A Week that Was, Sorta

This week is well known for a lot of things, predominantly 9-11, but there are other events worth noting that aren’t as dire. On Tuesday my mother-in-law celebrated her 92^nd birthday which is entirely worthy of note. She can’t travel up here any more on doctor’s order but she’s still a spry and all together there lady. To add additional prestige to this week, today marks the birth of none other than Keene Friend. We’ve been friends longer than either of us care to note but he is my brother from another mother. He and the Cantankerous Friend are coming down to Worcester today to celebrate that birthday with a WooSox game and dinner. As stated above, a week of notables.

My Lunch Date

Walking Elegantly Again

Birthday Girl (when she was only 90) with my Wife

The Birthday Boy

Tuesday Night Entertainment

For the first time in recorded history, I sat through an entire presidential debate on Tuesday. I was interested to get to know more about Harris. I certainly did. She was up for the challenge and clearly won the debate, going away. I know she didn’t harken too much on her proposed polices but she did an even more important thing. She proved she could be presidential while demonstrating, in no uncertain terms, that her opponent could not. I noted to my Favorite Panamanian that Harris was purposely goading Trump into protecting his fragile ego. He ended up looking like the angry old man down the street yelling for kids to stay off his lawn. I mean, “immigrants eating dogs and cats”, c’mon. He was anything but presidential and added to his resume of being a disgraceful embarrassment. I know his hardened followers will forgive him anything (still one of the greatest mysteries of the 21^st century) but I left the debate watch a lot more comfortable having to abandon the Republican Party for this election.

New Carpets Installed

My Favorite Panamanian’s recovery continues apace. She had her first physical therapy appointment yesterday and continues to walk, even up and down stairs, without pain. The PT still cautioned her on not trying to do too much in the first two weeks after her surgery. I force her back her couch perch with the leg elevated whenever I catch her trying to do too much. She complained a couple days ago that this convalescence had severely impacted her ability to shop. I was not as sad at this development but she is a force of nature when it comes to shopping and I should have known better. Water always finds its own level. We sat down for lunch earlier this week and she sprung her trap. She had been using her couch time to shop online. She’d found a couple carpets she thought would look great in the kitchen and on the main staircase. She needed me to complete the purchases because, thank God, she still hasn’t made the technological leap to the final step of online shopping yet (despite the ABFA’s unofficial assistance☹). Amazon was only too happy to allow me to buy the carpets. As we got up from lunch she said that had been a great meal and I remarked that it was one of the most expensive lunches I’d ever had. So those carpets have since arrived and I spent yesterday installing them as well as finally fixing the cement border on the front porch. I felt down right handy.

Front Porch Repair

R.I.P. to a True Superstar

There was a momentous departure this week as well as James Earl Jones left the mortal coil. As a confirmed movie geek, I would be amiss in not taking note of this, however, against all odds I share a personal connection with him. I was lucky enough to meet him while filming my 15-second movie career. I was in the Old Guard when Francis Ford Coppola was filming Gardens of Stone and I was selected for a very bit part at a military funeral. Jones played the regimental command sergeant major and while he was the best-known actor on the set, he was also the nicest. Very personable and not lording over his celebrity status with us “common folk”. The same could not be said of a couple of his co-stars. He was one of the nicest people I’ve ever met and took time to ask about my family and my duties as an infantry officer. I was star struck listening to the voice of Darth Vader speaking to me. His long and distinguished movie career also included what may be my favorite movie of all time, Fields of Dream, where his soliloquy on baseball has certainly stood the test of time. One of those bigger than life types whom I will miss.

One of his Scenes from Gardens of Stone

Given my wife’s increased mobility and to keep her away from her iPad and online shopping (shhhh) I took her out for a date night movie and lunch. Beetlejuice Beetlejuice was the selected target. This is a simply awesome sequel to a great original film. The best aspect were the original stars returning properly aged for the thirty years since the original, although Katherine O’Hara must have made a real deal with the devil because she doesn’t look to have aged at all. She returns as Delia, the crazed epitome of an evil step mother/pretentious New Yorker. The movie doesn’t try to re-tell the same story and brings a lot more heart than I thought possible. Keaton, once again, demonstrates what a comic genius he is running around the afterlife pursued by Monica Bellucci (some guys have all the luck) while still trying to reunite with Lydia. A very welcome addition is Jenna Ortega who steals every scene she’s in as the perfectly cast daughter. Even now, thinking back at some of the gags I can’t stop smiling although I missed the sadly (departed in real life) Otho. There were some very clever and obscure tributes to the first film. A very fun and nostalgic comedy/horror romp.

