2020 Life Logs, Day 21: Happy 13th Birthday to Sam
Date: Tuesday, January 21, 2020
Weather: Cool in Florida, Cold on Cape Cod; High 46/29 degrees, Low 37/16 degrees F
Location: Back Home in The Cottage, East Falmouth, MA

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This evening I arrived back on Cape Cod in time to be a part of a birthday dinner for Sam. He had his ‘official’ birthday dinner on Friday night, but apart from the birthday party, each year the boys get to request a favorite dinner on their actual birthday. Sam is my oldest grandchild, but I am having difficulty believing that he is already 13, a full-fledged teenager. Mark and I came home from New Zealand after our first year of cruising around the world to be here for Sam’s birth. In the 13 years since then, he has grown to be a handsome, thoughtful, loving, and talented young man. I made it home this evening just in time for the birthday dinner. Sam requested Indian so we had his favorite chicken tikki masala, vegetable korma, saag paneer, samosas, and naan. And then we had chocolate pudding with whipped cream for dessert, instead of a birthday cake, at his request. He was a happy birthday teenager.

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My short time in Bonita Springs visiting with Linda and Mike was short, but it was just delightful. This morning Mike left early to play tennis, but I got a few more minutes to visit with Garrett and Linda. Linda and I walked Garrett to the gym for a workout before he started his work day. Then Linda drove me to the airport and was returning to go play pickleball, her new passion. Thank you, Mike and Linda, for a wonderful few days. My three days there were all sunny and warm enough to really enjoy the break from a northern winter. We have had many unseasonably warm days making me feel like winter has not yet begun here, but while I was away, the temperatures plummeted. I definitely got a taste of winter on arrival in Boston.

I was very excited to see Shadow when I arrived at Heather’s and we had a happy reunion with many puppy kisses. But it was obvious that he had really enjoyed his time living with Heather and Goldpebbles. He also loves Jed, but Jed has been out of town since Saturday. Heather reported that Shadow has taken her for many brisk walks and the boys reported that after the first day, Shadow settled down with them instead of always being a wild child. All three boys seemed to really enjoy Shadow’s long weekend visit. Then when I got home with Shadow, I was busy putting things away and all of a sudden he disappeared.

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I found him up on my bed cuddling his stuffed puppy friend. I brought him back into the living room, continued putting things away, and he disappeared again . . . back on the bed with his stuffed puppy friend. He has never been able to jump up on the bed before, but it was obvious that he was ready for a long winter night’s sleep. I think maybe those boys wore him out!