by Judy Handley | Dec 6, 2020 | 2020 Life Logs |
2020 Life Logs, Day 340: Ushering in the Holiday Season
Date: Sunday, December 6, 2020
Weather: Sunny and Cold: High 39, Low 28 Degrees
Location: At Home in The Cottage, Falmouth, MA
Today the Goldstones and I ushered in the holiday season. This weekend would normally be the official Falmouth By the Sea weekend when Santa arrives in the harbor, the lights on the Green are officially lit, and the annual Falmouth Christmas Parade marches down Main Street. This year none of those things could happen because of Covid but scaled down versions of those things were video-taped and shown on community television today at noon.
Heather was volunteering this morning at the Christmas tree sale to raise money for the school PTO and other non-profits. When I arrived to get my tree, I saw an elf working in the lot. On closer examination, I saw that the elf was my daughter. The elf helped me pick out a tree and then Jed and boys arrived to get their tree. Sam and Jonah had to go to do a service project, so Ollie stayed with Heather. When I went back to pick him up, he had convinced Heather to buy a second tree. He wanted a tree for the basement, but it ended up in the all purpose room. Ollie put the tree in my car and we headed to my house where he helped me get my tree up. At noon we had an impromptu gathering of the whole crew at my house where we watched the parade and had lunch. Then tonight we had dinner at Heather and Jed’s and I got see the their two trees up and decorated. Justin, Jo, Ziggy, and Coco put their tree up last weekend. Mine is up but not yet decorated. Once it is, I’ll post photos of all.
Jed’s birthday is on Tuesday and at dinner tonight he received an early birthday present from Heather and the boys—a big gnome that they hope will be the first installment in a collection of gnomes in future years. Jed and his gnome were at end of the table and a stuffed Santa that I bought for Heather and Justin in 1985 sat at the other end. Hard to believe that Santa has survived 35 years, but then a Santa is forever.
by Judy Handley | Dec 6, 2020 | 2020 Life Logs |
2020 Life Logs, Day 339: Wind and Rain
Date: Saturday, December 5, 2020
Weather: Rain and Wind: High 50, Low 31 Degrees
Location: At Home in The Cottage, Falmouth, MA
The forecast was for 100 per cent rain today with up to 30 mile per hour winds. And the forecast was right. It was a blustery day with the winds building in the afternoon. The temps were mostly in the high 40’s, but according to Weather Underground, it felt more like 40 with the wind chill factored in. All in all, it was a miserable weather day outside. But the perfect day to finalize Christmas gifts and get packages ready to send on Monday. So that is how I spent my day. I’m afraid I didn’t get everything done, but I did make progress. There’s always tomorrow.
by Judy Handley | Dec 4, 2020 | 2020 Life Logs |
2020 Life Logs, Day 338: Yardwork Day
Date: Friday, December 4, 2020
Weather: Overcast and Windy: High 56, Low 45 Degrees
Location: At Home in The Cottage, Falmouth, MA
I finally made it outside today. I simply put Christmas to one side and made a little dent in the yard work project. Normally at this time of year, the landscapers would come to put Shirley’s yard ‘to bed’ for the winter and they would do some work in my yard as well. The landscaper was the guy who owned the house next to Shirley. But he sold that house in late summer and now I, along with the Goldpebbles, are doing all three lawns. But the Goldpebbles are doing school 5 days a week now and the weekends have been rainy or full of other activities. Andrew, who bought the house the landscaper used to own, was visiting this past weekend and appreciated that the Goldpebbles had cleared the leaves from his yard. He and his family will be moving in next spring, so we will do what is needed in the yard until they arrive. But today I focused on Shirley’s yard. I got all the leaves out of the yard and along the edges, I didn’t get to the landscaped areas that are mulched. There are tons of leaves that need to be raked out from under the plants and carried away. I really love doing yard work, so I am going to focus on one little area at a time. Hopefully before Christmas I’ll get the job done. And if the Goldpebbles have time to help, it will be done sooner.