Three movies fell in the A-Z watch, all keepers: Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels, hilarious British crime comedy, Guy Ritchie’s debut; Lockout, completely underrated sci Fi action flick, with Guy Pearce channeling an early version of Deadpool, just love this movie; and Logan, best X-Man film ever made as Wolverine meets his unknown daughter.

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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; 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

Never Forget

 The words below are the same I publish each year on September 11 to remember that day in 2001. I was assigned to the Pentagon on September 11, 2001. I remember a beautifully clear day where the oppressive summer Washington, DC heat was finally gone. We had recently dropped off my daughter for her freshman year at Boston University, my son was a junior in high school, and my wife worked at an adult day care facility in Northern Virginia. I was actually in a satellite office in Crystal City while our Pentagon offices were refurbished. My morning routine was to head out for a run along the Potomac River where there was a nice running trail. I ran around the Pentagon and glanced over at the helipad where I had taken several trips out of and then wound my way down to the river. I had just reached the river, on the opposite side of the Pentagon from the helipad, and turned south when I heard a very loud bang. There was always a lot of construction going on in nearby Crystal City so I initially thought that someone had used a little too much explosive for a new roadway.

Red X is Where the Plane Went in, Blue Line is my Running Route that Day
Yellow X is Where I was When the Plane Hit

As I continued my run I heard police sirens blooming from every direction. I reached a gap in the trees and could see a column of smoke rising from the Pentagon. I had just about reached the point where the running trail nears National Airport and I was greeted by a truly surreal sight. The airport, in reaction to the earlier attacks in New York City, was being emptied. People, with their luggage in tow, were wandering down the running trail with no real sense of where they were going, only that they had been ordered to leave the terminal. I gave directions to the nearest hotel to some and then headed back to my office, by now the sirens were almost deafening and traffic had come to a complete stop in both directions on the nearby George Washington Parkway. When I reached my office I learned the true scope of the disaster and watched the towers fall on a TV someone had set up in their cubicle. There were a series of follow up explosions as transformers blew up in reaction to the Pentagon disaster. A couple guys and I made our way over to the Pentagon to see if we could help with any evacuation but the area was already cordoned off. We helped the rapidly growing casualty collection in the south parking lot; there were a lot of dazed civilian workers. The military, even those wounded, were trying to help out; we all realized we had just gone to war. Eventually we were ushered away as more of the professional emergency workers showed up. I returned to my office and decided it would be a good idea to let my family know I was alive. I called my wife who had heard and was just about to go into full blown panic mode. I called Boston University because I didn’t have my daughter’s dorm room number with me and when I explained where I was calling from the operator connected me directly, even though that wasn’t usually allowed. I spoke with my daughter’s roommate who promised to find my daughter and let her know. A similar call to my son’s high school followed by a call to my mother’s house. I had to leave a message there since she out shopping and she later told me that was the best phone message she ever received because she had convinced herself I had been killed after hearing the news on the car radio.

All buses, my normal way home, were shut down at the Pentagon. Washington DC was shutting down and everybody was released from work at the same time. I went to the Metro station and waited while five different trains, packed to the gills, went by until I was able to squeeze into one. I rode it as far as I could and then walked up to a nearby mall where I could wait for my wife to come pick me up. I sat in a bar and watched the day’s events unfold on TV. One of the other patrons claimed to have been driving on I-395 and saw the plane plow into the Pentagon. He said he would never forget seeing the airline lettering so clear and so close. The plane went right into the area near the helipad, where I had run ten minutes before. After an hour the entire mall closed and I had to go wait outside a bookstore, also closed, for about two hours before my wife was able to get me. One of the most memorable and cherished things from that horrible day were the phone calls we received all that night as friends and family from around the world, knowing I was assigned to the Pentagon, called to insure I was okay. My wife was a little shocked the next day when I told her I was going back to work but I needed to, I was so angry. It didn’t help when I arrived at the Pentagon, smoke still rising with bodies still unrecovered, that I was greeted by a group of protesters reveling in the destruction. It took a lot of self-restraint not to kick some serious ass at that point. I was so glad Clinton was out of office because I knew he would have been incapable of making the tough decisions required by this act. He would have thrown a few cruise missiles and called it a day. 

