by Judy Handley | Sep 29, 2026 | 2026 Life Logs |
2026 Life Logs, Day 272: To Do List, Sister Patsy, and Wine Group
Date: Tuesday, September 29, 2026
Weather: Some Misty Rain, Overcast; High Temp 63, Low 57 degrees F
Location: At Home with My Shadow, Falmouth, MA
I kept chipping away with that ‘to do’ list today while dealing with my sister’s diabetes issues. I spent part of the afternoon with her at Bridges and she continue to amaze me. She does know who I am, but she has fleeting memories of the people in our family. But the strangest thing is her attempts to be funny which is the opposite of the quiet, shy person she has always been. Then tonight I met with my wine group. That is always a good time.
by Judy Handley | Sep 28, 2026 | 2026 Life Logs |
2026 Life Logs, Day 271: Dealing with Diabetes and Dementia, FHS Soccer
Date: Sunday, September 28, 2026
Weather: Rain Continues; High Temp 66 Low 54 degrees F
Location: At Home with My Shadow, Falmouth, MA
The storm lingers with a misty rain tonight and tomorrow with more clouds. But it feels warm, so all is well. My day was divided between dealing with my sister’s diabetes, having a mid-year check-in with my physician via Zoom, meeting with a woman who has become a dementia mentor to me and introducing her to another friend whose sister is being moved into the same memory care facility as my mentor’s sister, and then ending on the high note by attending a Falmouth High School soccer game.
Falmouth won, but Heather and I had to leave with 10 minutes to go so I could get her to her Select Board Executive Committee meeting by 6 pm. A little later I drove over to make sure the boys were ordering pizza for dinner. Jed was at a Board of Health meeting, and I did not have time to today to cook dinner for them. Besides, they love having a take-out pizza night.
by Judy Handley | Sep 27, 2026 | 2026 Life Logs |
2026 Life Logs, Day 270: Another Day Working on the To Do List
Date: Sunday, September 27, 2026
Weather: Still Rainy with Some Wind; High Temp 65, Low 60 degrees F
Location: At Home with My Shadow, Falmouth, MA
It was another inside day as the nor’easter is still with us. It was windy this morning but calmed down as the day progressed. We had an hour or two reprieve in the early afternoon with the sun peaking through the clouds. But then the rain returned. My neighbor Andy is the neighborhood weather watcher, and he reported this afternoon that so far here on Lakeview we have had 5 inches of rain. The rain is expected to continue tomorrow, dissipating by Tuesday morning.
I took on one project that was not on the to do list today. I started reorganizing my closet, switching positions of my fall and winter clothes with my summer clothes. I had hoped to get rid of a lot of things, but the pile going away is very small. I have a really hard time getting rid of things, but I will keep trying.
September 27 is always a special day for me. It was the due date for my first child, one of those dates you never forget. I didn’t know the baby was going to be a girl. But I did know her name was going to be Heather if she was a girl. But September 27 came and went with no baby. Two days later, on September 29, I was frantic. Why was this baby not coming? We lived in Alexandria, Virginia at the time, close to the Potomac River. Another friend I had met in Lamaze classes suggested that we go sit by the river that day. Maybe that would get the labor going. It worked. I got home from sitting on the river bank all day and started to fix dinner when the first contractions started. It took almost thirty-two hours, but at 11:30 pm on September 30, that baby arrived. And she will celebrate her 51st birthday this Wednesday.
by Judy Handley | Sep 26, 2026 | 2026 Life Logs |
2026 Life Logs, Day 269: Wasted Day
Date: Saturday, September 26, 2026
Weather: Stormy; High Temp 61, Low 55 degrees F
Location: At Home with My Shadow, Falmouth, MA
I am not a stormy day kind of person. I think rain just sucks all of the energy out of me, so much so that I can’t even sit and read. I did mark more things off the to do list, but already I have no idea what they were. Must not have been as important as I thought!
Shadow was groomed yesterday, but after our walks in the rain today, he now looks like a really big, black, wet rat! According to my neighbor Andy, we have had 3 inches of rain so far and it is still coming down. It looks like the wind and rain will linger for another couple of days. I am hoping to get energized tomorrow and get more done. Or not.
by Judy Handley | Sep 25, 2026 | 2026 Life Logs |
2026 Life Logs, Day 268: First Fall Class, Storm Prep, Time at Bridges
Date: Saturday, September 25, 2026
Weather: Overcast, Rainy, Windy; High Temp 61, Low 55 degrees F
Location: At Home with My Shadow, Falmouth, MA
The first thing on the list for the day was driving Shadow to Bourne to be groomed. His hair grows way too fast, and I should probably get this done every month. But I simply can’t afford that. So, I take him every 7 weeks, leave him for the day, and pick up a beautifully groomed Shadow late in the afternoon.
