by Judy Handley | Dec 14, 2022 | 2022 Life Logs |
2022 Life Logs, Day 348: Shop ‘til You Drop Day
Date: Wednesday, December 14, 2022
Weather: Rainy and Cool: High 44, Low 30 degrees F
Location: At Home with Brian and Judy Thompson on Lake Norman in NC
Much of my day was spent shopping and fighting the Mooresville traffic. When my niece Jennifer and her husband Bill got married, they moved from Akron, Ohio (where they grew up) to Mooresville. The population of the town in the late 1980’s was just over 10,000 and according to my sister there was nothing there but a small downtown business district and large, empty tracts of land. Today the population is over 50,000, but those empty tracts of land have filled with businesses. The problem is that the roads have not changed. I would rather drive in downtown Boston than in Mooresville. The traffic light waits are painful, and the traffic is bumper to bumper during much of the day. Even Interstate 77 that runs north-south is jammed with traffic. All this makes shopping take much longer than it should. Plus, I had to drive south on I-77 to Huntersville to do some of the shopping. The good news is that I am making progress in getting some additions to my sister’s wardrobe that she desperately needs, plus I am buying many of the basics that she needs and won’t ask others to buy, things like Depends. My nephew Tommy shops for her all the time, but she was almost out of Depends because she is embarrassed to ask him to get them. I get that. So, I am trying to buy enough to last until I come back in April. Then when I left my sister’s assisted living facility late in the evening, I had to find a place to eat dinner before returning to Brian and Judy’s to debrief my day with them. It made for a long day, so now I need to stop writing and get to bed. .
by Judy Handley | Dec 13, 2022 | 2022 Life Logs |
2022 Life Logs, Day 347: Taking Care of Business and Visiting Family
Date: Tuesday, December 13, 2022
Weather: Mostly Cloudy and Cool: High 44, Low 31 degrees F
Location: At Home with Brian and Judy Thompson on Lake Norman in NC
It is late and I can’t believe it has only been 28 hours since I landed in Charlotte. I have gotten a huge amount accomplished which makes it feel like I have been here for days. I literally had to go back and check the calendar to make sure I arrived just last evening. But it is good that I am getting things done for my sister. She has gained weight, coming up from 80 something pounds to 90 something pounds since I saw her in August. She looks good and after more than a year, she is finally starting to make friends in her assisted living facility. Tomorrow, we have a more relaxed day planned together after I do a morning hunt and kill shopping trip without her. Hopefully we can enjoy a relaxed afternoon together.
I took time out tonight to drive about 45 minutes south of here (took so long due to the traffic) to have dinner with my nephew Tommy, his wife Marilou, her parents, Bob and Ginny, and friends of Tommy and Marilou’s.
Tommy made linguine with shrimp and clams accompanied by a hearty salad. It was delicious and, as always, I enjoyed visiting with them. And I spent a lot of time bonding with Izzy, their Bernese Mountain Dog, which made me miss my Shadow.
And we did all of this in the light of their beautiful Christmas tree.
Such an enjoyable evening.
by Judy Handley | Dec 12, 2022 | 2022 Life Logs |
2022 Life Logs, Day 346: From Cape Cod to Boston to Charlotte, NC
Date: Monday, December 12, 2022
Weather: Dusting of Snow in MA: High 54, Low 33 degrees F
Location: At Home with Brian and Judy Thompson on Lake Norman in NC
Today was a traveling day. I dropped Shadow off with Heather at 11 am and headed to Sagamore to catch the Plymouth & Brockton bus to Logan airport. I arrived earlier than I needed to, so caught an earlier express bus to the airport than I had planned. But that gave me time to have a nice lunch at the airport before my flight to Charlotte, NC. I arrived in Charlotte at 6 pm, picked up a rental car, and headed north to Mooresville to see my sister Patsy. If you read my log last night, she is my Rosemary Clooney sister. Patsy is 89 and was five years younger than Rosemary Clooney, but there were always the similarities between them in my mind.
It took almost 45 minutes with the traffic to get from the airport to my sister’s assisted living facility. When I arrived, I was pleasantly surprised to see her happier and healthier than when I visited in August. I left an hour later with a bag of dirty laundry with specific directions on spot removal on some items. That is what sisters do. Right? They deal with dirty laundry? But I understand. Patsy is so particular about washing clothes that she doesn’t trust anyone else to do it. So, she hides it until someone she trusts comes along. Tomorrow, we have to travel quite a distance to a bank south of Charlotte to close her account. Another ‘have to do it’ day, but once the laundry and the bank business is completed, I am hoping we can spend some quality time together.
Tonight, I am with Brian and Judy Thompson, good friends of the family. I take care of Patsy’s medical issues and Brian deals with the financial end of things. But I am here to help with that this week. Brian and Judy have a lovely home on Lake Norman here in Mooresville. It is actually going to be near the freezing point tonight down here, but somehow the evening felt warm to me. I had to shed my winter coat when I arrived at the airport. It is supposed to be in the upper 40’s the rest of the week, with nights in the 30’s. A little warmer than at home, but not tremendously. But I am not here to enjoy the weather. I am here to be with my sister and that is a joyous thing.
by Judy Handley | Dec 11, 2022 | Cape Cod, USA |
2022 Life Logs, Day 345: Christmas Shopping with Ollie, Dinner and a Movie
Date: Sunday, December 11, 2022
Weather: Overcast with Light Drizzle, A Few Snowflakes: High 37, Low 33 degrees F
Sunrise and Sunset: 7:01 am & 4:13 pm
Location: At Home in the Cottage, East Falmouth, MA
We lost 2 more minutes of daylight today. Surely glad winter solstice is next Wednesday.