We, as a nation, learned that day that there are some people who cannot be reasoned with and needed to die; that was the only way to end the threat and that you couldn’t do it from a distance. I also remembered the way the country came together for a short time and I felt glad my kids were around to see it; to see what a united America was like. This eroded over time as the politicians felt safe enough to stop cooperating again, but it did happen. It was another object lesson for evil as well, don’t wake up the sleeping giant, when you do, be prepared to experience unprecedented wrath. These were my memories of the day when everything changed, but maybe not enough.

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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; 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

Daddy Daughter Weekend and Inside a Knee

My Favorite Son survived an entire weekend under the supervision of the BRS and BR3 while the ABFA was away for a Ladies Weekend on Long Island. While he tried his best to sound put upon, I could tell he was sneakily enjoying the quality time with his favorite young ladies. The only one whose act I believed was Riggins who, as usual, tried to seem as pathetic as possible. The girls took their dad grocery shopping. I know from recent experience that is not a task lightly approached. He also had them clean up their play room before taking them out for a round of miniature golf. It is now a family rule, approved by all three granddaughters, that miniature golf must be followed by ice cream. My son acquiesced to that rule as well. He’s a very good dad.

Post Golf Ice Cream

Son's Supervisors

The BRS was the star of the weekend though. On Friday my son removed the training wheels on her bicycle in the face of her stated goal to learn how to ride the bike without them. This is a transition every parent goes through, fretting about skinned knees while admiring the confidence acquired when their kid masters the balancing act. The BRS proved to be an apt pupil and was riding her bike serenely around the cul-de-sac before the weekend was over. I wasn’t there but I am so proud of her. As I said above, I think my son truly enjoyed this time with his girls although I’m also sure it impacted on his ability to watch the opening NFL weekend (and a hugely surprising Patriots win).

Grocery Shopping

Then Golf!

Cutest Golfers Ever

Since the NFL started that means the Family Fantasy Football League also kicked off. I was up against my daughter and snuck out a win (I only brag when that happens) but only because one of her last players dropped a sure touchdown pass in the closing seconds. The only other excitement I had this weekend was an outside cleaner in the house on Saturday. Since my Favorite Panamanian’s lack of mobility for the past month has impacted on her ability to keep the house to the surgical level of cleanliness she usually maintains, she campaigned to hire someone to come in. The Neighborhood Mafioso recommended one and Saturday was the day. The whole concept was to keep my wife off her surgically repaired knee but that didn’t work out for a couple reasons. One, the cleaning lady was also a Latina, which meant my wife kept up a running conversation for the entire day following her around. The second reason was she was keeping an eye on the cleaner to ensure her lofty standards were being met. I know what that is like, from forty + years of the same. My wife ended the day with the knee barking at her a little bit from too much time standing up.

Graduation Bike Ride

She was fully recovered by Sunday morning and we were able to attend mass for the first time in nearly a month. That’s a very long time (for her). We received a large envelope from The Surgery Center which turned out to be a series of photos from inside my Favorite Panamanian’s knee, taken (obviously) during the surgery. It was fascinating to see the difference between the first and last photos. I’m no doctor (vast understatement that) but the damage evident on the first couple was startling. The last photo showed the pristine aftereffects and explains why the pain has disappeared for the most part. I still find myself semi-amazed at what medical technology has evolved to.

Inside Wife's Knee - Damage Obvious

Then, All Cleaned Up

My wife granted me a break from nurse duty last week to take in a movie, Alien Romulus, because I was seriously jonesing from my lack of cinema time over the past month. The granddaughters probably wouldn’t have truly appreciated the chest bursting aliens as much as I did. The movie is pretty good although it follows what has become the standard alien formula. A plucky female lead is marked early on as the dedicated sole survivor while her plucky band of co-stars fall, one by one, at the hands of either the alien or a conniving corporate android. The evil Weyland-Yutani corporation is back as this actually serves as a direct sequel to the first Alien movie with the alien Ripley pushed out of the ship in the final moments serving as the progenitor for the latest squad of face huggers and chest bursters. While the plot was more than fairly predictable, there was genuine tension throughout and some really scary moments as the film winds towards the inevitable climatic battle which is very good. I liked it.

