by Judy Handley | Jun 7, 2016 | Sailing Logs Year 11 |
Day 229, Year 11: Decisions Can Be Reversed
Date: Tuesday, June 7, 2016
Weather: Sunny and Warm; High 78 degrees F
Location: At Home with the Goldstones, East Falmouth, MA
Today was a new day and I went to that overwhelming storage unit early in the day. What I discovered was that there is some hope that we can actually empty that monster by the end of June. So decisions can be reversed. Last night I said it couldn’t be done, but today I worked hard for two hours and things are looking up. I’m not sure just how crowded all of the boxes will make the apartment feel, but that will be incentive to get rid of the stuff quickly. So I’ll just keep chipping away at this day after day and see where we end up. Mark made calls today to get natural gas and electricity hooked up for the apartment and is still working on getting TV and internet set up. We thought we had already done this when we cancelled the subscription in Lowell, but we got a confirmation yesterday showing an installation date a week or so later than we had agreed on earlier. Comcast is not easy to deal with, so we shall see how this goes. Now we just need to go try out mattresses for a new bed. We will use the bed from my niece’s condo in our guest bedroom, but we still need something for us to sleep on. That will be Thursday’s job.
Mark has been having trouble with this right eye for at least a week and a half now. He had the nurse practitioner at Mass General look at it last Wednesday and she prescribed an ointment antibiotic. She thought it should clear things up in two days. Well, on Sunday it was worse, so we went to CVS to get an antihistamine eye drop on Heather’s recommendation. That didn’t help either. So yesterday Mark called the Ophthalmic Consultants of Boston with offices here on the Cape. He saw a doctor there in 2014 and they called back this morning and made an appointment for Mark late this afternoon. We had a bit of a wait, but once we saw the doctor he diagnosed the problem quickly. With the specialized equipment, he could see that two of the bottom eyelashes were growing inwards and had abraded the cornea. Thus, the pain. The doctor removed the offending eyelashes, prescribed an antibiotic eye drop, explained that Mark also has a common eyelid inflammation called blepharitis, and made a follow-up appointment for next week. All of that took about five minutes and tonight Mark’s eye is already so much better. Thankfully he remembered that he had seen a doctor at that office and was able to get in so quickly. One more problem solved! At least, we hope that is the case.
by Judy Handley | Jun 6, 2016 | Sailing Logs Year 11 |
Day 228, Year 11: Back to the Ye Old Storage Unit
Date: Monday, June 6, 2016
Weather: Sunny and Warm; High 77 degrees F
Location: At Home with the Goldstones, East Falmouth, MA
I’ve put it off as long as possible, but today I returned to the storage unit we have had for way too many years and started seriously going through things—box by box. I didn’t get very far in two hours and realized that the job will take weeks, not days. And I don’t have weeks right now. I’ll keep chipping away in any time that I do have, but more than likely, we’ll have to keep this storage unit through the summer until life slows down in the fall. Once school is out, I’ll be keeping the Goldpebbles three days a week, going to Boston with Mark one day a week, and spending the other three days doing the food preparation necessary in a cancer-fighting kitchen. Once school starts in the fall, I’ll have more time to sort through things. I was determined to get everything out of that unit next week when we move into the apartment, but all of those boxes are just not going to fit in the new apartment. I think our lives will be much saner if we just shut the storage unit door and return to it in the fall. Decision made.
by Judy Handley | Jun 5, 2016 | Sailing Logs Year 11 |
Day 227, Year 11: Congratulations to Our Daughter
Date: Sunday, June 5, 2016
Weather: Overcast, Windy, Some Rain; High 65 degrees F
Location: At Home with the Goldstones, East Falmouth, MA
I know Heather has been running for the past couple of years, but I didn’t know she could run in a four-mile race and match her goal of running 9-minute miles. But she did it and we were all most impressed. That’s not something I could ever do. When I was Heather’s age I could slow jog three miles, but it was difficult for me and I didn’t find it enjoyable. Heather seems to really enjoy running. Congratulations, Heather!!! Today’s race was called the June Jog and it is a yearly fundraiser for East Falmouth Elementary. Heather was a PTO volunteer for this event as well as a runner, so she was out of the house by 6:30 am and on her way to pick up food for the event. The race started at 8:30 am and we met Heather at 9:06 as she approached the finish line at the school. Jonah ran the last leg with her and then he ran around the school quarter-mile track two times. So we know there is at least one other runner in the family.
