2018 Life Logs, Day 151—Sam’s 5th Grade Science Fair
Date: Thursday, May 31, 2018
Weather: Mostly Sunny; High 69, Low 57 F
Location: Home in the Cottage, East Falmouth, MA
The highlight of my day was the 5th grade Science Fair at Sam’s school this morning. There were two science classrooms filled with students and their display boards. Lots of parents and other family members came. We were escorted from the main office to the science rooms by students and then we went from student to student and each of them presented a summary of their research project over and over for every visitor. Great practice for them and a delight to see 11-year-olds practicing their communications skills while explaining what they learned about their specific science question. It was especially interesting for me to see friends of Sam’s from preschool (that I haven’t seen for a few years) make their presentations. As a proud grandmother, I must say that Sam’s project was most impressive.
Before going to Morse Pond, Sam’s school, I made a second trip to the chiropractor. Whatever I did to my back this time does not appear to be an easy fix. I am functioning, but the pain is still there. After visiting the school, I drove to Home Depot in Hyannis to check out some garden items. I bought a few things and then it was time to get to my physical therapy appointment for my knee. Bad back, back knee. So depressing! But I really like the PT team I see, and I presented them with my back issue and how I think my knee and back problems are related. They listened, did a lot of evaluative exercises, and agreed that there is a relationship. It is impossible to know which one came first. Did the back and pelvic misalignment cause the knee problem or did the knee problem cause the back problem? We’ll never know that, but Tom and Hannah, the team I see, spent almost an hour and half with me and I walked out of there pain free. But they assured me that wouldn’t last long. Retraining the muscles is a long process and much will depend on how much follow-up I do at home. I got home and had a very late lunch and then headed into town to go to the Farmers’ Market. I made a stop at the bank to get some cash and realized I didn’t have my wallet. I got out of the car and opened every door, looking on and under every seat. No wallet. I had my wallet at Home Depot and had not had a need for it since, so I called Home Depot to see if it was there. It took forever to get a real person on the line and then I was told they would have to call me back. The Customer Service had to find a store manager that would go down to the safe where the wallet would have been placed if found. I left my phone number and went home to see if I had taken it into the house. It was nowhere to be found and Home Depot had not called back, so I drove all the way back to Hyannis. I had carried my wallet into the store, paid for things at the checkout, and remembered walking outside and placing the receipt in my wallet in case I needed to return something. But I didn’t remember putting the wallet back into my pocketbook when I got in the car. This made me think I had laid it in the cart while loading things in the car and left it in the cart. When I got to the Customer Service desk, the three employees seemed to be somewhat frantic as they picked up and examined every piece of paper behind the counter. Finally, one employee came to help me and when I told him why I was there, he turned around and said to the other two women, “She’s here!” The employee that had written my phone number on a piece of paper had lost the paper and couldn’t call me to tell me they found the wallet. But they found the wallet! I was so happy. I had left it in the cart that ended up in the garden area. Someone saw it and brought it to the Customer Service Desk. Thankfully there are still honest people in this world!
When I finally got home it was after 6 pm. Still, I was determined to get some things planted in my raised beds. I worked outside until almost 8 pm and did make some progress, but in doing so, I think I undid all the good done for my back by the chiropractor and physical therapists today. So, it is probably a good thing that I have to change gears tomorrow. Heather and I are driving to Boston in the afternoon to meet up with Orsi Gorgenyi from Hungary. Orsi attended one high school year at St. Paul’s School in Concord, NH. She was one of Heather’s classmates and we served as Orsi’s home stay family for that year. This is Anniversary Weekend at St. Paul’s and Orsi flew over for the 25th anniversary of the graduation of the class of 1993. It is also Heather’s 25th high school reunion, so we will pick Orsi up in Boston and take her to Concord. While Orsi and Heather attend a reception tomorrow night, I will have dinner with my friend Detta. I will pick Heather up after the reception and we will spend the night in New Hampshire and drive home on Saturday morning. It will be a whirlwind trip, but I am excited to see Orsi and am glad Heather is taking the time to attend the reception. It is a big weekend back here as it is the final soccer weekend of the spring and the June Jog is on Sunday. Busy, busy, busy, but fun, fun, fun.
Note about Jane Woodin’s Condition: I am piecing together communications from different people as I have not heard directly from Bruce since this morning. But it appears that Jane is improving and will not need additional surgery. Recovery is going to take longer than expected, but if Jane can just get out of the hospital and come home, she will have the support of many, many good friends to help with that recovery.