Four movies fell in the A-Z watch, three keepers and one ejection: The Lion in Winter, one of the best acted movies you will ever watch, with O’Toole and Hepburn at the top of their games, Hepburn has some of the best lines in cinema history; Little Big Man, comedic/dramatic retelling of history of the Indian wars and Custer’s Last Stand with Chief Dan George stealing every scene he’s in; Little Nikita, still mystified how this came into my possession, cringeworthy dialogue, eject; To Live and Die in L.A., Friedkin at his best, snappy cop drama, with stellar cast and stunning death during the climax.

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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; 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

Mobility Upgrade, Some Delving, and First Days

My Favorite Panamanian recovery from knee surgery continues apace. That last word was chosen specifically because I’m amazed, especially considering my own experience with the same procedure thirty years ago. She abandoned the crutches the day after surgery and is now walking pain free. Granted, she’s still not ready for a marathon and the steps are tentative but I can see the joy she feels to finally be free of the pain she had been experiencing. She owes a debt of gratitude to Great Aunt for some medical counseling. Great Aunt sent her some get well flowers earlier this week and when my wife called to thank her, she admitted to feeling some pain as the last vestiges of anesthesia wore off. Great Aunt gave her some advice on the medications she’d been prescribed and that resulted in the remarkable past couple days. My Favorite Panamanian even did a small dancing jig on the First Friday Family Facetime call last night when the FBR was amazed at how well she was walking.

Pain Free Strides

I’ve tried to be a good nurse over the past week and had to add gardener to my resume as my wife’s vast garden complex needed attention during this current dry spell. This morning, I was harvesting jalapenos. As she's had to spend a lot of time on the couch with the knee elevated I've endeavored to spend less time in the Man Cave and keep her company. After a failed attempt at two person Uno Flip I resorted to the old reliable, jigsaw puzzles. We finished one in two days. We also had a semi-amusing toilet incident. Wait, I know there’s some people out there cringing about what they’re about to read, hang in there, it is pretty funny. I conduct what the PCR refers to as a “morning constitutional” each day which involves an extended reading session while taking care of necessities. I may spend too much time doing that, if the granddaughters’ opinions during their recent time with us are any indication. Due to my advanced age, reading glasses are needed and kept right next to the commode. You might be able to connect the dots at this point.

The Finesse Tool

My Favorite Panamanian swore she thought she’d knocked the glasses off their perch earlier this week but couldn’t find them on the floor. She initially thought the family poltergeist had struck again, hiding them from her. I advanced the theory that she had accidently flushed them. This theory was validated when the toilet started backing up but still emptying. A plunger helped but didn’t fix the problem. The spectacles were apparently wedged into a strategic spot. Off to Home Depot where I discovered some really interesting tools available. I settled on one which had a retractable claw designed to fish jewelry out of drains. I gave that a shot with no success. Since finesse hadn’t worked, I fell back on old reliable, brute force and ignorance. I also bought a mini-snake which I ground into the pipe until I felt resistance and then proceeded to crank. That seemed to work and the toilet flushed normally. I felt like a hero for a few minutes and my wife, embarrassed at initiating the whole episode, felt relieved. Wait till she hears that I wrote about it here. Hero status will be immediately revoked.

Puzzle Polished Off

Someone just mentioned that it was already September which seems almost impossible but here it is. I remember September from my youth as being the end of summer and the onerous task of returning to school. Things must have changed because both of my school age granddaughters seemed genuinely excited about going back to school. The BRS started first grade last week and is a proud member of the Lion Class. According to her parents, her first week in class has been an unqualified success, despite an unfortunate after-school encounter with a yellow jacket. Said encounter took place as she was learning to ride her bike without training wheels, yet another milestone achieved despite the pain involved. Meanwhile, in New Jersey, the FBR started third grade on Thursday and was effusive last night about her new teacher, whom she really likes. Time doth march on.

BRS Heading out For First Day of First Grade

And the FBR for Third Grade

Three movies fell in the A-Z watch, all keepers: Limitless, Cooper tries a little too hard but still a very entertaining sci fi drama; Lincoln, what can’t Day-Lewis do?, only Spielberg could make congressional politicking fascinating; The Lincoln Lawyer, belove character from one of my favorite novelists superbly brought to the screen.

