by Judy Handley | Apr 14, 2017 | 2017 Life Logs |
2017 Life Logs, Day 104: Fun with the Goldpebbles
Date: Friday, April 14, 2017
Weather: Clear and Sunny; High 57, Low 38 degrees F
Location: At Home in The Studio, Falmouth, MA
Despite my attempts to cover the bedroom windows so no daylight could seep through, Sam was up at 6:30 this morning and at 7 am, I felt a little tap-tap on my shoulder as Ollie was attempting to wake me up. So all of us were up and going strong by 7 am. Since the boys got to bed an hour late last night, I had so hoped they would sleep in, but no such luck. Despite the early rise, we had a great morning together. While I fixed breakfast, I let the boys have tablet/phone time and then we switched to Lego fun. The boys each spent time putting together the Lego kit they got in their Easter eggs last night. They are amassing a collection of Star Wars microfighters that we keep here, so after assembling the newest additions, they waged battles. When their interest in that started to wane, we turner out attention to decorating Easter eggs. I bought a sugar crystal egg decorating kit, but that turned out to be too difficult to be fun. Instead, each Goldpebble developed his own creative decorating style and we ended up with some very colorful eggs. Unfortunately, I don’t have pictures of the decorating as I was way too busy helping with the process to stop and take pictures, but I did get some photos of the final products.
I delivered the boys home mid-afternoon, stayed with Jonah and Ollie while Heather and Sam made a quick trip to the farm store to get a hummingbird feeder and a few other items to celebrate spring, and then headed home in time to get ready for my 5 pm exercise class at the gym. I talked to my sister Patsy earlier today and again tonight to check on my brother-in-law Joe’s progress. He had a knee replacement this week and was doing great, but then overdid it and has to stay in the hospital over the weekend to get the pain in control. The hope is that he will stabilize by Monday and get to return home, but there is the real possibility that he might have to go to a rehab center for a few days. I do hope I know what is happening with him before I leave for the Bahamas on Monday evening.
And speaking of the Bahamas, there are so many things I had hoped to get done before heading south, but I think they are not going to get done. I have to make a decision tomorrow to either stay home and get things done or go with Heather and gang to the Outer Cape to look for North Atlantic Right Whales. If you had to make a bet, what do you think I’ll do?
by Judy Handley | Apr 12, 2017 | 2017 Life Logs |
2017 Life Logs, Day 102: On the Other Side
Date: Wednesday, April 12, 2017
Weather: Partly Cloudy; High 72, Low 42 degrees F
Location: At Home in The Studio, Falmouth, MA
First, I just have to say that today was the first day that I really felt like spring is here. I opened the door this morning and warm, not cold air, rushed in, early in the day. The high temp today was in the 70’s. Unfortunately, tomorrow the high will be back in the 50’s, but today was delightful and a reminder of what’s to come.
The second thing is that my 83 year-old brother-in-law Joe (in Nashville) had knee replacement surgery yesterday and today he is doing great. He’s still in the hospital but will probably get to come home on Friday. Way to go, Joe!
And now about today. I had a 10:15 am appointment with my chiropractor for a ‘tune-up’—just making sure my body is in alignment. I needed a little adjustment, but not much. So that was good. The chiropractor is in Mashpee where there is a small shopping area. I have been searching online for a few things I need for my trip to the Bahamas, but my online search has been frustrating and not fruitful. So I thought I would check out the stores in Mashpee. After about 45 minutes I aborted that mission and decided to head across the bridge to the ‘other side’. Living on the Cape is a little like life in the 1950’s. That’s great most of the time, but not when you need specific clothing that really fits. I was looking for a new pair of sneakers for my very wide feet and Columbia ‘quick dry’ capri pants. And as long as I was going to “’he other side’, I decided to make a stop at Costco to pick up ingredients for granola. I went to Costco first, quickly got what I needed plus a new bathing suit, and then headed to the Wrentham Outlet Mall. On my way there I was listening to WGBH public radio out of Boston and there was my daughter in an interview talking about climate change. I know she is my daughter, but she is brilliant speaker on behalf of science and it was a real treat to get to hear her. And I also heard a promo for a public television program on tonight on endangered wildlife in Puerto Rico. More about that later, but now back to shopping. When I got to the outlet mall, I went straight to the Columbia store and very quickly found exactly what I needed, plus a couple of things I didn’t need, but wanted. I then went to the Naturalizer store and immediately found the Ryka sneakers I wanted plus another pair of summer shoes. Wow! It took way over an hour to get there, but within 30 minutes I found everything I needed and more. Driving to ‘the other side’ was certainly worth it. And I came home with so many packages that it felt like Christmas. It was a good day.
