by Judy Handley | Jan 1, 2020 | 2020 Life Logs |
2020 Life Logs, Day 1: New Year’s Day
Date: Wednesday, January 1, 2020
Weather: Sunny and Breezy; High 38, Low 26 degrees F
Location: At Home in The Cottage, East Falmouth, MA
It was a gloriously sunny day, but quite windy. Still it was a wonderful day for a long walk with Shadow. We enjoyed New Year’s Eve and didn’t get into bed until 1:30 am. We were then up briefly at 7 am and then up for good at 8:30 and our New Year’s Day proceeded in quite an ordinary way. But as I went through the morning doing what I do most mornings, there was a recurring theme running through my head. I no longer do many things the same way I have done them for most of my life. Some of those changes came about during 2019, but most have been an evolution over the past five years or so. There is a ad from the American Cancer Society on TV these days that kept going through my head today. In the ad, a young man states that he used to have cancer, but not he doesn’t. Today I kept saying, I used to do . . . and now I don’t.
When I made my morning smoothie, I said to myself that I used to make smoothies with lots of fruit and yogurt, and now I don’t. My smoothie has a pear in it, but it also has kale, arugula, celery, cucumber, nuts, and seeds. And instead of yogurt, I use unsweetened almond milk.
Next, I made granola. I used to eat granola every day, but now I don’t. I eat it once or twice a week at most. I used to put seeds and nuts in my mostly oat granola, but now I put some oats in with mostly seeds and nuts.
Then I made soup. I used to use store bought chicken broth when making soup, but now I don’t. I make my own organic chicken bone broth.
I used to eat sandwiches for lunch, but now I don’t because I no longer eat bread. I now have a salad with beans, seeds, and avocado added.
When I looked in my refrigerator, I realized that I used to be the queen of plastic. I used more Ziploc baggies and Tupperware than anyone else I know. Now I don’t. I have gotten rid of all plastic containers and replaced them with glass. And cloth baggies and beeswax wrap have replaced all those baggies.
When I went on my walk with Shadow, I thought about how much trouble I had walking this time last year. But now I don’t. With my new knee replacement in February of this past year, I can once again walk without fear of falling.
The one thing that I noticed today that has not changed is my love of the lights on a Christmas tree. When I went to bed in the wee hours of the morning, I left the Christmas lights on so that the first thing I would see when I got up on New Year’s Day was the gentle light emanating from my Christmas tree. It is just magic to me. And those lights will stay on until January 6th, the twelfth day of Christmas, when the tree will come down. But the sparkle of those Christmas lights will stay with me all year. I think we all know that 2020 is going to be tumultuous year with all the political chaos. I will look forward to December when I can once again have the peace and calm those Christmas lights bring to me. If things get too chaotic, I might just have to put up my Christmas tree in July. But for now, I’ll just hope for a happy, peaceful, and prosperous 2020 for all.
by Judy Handley | Jan 1, 2020 | 2019 Life Logs |
2019 Life Logs, Day 365: Happy New Year to All
Date: Tuesday, December 31, 2019
Weather: Dreary and Misty; High 38, Low 28 degrees F
Location: At Home in The Cottage, East Falmouth, MA
Happy New Year to all of you from me and my Shadow. We are having a quiet evening at home except for Shadow’s barking fits when fireworks go off. In fact, Shadow has been a little crazy all day. Maybe he is affected by the dreary weather. I know I am. It rained all day yesterday and today there was so little light inside that it was hard to see to work on my puzzle. So, I read and slept and cooked while Shadow ran around like a crazy pup. My friend Bruce Wooden posted this on my Facebook page a few days ago: “Having a puppy is like having a strong, fast, lightly armed infant that loves you unconditionally, but gets bored easily.” Yep. Even a long walk didn’t help today. We did take one nap together on the couch, but I was abruptly awakened with a wild black furry thing sitting on my head.
