What to Say

I’m definitely in the back wash of enjoying myself entirely too much over the past few days. Certainly too busy to post on anything as mundane as this blog. Needless to say my three granddaughters and their parental units are to blame for this development. I’m going to be completely inadequate in describing all that has passed since my last entry. There is just so much gushing even I am willing to inflict upon you. The best description I can offer is that the Christmas holiday met my expectations which are wholly unreasonable in their lofty aim. Therefore, saying the past few days not only met, but greatly exceeded, those standards is truly remarkable.

Signature Photo of the Weekend by the ABFA
3 Granddaughters with the rest of the Family in the Mirror

It all started on Thursday with the arrival of the New Jersey bunch. The FBR immediately reestablished her nest in the granddaughter room and started with the first of 7,437 questions about when her cousins would arrive. They arrived with a new batch of Christmas cookies which immediately became an endangered species (not my proudest moment). Friday was spent preparing for the festivities to come and also celebrate Wingmom’s birthday. That meant a trip out for lunch followed by a movie with the plan involving escaping the environs before the post work shopping crowd arrived to clog all the roads. The movie was fun and we made the planned for escape with a line of cars nearly a mile long awaiting entry to the mall as we were leaving.

FBR and Daughter Arrive

Friday at the Movies

Saturday brought the arrival of the New Hampshire bunch and the end of the thousands of FBR questions. The three cousins were instantly back into best buddy mode and grandparents and parents became secondary considerations. My Favorite Panamanian had set up a program of family Christmas themed games to play during the weekend and despite some initial doubt from some (guilty), these turned out to be a real highlight and so much fun.

Son's Family Arrives

BRS and her Dad

Game Time

The Fun Bunch

Saturday night called for a fire in my style-challenged back yard fireplace. The three granddaughters and the ABFA were only ones to join me for the fire which produced the requisite number of S’mores. As we waited for the fire to die down, post-S’mores, the ABFA and I heard an owl in the back woods. We tried to call the kids’ attention to this but they were more interested in S’mores fueled sugar rush charges around the yard, including a terror campaign with the people inside the house with a doorbell campaign. I was drafted to join a balloon chasing game on Deckzilla which ended the night’s festivities.

ABFA Leading the S'mores Crowd

Deckzilla Time

FBR and BRS

C'mon Grandpa, Try and Keep Up

Each night over the weekend, after the granddaughters were sent to bed (if not sleep), we’d gather in the man cave for a holiday themed movie. We watched The Holiday and Christmas Vacation as well as the usual Christmas Eve viewing of Love Actually. The Keene Friend joined us via text for Love Actually although he was watching a TV broadcast version which left out a lot of the good bits. I tried to assist by sending him some screen captures to so he could see what he was missing.

Writing Notes to Santa

And Leaving Snacks

Of Course

BR3 With One of her Usual Maniacal Looks

Christmas Eve was high energy with the three granddaughters still highly charged about the arrival of Santa Claus. I don’t know how many more Christmases we’ll have with that belief intact, but I’m bound and determined to enjoy it while it lasts. My Favorite Panamanian wore a pair of Christmas slippers over the weekend that had small bells which made me think we’d acquired a cat whenever she walked into the room. On Christmas day BR3 told her dad that she knew Santa had come because she heard the bells walking down the hall outside their room before she fell asleep. Way too funny.

Christmas Morning, Waiting on the Adults

Grandpa Preventing Early Descent

What Was Awaiting Them

Christmas day dawned (literally) with the usual granddaughter wakeup avalanche on our bed. They were required to wait at the top of the stairs until everyone was up and ready to descend. I’m not sure they would have abided with this if I didn’t station myself at the bottom of the stairs. The next hour involved the annual flurry of gift distributed and wrapping paper storms in the living room. BR3 made it a point to hug the giver of each gift she opened. Both she and her sister, the BRS, have figured out the gift opening process. What used to take several days was accomplished in about forty-five minutes this Christmas.

ABFA Christmas Morn

Mimosa Time

The parents were busy charging their mimosas while my Favorite Panamanian prepared a fabulous hojaldra/fried dough breakfast. The gift giving continued throughout the morning with subsequent arrivals of the ABFA’s parents and Great Aunt joining us for Christmas day. I got up around 5:30am on Christmas day to put the turkey, my son and I had prepped the night before, in the oven. That meant the day passed permeated with the smell of cooking turkey. My son, Wingman, and I completed prep of the big Christmas dinner and we all sat down right on schedule. I’m told the food even tasted good. I’m not one to judge as the food was heading downrange too fast at this point.

