Overdue and Crossover Supreme

I’m not exactly sure how many of my personal habits acquired or drilled into me during my nearly three decades in the Army I’ve taken with me into civilian life. One that I am sure of is the length of my hair. I thought one of the first things I would do upon retiring form the military was let my hair grow long again. I was mildly disappointed to find it came out almost all gray and reminded me how unmanageable a curly mop it had been prior to being shorn for all those years in uniform. After a couple months I decided I missed the convenience of really short hair and have had it ever since. I remark upon this because this morning I finally convinced my wife to give me a very overdue haircut. We’ve discovered during the pandemic that my haircut is so simple that anybody could do it. This is not to cast aspersions on my designated barber, my Favorite Panamanian, though. She’s done a bang-up job ever since taking over responsibility for it early in 2020.

The FBR is Ready for the Holidays!!!!

It was overdue because of an old Panamanian wife’s tale. This is how I describe it at least. I should have had the haircut a couple weeks ago but she refused because I still had that cold I wrote about. She said it was very unhealthy to let the metal cutters touch your hair when you’re sick. Is it just me or is that just plain weird? At any rate my hair was the longest it had been since that time, mentioned above, directly after retiring. I used to get annoyed when elementary school teachers used to crow to my parents about my beautiful curly hair. I longed for straight hair and I learned when it’s really short it is, for all intents and purposes, straight. So there.

The Before Picture with Really Long Hair

Another habit that thankfully stuck with me was the need to stay in shape. One of the last things my mother ever said to me was the advice, “never get fat”. Of course, the Army, had a vested interest in seeing that I followed that advice with monthly weigh-ins to confirm everyone still met standards. When I got out I found I also missed the workouts and have been doing them in some form ever since. However, I managed to acquire a lot more weight than I was comfortable with when I worked full time. I’ve found in semi-retirement I can devote a lot more time to exercise, mainly because there are fewer excuses to miss workouts. I reached a goal with today’s weigh-in, maybe because of all the hair that I lost, as I now weigh the same as when I commanded an infantry battalion in 1999. I’m kind of proud of that. It will be a short-lived achievement as Christmas cookies will emerge from cold storage tomorrow and the Christmas weekend beckons with non-stop hedonistic pursuits of food and maybe a few beers. Oh, and the grocery store finally had whoopie pies again today. It just means the ten pounds I’m sure I’ll acquire over the next few days will give me something to work off when I hit the beach in a few weeks. A good problem to have.

And After - Blessedly Short Again

Keene Friend stopped by the house yesterday to drop off presents for the family, including a huge one that he conspired with my son as well as Great Aunt/Soxfather. I’m most worried that they let him wrap it because he has a well-earned reputation for excessive wrapping. We’re talking layers and layers often and other obstacles. So much so that whenever a package arrived from him during my military career my kids reveled as they watched me try to pry the package open, a true family legend. Anyways, I’ve got that to look forward to. He also accompanied us to see this week’s movie, Spiderman, Far From Home.

This latest Marvel effort is fantastic. It lives up to the Marvel standard which is lofty and cements Spiderman’s legacy in the Marvel Universe. It will also go down in movie history as the crossover event to end all crossovers. While the movie is excellent in its own right, with a tremendous amount of heart, the crossovers from prior versions of Spiderman were incredibly funny and in a couple of situations, painfully poignant. It will be hard to describe without revealing too many details but if you’ve seen the prior incarnations of Spiderman than you have to see this, just for a well made walk to memory lane. Tom Holland can be a bit annoying but it’s hard to not fall under his spell as a truly young Spiderman. He’s faced with his secret identity being outed by the last movie’s villain and that leads to some very funny moments. He teams up with Dr Strange, who predictably steals every scene he’s forced to deal with the teenagers in. Speaking of scene stealing, Zendaya is pitch perfect as MJ teaming up with Peter and Ned to thwart a veritable legion of reincarnated bad guys. There are some tough moments and it will be interesting to see where Marvel takes this character next but if this is Holland’s last turn, at least he went out on top. One of my favorite movies of the year.

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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

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

Christmas – That Time of Year

I post the words below each year around this time for the self-stated reasons. 2021 certainly rose to the occasion, replacing the travesty that was 2020. We’re back to having a full house again this year from Christmas although rapid testing will be done ahead of time thanks to new friend – Omicron. I spent a lot of time yesterday getting wrapping done. The tree is now fully stocked although more gifts are inbound. I’ve found I have to become more stealthy about the Santa gifts due to a very inquisitive 6-year-old who last year questioned why some presents from Santa had the same wrapping paper as otenhrs from family members. I’ve got up my game.

Our Freshly Stocked Tree

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 of each other.  Merry Christmas!

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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

Blinded

As I’m writing this a storm is blowing through that was supposed to provide some snow and an outside chance at a white Christmas. New England though had some other ideas and we started off with rain which has since changed over to ice. This should be fun. We didn’t plan anything today because we knew this thing was blowing in but the lack of snow is frustrating, especially because I have the shortest window of my life in New England to see some snow this winter. I’m not upset about that as I’m going to be on a Panamanian beach early in January through the beginning of April. Still, hopes for a white Christmas endure.

