by Judy Handley | Nov 26, 2019 | 2019 Life Logs |
2019 Life Logs, Day 329: Focus on Shadow, 7th Grade Art Show, Mah Jongg
Date: Monday, November 25, 2019
Weather: Sunny Day; High 56, Low 42 degrees F
Location: At Home in The Cottage, East Falmouth, MA
Today was a bit of a whirlwind. The morning started with the ‘new normal’ schedule—up at 6 am to take Shadow outside, back to bed for a couple of hours, and then a morning of reading about puppy training. 
I will continue that project tomorrow as a new friend from Newcomers was coming over to meet Shadow and bring me a puppy stroller. I had no idea there was such a thing, but just as young mothers put their babies in stroller so they can go jogging, old puppy mommas can put puppies in the stroller for long walks.
It will be months before Shadow will be able to take long walks with me, so I’ll give the stroller a try. After the friend left, I rearranged the living/dining area of the cottage to make room for a card table for tonight’s Mah Jongg lesson. We rotate between homes, and tonight was my turn.
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Then I headed out to see Sam’s art work in the 7th Grade Art Show at Lawrence Middle School. I was especially impressed with the results of a group project, a Christmas tree made out of plastic water bottles.
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And Sam’s ‘ugly mug’ was spectacularly ugly. I cut my time at the show a little short as I needed to get home to get ready for the mah jongg class. Our teacher’s name is Jackie, and she promised not to help me tonight as I have won all the games we played to date. It worked. I didn’t win any of the games tonight, but I did feel like I am starting to understand the game a little better. I let Shadow join us and she was a very good puppy.
by Judy Handley | Nov 23, 2019 | 2019 Life Logs |
2019 Life Logs, Day 327: Saturday at Home
Date: Saturday, November 23, 2019
Weather: Sunny Day; High 48, Low 37 degrees F
Location: At Home in The Cottage, East Falmouth, MA
It was a lovely, sunny day at home with Shadow. I did go out in the morning to go to Heather’s to continue to help with the ‘clean out the basement’ project by picking up some items to give away—some lumber and large outdoor Christmas ornaments to donate to the Newcomers Holiday Parade float and an old sail from Windbird and some bottom paint to give to Sam Patterson and Bruce Woodin for L’Escargot. Bruce came to pick up the sail and paint and to meet Shadow.
We sat and talked and he and Shadow had a good time playing together. Jane arrived just as Bruce was leaving and she stayed for tea and to get her play time with the puppy. I spent some time reading while cuddling Shadow and that was my day. Heather spent her day in Boston at WGBH helping moderate TedX Talks and Jed took the boys to New Haven to see the Yale-Harvard football game. I read that the game was delayed by a climate change protest during the half-time. Hundreds of students and alumni entered the field to demand “that both universities clear their combined, $71 billion endowments of investments in corporations tied to oil, gas and coal. They also protested the schools’ holdings in Puerto Rico debt, seen as exploitation of a poor, besieged nation.” The 40-minute delay in the game caused the game to end as dark was descending. I’ll be most interested in hearing about this event first hand from Jed and the boys.
by Judy Handley | Nov 23, 2019 | 2019 Life Logs |
2019 Life Logs, Day 326: Presentation Planning and Dining-in with Friends
Date: Friday, November 22, 2019
Weather: Overcast with Some Sprinkles; High 60, Low 30 degrees F
Location: At Home in The Cottage, East Falmouth, MA
I spent my morning hosting two women from the Bourne Newcomers & Friends Club going over a possible presentation for their February Lunch and meeting. By the time they left it was afternoon and time to play with Shadow. He was such a good puppy during the visit. He slept through most of it and then came in and quietly joined us. So, he needed to be rewarded with some outside play before his first appointment with the veterinarian. That went smoothly as well, at least on his part. I forgot to take the records from the breeder and will have to make a return visit, but Shadow was very cooperative. By the time we got home from that visit, it was time to get ready to go out for the evening. I was going to dinner at Bruce and Jane Woodin’s with our Dining-in Group and Shadow was going to spend the evening with the Goldstones again. I had a wonderful dinner and visit with friends and Shadow loves his visits with Heather, Jed, and the boys. Sam was not home tonight, but Molly and Joey from next door came over to meet Shadow and he had a great time. It was a good day, but I’m looking forward to a quiet Saturday with nothing on the schedule.