Heather’s next race will be the seven-mile Falmouth Road Race in August. Today there were 150 runners. There will be somewhere in the neighborhood of 12,000 runners in the Road Race. Hopefully just finishing that race will be Heather’s goal—no speed goals. And then there is family fun event in August called the Main Street Mile. Heather is hoping the whole family will train and join her in that event. Sam’s good friend Ethan ran in today’s race and Heather is hoping Sam might run in the June Jog next year. But today Sam was focused on soccer. Today was the last game of the regular season and Falmouth won 7-1. It has been fun to watch the team improve over the past few weeks and today they really displayed their growth as a team. Ethan, who ran in the race this morning, is also on the soccer team. Running those four miles in the morning didn’t affect his soccer playing one bit. All of the boys were ‘on’ today and it was a great way to end the season.
The soccer game this afternoon was north of here, off the Cape in the town of Wareham. After the game we went to a great local playground to let the boys run off a little more steam. And then we headed home without Heather. She drove in a separate car and had to head further north and west to attend a conference where she will be giving the opening speech tomorrow morning. A couple of days ago when I asked her what made her start running she replied that she her life is so busy that the only way she could work in exercise was to run. It is absolutely true that she is busy 24/7. Running is quick and efficient. So thankfully she can do it and it works for her.
by Judy Handley | Jun 4, 2016 | Sailing Logs Year 11 |
Day 226, Year 11: To Hear or Not to Hear
Date: Saturday, June 4, 2016
Weather: Fog Early, Then Mix of Sun and Clouds; High 76 degrees F
Location: At Home with the Goldstones, East Falmouth, MA
Today was a decision making day. Is Mark to hear or not to hear? When I first met him, he already had lost all high pitch hearing in his left ear. Over the years, he tried hearing aids, but every time we bought a set, he would wear them once or twice and that was the end of that. But over those same years, his hearing has gotten worse and worse. So a couple of weeks ago when Mark’s oncologist suggested that he might want to invest in hearing aids, we took a new look at the situation. My brother-in-law Joe has tried various types of hearing aids over the years and recently he went to Costco and got a new high-tech pair that he really likes. So we decided to go the same route. We made an appointment for June 25th, but Costco called yesterday with an opening today. So we took it. We were very impressed with the testing process and it was no surprise that the results showed that Mark has profound hearing loss in both ears, just a little worse on the left side. We decided that Mark should hear, so in two weeks we’ll return to pick up the new hearing aids. If he is not satisfied with them, they can be returned anytime in the first six months for a full refund. We’ll keep you posted on the results.
When we got home, Sam and I cleaned the inside of our car and the two Goldstone vehicles. We didn’t have time to wash the outside of the cars, but hopefully we’ll get that done soon. Jed worked on installing a hitch to their van that will haul 3500 pounds. This is not just a ball that you install on the back of the car. It is a complete system and proved to be harder to install than advertised. So he still needs to work on that. Heather completed planning the garden and she turned the entire compost pile which started as the dump for grass and leaves. Over the years the pile has grown to be almost 15 feet in length and is at least 3-4 feet wide and deep. She is running in a race tomorrow morning and I think moving all of that mass was her way of getting ready for race day. We ended the day with dinner on the deck and then a fire in the fire pit for melting marshmallows for S’mores.
It definitely felt like summer today, but tomorrow will be much cooler again. And that’s probably good for the race tomorrow morning. This race is a fundraiser for the elementary school that Sam and Jonah attend and Heather decided to do the race for fun. But then she set a goal for herself and was actually a bit nervous about it tonight. It is a four mile race and she wants to do it in certain amount of time. I hope she meets her goal, but I’d be happy to be able to run four miles even if it took me all day!
