by Judy Handley | Jun 19, 2016 | Sailing Logs Year 11 |
Day 241, Year 11: Happy Father’s Day
Date: Sunday, June 19, 2016
Weather: Another Beautiful Sunny Day; High Temp 73 degrees F
Location: First Night in Our New Home, The Studio, Falmouth, MA
Happy Father’s Day to all of the wonderful fathers I know, but especially to the father of my children and the fathers of our grandchildren—our son Justin and our son-in-law Jed. Jed returned from California this morning, so we got to see him today, and we did a Skype video call with Justin. They were both enjoying the day with those beautiful grandchildren of ours. Mark and I spent the day putting things away in the apartment. As a Father’s Day gift, Mark wanted to spend our first night in our new home tonight. So I worked all day to try and get things organized to do that. And Heather and Jed delivered all of the things that we had at their house. Sam, Jonah, and Ollie brought Mark an umbrella to attach to his beach chair, so he is now all set for summer. We invited Heather and gang over for dinner, so the Goldstones were our very first dinner guests in our new home. It was a lovely day and evening and we are finding the apartment just perfect for us. There are still tons of boxes to be unpacked, but we can do that that slowly over the next few weeks. We have both the master bedroom and the guest bedroom ready for sleeping and the kids found it to be a 15 minute walk from here to the beach this afternoon. It is wonderful to have a place within walking distance to the beach. They returned here and had showers in the guest bathroom and that worked out great as well. The apartment is small, but the layout is perfect for having guests. And I’m finding the kitchen to be easy to negotiate. So it was a perfect Father’s Day and a perfect first day in our new home. Thanks again to all who have helped this happen!
by Judy Handley | Jun 18, 2016 | Sailing Logs Year 11 |
Day 240, Year 11: Great Moving Day
Date: Saturday, June 18, 2016
Weather: Beautiful Sunny Day; High Temp 77 degrees F
Location: At Home with the Goldstones, East Falmouth, MA
We had a great moving day—great weather and great help. We made the move from the two storage units into the new apartment with loads of help from family, friends, and four college kids we paid to help us. If we have ever done good deeds for others, we were paid back in spades today. Mark was planning to be the ‘director’ of the kids we hired, telling them how to pack the moving van. But Mark woke up with pains in his stomach for the first time in weeks. We decided that I would take him to the apartment to rest while the moving van was being packed. But since I needed to be in the storage unit telling the kids what to load in the van, someone had to be on the other end to oversee the packing. In Mark’s absence, good friend Tom Porat did that. He and Detta drove down from Portsmouth, New Hampshire, this morning to help out. And in addition to bringing their expertise help, they brought a chest-of-drawers and a dresser from Alan and Helaine Kanegsberg’s home in Bow, New Hampshire. The college students did a great job. Thank you to Vincent (West Virginia University), Alex (Barry University in Miami, Florida), Kanieka (University of Maryland, Eastern Shore), and Thooba (University of California, Santa Cruz). These students are here from all around the country to study in Woods Hole for the summer. While they worked to load the van, Heather and boys arrived and by noon the moving van was full. We all drove to the apartment, ate some lunch, unloaded and headed back to get a few more boxes out of the long-term storage unit. We didn’t empty it because much of the stuff that is left there just won’t fit into the apartment. My hope is to find a new home for all the things left behind by the end of June so we will be rid of storage unit payments. But if that doesn’t happen, we’ll just keep paying for that one unit for a couple more months. But the new storage unit we rented to hold things that came north from Windbird and the things from my niece Lynn’s condo in Lowell is now empty. Hurray! And our apartment is stuffed.
