by Judy Handley | Jun 9, 2019 | 2019 Life Logs |
2019 Life Logs, Day 160: Soccer and Gardening
Date: Sunday, June 9, 2019
Weather: Beautiful Sunny Day; High 70, Low 53 degrees
Location: At Home in the Cottage, East Falmouth, MA
As planned, I headed to Heather’s early this morning to hitch a ride with the Goldstones to Jonah’s final soccer game of the season. We had a 40 to 45 minute drive and Jonah needed to be there around 9 am for a 9:30 game, so we left at 8:20 on the dot. The weather was beautiful and a little warmer than predicted last night. It was one of those bright blue sky Cape Cod days. At some point during the game, Sam asked if he could take the photos today and he got some great action shots. It was a great game, well matched teams, and fun to watch. The score at the end was 5-5, a good way for two good teams to end the season. It was almost noon by the time we got home. The Goldstones headed to an end-of-the-year Scout picnic for Ollie and Jonah and I headed home to garden. I worked until 3:30 and then headed to Heather’s to do some planting there. I got a lot done today, not everything, but almost, and I am ready for a good night’s sleep. Tomorrow morning I have to meet a group of Newcomers at 7 am so we can carpool to New Bedford where we will take a ferry to Cuttyhunk. I went on this trip in June of 2017 and enjoyed it so much I decided to return. Anytime you get the chance to spend the day on a beautiful island, I think you should take advantage of the opportunity.
by Judy Handley | Jun 8, 2019 | 2019 Life Logs |
2019 Life Logs, Day 159: Another Soccer Saturday
Date: Saturday, June 8, 2019
Weather: Sunny; High 76, Low 52 degrees
Location: At Home in the Cottage, East Falmouth, MA
Today was a beautiful day and was another soccer Saturday for both Sam and Jonah. It was Sam’s last game of the spring season, but since his team won today, they have a play-off Saturday on June 22. Jonah had an away game today and has his last game of the season is early tomorrow morning. There are no play-offs in his age bracket, so tomorrow morning is it. I got up early this morning to enjoy the bright sunshine. I had hoped to start planting the raised beds immediately, but a tire pressure light that came on yesterday evening sent me to get that checked out first thing. It wasn’t the normal low-pressure light, but rather something that said TPMS. The pressure in all the tires is fine, so it is probably a battery issue in the monitoring system. But checking that out will take an appointment, so I moved on. Since I was already out, I went to the nursery to buy some cucumber plants. For whatever reason, none of my cucumber seeds sprouted and it is getting so late that I want to plant seedlings, not seeds. By the time I got home, I had only 30 minutes to work in the garden before it was time to head to Sam’s game. I got there just before the game started, but there were no Goldstones. I was just putting down my chair and bag to make a call when Jed, Jonah, and Ollie arrived. In getting ready for the game, Sam had poked himself in the eye with the straw in his water bottle and Heather had to take him to Urgent Care to make sure everything was okay. Jed saw that the assistant coach was not there either, so he headed over to help the coach while Jonah, Ollie, and I watched the game. Sam and Heather about half-way through the first half and Sam headed over to check-in. The doctor at the Urgent Care Center said his eye was fine and that he could play. During the half-time, Jonah played a little baseball pitch with Heather while Ollie hid from the sun under a chair. It was 76 degrees and with the bright sunshine, it did feel hot. Sam played a good second half and his team won, so he was happy. Something that has been making him very unhappy this past week is that he has outgrown most of his shorts. He loves the Adidas sports shorts I can get for him at Costco, so when the game was over, I made the decision to head off Cape to Costco. In addition to looking for shorts for Sam, I had a pair of shoes that I bought for myself that needed to be returned. And since Jonah’s 4 pm game was about half-way between Costco and home, I figured I could do a quick shopping trip and then take in Jonah’s game. Everything worked out except that Costco had not shorts. They are already stocking long sports pants for the fall. But there was another department store that carries Adidas close to Costco and I was able to get shorts for Sam there. They cost double what they would have cost at Costco, but I got them anyway and headed on to Jonah’s game. Tomorrow morning I will go to Jonah’s final game with Heather and gang in their van. The game is at 9:30 am, so we have to leave by 8:15. We should be home before noon and I can spend my afternoon getting things planted in my raised beds. It is not going to be as warm as today and only partly sunny, but that is better for transplanting.
by Judy Handley | Jun 7, 2019 | 2019 Life Logs |
2019 Life Logs, Day 158: Weeds
Date: Friday, June 7, 2019
Weather: Mostly Sunny; High 73, Low 57 degrees
Location: At Home in the Cottage, East Falmouth, MA
I spent part of my day pulling weeds out of Heather’s garden. I have mentioned before that she is transitioning from a traditional garden to raised beds, but for this year we have both. And even though the weather has been cool and cloudy and things planted in the garden aren’t growing as they should, the weeds are prolific. Mixed in with those weeds are volunteer Matt’s Wild Cherry tomato plants that seem to return each year. Heather loves them, so I don’t want to pull up all the volunteers. Then there is the weed called Lamb’s Quarter. It is similar to spinach in taste but has about ten times the vitamins and minerals. So in my weeding, I’m trying to keep as much of that weed as possible. We’ll eat it all over the next couple of weeks, but for now, those weeds stay. So weeding is little tedious for now, but I made progress. I came home for a very late lunch and intended to do some planting in my raised beds, but that didn’t happen. I was making a batch of chicken mineral broth and got involved in other indoor activities and never made it back outside. Then it was time to return to Heather’s to kidsit for the evening. Heather and Jed were going to an event from 5 to 7 pm, so I went over to serve dinner to Ollie and Jonah. They played outside before dinner and asked if they could go back outside to play after dinner. There’s no school tomorrow, so I agreed. Tomorrow is a soccer Saturday, but the first game is late morning and I AM GOING to get things planted in my raised beds before leaving home!