I got a text this evening that said, “SNOW, SNOW, SNOW, SNOW, SNOW, SNOW.” That was a message from Jonah. Evidently, they have had two days of snow in Maine and are headed to the slopes tomorrow for a few days of snowboarding and skiing before heading home. And then I got a Skype video call from Justin. The Handley-Hunts in Puerto Rico are bringing in the new year by camping out on the beach with many friends and lots of music. Ziggy was wearing the greatest 2020 gold rimmed glasses. And as soon as I hung up from talking to Justin, Lynne Kirwin called via Whats App from New Zealand. She is spending our winter, their summer, in New Zealand and is having a wonderful time connecting with friends. So from snowy Maine to tropic beaches to warm and wonderful New Zealand, I spent the last couple of hours of 2019 communicating with wonderful friends and family. And I just watched the ball drop in Times Square. Happy New Year to all!
by Judy Handley | Dec 30, 2019 | 2019 Life Logs |
2019 Life Logs, Day 364: Rainy Day
Date: Monday, December 30, 2019
Weather: Cold Rain; High 35, Low 33 degrees F
Location: At Home in The Cottage, East Falmouth, MA
Today was a good reminder that it is winter. The sunshine and mild temperatures of the past few days abruptly ended last night when the it started raining. It didn’t get cold enough to freeze, but this morning when I first went out with Shadow, we didn’t stay out long. I came inside and got out my heaviest winter coat for the next trip outside. I continue to improve, feeling a bit better each day. But I won’t be going out on New Year’s Eve. I have launched into a few organizational projects and work stay home to work on those. If I can’t feel great for the first day of the new year, at least I can feel organized.
by Judy Handley | Dec 29, 2019 | 2019 Life Logs |
2019 Life Logs, Day 363: For the Love of Mangoes
Date: Sunday, December 29, 2019
Weather: Mostly Sunny, Rain Late; High 43, Low 34 degrees F
Location: At Home in The Cottage, East Falmouth, MA
When Heather left for Maine, she gave me two mangoes that had come with her Misfits delivery and would go bad by the time they get home. I ate the first one the next day and felt like I had been transported to the tropics. It tasted soooooooo good. Then tonight, I cut into the second one and had a repeat performance. I honestly don’t remember tasting anything this good ever. So, thank you Heather! I do love mangoes.
My day today was more of the same. Last night I started working the 1,000 piece Vintage Christmas Cards puzzle Jonah got me for Christmas and I continued that today. It is a bit challenging with a puppy. I usually work my puzzles on my coffee table. But as I discovered this morning, I can’t leave any puzzle pieces down that low without losing them to Shadow. I thought I was being smarter than him by putting most of the puzzle pieces on a card table and putting just the pieces I am immediately working with on a piece of cardboard on the coffee table so I can move it higher when not working on it. I think my mistake was a trip to the bathroom. I didn’t put the puzzle up as I was going to be right back. But right back is just the right amount of time for a puppy to steal puzzle pieces. I fought the evidence by the front door later in the morning. And then I made the mistake of leaving the book I am reading on the couch when I made a trip to the kitchen. It was a brand new, beautiful hardback book that now has the back edge chewed nicely by Shadow. These things hadn’t happened in prior days as I wasn’t reading or working puzzles. The fact that I am now doing that is proof that I feel better, but my perfect little companion was only perfect when I gave him my full attention. I’ll have to get smarter about leaving anything within Shadow’s reach that I don’t want chewed to pieces.
As I write this log, we have two days, 1 hour, 46 minutes until 2020. My hope was to be rid of this cold by New Year’s Day, but I’m not sure that is going to happen. Yesterday and today were slightly better, but I still have to sleep sitting up to keep the coughing under control. But again today, I felt good enough to spend some time working outside in the beautiful sunshine. The weather forecast for the next week is for more of the same relatively warm days with sunshine, except for tomorrow and Friday when we will have rain. Tomorrow’s rain has already begun with sprinkles, but there is a 100 per cent chance that we will get more than sprinkles by tomorrow . . . a good day for more reading and working on that puzzle.
by Judy Handley | Dec 28, 2019 | 2019 Life Logs |
2019 Life Logs, Day 362: Slow and Steady
Date: Saturday, December 28, 2019
Weather: Sunny; High 47, Low 32 degrees F
Location: At Home in The Cottage, East Falmouth, MA
I would love to take one giant leap back to being totally healthy, but reality dictates that I must be satisfied with slow and steady progress. I do feel a tad better today and was able to be out and about doing laundry and running errands, so for that I am very grateful. But I’m afraid my goal of being rid of this cold by New Year’s Day might be a bit too ambitious. Shadow continues to be my best buddy. He really has been the perfect companion and I am so glad that I have him. We took a nice long walk today and played in the yard during the sunniest and warmest part of the day. Then we were back on the couch together. I think he likes the slower life style this cold has imposed on us.