While Heather and Tom worked to assemble the bed in the guest bedroom and the dining table, Detta and I took the crew back to get that second load from storage. About that time my niece Candi and her husband Char arrived with the storage cabinet I bought from the Restore in South Yarmouth here on the Cape. Mark and I drove there on Thursday looking for a massive storage cabinet that would fit in our back hallway, but we came home empty-handed. We were looking for something a little more than four feet wide and two feet deep going from floor to ceiling. But we wanted something that looked like a piece of furniture, not storage shelves. What we found at the Restore were various entertainment center cabinets ranging from $50 to $350. We actually liked the cheapest one the best, but we just couldn’t figure out how to get it here. When we got home we searched online, IKEA and Amazon, and the cheapest thing we could find was $250 to $2,000. So that $50 cabinet at the Restore started looking really good. But it is an hour away from here and we didn’t think it would fit in the van. Then my niece Candi offered to drive down from Boston to deliver it to us today. That put the icing on the cake. So now we have all the furniture we can use in the apartment and we spent the last couple of hours of the afternoon actually starting to put things away in the kitchen. But it was getting late and Candi and Char needed to get back to Boston and Detta and Tom needed to get back to New Hampshire. And Heather, Mark, and I were all exhausted. So we called it a day and will continue tomorrow. Sam, Jonah, and Oliver had played beautifully all day, but they were getting tired as well. So we sent Heather home with the boys and Mark and I stayed in town to pick-up a sushi order for dinner. In this family, all good days have to end with a sushi dinner.
A special note of thanks to Heather and family for the house warming gifts they gave us today. We got two new sets of queen-sized sheets for our new bed and a fantastic little red canvas beach wagon. One reason the boys were so good today is because they gave each other rides in the wagon all afternoon. They went right to sleep tonight, so I think they wore themselves out. And I don’t think we’ll be far behind him. It was a great day that should be celebrated with a great night’s sleep.
by Judy Handley | Jun 17, 2016 | Sailing Logs Year 11 |
Day 239, Year 11: On Track for the BIG Move
Date: Friday, June 17, 2016
Weather: Mostly Sunny and Warm; High Temp 71 degrees F
Location: At Home with the Goldstones, East Falmouth, MA
We are on track for the BIG move tomorrow. Internet and cable TV were installed today and the new mattress set was delivered. Mark and I spent the day shuffling back and forth from our home base at Heather’s to the new apartment delivering miscellaneous ‘stuff’ and doing some cleaning at the new apartment while waiting for deliveries. Heather and Ollie made a surprise visit in the early afternoon. This was Ollie’s last day of school and Heather had to pick him up before nap time as he had an appointment to have his stitches taken out. But there was a period of time between pick-up and doctor’s appointment, so they dropped by to see if they could be helpful. Ollie is so excited about the fact that Oma and Granddad are going to have their own home in Falmouth. But he asked me today if we would be here in the fall when he goes back to school. All he has ever known is that Oma and Granddad appear at the end of the school year and leave again just after school starts. He squealed with delight when I told him we would be here all of the time now. The apartment will be our permanent home. He liked that, but he would be happier if we still had a dinghy with a motor that he could drive around the harbor. So would Mark.
We are anxious to see how things go tomorrow. We’ll report in tomorrow night. But for tonight, it is time to get some rest to be prepared for the BIG day.
by Judy Handley | Jun 16, 2016 | Sailing Logs Year 11 |
Day 238, Year 11: Much Better Day
Date: Thursday, June 16, 2016
Weather: Mostly Sunny and Warm; High Temp 76 degrees F
Location: At Home with the Goldstones, East Falmouth, MA
Today was a MUCH better day than yesterday. I got up and took Sam and Jonah, and then Ollie, to school since Heather had to be at work early. Jed will be out of town until Sunday, so we are trying to pitch in and help as much as we can. When I got back to Falmouth, after taking Ollie down to Woods Hole, I went to Walmart to buy cleaning supplies. My plan was to then go home, get Mark, and head to the apartment to start cleaning. But as I was leaving Walmart Mark called and said Paul, the owner of The Studio apartments, had called to let us know that cleaning was being done as he spoke. Mark wanted to get there as fast as possible to make sure things were being done to our satisfaction, so he drove Heather’s van to town and I went to the storage unit to pick up some other cleaning things—just in case—and then met him at the apartment. The cleaning was almost done by the time I arrived and everything looked so much better. It was back to being the apartment we loved when we made the decision to rent it. And a workman that was in the apartment volunteered to carry the bed frame boxes in from the van in the parking lot to the apartment. Heather came over later in the day and helped her dad put the bed frame together, so we are back on track.