Congratulations to our good friends Lee and Lynda Kaufman on becoming grandparents for the very first time today. Lynda and Lee are in Hawaii celebrating their 50th wedding anniversary, but will soon be flying to Portland to meet the new arrival in person. We are so happy for the grandparents and for the parents, Seth and Lisa. Welcome, Vivian!
by Judy Handley | Jun 3, 2016 | Sailing Logs Year 11 |
Day 225, Year 11: All Wired Up
Date: Friday, June 3, 2016
Weather: Back to Sunshine; High 65 degrees F
Location: At Home with the Goldstones, East Falmouth, MA
We are missing Heather and Jonah tonight. They are at the hospital getting settled in for a sleep study. Here’s a photo Heather sent of Jonah settling in.
Jonah has always had issues with sleeping through night, so the pediatrician suggested a sleep study. He’s being a trooper, but I can’t imagine that a six year-old will be able to sleep with all those wires attached that are necessary for gathering data. Here’s a photo of Jonah all wired up.
It certainly looks like he is being a trooper. Heather just sent an email saying they were just about to snuggle-in for the night. Hopefully getting to snuggle momma will help him forget about all the wires. Goodnight, Jonah Bear. We love you!
Things were quiet around here today. I spent most of my time canning magic mineral broth while Mark read. When Heather got home, she headed to the garden to do more planting. The garden is looking great. Now we just have to hope that the birds and squirrels haven’t eaten all the seeds Heather has planted. In another week we should see little plants emerging. If not, we’ll have to assume our little friends got to them and we’ll have to replant. After all Heather’s hard work, I sure hope that is not the case.
Tomorrow morning Jonah has a 9 am baseball game which we will go to and then we head north to Costco where Mark will have a hearing assessment done. We were originally schedule for a June 25th assessment, but they called today with an opening for tomorrow. The sooner the better for hearing aids for Mark.
by Judy Handley | Jun 2, 2016 | Sailing Logs Year 11 |
Day 224, Year 11: Facing the Storage Unit Nightmare
Date: Thursday, June 2, 2016
Weather: Overcast and Cooler; High 62 degrees F
Location: At Home with the Goldstones, East Falmouth, MA
In 2003 we put all of our ‘precious’ belongings in storage and moved aboard Windbird. I insisted on moving aboard so I could determine whether or not I could really be happy living on a sailboat as we sailed around the world. The beginning of that adventure was still two years off, but I wanted lots of time to adjust. I was a reluctant sailor and I really wasn’t sure the plan was going to work for me. Those of you who know me know that that transition was successful and that in just a few months I became a true lover of living aboard a sailboat. But I still insisted on keeping things in the storage unit. I just couldn’t let go of all that ‘stuff’.
Now, almost thirteen years later, we still have that storage unit, and currently we have two smaller units just to hold our personal belongings from Windbird. Fortunately for us as live-aboards, Windbird had enormous storage for a sailboat. But now we have to fit all of those things, plus everything in the original storage unit into the apartment we will move into in mid-June. I don’t think it is all going to fit, so today I decided that we had to face the storage unit nightmare. We’ve tried this many, many times before and have gotten rid of an enormous amount of things. But more needs to go and we now have a two week deadline. So this afternoon we went to the unit and just looked at what is there. The first question that came to mind was, “Why in the world did I think we needed to keep this stuff in the first place?” It has cost us a small fortune and now I’m thinking that many of the things in that unit just need to be thrown away. We just don’t have the energy, the time, or the inclination to try and sell things on Craig’s List. Besides, who really wants a long-handled scythe for cutting hay? And do we really need an almost new Honda generator? Or how about crates of old record albums? Or plastic bins of memorabilia from my teaching days? Or plaques and awards from Mark’s days in public radio? And I know we don’t need the framing for the winter cover for Windbird. Much of this stuff just needs to be thrown away, but some of it needs to find a new home. What we realized today is that we need to spend time next week weeding through things and hauling away those things that we and no one else really needs. Stay tuned on how that goes.
