by Judy Handley | Nov 30, 2017 | 2017 Life Logs |
2017 Life Logs, Day 334: Getting Ready for the Holidays
Date: Thursday, November 30, 2017
Weather: Partly Sunny; High Temp 48, Low 42 degrees F
Location: At Home in The Studio, Falmouth, MA
My day was spent getting ready for winter and the holiday season . . . rearranging the apartment to make room for the Christmas tree that has spent the last week out on the deck and the deck furniture that needs to come for the winter. I brought in the plants from the deck and had to do more rearranging to find room for them. It is a little cozy, but I think I can co-exist with Christmas tree, deck furniture, and large pots of parsley and chives. Tomorrow begins Falmouth’s Holidays by the Sea Weekend. I will pick the Goldpebbles up from school tomorrow and we will head to Nobska Lighthouse for the 5:30 pm Holiday Carol Sing. Jed will meet me there and afterwards we will head to my house for dinner. Heather will join us a little later as it is public radio fund raising time and she is on the air until 7pm. But all Goldstones will spend the night as Jonah and Ollie join the half mile Elf Run at 9 am on Saturday morning just across the harbor. Then at 9:30, Sam and Heather will run the 3-mile Jingle Jog and the rest of us will stand on Falmouth Heights Road in front of The Studio to cheer them on. We will then watch Santa arrive in Falmouth as he comes in by boat just across the harbor. Heather and Jed are going to an ‘adults only’ holiday party tomorrow night, so I will have Sam, Jonah, and Ollie until Sunday morning. I’m hoping that somewhere in there, I can get some help in getting my Christmas tree into the stand and in the apartment. I tried today, but just couldn’t get that tree secured in the stand by myself. Sunday is the Falmouth Christmas Parade. It is an intense weekend of holiday activities, but hopefully after the parade we can all take a deep breath and slide a little more slowly into the season.
I spent my evening at the Goldstones as Heather was a panel member at a special showing of Al Gore’s Inconvenient Truth Sequel and Jed had to attend a Scout planning meeting. Heather prepped dinner before she had to leave and then Jed fixed dinner. We had the best salmon I think I have ever had. Jed thought he cooked it too long, but the rest of us (minus Jonah) thought it was great. Jed had to leave before dinner was over and we launched into evening activities. Sam had to finish us a book report, Jonah worked on craft projects he will sell at the school holiday fair, and Ollie practiced writing his name in cursive. Jonah tried to tell him that he will get in trouble if he does this in school, but Ollie didn’t care. He is very pleased that he has been able to learn how to do this. Once the boys were in bed, Jed returned and I headed home.
Once home, I had a great conversation with Lynne Kirwin (with Ed adding comments in the background). Ed and Lynne are the friends Mark and I crossed the Indian Ocean with, they in Constance and Mark and I in Windbird. Constance has been in St, Mary’s, Georgia, since Ed and Lynne’s return to the US in 2011. They have gone down a number of times and sailed her to the Bahamas two or three times, but since Ed found out he has pancreatic cancer in 2015, Constance has been sitting there on land. Ed is doing so well that he is not having chemo treatments right now, so they are going down to sail Constance to Fort Lauderdale. The actual sail will only take a couple of days if the weather cooperates, but they have a couple of weeks of getting ready to go. I am just so happy and excited for them and hope all goes smoothly.
by Judy Handley | Nov 29, 2017 | 2017 Life Logs |
2017 Life Logs, Day 333: Taking Care of Business
Date: Wednesday, November 29, 2017
Weather: Sunny and Warmer; High Temp 59, Low 34 degrees F
Location: At Home in The Studio, Falmouth, MA
Finally, I had a day when I could get started on taking care of business. But ‘started’ is the operative word here. I went to the gym for a Tabata class which is most challenging and then spent the rest of day getting organized. It has been 11 weeks since Maria hit Puerto Rico, and for much of that time, I have been so focused on Justin and family that not much else has gotten done. There is still much to be done on that front, but things are now under control and I can get back to life before Maria. I just needed a day to remember what that was! After spending time getting organized today, I now at least have a list of things that need to be done. I’ll continue on this project tomorrow and Friday, then I’ll turn my attention to Christmas activities for the weekend.