Movie Time in the Cave

More Games

Wingmom with a Throw

After dinner we played a couple more of my wife’s games. One game involved rolling a ball into a number of cups which revealed a prize, usually candy. With my well acknowledged luck, I rolled into a cup which required me to sing a Christmas carol to the group. We won’t know the psychological damage inflicted on those who were forced to hear my singing voice for years. My son and I were competing against each other in fantasy football and he was skull dragging me all day and enjoying it maybe a bit too much. We went to bed with his team only needing 5 points from his quarterback to win. You can imagine the crow consumed the next day when we awoke to find his player had thrown four interceptions and I won by two points.

BR3 Had a Crying Jag, Cured by Magical Photos

Granddaughter Conference

Dance Party!

The day after Christmas was spent dismantled all the panoply my Favorite Panamanian had spent the past month preparing the house for Christmas. We leave for Panama on Friday so the decorations had to get into storage. In a very nice development, everybody pitched in and the work went really fast. The house was completely de-Christmased by noon time which meant my wife could join us for the annual trip north to celebrate the day after Christmas with Keene Friend.

Christmas Eve at Church

ABFA Parents Arrive

Son with Christmas Turkey

Dinner Time!!

FBR in Disguise

More Games

That event was every bit as much fun as hoped for except for the abysmal performance by Keene’s preeminent pizza establishment. The Cantankerous Friend and a number of other worthies joined in the fun as we gathered around Keene Friend’s living room. Since Athens Pizza wouldn’t answer the phone, we drove down and ordered in person and was told the pizza would be delivered in 45 minutes. An hour and a half later there was still no pizza and since they still wouldn’t answer the phone, my son drive down to find out WTF. They couldn’t help him and the pizza finally arrived a couple minutes after a very frustrated son returned. That wasn’t his only frustration though. We all contributed to buy Keene Frind a new 4K smart TV as a Christmas gift. We were setting it up when my son noticed there was a defect in the screen that will require it to be returned. Except for that bummer moment, the night was a complete success. I wish I could have stayed another couple hours but the double edged sword of young granddaughters’ and bedtimes necessitated an early departure. Still a great Christmas seeing these friends since that won’t happen again until April when I return from Panama.

Keene Friend's House

Granddaughters at Keene Friend's

Today was the usual down turn as we were reduced to one granddaughter as my son’s family had returned home from Keene last night and the New Jersey bunch left today. Both my son and Wingman deserve some recognition for the incredible packing job they did in their cars to get all the gifts and suitcases packed. Side mirrors were required for each of the trips but everything made it home. We continued out deployment prep here today. I conducted a walk through with the house sitter and the washing machine has been going non-stop all day. For some reason my wife refuses to leave the house with a speck of disorder. That’s a tough standard with a lord of disarray, such as myself, in residence. Tomorrow, I pack suitcases. My wife’s have been packed since late October.

The movie we saw was Wonka, the latest film trying to capture Dahl’s immortal candy lord. I’ve never been a big Timothy Chalamet fan but after nailing Paul Atreides in Dune and his performance here, I’m a covert. He’s tone perfect as Willy and ably assisted by a very capable cast. The whimsical setting helps as Wonka’s undefeatable good will cannot fail to capture you. After the last disaster featuring Johnny Depp, this was a welcome return to the heartfelt character. I doubted it going in, but I was totally conquered by this movie. It helped that it was Christmas time and my granddaughter was sitting next to me.

Two movies fell in my A-Z watch, both keepers: The Hunger Games, when you knew Jennifer Lawrence was going to be a star and Hunger Games, Catching Fire, not as good as original but still a keeper.

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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 him 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; 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; Soxfather - my brother in law; Tia Loca – wife’s younger sister; Wingman – my son in law; Wingmom – Wingman’s mom, of course

Holiday Haunting and Some More Delving

Okay, I’m more than a little freaked out. Either I’m going completely insane or my house is haunted. Not the kind of choices I was looking for during the holiday season. Let me explain. I was doing my ab workout this morning in the living room, admiring the Christmas tree when I should have been crunching, when there was a very loud sound on the far side of the kitchen. It sounded like something large fell and this was followed by the sound of breaking glass. I was concerned because I would be accused of whatever breakage this event had generated (rightfully so due to my spotty history in this arena). I immediately set out to learn what I would be suspected of but I couldn’t find anything. I widened the search and even went into the garage and outside. Again, nothing to see. I went upstairs to ask my Favorite Panamanian but she hadn’t heard anything but immediately assumed I broke something (again, that history).

