2023 Life Logs, Day 347: Meeting, Meeting, Concert, Dinner
Date: Wednesday, December 13, 2023
Weather: Sunny; High 46, Low 26 F; Sunset 4:14 pm (+1)
Location: At Home on Lakeview Avenue, Falmouth, MA
This was a busy day, but things were spaced out a bit so I could rest in between. The morning started with the last Encore Board meeting until March. I was running the meeting today. Christina and I provided coffee and treats before the meeting to celebrate the holiday season and we even took time at the beginning of the meeting to share a favorite holiday tradition. We then got down to business and got a lot done in our 90-minute time frame, only going over by 6 minutes. Not bad.
After the Board meeting, I headed home to relax, have lunch, and play fetch with Shadow to give him his afternoon exercise. Then it was back out to an Exploring Public Policy group meeting that I co-chair with Claudia Needham. Today’s topic was mental illness, focusing on the involuntary commitment of people who need care. Jane Woodin and Tim Bayer led this discussion, and it became evident that people are interested in pursuing other aspects of mental health care at future meetings. It was a good discussion with about 16 people participating. Thank you, Tim and Jane, and everyone who attended. Job well done.
I headed home to try and fix dinner before I realized that there was not going to be enough time to do that before heading to Ollie’s winter concert. I planned to go early to make sure I could park close, so I arrived there at 6 pm and took my MRI reports from 2020, 2022, and 2023 with me to make comparisons while waiting for the concert to begin. That was prompted by a phone call I missed during the Public Policy meeting. The phone message said I have a 9:30 am video appointment in the morning with my neurosurgeon’s assistant and that Dr. Papavasiliou will be in the office and can answer questions. This was a surprise as I was told yesterday that I would hear at the end of the week if they could move up my office appointment currently set for the end of February. A virtual call is not quite the same as in person, but at least it can get the ball rolling. So that was good news, but I need to make notes and have a list of questions ready. Back to the concert, Heather and family arrived, the back surgery info went away, and the concert began. At the end, Sam said that this concert was much easier to listen to than some in the past. I think that was a Sam compliment. The 6th grade band did sound good, and the jazz band was even better. Five of the ten saxophone players did a solo piece and Ollie was front and right in the center.
I got their solo bit on video, and it really does sound great. Way to go, Ollie!
After the concert, I was getting ready to ask Heather if they had dinner before the concert. I was starved and, if they had not eaten, I was going to invite them to go to Tiger Ramen with me for dinner. But before that got out of my mouth, Heather was saying to Ollie that they would be heading to Tiger Ramen for a celebration dinner. Perfect. They have been there many times, but my interest was piqued when the Woodins and the Baranowski’s said they were headed there after the Public Policy meeting. So, I went with the Goldstones, and I can see why people like Tiger Ramen. The food was delicious.
My days from now until Christmas are not nearly as busy as they have been. Tomorrow I have nothing on my calendar except the virtual doctor visit and time to rest my back. I am looking forward to a whole day at home. I might be taking Ollie to his tennis lesson late tomorrow afternoon, but other than that it is R & R for me tomorrow. (But who wants to make bets that I find something that needs to be done?)