by Judy Handley | Nov 28, 2017 | 2017 Life Logs |
2017 Life Logs, Day 332: Kudos to the US Postal Service
Date: Tuesday, November 28, 2017
Weather: Mostly Sunny; High Temp 48, Low 44 degrees F
Location: At Home in The Studio, Falmouth, MA
I could be speaking too soon as I have two very precious packages on their way to Puerto Rico through the US Postal Service, but I have to trust that they will arrive safe and sound just as all of the others I have that were sent to Justin and Jo since Maria. But regardless, the USPS works tirelessly to get the job done. And I have found out in the past two days that they do the big jobs for considerably less than UPS or FedX. Yesterday I sent Justin’s computer via USPS Priority for about $19 plus the cost of insurance. It would have cost somewhere around $85 to send it via UPS. Today I spent part of my afternoon disassembling a large wooden doll house Mark built for Ollie so that I could send it to Coco in Puerto Rico. Ollie has lost interest, but Coco’s life revolves around her dollies, big and small. This doll house weights about 25 pounds and is constructed of Birch plywood. Even dismantled it took a 24 inch x 24 inch x 6 inch box for sending and UPS was going to charge $145 plus the cost of insurance. The US Postal Service Priority cost was $60 plus insurance. I ended up stuffing a lot of Mark’s pants and shirts in the box to pad the cargo and that added another $15 due to the weight, but since the doll house would cost $350 to purchase and Justin will get some clothes, the shipping cost was most reasonable. Thank you to the US Postal Service!!! And unbelievably, when I showed up at the Post Office this afternoon, they reminded me that I left my rolling cart there over a month ago and they have been saving it for me.
I spent my morning going to the hospital for a bone density scan and then made a visit to the chiropractor. I was last there three months ago and I felt like it was time for a tune-up. I made a trip to the Waste Management Facility Swap Shop to drop off some items, came home for lunch, and then headed to Heather and Jed’ to dismantle the doll house for shipping. Then it was to the gym for a Kick Boxing class. It was the first time I have gone to this class, but it was a great workout that I will revisit. Justin called just when I got home to report in. He said that the Florida trip was a wonderful break, but it unfortunately reminded them of what normal life is really like. He is finding it very difficult to get back into the groove of life without electricity. Just keeping up with doing the laundry by hand is tough. But not being able to get any work done without commuting to Mayaguez is tougher. He’s using a tablet to do his work until his computer arrives, and that is not easy either. I heard the mayor of San Juan on the Rachel Maddow Show this evening. She said Puerto Rico needs three things—debt forgiveness, tools for rebuilding, and power. That pretty much sums it up for Justin as well. He is now entering week 11 without full-time work, and even with the support of family in paying the personal bills, the business needs money to make payroll. Hopefully that solar system will be installed soon so they will have power. And then we’ll have to work on getting the internet back. One step at a time. As Justin and Jo both reminded me when we were in Florida, things are tough for them, but at least they have roof over their heads. It is unbelievable to me that there are still so many people in Puerto Rico who still do not even have a tarp to serve as a roof. So sad and unforgiveable. I know this country can do better than this.
by Judy Handley | Nov 27, 2017 | 2017 Life Logs |
2017 Life Logs, Day 331: That Time of Year
Date: Monday, November 27, 2017
Weather: Partly Cloudy, Very Windy, Chilly; High Temp 48, Low 24 degrees F
Location: At Home in The Studio, Falmouth, MA
It is that time of year . . . scurrying around to gather Christmas lists, researching to find the best products to fill those lists, and then contacting Santa’s Workshop (AKA Amazon) to see if the chosen items can be fulfilled. Getting things to Puerto Rico on time has set this process in motion for me a little earlier than usual. But as I learned last year, if you don’t order early, items simply aren’t available. I’m not done yet, but I am making progress.
After going to the gym this morning, I spent a couple of hours ‘shopping’ and then I received a surprise package. Justin took his computer to the Apple Shop in Fort Myers last week for some repairs, and they said it had to be sent to Apple ‘central’ to be repaired. Justin was told that Apple would not ship his computer back to him in Puerto Rico. So I knew it would be sent to me sometime this week, but I was surprised to get it so quickly. My job, then, was to get to it to Puerto Rico as quickly as possible. Easy, or so I thought. I took it to UPS and found that there is some new ruling that won’t allow them to send anything with batteries, lithium or not, to Puerto Rico. And they thought the same was true for FedEx. So I went to the Post Office. They said they would send the computer, but even paying for Express Mail, they could not guarantee a timely delivery. Ugh. I repacked the computer into a USPS Prime box, insured it for megabucks, and sent it off. But I felt almost sick at my stomach doing this with Justin’s livelihood. The only other option was for me to book a flight and take the computer to Puerto Rico to deliver it in person. But then I realized that it would be cheaper for me to give Justin the money to buy an interim computer in Puerto Rico until his Apple eventually gets there. So for now, I’ll just hope the United States Post Office comes through in a timely manner. If not, we’ll go to Plan 2.
