by Judy Handley | Nov 21, 2024 | 2024 Life Logs |
2024 Life Logs, Day 325: Lunch with Friends, Back to My Computer
Date: Thursday, November 21, 2024
Weather: Rainy Day; High Temp 49, Low 45 degrees F
Location: At Home on Lakeview Avenue, Falmouth MA
If my logs are correct, it has been more than a month, 36 days to be exact, since we have had any rain. That was Monday, October 14. During those dry days, we have often had high winds resulting in many Red Flag Alerts. The risk of wildfires has been high. Hopefully the rain today, and maybe more tomorrow and Saturday, will help bring down that risk.
My Vegan Lunch Bunch met today at my house. There were only three of us, but we still enjoyed good food and good conversation. And after that, I spent the rest of my day on the computer. I had to deal with an Encore issue and then I had to write another long email to the administrative staff at my sister’s assisted living facility. I went down there to get answers to a number of questions but left not knowing much more that I knew when I got there. I have needed to deal with this since I got home over a week ago, but I have had many other issues to deal with that ranked higher on my TO DO list. I still have a few more items on that list that I hope to get to before leaving for Puerto Rico on Sunday morning. But tomorrow I am going focus on packing for the trip and on Saturday I have to get the house ready for house guests who will take care of Shadow while I am away. So, I might just have to deal with the TO DO list after I get home from PR. I am hoping to have the whole week to just focus on Ziggy and Coco and not even think about things I need to do back home.
by Judy Handley | Nov 20, 2024 | 2024 Life Logs |
2024 Life Logs, Day 324: Encore Program, More Shopping, Food Prep
Date: Wednesday, November 20, 2024
Weather: Mostly Sunny; High Temp 53, Low 44 degrees F
Location: At Home on Lakeview Avenue, Falmouth MA
The morning was spent at an Encore general meeting. The program today was a Cape Cod historian and writer, Jim Coogan. Once a classroom teacher, he that decided to write books in his retirement years. He is a good story teller and shared some very interesting Cape Cod stories that he has included in the books he has published.
I spent all afternoon returning pants I bought for Sam yesterday and finding the right size of one pair he particularly liked. I returned pants to stores in Mashpee, came home to have a late lunch, pick Ollie up after school, and then I headed to a store off Cape to get the right size of one pair of pants Sam particularly liked. For his birthday in January, I told him I would buy parts he needed for his car. However, that car is still in the garage, still in need of parts, so I decided to buy pants for him instead. This required heading to a store off Cape and that took the rest of the afternoon. But now Sam has his very belated birthday gift from me.
Tonight, I did some food prep for my Vegan Lunch Bunch that meets here tomorrow. Normally there are five of us, but tomorrow there will just be three. Unfortunately, it takes as much time to cook for three and it does for five. I will have to hustle in the morning to finish the food preparation and get this house cleaned up and presentable for guests.
by Judy Handley | Nov 19, 2024 | 2024 Life Logs |
2024 Life Logs, Day 323: Tuesday Shopping Day
Date: Tuesday, November 19, 2024
Weather: Sunny; High Temp 56, Low 37 degrees F
Location: At Home on Lakeview Avenue, Falmouth MA
Today’s was Shadow’s day to go to the doggy beauty shop to be groomed. I delivered him to Pampered Paws at 9 am, drove back to Waquoit to meet with Christina Brodie re Encore business, and then headed to Mashpee and Hyannis. I needed to go to Whole Foods in Hyannis to get wild rice as I couldn’t find any here in Falmouth. I wouldn’t have driven all the way there just for the rice, but last night Sam mentioned to me that he needs a pair of jeans or some pants other than sweatpants for his college trip tours in the Netherlands. He and Heather fly out on Saturday, so I decided to some shopping for him today. I bought a couple of different styles of jean/pants at four different stores and tonight I had him try them on. He said this was like DoorDash for clothes! I think I have found my new calling. One pair was perfect and two more just need to be exchanged for a different size.
by Judy Handley | Nov 18, 2024 | 2024 Life Logs |
2024 Life Logs, Day 322: Monday Workday
Date: Monday, November 18, 2024
Weather: Sunny and Warmer; High Temp 60, Low 40 degrees F
Location: At Home on Lakeview Avenue, Falmouth MA
It was a ‘no jacket needed’ weather day which was nice. But until I went to pick Ollie up at 2:45, I spent the whole day on my computer trying to catch up on things. I got a lot done, but I need another day. Then after I picked up Ollie, I spent the rest of the afternoon in the kitchen. I am still at Heather and Jed’s as they are at Town Meeting. Sam had a class in Hyannis tonight that is just now ending, so when I know he is home safely I will go home. Town Meeting could go until midnight, so once everyone is bed, I’ll head home.
We had an early dinner as Ollie had to be at a School Committee meeting at 5:45 pm to be part of a presentation with other members of the 7th grade engineering class. There were about 12 students who made short presentations. The students each made car bodies to hold the exact same motor and then competed to see what designs were fastest. Ollie’s part of the presentation was to explain which of the science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) Massachusetts standards they addressed in this project. I was very proud of him for speaking loudly enough for everyone to hear and appearing to be so self-assured. But he told me afterwards that although he likes making presentations, he still gets nervous. I assured him that we all do.
Yesterday at our early Thanksgiving dinner I said that I was thankful for grandchildren. Today I am thankful for historians like Heather Cox Richardson. I read her daily blog and learn something new from her every day. Last night’s blog was about the year 1883 when the new system of five standardized time zones across the United States came into being. Fifty years earlier, prior to the 1830s, most people lived by the rhythms of the sun. But as factories developed in New England, people needed to get to work at a certain time, so there was some standardization. But it was the railroads that forced the time zones because of the need to regularize train schedules. But this was very controversial. Telling time by a sundial was the custom and it was understood to be following God’s time. The idea of standardizing because of the needs of a modern world seemed sacrilegious to many. Before I read that blog this morning, I had honestly never thought about time standardization. I just accepted that it has always been this way. But it was only 64 years before I was born that the time zones came into being.
by Judy Handley | Nov 17, 2024 | 2024 Life Logs |
2024 Life Logs, Day 321: An Early Thanksgiving Dinner
Date: Sunday, November 17, 2024
Weather: Sunny; High Temp 59, Low 39 degrees F
Location: At Home on Lakeview Avenue, Falmouth MA
Since I will be leaving next Sunday to spend the Thanksgiving week in Puerto Rico with Justin and family and Heather and family will be leaving next weekend to spend the Thanksgiving week in the Netherlands, we had our Thanksgiving dinner together late this afternoon. I made the pies and stuffing, and the Goldstones smoked a turkey breast and added the mashed potatoes and gravy and Brussels sprouts. The smoked turkey was delicious and so very moist. Turkey can be so dry, but not this Thanksgiving turkey breast.
Tomorrow night, both Heather and Jed have Town Meeting, so I have offered to be on Oma duty. Town Meeting happens twice a year and can take one or two nights. So, I might be on Oma duty on Tuesday evening as well. But beginning on Wednesday all of us will have to turn our attention to getting ready for our Thanksgiving travels. We all arrive back in Falmouth on Monday, the second day of December 2, just in time to get ready for the holiday season.
