by Judy Handley | Jun 30, 2019 | 2019 Life Logs |
2019 Life Logs, Day 181: Spring Cleaning on a Summer Sunday
Date: Sunday, June 30, 2019
Weather: Sunny with an Afternoon Deluge; High 81, Low 60 degrees F
Location: At Home in the Cottage, East Falmouth, MA
It is finally starting to warm up and feel like summer. The spring was wet and cold and generally didn’t motivate me to do all of the things that need to be done to get ready for summer. It has only been in the past week that I have even thought about opening windows, but I had promised myself I wouldn’t do that until I had cleaned the windows. Not an easy task as the windows in the cottage are 1960’s vintage with screens and storm windows that hard to raise and lower with old, arthritic hands. But I gave it my best shot and almost finished before the late afternoon deluge. I’ll have to finish that job next weekend. I also disassembled the shelves I used in the living room for starting seedlings and stored those in the basement. It was a productive day and if I have another day like this one next weekend, I’ll have all of my ‘get ready for summer’ jobs completed.
by Judy Handley | Jun 29, 2019 | 2019 Life Logs |
2019 Life Logs, Day 180: More Soccer; Lobster Dinner with Ollie and Heather
Date: Saturday, June 29, 2019
Weather: Mostly Cloudy; High 81, Low 66 degrees F
Location: At Home in the Cottage, East Falmouth, MA
It was a good day. I had a lazy morning and then headed to the grocery store to stock up and while there got a call from the car repair shop saying my little Honda Fit was good to go. I hurried out of the grocery store and went to Heather’s to see if either Heather or Jed could go with me to get my car and drive their car home. Jed was home with Ollie, Jonah, and Joey from next door, so we sent them all next door and took off. When we got to the garage, it was explained that the transmission was fine. The problem really was just a broken axle. Thankfully that was a $700 fix instead of $5,000 for a new transmission. Jed transferred my bags of groceries from his car to mine and we were off. When I got home, I visited with Shirley and Doris next door. Yesterday was Shirley’s 94th birthday, so I wanted to wish her a happy, happy. I did some gardening and actually took a short nap to recover from two late nights of watching the Democratic debates and post-debate coverage, and then I headed to a local nursery to get some parley plants for the kitchen garden at Heather’s. I went there to plant the parsley and to invite Heather and Ollie to my house for a lobster dinner as Jed was leaving with Jonah and two of his friends to go to a Boston Revolution’s soccer game. It was threatening rain, but the evening cleared and Jonah and company had a great evening. Heather, Ollie, and I also had a great evening. After dinner, Ollie wanted to muck about in the marsh in a kayak and Heather and I sat on the dock and just enjoyed the evening.
by Judy Handley | Jun 28, 2019 | 2019 Life Logs |
2019 Life Logs, Day 179: USA, USA
Date: Friday, June 28, 2019
Weather: Mostly Sunny; High 83, Low 64 degrees F
Location: At Home in the Cottage, East Falmouth, MA
This afternoon the US Women’s soccer team won their quarter final game against France. France gave the US team a run for their money, but Megan Rapinoe again won the day. I love watching her play and have mentioned in other logs that she is my new sports hero. Jonah keeps track of all the games and makes sure we see the best of the best. It was a beautiful day, very warm, and we had to end an outdoor water battle in order to watch the game, but it was worth it. The World Cup games only happen every four years (different years for the women’s and men’s teams), so we are taking a couple of hours out of most of our days to watch. The US plays England next Tuesday and then the final game will be on Sunday, July 7th. We will be cheering for the US team all the way. Go, USA!
Today was the end of the second week of Camp Oma and I can’t believe how fast the time is passing. These first two weeks have been pretty laid back, but the activity level builds next week. Sam will be attending a Photography class at Falmouth Academy each day and Jonah, Ollie, and I will be heading to the beach each morning for swim lessons. 
