It’s seven-thirty in the morning and a weekend morning to boot and the one place I ought to be is now vacant and needs to be made. Uggh. What in the world am I doing awake? Only several hours ago I sit on the same couch I watched the SOX/NYY game from during a disappointing loss. What’s that you say? You watched the game while sitting on the couch? Don’t you have some sort of “house rule” regarding BOSOX and Bronx viewing? I thought you stood during the entire game, etc., etc. Well yes – that’s true about the house rule and perhaps this is the reason we’re [BOS] a game out of first place right now but there’s a reason for everything. Yea, there’s always a “but” isn’t there? Let’s hear it. Here goes – all parts factual, hopefully enjoyable to read and my reward for getting up early has just paid multiple dividends – more on that later. Here’s how my Friday went …the day started like any other. Got up early, hustled into work, first one in the parking lot. While walking to the office I texted a number of BOSOX fans concerning Friday night’s game, received rapid responses and then walked into the building where the cell reception is terrible. It’s Friday, the last day of a very long work week, one I’ve been looking forward to since our little girl Logan had left for her east coast pilgrimage. Today she returns, but not without hitting a speed bump or two. I received a call early yesterday that Logan had been bit in the face by the dog at the residence she was staying at. A couple of disposable stitches, some numbing cream and a number of phone calls regarding our insurance (NO MORE CO-PAY – CANCER TOOK CARE OF THAT FOR US!!) and Logan was back to her old self. “I will see you at the airport at midnight, have a great flight and call me from ATL when you get there!” … and off she went like the well-traveled nomad she’s become. Meanwhile, I’m busy doing my thing and I receive a phone call from the other daughter – the older daughter – normally we only see each other during the day when I take a break and wander over to the pool and as the number of days she has remaining on her balance here in Petaluma are seriously decreasing I thought maybe this call was perhaps an invite to lunch, or just a bullshit session. Nope – neither. This one was to let me know she received a speeding ticket from one of Petaluma’s finest earlier this morning on her way into work! I laughed. There are some things we as parents can control and some – well we just cannot – and this happens to be one of them. I laughed again while I imagined the initial wave of fright that washed over when those red lights from the motorcycle cop appeared in her rear view. I laughed again when I realized she’s no longer a little girl, she’s been driving for a while now, or at least had her license for a while now. It happens to the best of us. That’s really all the excitement I need for one Friday morning and that’s more or less the way it went the rest of the day … quiet, without any more alarming phone calls and I headed home – to the couch – and to watch my first SOX/NYY game without any beer. Remember I still have a drive across the Golden Gate Bridge at midnight so no booze during this affair. So, let me get this right … you didn’t drink, you didn’t stand and you lazed about on the couch while Jon Lester and the crew behind him tried to keep the Yankees from posting crooked numbers on the score board because you have to drive an hour several hours from then? I think you’re slipping Cheney … I really do. I remember a Cheney who would have said – “yea I know I have all this responsibility, but I also have a responsibility to Fenway and knock back 9 beers in rapid fashion, watch the game while vertical, cheer like an madman and then go outside and belt something (or someone) if the score was not favorable. Fortunately, seriously — fortunately those days/months/years are behind me. I nodded off after the game, my oldest daughter and I got caught up on our favorite Showtime special “Weeds” and at 10:30PM PST we backed out of the driveway and headed to SFO. Did you guys eat? You didn’t mention anything about a dinner you or your daughter created for yesterday afternoon, is why I’m asking. Normally your blog is usually plugging one restaurant or another, or you’re discussing the culinary habits of one member of your family. Well, if you hold on I will tell you what the deal is with dinner. Taylor and I decided to forego dinner last night – and maybe we’d surprise Logan after we picked her up at midnight. We walk into the Delta terminal at 11:45PM last night and all the concessions are closed so we jump in the elevator and ride it to the third floor and after a maze of hallways we wind up at the USO. I had not been inside a USO facility in a number of years and certainly not one since I retired from active duty so it was kind of a treat to walk in there with my oldest last night and the first thing out of the receptionist was “no, no … I don’t think we can tolerate any Red Sox fans in here!!”” Taylor and I enjoyed some snacks, we watch a little television, played a game of cards (she won) and then my phone rang – it’s Logan and she’s at baggage claim. Sure … the ONE time a flight is actually early and it’s hers. Damn. Okay honey be right there. I should have been at the terminal when she arrived, but there she was with all smiles and stories while we waited for the baggage carousel to start spitting out luggage. Once we had Logan’s we were heading home, but now without a little detoured surprise first. We treated Logan to a very early morning breakfast, or depending on then time zone she was still in, a seriously early morning breakfast at the classic American diner; MEL’s. Taylor and I had conducted some research earlier regarding hours of operation, location in San Francisco, etc, and after plugging in the GPS coordinates – we rolled through the freeway fog and onto Van Ness Blvd where it appears everyone else in the 20-30 something demographic had the same idea. The more the merrier – let’s head inside where we can really get caught up on things … the garage door came up around 2:30 AM – some six hours ago – where Logan and the Lu-dog were reunited, and that my friends is how my Friday went down. I heard noises downstairs this morning; dishwasher emptying, plates, dog being fed and realized Taylor must be getting ready to get to work so I jumped out of bed to make coffee for her and it wasn’t Taylor at all – it was Logan, who on top of all things was making a salad as a favor to her older sister who is going to a “bring a dish baby shower” later this afternoon. That’s really the kind of girl Logan is – she’ll bend over backwards for you even when she’s still running on east coast time. The gift to the salad was two fresh cucumbers that were pulled from my little garden a day ago. Logan informed me the cucumber is delicious. So it’s now bordering on 8:30 AM and even though there’s very little sleep in my system I know my cup has been overrun with love and luck as I’ve been blessed with three special ladies in my life.

GO SOX!

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