When I got home I got a Skype video call from Justin, Ziggy, and Coco. I got to see Ziggy riding the bike I got him for his birthday last week. And I got a closer look at Coco’s new puppy, Bluebelle. And then tonight I watched the PBS Nature series episode about endangered wildlife in Puerto Rico called Viva Puerto Rico. I had hoped to record this to send it to Justin and family, but I have never done a recording on my system and ended up losing TV and had to call Comcast for help. Thankfully they are willing to give free advice to idiots, and they were able to help me get things back on track. Tomorrow Sam, Jonah, and Ollie come to spend the night. Friday is the start of their school spring vacation week. We’ll decorate some Easter eggs on Friday morning and then head back to their house in the afternoon to launch into some outdoor spring activities.
by Judy Handley | Apr 11, 2017 | 2017 Life Logs |
2017 Life Logs, Day 101: A Day with Ollie
Date: Tuesday, April 11, 2017
Weather: Partly Cloudy; High 56, Low 45 degrees F
Location: At Home in The Studio, Falmouth, MA
Ollie and I seem to be having difficulties shaking the cough and congestion we have had for what seems like weeks. We have both gotten better, then worse, then better again. But this morning Heather called and said Ollie really needed to stay home for the day because of his cough, so I went over to spend the day with him. I took the chicken mineral broth I had made yesterday so I could use the canner which I keep in Heather’s basement to can the broth. But before I got to that job, Ollie and I watched the Cars video. I have seen it multiple times over the past few years with Sam and Jonah, but Ollie had never seen the whole video and we really enjoyed watching it together. After the movie, I canned the broth and made a call to my doctor. Yesterday I developed some strange symptoms that made me worry that I had shingles. Been there, done that, and don’t want that again, so I called the doctor just to check things out. They wanted me to come in to be checked today and I explained that I couldn’t because I was at home with a sick grandchild. They suggested that I just bring him with me, so Ollie and I went to the doctor this afternoon. He was such a good little guy and lucky for me, the prognosis is that I probably don’t have shingles. Whew! That was welcome news. I hated to have to drag Ollie to the doctor with me, but he was a real trooper. On the way home, we drove to my house to pick up my DVD of the movie Fiddler on the Roof. Last night after our Seder, we somehow started talking about Reb Tevye from Fiddler on the Roof and Heather got on YouTube to let the boys watch Reb Tevye sing the song “Tradition.” This got their interest, so I said I would bring the DVD over for them to watch. But by the time we got to my house, Ollie was sound asleep. I left him in the car and ran to the apartment to get the DVD and then I drove home with a sleeping Ollie. When I finally carried him into the house, he came back to life and wanted to watch some of the movie. And by the time I left at 6:30 pm, Jonah, Sam, and Heather had joined us. Fiddler on the Roof has always been one of my most favorites, and it is Heather’s favorite as well. She had a really hard time leaving us to watch while she fixed dinner for the boys. Dinner was a little late, but everyone walked to the kitchen singing, “If I Were a Rich Man.”
by Judy Handley | Apr 10, 2017 | 2017 Life Logs |
2017 Life Logs, Day 100: Passover Seder with the Goldstones
Date: Monday, April 10, 2017
Weather: Sunny; High 64, Low 46 degrees F
Location: At Home in The Studio, Falmouth, MA
Last night after I sent my log, I found out that Justin and Jo have had more sadness in their lives with their animals. First, Coco’s beloved little puppy, Annabelle, disappeared and a few days later her body was found by the road where she had been hit by a car. Then on Friday, while Justin, Jo, Ziggy, and Coco were in San Juan to celebrate Ziggy’s birthday with two days of fun, they got a call from the house sitters that wild dogs were killing the goats, the momma Cloudy, and her two babies, Hanna and Cooper. The house sitters were totally freaked out and didn’t know what to do. Justin and family headed home, but it is a two-hour drive from San Juan to Rincon, and by the time they got home the babies were dead and the mother goat was dying. I am so very sad for them all, but they seem to be taking things in stride and moving forward. At least Ziggy’s dive experience went smoothly and I look forward to talking to him about that in the next day or so.