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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; 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

Relief in Place

She’s home and doing remarkably well. My Favorite Panamanian’s knee surgery took place yesterday and it could not have gone better. She handled the challenge like a real trooper. It was our first experience at the fairly new Surgery Center, just across the lake from Worcester. What a fabulous facility! She requested I stay with her as long as I could. She realizes how much I hate hospitals but this was an easy task. There was no wait when we showed up and five minutes after we walked in the door, she was gowned up in the pre-op area. We had about an hour and a half wait while they did all the pre-op ministrations including a brief with the surgeon where they both initialed the knee that needed the work. I’m guessing that was to prevent the horror stories you hear about concerning surgery on the wrong appendage.

In Recovery Mode

I was eventually sent out of the area when they wheeled her towards the operating room as she was already starting to fade from the anesthesia. I waited in the luxurious front lobby and in less than an hour was informed she was out of surgery. Twenty minutes later I was instructed to pull the car around the side of the building to pick her up. The technology for this type of procedure has obviously improved in the twenty years since the 2d of my two knee scopes. She was a little groggy coming out but actually stood up to get into the car! We stopped by the pharmacy to pick up the drugs she’ll need for recovery, including the powerful “good stuff”. Ten minutes after we left the surgery center, she was comfortably lying down on our living room couch. The Neighborhood Mafioso had asked to be informed when my wife was back at home. Twenty minutes later she walked in with a crab cake lunch (her favorite) for my Favorite Panamanian. My wife admitted to being in a lot of pain but was hesitant to take the “good stuff”, the most powerful pain killer. Both the Mafioso and I encouraged her to take it as it was prescribed exactly for this post-op pain. She’s really sensitive to drugs and was hesitant. She eventually agreed and ten minutes after taking it she was amazed as the pain was gone. Better living through chemistry!!! The side effect was sleepiness which took hold as she tried to keep conversing with the Mafioso.

FBR Back Home

She was zonked out for the rest of the afternoon. My Favorite Son called to check in on his mom along with the BRS and BR3. She semi-emerged from her drug induced stupor to acknowledge them before falling back asleep. She woke up for dinner and while she was eating my daughter and the FBR called. After that call my wife said it was weird that our son hadn’t called. She couldn’t understand why I was laughing until I told her he had. We rectified that with another, more alert conversation with him. I’m convinced the nearly non-stop phone conversations she’s had with family and friends since she’s been home is the very best medicine she could have. Thank you to all who have reached out. She slept very well last night and today she’s actually walking around without crutches without pain for the first time in two weeks. She hasn’t taken another of the “good stuff” and I have to caution her against doing too much. It helps that I have to tackle her back onto the couch to apply the cold pack every hour. So, she’s doing great, better than I expected and without knee pain for the first time in over a year. As stated above, they have made great strides in this procedure in the last twenty years.

BR3, Snake Charmer

Our family knows how much their abuela worships the granddaughters. Therefore, they sent along these pictures of the girls to assist with the healing. The biggest collateral damage of the knee injury was her limited participation in this year’s grandpa and abuela summer camp for the girls. The picture of BR3 sleeping (rare that) has her head on one of the stuffed snakes each granddaughter acquired (thank you Great Aunt) because they knew they could terrorize their snake-loathing abuela with them. Amazon also delivered our very own Uno Flip game today. I’m sure we’ll have one of those games underway the next time we have a quorum.

Two movies fell in the A-Z watch, both keepers: Lifeforce, a bit silly, sci-fi/horror romp, but has a beautiful, mostly naked space vampire, what’s not to like; Life of Pi, stunningly beautiful movie, story ambles along then grabs you by the throat in the last ten minutes, great movie.

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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; 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

Fantasy Saturday

I got my first full night of sleep but there was a steep price to pay that allowed that to happen. I couldn’t believe it when I woke up this morning to a clock proclaiming it was after 8am. That’s much later then I usually sleep and decidedly later than past two weeks where I could count on a granddaughter wakeup, usually consisting of a full dive onto my sleeping form at the end of a room long dash. Strange how much I miss it. This last week, with only the FBR in residence, was a little more sedate although I did a fair amount of running around with her, she is a rising taskmaster (it’s the genes inherited from her abuela). She was also a bit more emotional this year about missing her parents. As soon as they pulled into the driveway she rushed out and bestowed a really long hug on her mom and dad.

