by Judy Handley | Dec 12, 2017 | 2017 Life Logs |
2017 Life Logs, Day 346: Happy Hanukkah
Date: Tuesday, December 12, 2017
Weather: Partly Cloudy; High 50, Low 25 degrees F
Location: At Home in The Studio, Falmouth, MA
I started my day with Tai Chi. And then tonight we lit the first candles of Hanukkah when I was invited to have a wonderful artichoke and risotto dinner at the Goldstones. Earlier in the day I attended the Woods Hole Woman’s Club holiday meeting with singing provided by the students of the Falmouth Academy choir. Then we had “greens workshop” where we made holiday decorations of fir, cedar, holly, pine, and all sorts of other beautiful greenery. So, it was a really mixed day, all good. The wonderful mix of Jewish and Christian tradition reminds me of what Ollie said on Sunday night. Sam was making the argument that in this country everyone, regardless of religion, celebrates Christmas. Ollie simply said, “The Chinese do not.” Out of the mouths of babes. But the fact that we can celebrate the rituals of all religions is very special. Happy Hanukkah!
by Judy Handley | Dec 11, 2017 | 2017 Life Logs |
2017 Life Logs, Day 345: Christmas Shopping and a Movie
Date: Monday, December 11, 2017
Weather: Mostly Sunny; High 41, Low 29 degrees F
Location: At Home in The Studio, Falmouth, MA
Today’s activities included a class at the gym to start the day, a Christmas shopping trip to Hyannis, and an evening movie at the Woods Hole Library. I do most of my shopping online and after today, I will try to do 100 per cent of it online. The lines in the stores are long, long, long, and no fun at all. Plus, the selection if very limited. I didn’t get home until after 6 pm and I was meeting Jane Woodin in Woods Hole at 6:45 pm for a movie at the Woods Hole Library. I ate a quick dinner and headed out. The movie we went to see was The Glass Castle. This film came out in August and didn’t get rave reviews. It is based on a real-life story and I found it quite engaging. Thanks, Jane, for inviting me to join you . . . and for supplying the refreshments!
by Judy Handley | Dec 10, 2017 | 2017 Life Logs |
2017 Life Logs, Day 344: More Holiday Fun with Heather and Boys
Date: Sunday, December 10, 2017
Weather: Mostly Sunny; High 40, Low 32 degrees F
Location: At Home in The Studio, Falmouth, MA
No matter how hard I try, it seems to be almost noon before I can get out of here and on to whatever I have planned for the day. Part of that is that at 9 each morning, I am either at the gym or exercising at home. By the time I do that, get a shower, and do a few chores, it is magically after 11 am. So today was no different. It was almost noon before I got to Heather’s to continue to help with her continued weekend clean-up. She had made amazing progress since yesterday (Yeah, Heather!!!) and we got a few more things done this afternoon. Then it was time to gear down and get ready to go to Highfield Hall to see The Best Christmas Pageant Ever. Jonah was anxious to go, but Sam and Ollie were much harder to convince. But I think they enjoyed it and enjoyed the fact that most of the cast and much of audience were kids. We then came back to my house to celebrate with a sushi dinner. When we have sushi, Jonah eats calamari, but this works. Jed was in Washington, DC, all weekend to visit with his mother and attend her annual Christmas party. He will fly home tomorrow morning. This week should be a bit calmer in the Goldstone household. Since last week was a bit crazy with Heather on duty selling Christmas trees for the PTO and on the air fund raising for WCAI, in addition to working full-time. I don’t know how she does it, but I know she is looking forward to a quieter week.
by Judy Handley | Dec 9, 2017 | 2017 Life Logs |
2017 Life Logs, Day 343: Wintry Mix
Date: Saturday, December 9, 2017
Weather: Overcast with a Wintry Mix; High 38, Low 31 degrees F
Location: At Home in The Studio, Falmouth, MA
My day was spent at the Goldstones doing what I could to contribute to the declared ‘clean the house’ day. I mostly folded laundry with help from Jonah and Ollie. During lunch, I got a kick out of Sam talking about the weather. He said that if you live in New England, you just have to know what a ‘wintry mix’ brings, and he is correct. This was one of those days with a little bit of snow, a little bit of rain, and sometimes even a little bit of small hail. And we certainly had all of this today. After lunch, Heather took Sam and Ollie for play dates and Jonah and I made crafts for his upcoming school craft fair. Then it was time for Oma to get home and find something to wear to the Highfield Mix and Jingle affair where I was to meet up with a group from Newcomers. It was great fun to be in the beautifully decorated mansion, mixing and mingling with friends. Afterwards I joined a group of women from Newcomers, the Singles Group, for dinner at The Flying Bridge on the harbor. It was a fun evening.
I saw Bruce and Jane Woodin at Highfield and am thinking of them tonight. This morning they had to put down their beloved twelve year-old dashhound, They were out of town yesterday and I went to their house to feed Siggy at 4:30 for them. He was okay then, but by the time they got home at 9 pm, he was starting to fail. This was not unexpected as he has been battling congestive heart failure for some time now. But expected or not, it is always a tough decision to make. Siggy, you will be missed.
by Judy Handley | Dec 8, 2017 | 2017 Life Logs |
2017 Life Logs, Day 342: Happy Birthday to Jed
Date: Friday, December 8, 2017
Weather: Partly Sunny with A Little Snow on the Way; High 41, Low 31 degrees F
Location: At Home in The Studio, Falmouth, MA
Today was Jed’s 46th birthday and tonight at dinner he declared himself a middle-aged man.
I almost fell off my seat! Hard to think of your children or their spouses as ‘middle-aged’. I don’t even want to think what that makes me. But I do wish Jed a happy birthday, regardless of age. Heather invited me to join them at The Lanes for dinner and bowling to celebrate the occasion. Bowling has never been my forte, but it was an enjoyable evening with family. It was fun for the boys and that made it fun for all. Happy birthday, Jed!
Jed flies to DC tomorrow to spend a couple of days with his mother. She has an annual holiday party for all of her friends and neighbors on Sunday and Jed has gone the past couple of years to help out. Heather has declared tomorrow a “clean out the house” day. That means cleaning and getting rid of things no longer needed. I volunteered to go over to help, so that will be the day tomorrow. We are supposed to get a little snow tonight, less than an inch, and more snow turning to rain by the afternoon. It will be wet and sloppy outside, making it a good day for staying inside and getting work done.
by Judy Handley | Dec 7, 2017 | 2017 Life Logs |
2017 Life Logs, Day 341: Lunch with a Friend
Date: Thursday, December 7, 2017
Weather: Sunny, Cooling Down; High Temp 48, Low 32 degrees F
Location: At Home in The Studio, Falmouth, MA
Today was spent at home doing a little house cleaning and getting ready for lunch with a new friend, having lunch, and then talking the afternoon away. I met this woman on the Newcomers field trip to the Harvard Museums. We enjoyed talking over lunch that day in Cambridge and promised to get together to get to know one another better. Today was that day and we managed to talk away the afternoon. I then went to the gym for a 5 pm kick-boxing class and came home to fix dinner and do a little more online Christmas shopping. That’s it for today.