My day started at the gym for the Monday morning 20-20-20 class, a combination of 20 minutes of cardio exercise, 20 minutes of weight training, and 20 minutes of core balance with stretching. I returned home after that and started a batch of chicken mineral broth using the bones from Sunday dinner. Bone broth needs to burble most of the day, so I had planned to go through paperwork that has been piling up while waiting for it to do its thing. I leave for the Bahamas a week from today, so I want to make sure everything is in order—thus, the paperwork. But that plan got derailed when I got a call from Heather. She had picked Ollie up from school at 1 pm and was heading home to fix Passover dinner. On the way home, Ollie decided he wanted to spend the afternoon with Oma making animal masks and biking, so I said to bring him on over. I love spending time with Ollie and who wants to do paperwork anyway? Ollie brought a folder of art work from school from their recently completed study of the rain forest. One of the items was a black panther mask and that led to wanting to make the other animal masks. So, we made masks, we colored a rain forest picture together, we watched a little rain forest slide show on YouTube recommended by his teacher, and just generally enjoyed the afternoon.
Around 4 pm, we decided it was time to head to his house so he could go biking. I then stayed for the Passover Seder. Jed’s father was Jewish and Heather and Jed want to make sure the boys know something of their Jewish heritage, so every year they observe the beginning of Passover with a Seder. If you are not familiar with Jewish rituals, a Seder is a feast to mark the beginning of Passover. The Jewish people celebrate Passover in memory of their liberation by God, through Moses, from slavery in Egypt. The boys and Jed wore their kippahs, a cap most commonly referred to as a yarmulke or yamaka.
And Heather fixed quite a feast. We had brisket that she had cooked all afternoon and it was delicious. It was accompanied by other traditional foods of the Ashkenazi Jews including a salad topped with poached fish dumplings called gefilte fish, matzo ball soup, charoset or haroset which is a mixture of fruits and nuts, and potato kugel which is like a potato pie. We had roasted asparagus which I don’t think is traditional, but delicious, and all this was all topped by a flourless chocolate decadence cake made with coconut oil and coconut milk instead of butter. It truly was a feast and most delicious.
As the boys were getting ready for bed, Ollie gave us a little harmonica concert. Last night at my house, he found one of Mark’s blues harmonicas and just started playing it. He’s not playing real songs, but what he plays is quite pleasant.
Add to that the almost full moon and tonight was quite spectacular.
Last word—One week from tonight I will be on my way to the Bahamas!
by Judy Handley | Apr 9, 2017 | 2017 Life Logs |
2017 Life Logs, Day 99: Soccer, Lunch with Friends, Dinner with Family
Date: Sunday, April 9, 2017
Weather: Mostly Sunny; High 57, Low 41 degrees F
Location: At Home in The Studio, Falmouth, MA
Today was spent with family and friends. First was Sam’s first soccer game of spring 2017.
He is playing with the same boys he played with in the fall, but they have all matured over the two fathers are the coaches. Sebastian’s dad Tim is the head coach and he is assisted by Jed.
They had done a great job with this team. And it is so much fun to see Sam still playing with Sebastian and Ethan, both friends since preschool.
I could only stay for half the game today as I had a 1 pm date with friends Olivia and Jane to have lunch downtown at La Cucina Sur Mare.
We spent two hours talking, talking, talking about just about everything. Jane’s very close friend of 35 years died this morning after about two weeks in hospice care. I hope it was comforting for Jane to be with other good friends today. We enjoyed her company and certainly my thoughts are with her tonight.
After lunch with friends, I came home to fix dinner for Heather, Jed, and boys. I invited them over for dinner. It has literally been months since they have all been here together, so it was fun having them here for the evening. The boys are returning Thursday for an overnight. They don’t have school on Friday, so I invited them over to have some fun with Oma. Ollie has been asking to sleep over for days, so Thursday night will be the night.
by Judy Handley | Apr 8, 2017 | 2017 Life Logs |
2017 Life Logs, Day 98: Jonah’s First Soccer Game, Spring 2017
Date: Saturday, April 8, 2017
Weather: Mix of Sun and Clouds; High 51, Low 35 degrees F
Location: At Home in The Studio, Falmouth, MA
Falmouth Soccer Club’s spring season is underway and today was Jonah’s first game.
This is the first year Jonah has been eligible to play in the travel club which is organized by grade level. There is only one second grade team, so Jonah’s good friend Luke is on the team as well.
They don’t go to the same elementary school but their friendship has continued since preschool and they obviously enjoy getting together for these soccer games. Jonah chose to be number 50 this year and Luke is number 12.
Their team has so many boys on it that no one gets to play more than half of the game, but they seem to have fun while on the sidelines waiting their turn to play.
The temp was in the low 50’s this afternoon, but it felt cold as the sun managed to hide itself throughout most of the game. Ollie decided it was better to run around with a soccer ball rather than just sit and watch, so he played his own little game.
Tomorrow is Sam’s game but I’ll only get to watch the start as I am meeting friends Olivia and Jane downtown for lunch.