Since the inside cleaning of the apartment was done early, Paul wanted to have the deck cleaned in the afternoon. That meant that we either needed to stay in the apartment for the afternoon or leave for a few hours while the cleaning was done. So we left and drove to Hyannis looking for a storage cabinet to put in the back hallway. There is not a ton of storage in the kitchen cabinets and there is not a linen closet, so we need a place to store various things. Unfortunately our look at the Restore in South Yarmouth and at Home Depot in Hyannis came up with nothing, so we are probably going to order something from Amazon or get something at IKEA. But today we had to head home empty handed as it was time to pick Sam and Jonah up from school and to then meet Heather and Ollie at the apartment. This was the first time Heather and the boys have seen the apartment and they really seemed to like it. There is certainly not a lot of room for the boys to play outside, but the deck is spacious and it is a very short walk to a little park and a little longer walk to the soccer field and the beach. So I think they will be fine. Heather and boys left to have a very early dinner at a nearby pizza place and then Mark and I met them at the baseball field to hear Sam’s school chorus sing the national anthem to open the Falmouth Commodore’s baseball game. The Commodores are a collegiate summer baseball team and the kids love to go watch the games. Mark and I stayed only for the national anthem tonight and then headed out to have dinner and go to the storage unit to look for the router for wifi hook-up. Comcast arrives at the new apartment tomorrow morning between 9 and noon and luckily we found the router so the TV and internet can be hooked up. Sears comes between 1 and 3 pm tomorrow afternoon to deliver the mattress set and then Mark and I will head home to pick up Sam and Jonah at the end of the school day. By that time all should be ready at the apartment for Saturday’s big move. Can’t wait to get things moved in and begin to settle into our new home.
by Judy Handley | Jun 15, 2016 | Sailing Logs Year 11 |
Day 237, Year 11: Not a Banner Day
Date: Wednesday, June 15, 2016
Weather: Mostly Sunny; High Temp 81 degrees F
Location: At Home with the Goldstones, East Falmouth, MA
Saying this was not a banner day is the positive way of saying this day was a real bummer. We were anxious and excited to see our new apartment, so after a long day in Boston we arrived back in Falmouth and went straight to the apartment. We understood it would be ready to move into today, but it is far from it. Walls have been painted, but in one of the bathrooms there was more splattered paint on the floor than on the walls. And I don’t think I’m exaggerating. The beautiful cream-colored carpet in the master bedroom has been replaced by a dismal brown carpet that we will we have to cover with lighter colored area rugs in order to tolerate it. The tile floors in the kitchen, bathrooms, and living room haven’t even been swept, and on and on. We understood that the apartment would be painted, the carpets would be shampooed, and that a general cleaning would have been done. Walls are painted, carpet has not been shampooed, but has been replaced with something we can’t tolerate, and no general cleaning at all has been done. Tomorrow I’ll start the cleaning process and see how far I get. Another disappointment is that we discovered that we are just not strong enough to get the new bed frame we bought at IKEA today out of the van and into the apartment until we have crew on Saturday. It took all of our strength to just get the boxed frame and under-the-bed drawers off the shelves and into the van. We had hoped to get that bed assembled tomorrow, so that when Sears delivers the mattress set on Friday it could be put in place. Sears will just have to lean the mattress set against the wall until we can get the bed in place. Obviously things are going to go more slowly than we had hoped. Mark and I have always been so self-sufficient. Now, not being able to do much of anything in the way of moving stuff without help is really tough. This getting old thing just sucks!