I picked Jonah up from Joey Keefe’s where he spent the night and delivered him home late morning. Sam’s friend Robert had spent the night with him, and he was still there when I arrived. Both Jonah and Sam were supposed to go camping last night, but it was cold and raining and they opted out. Ollie and Jed did go, and they came home this morning. Shortly after getting Jonaah home, Heather and Jonah took off for an afternoon of Futsol games west of Boston. Jed had to go to work for an hour or so, and Sam was working on waxing his snowboard. Ollie had not slept well and was a bit grumpy, but he went to Highfield Hall with me to tour the mansion in holiday ‘dress’.
He wasn’t enthusiastic at first, but then got all excited by the craft ideas on display. He even chose to go to the craft room and start making a Christmas present for ‘a family member’. We then headed downtown and made a stop at the French bakery which livened him up even more. Then we went to Ben and Bill’s Candy Shop for candy decorations for the gingerbread houses, to Michael’s and Walmart to get more craft items, and finally back home. I had planned to do a laundry but forgot to bring it, so I headed home and returned with my bag of dirty clothes. By this time everyone was home, and I ended up staying for pizza for dinner while we watched White Christmas. Sam was so shocked that I would eat pizza that he fell off the sofa. So “unOma” he said. My only defense was that I wanted to watch the movie and not have to go home late and fix dinner. I will survive having pizza once! And it was delicious. Heather and Jed make the best pizza ever. I don’t object to homemade pizza, it is just that I avoid eating anything gluten.
Now I need to go pack and get to bed. I leave here late morning to take Shadow to Heather and Jed’s for the week and then catch the bus to Boston. My flight to Charlotte is not until 3:50, but when you have to coordinate bus times, it takes all day for a two-and-a-half-hour flight. I talked to my sister tonight and am excited to go see her for a few days. Growing up, I always thought of my sister Patsy as Rosemary Clooney in Bing Crosby’s White Christmas movie. In my mind, my sister Margie was the dancer, Vera-Ellen, in that movie. My sister Margie loved nothing more than tap dancing on table tops. I have a Christmas photo of the three of us sisters, circa 1960, when I was thirteen.
My sister Patsy was pregnant, but she still wore that Rosemary Clooney page boy hair style. And in the photo, my sister Margie looks like she is ready to hop up and dance. Wonderful memories.
by Judy Handley | Dec 10, 2022 | 2022 Life Logs |
2022 Life Logs, Day 344: Drizzly by Day, Concert by Tonight
Date: Saturday, December 10, 2022
Weather: Drizzly Rain and Chilly: High 41, Low 34 degrees F
Sunrise and Sunset: 6:59 am & 4:13 pm
Location: At Home in the Cottage, East Falmouth, MA
Chilly and drizzly makes for a nice day to stay inside and try to catch up on paperwork and photo editing. I am gloriously behind on both, but I did make some progress today. My math tells me we currently have 9 hours and 12 minutes of daylight. I guess that means 14 hours and 48 minutes of darkness. I can’t wait for Winter Solstice when minutes of daylight slowly starts to increase.
This evening Heather and I went out to dinner at Estia and took a few minutes to talk about Christmas. Then we went to a concert at the Falmouth Academy to hear the Sons of Serendip.
Heather just heard about the concert yesterday and mentioned she was going. The singer in the group used to be with Hyannis Sound, a professional a capella group that gathers in Hyannis each summer. Heather loved his voice when she heard him years ago and remembered his name. I decided to go with her and what a wonderful decision that was. Micah, the singer in the group of four musicians, described them as four millennials who happen to be Black. The musical quartet met while in graduate school at Boston University, completing degrees in Law, Cello Performance, Harp Performance, and Theology. The one who started out as a lawyer, plays the keyboard and writes music, and the singer, Micah, was the Theology major. They are dynamic and you can feel through their music their dedication to making this world a happier, more caring place. I didn’t think anyone could make me cry just listening to a rendition of Nat King Cole’s The Christmas song . . . Chestnuts roasting on an open fire . . . but tears came to eyes tonight when Micah sang it. The program was not just Christmas music, but the group’s rendition of Oh Holy Night was also wonderful. Micah introduced the song by saying that it is song of hope. He described it like seeing one candle lit in the darkness making just enough light to give hope. And even if just one more person joins with their lit candle, it gives more hope . . . which is much needed in today’s world. He also shared his favorite poem that was written in answer to the question, “What is the most important thing inscribed on a tombstone?” The poet’s answer was the dash between the date of birth and date of death in that the dash represents all the life in between. What a beautiful thought.
In the first half of the program, the group took suggestions from the audience for a song that they would put together for the second half of the program. They chose Hey Jude, one of my favorites. The encore song was Leonard Cohen’s legendary Hallelujah. Micah had said earlier in the evening that it was his favorite song to sing. So, he ended the evening with that. When I looked up the meaning of serendipity, “the occurrence and development of events by change in a happy or beneficial way”, I realized that Sons of Serendip is the perfect name for this group. I think everyone attending left looking at life in a more positive, loving way.