Watching Ollie and Jonah sitting in the hammock today, Jonah reading to Ollie, reminded me of just how precious summer lazy days are for little boys. So, we’ll try to do our daily chores each morning before we leave for swim lessons and keep the afternoons free of commitments other than just playing, reading, and relaxing. Justin called this evening to talk about planned activities for the week they will be here visiting. Justin, Jo, Ziggy, and Coco arrive in just over two weeks. Can’t wait to have all five of my grandchildren (the Fabulous Five) together again.
Update on my car. This morning I got a call from the shop telling me they thought I needed a new transmission for a cost of $5,000. That was my fear, but I asked about the broken axle theory. I also explained that I’m not sure it would be worth it to put that much money into a nine year-old car. I gave them permission to get into the transmission and call me back with more specific information. The call at the end of the day was much better. After exploring the transmission, they did discover that the it was a broken axle and that the cost of replacement would be about $700. Much better!
by Judy Handley | Jun 27, 2019 | 2019 Life Logs |
2019 Life Logs, Day 177: Happy Birthday to Jonah
Date: Wednesday, June 26, 2019
Weather: Sunny and Warm; High 81, Low 61 degrees
Location: At Home in the Cottage, East Falmouth, MA
Happy birthday to Jonah! He had a wonderful day and evening which hopefully made him a very happy ten-year-old. It was a beautiful day and the Goldpebbles enjoyed every part of it. There was a lot of reading early in the morning, followed by some game time on tablets, and then we had pizza delivered for lunch. Next came outdoor play and then mid-afternoon, Heather and Jed came home and Jonah opened presents and we had birthday cake. It was a big birthday for Jonah. I got him a new tablet and Heather and Jed got him a bass guitar and amp. I got him an electric guitar and amp for his ninth birthday and that has gone well. But his instructor has pointed out that very few kids play bass and that maybe he might want to fill that gap. Thus, the bass guitar. The bass looked almost as big as Jonah, but he was able to play it immediately. After presents, and guitar playing, and cake, we headed to a Falmouth Commodores baseball game. WCAI, the public radio station where Heather works, was the sponsor of tonight’s game. Heather was supposed to throw the first pitch, but since it was Jonah’s birthday, Heather designated him to take on that task. If I were ten, I would have thought that today was a perfect birthday!
Unfortunately for me, the day went downhill from this point. After the seventh inning break, Heather, Sam, and I headed home. I wanted to get home to watch the Democratic debate night, Heather needed to get home to do the same for work, and Sam was just ready to go home. We got to my car and headed down the road to the main intersection. I stopped and when it was time to move forward, there was a loud clunk and the car just wouldn’t move forward. I thought I had hit something and tried to back up, but that didn’t work either. I’m not sure if my transmission went or if it was my timing belt. Sam was a bit freaked out by all of this as he had no idea that something could happen to just make a car stop. But he did look under the car and spotted a screw or bolt of some sort hanging out of the bottom on my car. Not good. Snce I was sitting in a major intersection, Heather got out and immediately found a couple of young guys who were willing to push the car into the parking lot of an Urgent Care Center at this intersection. I then called AAA but after reaching them, decided to leave the car in the parking lot for the night while I decide where I want the car to be towed. In the meantime, we called Jed and he met us at the van and we headed home. I will deal with this in the morning and I’m thinking ‘dealing with it’ means I will probably need to buy a new car. But for now, I have Heather’s car and will continue this adventure in the morning. I did make it home in time to watch most of the Democratic debate. Interesting field of strong candidates, but Elizabeth Warren won my vote tonight.
by Judy Handley | Jun 27, 2019 | 2019 Life Logs |
2019 Life Logs, Day 178: Theater Day at Highfield
Date: Thursday, June 27, 2019
Weather: Mostly Sunny; High 75, Low 61 degrees
Location: At Home in the Cottage, East Falmouth, MA
Just finished watching the second night of Democratic debates. In my opinion there was no doubt that Kamala Harris was the star of the night, but it was wonderful to hear the ideas of all. What an impressive group of Democratic candidates. It is time to narrow the field, but all are well-spoken and intelligent with interesting ideas to contribute.