We both searched the house top to bottom and didn’t find anything broken. It still kind of freaks me out because the sound was so loud and very clear. I related this to the family and they made the same leap in logic as my wife, asking me what I had broken and why was I trying to blame it on ghosts (damn!). When I professed my complete innocence, they said it was probably a forewarning about something I was going to break in the future (geez, can I get a break here – oops, poor choice of words that). So, these are my options, I’m going mad, being haunted, or experienced a bubble in time. I’m blaming a poltergeist.

Hopefully the Granddaughters' Don't go all Carol Ann on me This Weekend

One of my mother’s favorite sayings (being a child of the Great Depression), was that nothing in life is free. As with most mother’s sayings I’ve found it rooted in truth. I remembered that today after an experience at the local Toyota dealership. Since they think so highly of me, they offered a free state vehicle inspection as a Christmas present. I showed up on time and the very young lady who was doing the intake slapped a gauge on the tires and said I was probably going to fail. I thought this was strange since I only had about 35K miles on the tires. We went back to her desk and she said she could equip me with new tires for only $1300, Merry Friggin Christmas. I told her no, please return my car to me, and I would get the tires at some place that didn’t require my first born. I drove down the street, got the car inspected (passing with flying colors), and paid $35 instead of the $1300. Because, as mom said, nothing in life is free. Since it’s Christmas time I’m going to assume the young lady just didn’t know how to read the gauge instead of trying to fleece me.

A Delving We Will Go!

I got another Christmas present today. On Tuesday I had my biannual skin screening at the dermatologist. This is where I have a fairly attractive young lady run her hands all over my body and I don’t get in trouble (my kids are cringing reading that I’m sure). Since I’d gone a whole year without any delving, I guess she felt honor bound to take two biopsies. One in my right ear and the other on top of my head. Today I learned both were positive for cancer and I’ll have to have Mohs surgery again (for the 7^th time) to remove them. Luckily it can wait until I return from Panama. Despite these adventures, I still love this time of year and the first batch of kids and granddaughters arrive tonight. Extremely cool.

Three movies fell in my A-Z watch, all keepers: The Howling, mom from ET versus werewolves; How the West was Won, true epic with virtually every major actor from 1960s; and Hugo, a personal favorite and a must see for all movie lovers.

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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 him 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; 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; Soxfather - my brother in law; Tia Loca – wife’s younger sister; Wingman – my son in law; Wingmom – Wingman’s mom, of course

Christmas Time!!!!!

I post the words below each year around this time for the self-stated reasons. 2023 came with its challenges but this time of year furnishes so many memories that it can be rejuvenating, is part of what makes it so special. The cookies are baked, the presents are wrapped, the turkey is thawing, and I find myself a little giddy waiting for the arrival of the rest of the clan this weekend. I hope you reading this have a special group of family and friends approaching how special mine is. If so, you can’t help but have a merry Christmas. Please also remember those in uniform serving in far off lands preserving our freedom. I was unbelievably lucky to only miss three Christmases at home during my 27 years of service but they hurt. Honor those who keep us safe. For those looking for holiday spirit, do what I just did, a google search for Christmas flash mobs, so many, so cool, and they all touched my heart. I provide my favorite as well as a cherished Christmas song by my favorite Irish singer and a military poem.

I am an unabashed and unrepentant lover of Christmas time, in all of its glorious corniness.  I love Christmas carols, Christmas parties, but most of all Christmas Day. I can remember Christmas as far back as the age of 3.  I still remember one special year in my early teens when I was overcome with Christmas spirit, feeling so good about the season and just general happiness that I wondered at myself. This feeling lasted until well after Christmas and no, to all you cynics out there, the feelings were not chemically assisted.  Every year since then has been an attempt to recapture that feeling. Most years I get it in bits and pieces, mostly associated with time I spend with my family and friends. I served 27 years in the Army and made it home every year for Christmas except for three years.

My wife and “kids” smile behind me, good naturedly, because they know how important Christmas is to me. I know there are those raging elements or hipsters out there that bemoan what modern Christmas has evolved to. Some say it overly commercialized or others not properly religious. It seems there are always those elements in society – “Grinchs” for lack of a better term. These seem to be people so unhappy with their own lives that they target times or traditions that bring happiness to others for scorn. I could not care less about these self-important gas bags.  There is nothing in life more enjoyable than being around people you love and actually taking some time out of the all too busy lives we lead to simply be together. So, to all of you out there that bad mouth Christmas – get a life; the rest of us already have one and we’re going to have the merriest Christmas of all in spite of you or more correctly in homage to the love we are blessed with.  Merry Christmas!