Newly Installed Blinds

The accumulation of indoor tasks was specially earmarked for today based on the weather reports. That started out with the installation of window blinds in the dining room. I confidently told my Favorite Panamanian that I had watched Deckzilla Dude install the blinds in our master bedroom and felt I could handle this minor project with ease. I knew I should have kept my mouth shut. I installed the first bracket with only some minor donation of knuckle skin when I accidently knocked over a nearby wall ornament. That broke my potentially longest streak ever of not breaking things. The absence of Buddy the Wonder Pooch has greatly aided that streak. Predictably the ornament was very special to my wife, a memento from Panama, and shattered into a thousand pieces when it landed at my feet. My expression of alarm brought my nearby wife racing to the scene. She might start talking t o me again by Christmas. In the end I started to use a drill to put the screws in which speeded things up and spared the remaining wall ornaments. Now it’s on the wrapping presents in my very quiet house.

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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

Cold Beater

I know that I squawk a little too much about the vagaries of getting old with my twenty-year-old mind making decisions for a sixty-six-year-old body. I’ll add another to the list by saying this older body has a tougher time fighting off colds than younger versions of myself did. With all the pandemic protocols in place I’ve had a very healthy last two years, well outside the whole skin and prostate cancer stuff, not even a sniffle has darkened the horizon. BR3 put an end to that last week when she passed on her cold, probably while she was seated in my lap demanding I share my breakfast with her. She’s very insistent. My younger self would have knocked this thing down in a couple days. I think I’m finally getting past it here on the sixth day. On the upside, I channeled a little Phoebe Buffay, telling my Favorite Panamanian that I thought my cold effected voice sounded a lot sexier than normal. I’m still trying to figure out why she laughed so hard.

Oreo-ed

I’ve been very active during the last week, making my swim workouts and everything else but the cold still dogged me all week.  I don’t think my tried-and-true heretofore successful technique of just ignoring it will work anymore. This will, of course, fall into yet another “told you so” category for a certain Panamanian lady I live with. I am getting psyched as we find ourselves a week away from when the first family members start showing up for Christmas – way, way too cool. BR3, the family new Typhoid Mary, had very little to say last night during our call. She was learning the exquisite joy that comes from eating an Oreo cookie. ‘Nuff said.

Date night on Tuesday had my wife and I at the movies to see West Side Story. I’ll be the first to tell you that I didn’t see the need or even interest in reviving this iconic 1960s classic, but Spielberg, right, so I went to see it. I’m so glad I did because the master has done it again. He reinvented the story while keeping all the memorable songs and updating it with 21^st Century sensibilities while leaving it set in the 1960s. A lot of the credit in the acting category goes to newcomer Rachel Zegler as Maria. She’s luminous and is blessed with a phenomenal singing voice. She’s more than helped by Ariana DeBose as Anita. I figured this was something I would sit through as a favor to my Hispanic wife who inevitably would make the comparisons with our own story, decidedly less tragic than Maria and Tony’s. I loved the movie and it helped I understood the Spanish spoken without subtitles which I thought made the film seem more authentic. I count this as the biggest surprise of 2021, but it shouldn’t be, should it. Spielberg.

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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

Fallen Angels

I Think my Favorite Panamanian and I have recovered from our week long, child care boot camp at my Favorite Son’s home last week. He was laughing at us last night when we talked about the experience. He tried to talk some smack but we then reminded him that we held our own despite the thirty years he had on us. I hope in some distant future he’s reading these words as he tries to keep up with his own grandchildren upon reaching our age. He also reminded me that I forgot to mention one of the best parts of my week up in New Hampshire with him. We’re both huge fans of the Lord of the Rings movies, my favorite of all time.

One of the Survivors

Back when he was single and childless, we had a couple Saturdays when we would get together and watch all three movies (extended versions of course) in sequence. These twelve-hour marathons were so much fun despite the obvious disapproval from my Favorite Panamanian and later the ABFA. While to the casual observer this might seem like an immense waste of time, both my son and I revel as we’re transported back to the end of the Third Age of Middle Earth. It had been many years since our last marathon, interrupted by life in so many ways. My son received, from me, the 4K version of the movies last Christmas and hadn’t watched them yet. He came up with the idea of watching one each Wednesday through Friday nights after we finished up Man Cave construction and the BSR/BR3 retired for the night. The wives were once again flummoxed by our plan but supported us in a good-natured way. We finished up each night around midnight and I can’t promise you that eyelids were never fully engaged but we saw all the important bits; especially the two charges of the Rohirrim. Good times.

Dwindling Population

Upon our return Saturday we were pummeled by some fairly ferocious winds overnight. I came out Sunday to survey the damage and was saddened to see two of the terra cotta angels from my wife’s vast garden complex had been blown off their perches and were irrevocably broken. I mention this because these statues are some the last reminders we have of my mother. She went through an angel phase and her children dutifully bought her a veritable legion of them over the years for Christmas and birthdays. When she passed away, my Favorite Panamanian, being the top family gardener acquired control of many of them. They’re been with us ever since from Virginia, to Rhode Island, to Charlton and our two houses in Worcester.