I spent my morning by going to a chiropractor appointment. My back is steadily improving, but I will be seeing the chiropractor another couple of times next week. Then I spent three hours waiting for a tow truck to come pick up my car. Jed stayed home today to be with the boys so that I could deal with my car. Thank you, Jed. 
When the tow truck finally arrived, the guy looked under my car and immediately announced that I have a broken axle. I had the car towed to the garage recommended by Triple A, but by day’s end they still hadn’t gotten the official diagnosis to me. I called and they say they will contact me in the morning. So more on the car tomorrow night. I have to say that the waiting for the tow truck was very frustrating. I have AAA coverage, but this was the first time I have ever had to used it. I was shocked at the wait time to just get through to an agent, and then very frustrated that I was given a time by which the tow truck would arrive, but then waited another 45 minutes more. But once the tow truck came, I put that behind me and went on with the day.
Jed, Jonah, Ollie, and I spent our afternoon at a College Light Opera Company production of Gilbert and Sullivan’s HMS Pinafore at Highfield. Ollie was not enthusiastic about attending, but he got more and more interested during the performance. Jonah loved the music and really enjoyed visiting the orchestra pit. During the intermission, we headed over to the Highfield lawn to visit the completed Stickwork structure. Very impressive. And after the performance the boys enjoyed climbing in a beautiful old tree before we headed to Woods Hole to pick up Heather and take her home so she could then head to Wellfleet for the evening. Her work life is so busy these days. Hopefully by August when she goes to Maine for vacation, she will get a chance to relax. Tomorrow the Goldpebbles and I are back to a normal day with the US versus France match in the Women’s Soccer World Cup series in the afternoon and maybe a trip to the beach in the morning. But the boys might want to finish off these first couple of weeks of summer with just hanging out. Summer lessons and classes begin next week, so just doing nothing is a most appropriate way to spend tomorrow.
by Judy Handley | Jun 25, 2019 | 2019 Life Logs |
2019 Life Logs, Day 176: Adding Bubbles to a Rainy Day
Date: Tuesday, June 25, 2019
Weather: Overcast and Rainy; High 73, Low 63 degrees
Location: At Home in the Cottage, East Falmouth, MA
Today we managed to add a few bubbles to this rainy day. For years, no bar of hand soap has survived the Goldpebbles. One of them or all of them, not sure which, finds a way to destroy any bar of hand soap by poking holes in it, so Heather decided a couple of days ago that we should start making our own liquid hand soap. Thus, no bar to destroy. Instead, today I gave each boy a bar of soap to destroy by grating it like parmesan cheese. Then we added boiling water and glycerin, mixed it, microwaved it, and finally used a mixer to beat it which produced the bubbles. We’re letting it set overnight and if it is the right consistency tomorrow morning, we will pour it into pint canning jars and put on the dispenser lids that Heather ordered from Amazon. The reason we are doing it this way is to keep from buying liquid soap in plastic containers. We buy unpackaged hand soap at Whole Foods and can buy the glycerin in a gallon container that will last for ten years’ worth of liquid soap making, thus reducing our use of single use plastic containers. I’ll report in tomorrow night on the success, or lack of success, of this experiment. The other major activity today was watching yet another Women’s World Cup soccer match. Today we watched Italy versus China. The boys were cheering for Italy and they won the game. Then near the end of the day, we watched the last twenty of the Netherlands versus China game. The team from the Netherlands won and will play England on Thursday. Then on Friday, the US team will play France. Jonah is excited to see that game as his good friend Luke will actually be at the game in Paris with his mom. Lucky little boy! We have one more week of World Cup soccer games and are hoping the US team will reign supreme. Tomorrow we switch from soccer to baseball. It is Jonah’s tenth birthday and he is very excited that he gets to throw the first pitch in the Falmouth Commodores game tomorrow evening. And it is supposed to be a sunny day. Life is good.