FBR Hugging her Mom Upon Arrival

Pre-Draft Conference

All three granddaughters were available Sunday morning as my son’s family rejoined us along with my daughter and Wingman who journeyed north to retrieve the FBR from our grasp. As with last year, we used this august assembly to execute the Family Fantasy Football League draft on Deckzilla. As you can probably guess, whenever this group is assembled and then you add Great Aunt, Keene Friend, and Cantankerous Friend to the mix, there is going to be some serious laughter heading downrange. A difference this year was the inability of my Favorite Panamanian, despite guarded attempts, to assist in the preparation as she is still on crutches. She fumed a little bit at my cleaning standards as opposed to hers, but let’s be honest, no one can meet those lofty ideals.

Out Onto Deckzilla

The Draft Starts

The draft was a lot of fun with my son as commissioner. The PCR joined the league this year which immediately led to Cantankerous Friend launching aspersions about collusion between the PCR and Keene Friend. It was a very fun afternoon on Deckzilla as the picks rolled in and the three granddaughters and grandpuppy swept through whenever they felt the need for popsicles (okay, that was mostly the granddaughters). We drew the draft order from the hat and for the second year in a row I emerged with the last pick. Soxfather’s sister had been making big noise all year about how she was going to personally attend the draft to supervise us but I guess that hour long trek from the depths of Rhode Island was just too much for her to chance. We, somehow, survived without her supervision. Go figure.

ABFA and My Daughter Getting Draft Advice From their Daughters

Great Aunt, Keene Friend and Cantankerous Very Focused

As soon as the last pick was made, my son was assigned to the grill and the various dishes everybody brought were assembled for an extensive post-draft meal. There was way too much food. The FBR had assisted me with pre-draft grocery shopping and I made the mistake of passing through the dessert section which resulted in two large containers of cupcakes and sugar cookies (it’s how we roll). Saturday was one of those afternoons that, even while participating in it, you’re hoping will last longer. Unfortunately, the cosmos, being what it is, held short shrift with my prayers and time, as it usually does in these situations, seemed to speed up. Great Aunt and the guys from Keene left just as the sun was setting.

Son and I as he Mans the Grill

Then, Bravely, Supervises the Granddaughter Table

It's testament for how tired the granddaughters were that they didn’t put up too much of a battle at bed time. Although I’m hesitant to make that claim to my son who drew bedtime reading duty. We gathered around the kitchen table to play yet another game of Uno Flip, which is fast becoming the family staple. Wingman, gamemaster for the family, introduced us to this in Panama and we can’t get enough of it. There is so much laughter involved as the game see-saws between contestants. The game also brings out the competitor in each player, some times in hilarious fashion, such as with the ABFA’s mom during our trip to the beach house this year. Saturday’s game was no different. I’ve ordered a set of the cards for the game so we’ll be able to play whenever we get the urge (and have the right mix of people).

Son, Returning to the Uno Flip Table, Noticing Something is Amiss

Daughter Sunday Morning at the Hojaldra Cauldron

Under the Watchful Eye of the Hojaldra Queen

Sunday morning was interesting at breakfast time. My Favorite Panamanian was still not up to manning the stove but the family hojaldra queen (the BRS) was still demanding her tribute. We devised a system where my wife created the hojaldra while sitting down and my daughter assumed the mantle of hojaldra cooking. This follows the failed experiment of either my son or I trying to. By noon all had to depart and the house descended into an eerie quiet that hadn’t been seen in, well, two weeks. Having the granddaughters stay with us is a time I cherish each year and I’m hoping we’re creating good memories for them. I’m ready for a little rest though as, inexplicably, it seems to be more physically challenging each year. It’s almost as if I’m getting old (perish that thought). More than worth the effort though, especially if the reward is having everybody who was with us on Saturday present. I’m still going to miss the wake ups. My Favorite Panamanian goes under the knife tomorrow for her knee. Please keep her in your prayers. I’ll try and post tomorrow how it went.

Four movies fell in the A-Z watch, all keepers: Liar, Liar, Carrey’s brand of humor hasn’t aged well but still some very funny moments; Life as a House, definitely one of my favorite movies of all time, scenes between Kline and Christensen as well as between Kline and Thomas just crackle, absolutely love this movie, still brings a tear to my eye every time I see it; Life of Brian, the Python boys poking fun at organized religion and politics, way too funny; The Life of Emile Zola, gag gift from Keene Friend but still a classic.

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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; 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