

Impromptu parties are usually the best kind as they grow out of limited expectations. I was totally ambushed yesterday when I found myself celebrating a Syrian wedding with a bunch of Texans. I’m guessing that will require a bit of explanation. Our next-door neighbors are long time immigrants from Syria. We’ve become close with them over the past few years. They’re the neighbors I built the retaining wall for last year. Their daughter is the one getting married and last evening they hosted a pre-wedding party for the two families. The groom is from Texas which explains their presence. I don’t think either they nor I was read for what was ahead. I had expected a low key, fairly sedate barbecue and small talk.

My Wife, in Yellow, Enjoying the Festivities

By the end of the night, I had a henna stain on my little finger and my Favorite Panamanian had been inducted into one of the many ritualistic dances the Syrian ladies performed around the bride and groom, along with the telltale “La-La-La” female chant emblematic of the middle east. Okay, so more explanation; everything seemed very normal for the first part of the party. The Texans, already out of their element in the People’s Republic of Taxachusetts, to their credit, fully emerged in the unfolding events. After we ate, all of a sudden there was a Syrian gal dancing in a circle in front of the engaged couple holding a chocolate vase with four candles in it. She passed this off to the other ladies in the crowd and I was not surprised at all to see my Favorite Panamanian taking of up the dance at one point. I mean, it was dancing and she is Panamanian.

This was followed by tying a small white cloth with a red ribbon around the little finger of the couple. Soon everyone had the cloth tied to them. When it got to me, my wife gleefully explained the tradition was to tie a bundle of baby poo with the cloth. Since they were extracting the supposed poo from the chocolate bowl, I doubted this, however, it did look like that (if my granddaughter’s donations are any indication). Fortunately one of the Syrian ladies assured me this was not the case. After the bundle was applied to my finger, they explained that it was a mixture of henna which would stain the finger, for a couple of weeks. Notice, they informed me after the application. We were having so much fun by this point I could not have cared less.

The Chocolate Candle Bowl

Favorite Panamanian Takes Up the Challenge

Neighborhood Mafioso Enjoying the Party

Bring on the Dancing Girls!

Soon the ladies were dancing again, in a circle involving the engaged couple and, of course, the two Panamanians, my wife and the Neighborhood Mafioso were involved. There were more the chants from the ladies which leant a real Arabic tone for the night. By the end of the night the Texas ladies had been taught and were in full voice with their soon to be Syrian in laws. I found it kind of cool that on a tired old hill in Worcester the Syrian wedding traditions that must date back hundreds of years were celebrated with so much joy by such a disparate group of people. I think it shows that, in the end, we all crave human connection and that we’re really not that dissimilar. Too much fun and now I’ll be rocking this henna tattoo for a couple weeks.

My Henna Finger

And She's Still Dancing

And Dancing

Couple Being Blessed by Group

The Mafiosos Joined the Dance

Finished Another Puzzle

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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; Curbside Girls – close friends of my daughter acquired during her single days in Brooklyn; 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); 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; Pittsburgh College Roommate– high school friend, also a “Minor Celebrity” in Pittsburgh; Riggins - also known as the Grandpuppy, son's dog; Soxfather - my brother in law; Tia Loca – wife’s younger sister; Wingman – my son in law; Wingmom – Wingman’s mom, of course

Holiday Testing

One of the things we wanted to do prior to our family Christmas gathering was to have everybody get tested. A couple of months ago this would have been a breeze. That was life before the omicron variant. I went to three different CVS stores yesterday only to be greeted at the front door with signs proclaiming they were sold out and didn’t know when they would get resupply. I checked online and the nearest scheduled appointment I could get was well after the holidays. I guess I could join the three hour long wait for unscheduled testing but that seems to defeat the whole purpose, i.e., avoiding other people. The People’s Republic of Taxxachusetts distributed a couple million free in-home tests but the 200K that Worcester received all went to low income support agencies. I don’t argue with that because the poor have been hit hardest as they have the highest percentage, along with Trump supporters, of the unvaccinated. Some things I’ll never understand. You’re offered a free preventative to a deadly disease and you decide to avoid it because of some weird ramblings you find on social media. I guess this is ole Darwin back at work, weeding out incompetents from the gene pool.

FBR Helping Mom

I have modified my routine this week ahead of the family arrivals. I’ve eschewed my morning swim workouts because there really is no way to mask during that activity. That means a doubling of the bike workouts which are literately a pain in the ass. Nothing, though, can dampen the excitement of once again having the entire clan under one roof again. Christmas cookie baking was also coordinated this year with my Favorite Son making peanut butter blossoms as well as sugar cookies while my Favorite Daughter contributes her peerless chocolate sugar cookies. The FBR assisted in that preparation and was in charge of adding the sugar topping. I think I put on a couple extra pounds just looking at the pictures. I can’t wait.

The End Result

The FBR Sugaring Station

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RECURRING CHARACTERS                                           

BR3 – Blog Reader #3 – granddaughter #3, BRS - Blog Reader the Sequel - second granddaughter; FBR - First Blog Reader - first granddaughter, ABFA – Amazing Best Family Athlete = my daughter in law; Wingman – my son in law; Wingmom – Wingman’s mom, of course; Keene Friends 1 & 2 – friends since high school from my home town of Keene, NH; Soxfather - my brother in law; Great Aunt - my elder sister; Cantankerous Friend – friend since grade school who likes to argue about everything, poses as radical leftist to attract women; Kindergarten Friend – friend since kindergarten whom I reunited with after many years; Pittsburgh College Roommate– high school friend, also a “Minor Celebrity” in Pittsburgh; Deckzilla – our backyard deck which grew to monstrous dimensions once my wife got involved in planning; Maine and Virginia Musqueteras – two close friends of my wife – her US sisters, my wife is the 3^rd musquetera (musketeer); Riggins - also known as the Grandpuppy, son's dog; 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; Neighborhood Mafioso - wife's close friend and Panamanian mafia member, Favorite Panamanian - the wife (of course); First Friday – celebrations to mark the First Friday of the Week; Curbside Girls – close friends of my daughter acquired during her single days in Brooklyn