Add to the frustrations with the apartment, a new diet recommended by Dr. Kwak today. Mark has been having all sorts of gut issues that just keep getting worse, so Dr. Kwak recommended the FODMAP diet. FODMAP is an acronym for Fermentable Oligo-Di-Monosaccharides and Polyols. These are short chain carbohydrates (oligosaccharides), disaccharides, monosaccharides and related alcohols that are poorly absorbed in the small intestines and need to be eliminated from the diet. Dr. Kwak is hoping that by changing Mark’s diet, his gut will settle down and he might be able to gain some weight back. But this means eliminating onions and garlic totally from his diet, eliminating all dried beans except for a small amount of chick peas and lentils, and going totally wheat and dairy-free. Since a bulk of our diet consists of beans with lots of onions and garlic, we will start by eliminating those items. At the same time we’ll limit wheat and dairy and eventually eliminate those completely if needed. It is just so hard to focus on diet while in the middle of a move. But obviously getting settled in this new apartment is going to take much more effort and more time than we had hoped. The timing is horrible as school is out next week and I start keeping the boys three days a week. Sure wish we could have made this move the first of June. But that wasn’t possible. So now I’ve just got to take a deep breath and carry on.
When we did get home tonight, we gathered the boys from the Keefe’s next door who had fed them dinner. In addition to everything else she does, Heather is Co-President of the PTO and tonight was 4th grade graduation. She had to be there for set-up and clean-up. So Mark and I asked the boys to get ready for bed and then settle into pre-bedtime reading. I asked Ollie what he was going to wear to bed and he paused and then replied, “My birthday suit.” And he did. At least that made me smile after such a bummer of a day. Kids are great!
by Judy Handley | Jun 14, 2016 | Sailing Logs Year 11 |
Day 236, Year 11: A Day Without Drama . . . Almost
Date: Tuesday, June 14, 2016
Weather: Sunny; High Temp 75 degrees F
Location: At Home with the Goldstones, East Falmouth, MA
Thankfully Mark and I had a much needed day with no drama. However, I think we transferred the drama to Heather. Her day started off on the wrong foot when her alarm didn’t go off. She was supposed go running at 6:30, but that didn’t happen. At 8:15 am, Jed left for California. He drove the car to the bus station and then sent a text saying he was parked where it says, “No Overnight Parking.” Oops. That meant that Heather was going to have to somehow get that car today. I volunteered that Mark and I would do that for her. So far, so good. Things then went smoothly until Heather took the boys to school. She got Sam and Jonah to school and then Sam remembered that he needed to bring a special shirt to school today. So Heather had to come back and take that to him. Then when she dropped Ollie off at school in Woods Hole, he had a meltdown and she had to stay with him for a bit. So she didn’t get to work until after 10 am. Then when she was ready to leave work, her van was blocked in by two cars. Not just her van was blocked in, but a number of other cars. Evidently two engineers from WGBH in Boston arrived at the Woods Hole radio station parking lot and found no parking spots. So they just parked behind other cars blocking them in and then locked their cars and left on the ferry for Martha’s Vineyard without telling anyone. It took more than an hour to figure out who the cars belonged to and when they were called, they explained what they had done with no apologies. So the drama today was frustrating for Heather, but at least there were no trips to the ER for stitches and no one fell down the stairs. Heather went to a PTO Volunteer Dinner tonight, so we had dinner with the boys and put them to bed. That went smoothly, so we’ll call this a good day.
Tomorrow we are off to Boston. We’ll stop at IKEA on the way home to buy a bed frame and then pick the boys up and take them with us to see our new apartment. Yeah!!! The boys will be with a babysitter until we get home as Heather has a late afternoon/evening commitment. She’ll have to wait until Thursday to see the apartment. We are a bit nervous about seeing it since we only saw the apartment once and only for a few minutes. It was love at first sight, but what we fell in love with was the location. We signed the contract, but have not been able to see it again. So we are anxious to see it, get the keys, and start the move. On Thursday we will move in the IKEA bed frame and put it together. On Friday, the mattress set will be delivered by Sears and Comcast is coming to get us connected to the internet and cable TV. Then on Saturday the BIG MOVE happens. It is going to be a busy few days.