Three movies fell in my A-Z watch, all keepers: Hot Shots, still funny although the refences are dated; Hot Shots, Part Deux, a send up of Rambo, Sheen is so lucky, Valeria Golino and Brenda Bakke (no wonder he went crazy); and The House, Ferrell and Poehler comedy dream team.

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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 him 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; 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; Soxfather - my brother in law; Tia Loca – wife’s younger sister; Wingman – my son in law; Wingmom – Wingman’s mom, of course

And it Feels So Good

Yes, we’re talking reuniting here. My Favorite Panamanian finally escaped Panama on Friday and despite yet another delay arrived in Boston to claim her rose bouquet. I had a bit of a wait in the terminal E reception area which I’ve gotten to know so well over the years. The house once again feels appropriately filled with the amount of life only this my Favorite Panamanian can produce. I felt so good a was that happy to vanquish the loneliness her absence represented. Granted, I’m sure she wasn’t as pleased to have me along as I was looking for an exit strategy as soon as we walked into the store. Finally, I have to take issue with the many comments I received when I published this picture of my Favorite Panamanian and I at the airport. The lighting fixture over my head simulated a halo and apparently a number of people thought this was hilarious. I laughed along with them until I thought about it and said, “Hey!”. The more I thought about it, I had to agree, totally unwarranted and therefore funny.

My Angelic Pose

She's Back!!

As heavy rain encompasses the East Coast, I am pronouncing this as Cookie Weekend. Both my son and daughter launched the annual Christmas cookie endeavor this weekend with the able assistance of my granddaughters. The FBR shows she can still wear cookie batter well and I’m sure all three will find bedtime a challenge once the sugar rush hits. My Favorite Panamanian is laboring directly above me to create her contribution to the cookie haul. I put on two to three pounds every time I leave the Man Cave to pass through the kitchen.  The two youngest granddaughters seem to have overcome their aversion/fear of Santa. They’re probably recalling how generous he was last Christmas. I’m starting to get my annual Christmas high as we roll closer, especially with my roommate back in residence.

FBR, Batter Up!

Great Picture of Son & ABFA

BR3 and Santa

BRS Joins the Lap

So Cute!

Three movies fell in my A-Z watch, all keepers: Hostage, better Willis action than I remember; Hot Fuzz, funny send up of action flicks; and The Hot Spot, young Madsen and Connelly, oh my.

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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 him 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; 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; Soxfather - my brother in law; Tia Loca – wife’s younger sister; Wingman – my son in law; Wingmom – Wingman’s mom, of course

One of Those

You all know the old saying, “I’m having One of Those Days”. We’ve all experienced them which puts a lie to the assertion of their singular nature. My latest was this past Wednesday. That was the day my Favorite Panamanian was supposed to fly from David down to Panama City to catch her Thursday flight back home. You’ll note my use of the word “supposed”. I had checked her in online and she was already at the airport when we both learned that her flight had been canceled. No explanation, just canceled. That would have been enough to ruin the day but almost simultaneously my computer stopped working, just when I needed it the most (there might be a song in there somewhere).

I was filling out a spreadsheet when it stopped allowing me to enter any text. I though I had fat fingered (as I am wont to do) a series of keys that had somehow “protected” the sheet. When that wasn’t the case I saw that while the mouse worked I couldn’t enter text in any other application. This is a serious problem since this computer is my link to the world, including paying bills and trying to help my wife sort out a completely new itinerary. We talked on the phone and she said she could handle the flights since she was at the airport and I gave her the number of the hotel she was booked into near the Panama City Airport.

Wife Took Advantage of Delay for Lunch with her Uncle and Cousin

Meanwhile I dove into trying to fix the recalcitrant computer. In the past I usually call in my IT Team (my kids and their spouses) to solve computer related issues, but I’ve been watching how they do it. I used my phone to google what my problem was and after a few stops and go’s I was able to restore the computer (immense relief suffusing every pore – crazy how symbiotic we’ve become). My wife had re-booked her flights, scheduled to fly out of David on Thursday and to Boston today. She was back at her mom’s house at this point and said the hotel refused to change her reservation since I had made it online, I had to contact the website to make the change.