by Judy Handley | Jun 6, 2019 | 2019 Life Logs |
2019 Life Logs, Day 157: Fickle Weather and Faithful First Ladies
Date: Thursday, June 6, 2019
Weather: Rain Overnight, Cloudy Day; High 73, Low 56 degrees
Location: At Home in the Cottage, East Falmouth, MA
Interesting weather day. It rained a little overnight and was cloudy and coolish this morning when I left to go to the gym for a class and to ride that stationary bike. When I came out of the gym, the sun was shining, and it felt hot and humid. I got home, changed into capri pants and a short-sleeved shirt to go out and work in the garden, but by the time I got outside, it was cloudy, windy, and cool. So, I went back inside and changed into long pants and a long-sleeved shirt. A person could spend their entire day just changing clothes to match this fickle weather! In between changing clothes, I did get a bit of gardening done while also doing some cooking. Then it was time to head to Heather’s. I was to be there by 3:30 when the kids got home from school, but I wanted to go an hour early to do some gardening there. I transplanted some lettuce plants from garden to hers, added some fencing to one of her raised beds, and finished putting tomato cages around tomato plants I planted in the last few days. There’s more to do tomorrow when I hope to be able to report that most things are planted. We shall see. I’ll work at home in the morning and then head to Heather’s in the afternoon. Today I was the after-school care for the Goldpebbles when they got home from school. Sam got home first and talked about the placement test he took today for his new school next year. He moves from Morris Pond to Lawrence where all Falmouth students attend grades 7 and 8. 
When Ollie and Jonah got home, Ollie was so excited to show me the academic achievement award he received at the East Falmouth Elementary town meeting this morning. Jonah also received an academic achievement award and will have his graduation ceremony next week. These little ones are growing up way too fast.
The opposite of fickle is faithful, or constant, loyal, true, committed, or any of another 200 or so words. Today while riding that stationary bike, I finished Michelle Obama’s autobiography, BECOMING. In 2015, I read A MEMOIR by Barbara Bush. Both books were incredible accounts of the lives of these two women, who at first glance appear to be so very different. But what hit me as I finished Michelle’s book is that the two actually had more in common than they had differences. Both women were madly in love with their husbands and stood by them no matter what. Both women loved and supported their children above all else. The big differences between the two is that one was born into wealth and privilege while the other was not. But the one who was not born into wealth and privilege ended up with a law degree from Harvard and had her own successful career before meeting her husband, while the one from wealth and privilege gave up college to marry the love of her life. Many differences, but a deep and abiding love of family is what they had in common. Whether you are a woman or a man (especially if you are a man), a Democrat or a Republican (especially if you are a Republican), I highly recommend you read Michelle Obama’s book. It is a wonderful documentation of life in today’s crazy world and helps put things into perspective.
by Judy Handley | Jun 5, 2019 | 2019 Life Logs |
2019 Life Logs, Day 156: Newcomers Dining-in Group June Dinner
Date: Wednesday, June 5, 2019
Weather: Mostly Cloudy; High 69, Low 64 degrees
Location: At Home in the Cottage, East Falmouth, MA
Tonight, my Newcomers Dining-in group had our June gathering at Peter and Karen Baranowski’s home. It was a fantastic dinner, but the greatest thing about these ‘almost’ monthly gatherings is that we are together, sharing ideas and supporting one another.
Olivia White brought me a copy of the 2019-2020 Chamber of Commerce Falmouth Official Guide as it as a photo from a Camp Oma activity last summer. I took the Goldpebbles to the Falmouth Museums on the Green activity where the boys got to play games from colonial America. A small photo of Sam rolling a wooden hoop with me looking on is on the page sponsored by the Museums in the Official Guide. Thank you, Olivia, for pointing this out to me and bringing me a copy of the guide. Otherwise, I might not have ever seen it. It is this kind of thing those of us in this dining-in group do for each other and I feel blessed to be part of it. One couple in the group had a death in their immediate family just a few days ago, but they came tonight because I think they feel like me. It feels good to be surrounded by friends that you know you can depend on, especially in times of need.
I spent almost three hours of my morning organizing the 12 pages of usernames and passwords that have accumulated over the years. Mark always kept track of this list, and I have been meaning to do a reorganization ever since his death in 2016. I have worked on it a couple of times and even after the three hours this morning, I still have work to do. But I made progress and that is a good thing. Probably half of those passwords will never be used again, but somehow, I feel like I should keep them on the list . . . just in case. Then I headed to the gym to get in my 30 minutes on the stationary bike. I made a stop at the grocery store, came home and had a late lunch, and then spent some time in the kitchen. I had hoped to spend time gardening, but that didn’t get done. It is supposed to rain tomorrow, but I’m still hoping to get a few things planted. I guess it will depend on just how hard it rains.