The First Batches - Peanut Butter Blossoms and Spritz!

They survived the ravages of Buddy the Wonder Pooch although I’m not saying there wasn’t some super glue holding certain appendages attached. I thought of mom every time I passed by them on my way to raise the flag each morning and it was on one of those trips that I found the shards. Mom was the biggest part of my life for good and bad for almost fifty years and I liked having those souvenirs to remind of the good. She would have been pissed to see them broken and maybe she sent me a message because I acquired a inch long gash on my index finger as I was picking up the debris. Sorry, Mom.

Central Control for Additional Cookie Production

We are approaching the holidays and there’s a laundry list of fairly significant actions I have to accomplish ahead of that. I finally got cranking on them yesterday while my Favorite Panamanian was decisively engaged with Christmas cookie baking (YES!!!!). I will be officially retiring on 31 December and yesterday I applied for social security to take effect in January when I reach my full payout. It made me feel a little old. I then tried to make airline reservations for our January trip to Panama only to discover that Copa is once again abandoning Boston. This will require another trip to New Jersey in order to fly out of JFK. I was just about finished with that and moving on to other actions required on the list I’ve created when my wife mentioned the car registration expires in February. I will, of course, be lounging on a beach during that month. I learned this morning that I could renew the registration online and knocked that out just before I started writing here. Now it’s on to the annual Christmas letter, changing all the monthly bills to electronic form, canceling the newspaper, contacting the pharmacy and only about eight or nine other things. Oh, and finish Christmas shopping. December 2021, not for the faint of heart.

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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

Framed and Home

Both my Favorite Panamanian and I are into day two of serious recovery operations after a fun filled but exhausting week with my Favorite Son and his family. We drove home yesterday in some of the most intense rain I’ve driven through in a long time. I say exhausting because apparently my wife and I aren’t as young as we used to be and after being tag teamed by the BRS and BR3 all week we were just that. That being said I wouldn’t trade the time for anything because of the time spent with not only the precocious granddaughters but also my son and the ABFA.

Riggins Doing his Part

ABFA and Son Friday Night

My son and I finished up framing all the walls for his future Man Cave and home theater in the basement. We even created what my son assures me is called a soffit. There was a serious amount of discovery learning for a certain senior citizen. Luckily my construction savvy son was on the job and the finished product looked almost professional. As I told my son as I was leaving, I treasured the week down in the basement with him. As happens when you reach my age, thoughts of mortality creep into your reflections. It made me feel good that long after I’m gone my son will look at those walls and remember we put them up together. I’m not trying to be morbid but realistic, my bid for a small slice of familial immortality

BR3 Painting with Abuela

ABFA and BRS

Abuela and BRS Made a Gingerbread House

Photos from some of the other Crafting Times with Abuela

My Favorite Panamanian had the much tougher job, riding herd on the granddaughters. My son and I could hear the almost continuous pitter patter of small footsteps crisscrossing the floor above us as we worked in the basement. My wife had a variety of crafts and other activities trying to keep them engaged throughout the day. She had planned on starting work on her annual Christmas cookie baking but that was before we learned the granddaughters wouldn’t be going to their day care. That facility was closed by a flood from a broken water heater the weekend before we arrived. I marvel at my wife’s ability to manage these two young dynamos. But, as I said, yesterday we agreed we needed a break.

BRS with Santa

BR3 Less Happy

The Famous FBR Photo

We stayed over Friday night because my son’s company was throwing their annual Christmas party. My son and the ABFA looked fantastic as they headed out the door. As usually happens when the actual parents depart, the granddaughters were extremely well behaved at bed time. In the BRS’ case, for the first time all week. A couple hours later both my wife and I smelled gas which seemed to be emanating from the gas fireplace. A concerned call to my son had them return a bit early to confirm it wasn’t a serious problem. One of the funniest moments of the week was the granddaughters’ trip to see Santa Claus. The pictures tell the story as the BRS was fully comfortable with the bearded gentleman. The same could not be said for BR3 which brought back memories of her older cousin’s first St Nick encounter which has entered family lore through the accompanying photo. I didn’t escape the week unscathed as BR3 bequeathed me a small head cold she had been dealing with. This was the price I paid for sharing my breakfast each morning with that noted bacon thief. In a not so funny development, since we’ve all been so healthy during the pandemic, my wife recently threw away all the cold medicine we had in the house because it had expired a long time ago.  

A Fashion Show of Former FBR Dresses Handed Down

Happy Abuela

FBR Down a Tooth

Speaking of the FBR. We spoke with her a couple times through the week and learned she had her first ever loose tooth. This yet another sign she’s getting older was tough to take but at the same time it was fun to see her marvel at the development. We received news this morning that the tooth had fallen out, at 5am. This prompted an exciting run into her parents’ bedroom to announce the news. My daughter who had a late Saturday night singing karaoke with a visiting friend wasn’t thrilled with the early morning wakeup but, parenthood.

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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