I spent my evening talking on the phone to various family members about Christmas related issues, and then catching up on the news. Oh my. That was a mistake. Being in Florida last week, I really paid no attention to the political scene. What I heard tonight was enough to set my hair on fire. And I have a lot of hair! I am deeply concerned that our democracy, as we have known and cherished it, is being thrown out the window. Very, very worrisome. But what to do? That is the BIG question.
by Judy Handley | Nov 26, 2017 | 2017 Life Logs |
2017 Life Logs, Day 330: Still Coming Down from the Florida High
Date: Sunday, November 26, 2017
Weather: Partly Cloudy, Temp Slowly Dropping; High Temp 50, Low 36 degrees F
Location: At Home in The Studio, Falmouth, MA
I am still coming down from the Florida high of watching . . . grandkids playing on the beach,
Coco delighting in her new pink cowgirl boots,
kids and grandkids enjoying the fabulous gluten-free breakfast at Epiphany’s in Naples,
everyone enjoying the airboat ride to see alligators,
cousins playing together in Mary Ellen and Lee’s pool and hot tub complete with bubbles,
the whole Handley family enjoying a great Thanksgiving Day together,
complete with Ziggy tackling a huge turkey leg and Ollie tackling a huge piece of pumpkin pie,
and then sunset volleyball on the beach.
We had an amazing four days and it was so wonderful to see Justin, Jo, Ziggy, and Coco and know that they are really doing fine. I talked to Justin briefly today and he was raving about the new chainsaw. He said it is making clean-up so much faster than before. Thanks to so many generous donations from friends and family, they feel like they are now well situated to continue the uphill battle to full recovery. Jo said the new energy efficient refrigerator has been a life changer for them. They still do not have electricity, but neighbors on the main road above them do have power and have allowed them to run a heavy-duty cable to their house to run the new refrig. And donations that helped them buy goats to have fresh milk and rebuild structures to contain the animals have been a godsend. Solar power should be installed in the next couple of weeks, but until then, the temporary fix to run the refrigerator and the return of running water is allowing them to feel like things are almost normal. They, as well as I, are in awe of the generosity of friends and family. They shared many of the donated items with people who are still in dire situations. If you donated, once again we thank you so very, very much.
I did a little more Christmas online shopping today and had an early dinner with Bruce and Jane Wooden. It was great to check in on them after being away. On the way to their house, I stopped by Heather and Jed’s to see the Christmas tree they bought and decorated today. They weren’t home, but just seeing their beautifully decorated tree,
prompted me to go buy a tree for myself. I will keep it outside until next weekend, but buying it today contributed to the fund for regenerating the courtyard at East Falmouth Elementary School. This is Heather’s pet project, so even though I am not quite ready to launch into the holiday season, I wanted to buy the tree today to contribute. When the courtyard is completed it will be a wonderful addition to the school as an outdoor teaching space.
by Judy Handley | Nov 25, 2017 | 2017 Life Logs |
2017 Life Logs, Day 329: Black Saturday
Date: Saturday, November 25, 2017
Weather: Sunny; High Temp 59, Low 42 degrees F
Location: At Home in The Studio, Falmouth, MA
The rest of the country had Black Friday yesterday, but I had it today. The Black Friday annual family soccer game was postponed until today because a couple of key families were out of town yesterday. It happened this afternoon and I went to watch, but there were very few participants. Still, it looked like everyone was having fun. Heather, Jed, Sam, Jonah, and Ollie all played.
They invited me to join in, but I decided that without my knee brace on it would be unwise to get out there. So I watched for a while and then left as I had online Black Saturday Christmas ‘window’ shopping to do. I know from my experience last year that if I wait another week to order things, they simply won’t be available. And if I don’t get things shipped to Puerto Rico this coming week, they won’t arrive in time. Therefore, I spent the latter part of the afternoon and early evening searching for things I think the grandchildren might like. I have some ideas to run by their parents and will hopefully be ready to order sometime tomorrow. I also spent a lot of time going through the photos from the four days in Florida. I’m trying to come up with the ‘best of the best’ from our time there. Hopefully I will have that task completed tomorrow as well.