Today was Shadow’s day to be groomed. Pampered Pets is up near the bridge, so it takes at least 20 minutes to get there. Shadow got up early and we went for a walk before I took him for his 9 am appointment. I then left him for a few hours and waited for them to text when it was time to pick him up. When I picked him up this afternoon, he was wearing the cutest little red and green necktie and I was given a Christmas present. I had to rush to pick Ollie up and I asked him to look in the bag and tell me what was in it. It was a clear Christmas ornament filled with some of Shadow’s hair inside and his name written in white on the ball. It was very sweet and Ollie suggested that since I have Shadow the Goldstones could have the ornament for their tree so they have a little bit of Shadow with them during the holidays. That is what we will do.
We have 100% chance of rain tomorrow, so I will focus on getting packages ready to send to Puerto Rico. Then on Sunday, I will go get a Christmas tree and decorate. Jed’s birthday is on Tuesday, so I have invited them over for dinner on Sunday evening so we can celebrate.
by Judy Handley | Dec 3, 2020 | 2020 Life Logs |
2020 Life Logs, Day 337: Still Caught in the Christmas Scramble
Date: Thursday, December 3, 2020
Weather: Mostly Sunny: High 49, Low 44 Degrees
Location: At Home in The Cottage, Falmouth, MA
Yet another beautiful day that I spent mostly inside, either doing online shopping or actually going out to shop. I got a text from Jo this morning saying that she heard the governor of Puerto Rico was going to ban all shopping for non-essential items which means no Christmas shopping. She was so sad for many of the children in Puerto Rico that would get no Christmas presents as their parents might not have the financial where withal to do online shopping. And she was hoping I could help her by buying stocking stuffers for Ziggy and Coco. She and Justin can order bigger things online, but that’s tricky for small stocking stuffers. My niece in Tennessee also contacted me this morning to help her with some online shopping. And I needed to complete my online orders for my gifts for JJZ&C in Puerto Rico. Right now things are being delivered on time, but I fear a rise in Covid cases could interrupt that. So, I put aside my outdoor activities for today and focused on shopping. It is going to take another entire day to sort things out. While I was in town shopping, I took a laundry load to Heather and Jed’s. While there, I asked Heather if there were things I could get for her while I was shopping. She made a quick list, so I was buying for all the grandkids at one time. Now I just need to get things sorted and delivered or put in the mail. I was working at the speed of light and will need to go back and make a list of the online orders. I couldn’t’ get everything on Amazon, so I have things coming from here and here. I did get a lot done . . . I’m just not sure what!
As I ended my shopping frenzy, I got another text from Jo saying she things she misunderstood the governor’s mandate. She thinks it only applies to Sunday. So what I didn’t get today, I don’t need to worry about. She can take over from here. At that same time, I got a text from the office of the governor of Massachusetts telling me that Covid cases on the rise in my town and that I need to protect my loved ones by avoiding groups. I read that to mean that I need to avoid shopping in stores, so I was glad that I had made the decision to do this today instead of waiting for a rainy day. The rainy days will come, but the Covid situation might require staying at home. I keep hearing people say they are so done with Covid, but it is obviously not done with us. It is time to become extremely vigilant.
by Judy Handley | Dec 2, 2020 | 2020 Life Logs |
2020 Life Logs, Day 336: Christmas Scramble Continues
Date: Wednesday, December 2, 2020
Weather: Dip in the Temperature; High 46, Low 34 Degrees
Location: At Home in The Cottage, Falmouth, MA
Today was mostly cloudy and the temperature continues to dip. But tomorrow looks like it will be a bit warmer with no rain. Maybe I’ll get outside to do some of that yard work I have been wanting to do. Today, however, the Christmas scramble continued. This necessitated a trip off Cape. Since the reason for the trip is a Christmas secret, I’ll not say what I was doing. But I will say that friend Karen Baranowski and I masked up and drove together. When we returned to Falmouth, we got take-out from Le Bon Jour and ate lunch in the Taj Garage with doors open and the Mr. Heater going. I hope to spend the early hours tomorrow getting a package together to send to Puerto Rico before I head outside to do yardwork. That’s the plan. Stay tuned to find out what really happens.
Ollie’s favorite Christmas joke of the day: Who gives presents to baby sharks? Santa Jaws!