Next on the agenda was the first fall class with constitutional law Professor Jane Scarborough. We are focusing on the second half of Harvard Professor Jill LePore’s book, “These Truths.” And while we were in class this morning, the Supreme Court came out with an emergency order allowing the Trump administration to resume using a modified version of the Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements (SAVE) database to check voter citizenship. Trump did not get his SAVE (Safeguard American Voter Eligibility) Act passed by Congress but today the Supreme Court gave him what he wanted. I could spend hours writing about what is wrong with today’s ruling, but to what avail? It is what it is, and we just have keep on going. I heard Marc Alias say tonight that the people have a larger platform than the government. We just have to use that platform to get out the vote and win these midterms while we let the lawyers continue litigation. He emphasized over and over that each of us needs to use our personal platforms to do what we can to make sure as many people as possible get out and vote. He said to talk to everyone in your bridge group, your book group, your Mah Jongg group, your dining group, your neighbors, your families, and add any other groups you might be a part of. His idea is that if each one of us does this, it will make a huge positive difference.
After class I did some shopping to get ready for the coming storm. Between tonight and tomorrow night this time, we are supposed to get at least 3 inches of rain, with more rain Sunday and Monday morning. Overnight tonight, the sustained winds will be in the 30’s with much higher gusts. Tomorrow is definitely a stay at home day. I left a huge grocery bag of “storm goodies “ for the Goldpebbles at their house; nothing healthy, just fun! The rain started just as I was coming out of the grocery store, but it was not a heavy rain. And after dropping off the goodie bag, I drove to Bridges in Mashpee.
Today’s visit was all business. Patsy’s Dexcom sensor that allows me her constantly check her blood glucose number was due to be replaced on Sunday. But because I have no idea what this weather will really be like on Sunday, I decided to change it out this afternoon. Then I met with a friend who has a sister in assisted living at Atria in Falmouth and just found out that she needs to be moved to memory care. She was interested in seeing Atria, so I invited her to meet with me there. It was good for both of us to share with each other some of the many frustrations of being responsible for our sisters. Her sister is 20 years younger than mine, but the frustrations are the same. We could have talked all evening, but at 4:45, I had to leave to go pick up Shadow before the groomer closed for the day.
I just took Shadow out and it is pouring. The strong winds have not set in yet, but I have a feeling I will sleep to the sound of pouring rain and roaring wind all night.
by Judy Handley | Sep 24, 2026 | 2026 Life Logs |
2026 Life Logs, Day 267: Eating My Way Through the Day
Date: Thursday, September 24, 2026
Weather: Partly Sunny, Windy; High Temp 63, Low 54 degrees F
Location: At Home with My Shadow, Falmouth, MA
I started my day having breakfast with a woman who is new in town and requested to meet with me to learn about Indivisible Falmouth. I went from there to take lunch to Peter Baranowski. Karen has been gone all week, in Boston where their daughter is in the hospital, so I just wanted to give Pete a little break from cooking for himself. Then I headed home to make lasagna for the Goldstones. All 5 of them had different and crazy schedules this afternoon and evening, so I offered to make lasagna and sit it out on their center island where each one could grab a piece when convenient. So that is why I named this log, “Eating My Way Through the Day.”
After delivering the lasagna, I headed to Mashpee to Jonah’s soccer game, The stands were too far away to get good action photos, but I did catch a rare moment when best buds, Jonah and Kaiden, were on the sidelines talking to each other and then Jonah waiting to go into the game.
I went from the game to Bridges to check on a furniture delivery that happened today. The dresser from her bedroom set I bought in June was backordered. It just arrived and was placed perfectly in her room. Then I went to the golf course to pick up Ollie and take him to his weekly Scout meeting. Both Heather and Jed were at the high school for Meet the Teacher night—one of them meeting Jonah’s teachers and the other meeting Ollie’s.
It was a busy day, but it was not stressful. I was eating and having fun with friends and family. Now I have to get ready for the Nor’easter that is slated to begin wreaking havoc by tomorrow evening. Indivisible has already been asked by the town to consider cancelling our Saturday rally as they are going to put out a message to all to stay off the roads unless absolutely necessary. We normally meet on the Green rain, shine, or snow. But we did cancel for this Saturday. Sounds like a serious storm coming our way.