I know everybody that has ever tried to contact a website and talk to a person cringed along with me at that last statement. The website had a phone number and after three tries I made it past the AI menu and talked to a human. She seemed sympathetic up to the point she hung up on me. Three more forays through the AI menu and I connected with another human, who, after fifteen minutes with me, informed there was nothing he could do since this was booked through a partner service. He looked up a phone number and gave that to me. I thanked him for nothing and tried the number only to find it had been disconnected. I immersed myself back in google and found another number for the company he claimed was the partner service. I talked to a very nice lady there who tried several different ways to find the reservation only to say there was nothing she could do because the reservation was not made through them. People who know me realize whatever semblance of sanity I may possess had long since fled at this point.

I called down to Panama to say we’d just have to pay for another night based on my lack of success. I asked her to call the hotel again because I’d had my fill of the online reservation system. Five minutes later she called back and said the hotel, after hearing of my adventures, agreed to shift the reservation. My head exploded at this point. At any rate, she’s onboard a plane that should be taking off shortly for Boston. Yet another price to pay for Wednesday, since I’ll be driving to the airport, First Friday festivities are impacted. Hump day, indeed. Oh, and today i received an email from the reservation company thanking me for taking advantage of their customer service call center. Luckily it was one of those do not reply emails or I might have broken the keyboard. Again.

Four movies fell in my A-Z watch, all keepers: Hoosiers, one of best sports movies ever, forgotten how compelling the musical score was; Horrible Bosses, Bateman and pre-Lasso Sudeikis, way too funny, and then there’s Anniston; Horrible Bosses 2, not as funny but still a lot of laughs, and, again, Anniston; and The Horse Soldiers, Ford, the Duke, and Holden, great Civil war flick, may have steered me towards military career, fell in love with it when I was young.

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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 him 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; 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; Soxfather - my brother in law; Tia Loca – wife’s younger sister; Wingman – my son in law; Wingmom – Wingman’s mom, of course

Nostalgia Strikes Again

As I’ve gotten older, I find the tendency to look back on my life becomes ever more prevalent. I realized just how idyllic my childhood was, an impression that never occurred to me while I was actually experiencing it. That’s the normal human condition, not having experienced anything else, it just felt that this was normal, something everybody had. I say this despite the parents’ divorce and the other sundry challenges life threw at me. This realization has been embellished since I retired from the Army and reconnected with so many of my friends from that era. One of those friends posted a couple pictures on Facebook yesterday that set off this latest bout of nostalgia. She posted some pictures from the elementary school where we shared 4^th and 5^th grade. I hadn’t seen the inside of that building in sixty years so I was struck by the memories that came flooding back when I saw them.

Lincoln School Hallways

Now a Charter School

Stairs Down to Kindergarten Area
Where we Used to Go to Get Our Afternoon Milk 

To demonstrate that my fascination with nostalgia is not limited to my childhood and home town, I was struck in similar fashion during a Facetime call with my Favorite Panamanian on Monday. She drove down to our condo to start the re-opening effort with a meeting with the cleaner. As soon as she showed me the condo, I felt that urge. I felt pulled south immediately. That condo has certainly become our second home and seeing it brought back all the memories it has bestowed upon us over the past few years. The fact that we’ll be back there in less than three weeks might have had something to do with that as well. My wife is winding up her trip home and will be back in the house on Thursday, so the cleaning effort will start immediately (for me).

Wife with Sisters and Mom This Past Weekend

The View I can't Wait to Get Back To

Since I’s been so quiet around the house (see below), I took in a movie at the local cinema yesterday. Silent Night was anything but quiet with all the explosions and gunfire but there wasn’t a single line of dialogue in the movie. The hero, after seeing his young son gunned down by a stray bullet in a gang drive by, is shot in the vocal cords rendering him voiceless. John Woo directed, so the action was his usual awesome, along with his signature fluttering birds. The lack of dialogue hurt though as it was hard to connect with the characters, although it made a comment on today’s society dependence on texting. Joel Kinnaman reinforced his action credentials and added some depth to the suffering father. It took a while for the Woo level action to start and the film dragged awaiting that. Who knew that the spoken word was needed in an action movie?

Seven movies fell in my A-Z watch (it’s been pretty boring around here), six keepers and one discard: The Hitman’s Wife’s Bodyguard, nowhere near as funny as first but then there’s still Salma; Hobbes and Shaw, two action heroes at their peaks; The Holiday, estrogen on overdrive but a simply great movie; Home Alone, another Christmas classic; Home Front, Staham tearing up the bayous; Homeward Bound, I defy anyone with a soul not to shed a tear when Shadow lopes over that final hill; and Hook, just a bad movie, especially when they get to Never Never land, surprisingly bad - discard.

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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 him 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; 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; Soxfather - my brother in law; Tia Loca – wife’s younger sister; Wingman – my son in law; Wingmom – Wingman’s mom, of course