by Judy Handley | Nov 21, 2019 | 2019 Life Logs |
2019 Life Logs, Day 325: A Day at Home with Shadow
Date: Thursday, November 21, 2019
Weather: Beautiful Day; High 52, Low 33 degrees F
Location: At Home in The Cottage, East Falmouth, MA
Since I was away from home for so many hours yesterday, I decided to just stay home today and play with Shadow. It was a good decision and we had a great day. Shadow woke me up at 6:45, earlier than yesterday, and we played, I read, and we walked around the yard under a deep blue sky with bright sunshine. Late morning, we took a nap and then repeated all of the above. At 5 pm, I packed the puppy travel bag and delivered Shadow to Heather and Jed’s where he was to spend the evening while I went out to dinner with my Women in Newcomers (WIN) group. I really enjoyed the dinner tonight, met some new people and reconnected with others that I have known for a couple of years. And Goldstones reported that they had a great evening with the puppy and I’m sure Shadow enjoyed his evening of activity with them. It was a win/win for all.
by Judy Handley | Nov 20, 2019 | 2019 Life Logs |
2019 Life Logs, Day 324: Busy Day
Date: Wednesday, November 20, 2019
Weather: Overcast with Rain; High 51, Low 34 degrees F
Location: At Home in The Cottage, East Falmouth, MA
In between watching today’s Impeachment Hearing proceedings and tonight’s Democratic Presidential Debate, I had a busy day. My day started at 7:15 am when Shadow gently woke me up. He slept through the night, so no middle of the night trips outside to go potty for the second night in a row. Yahoo! I spent the morning with the puppy, then things got busy. At 11:30, the Baranowski’s picked me up and we went to the MIT Club of Cape Cod Luncheon as the guests of another friend, Karen Epstein.
Heather was the guest speaker and she very skillfully addressed a critical issue in our country—the fact that our basic knowledge of scientific truths is under attack and how we prevail. In fact, I believe we can extend that to say that our knowledge of all truths is under attack. There is no clear path forward, but Heather laid out some positive steps to get us started.
Attending the luncheon meant I had to be away from Shadow for three hours. And I wasn’t home long until it was time to leave again, this time to take Ollie to his violin lesson. So Shadow was left alone for too many hours today. Tomorrow night and Friday night, I have dinner engagements.
After today, I was feeling very guilty about leaving the puppy, but Heather and boys invited Shadow to their house on both evenings so he doesn’t have to be alone. And hopefully it will be fun for everyone.
by Judy Handley | Nov 19, 2019 | 2019 Life Logs |
2019 Life Logs, Day 323: Life with Shadow, Day Three
Date: Tuesday, November 19, 2019
Weather: Mostly Cloudy; High 55, Low 38 degrees F
Location: At Home in The Cottage, East Falmouth, MA
If I count Sunday when Shadow first arrived as Day One, today was Day Three. And already I feel those growing pangs that all parents feel. He is maturing so quickly. He is no longer the little puppy that arrived on Sunday. On Sunday, he had never been outside before. He had never worn a collar or been on a leash. Already, he can walk just a little behind me on the leash and he loves to romp outside. Yesterday when I threw a ball, he retrieved it but wouldn’t bring it to me. Already, today, he brings the ball to me. My friend Detta just reminded me via text that I need to get video of him before he matures too much. So that will be my goal tomorrow. I feel very much like a new mother, just after the birth of a baby. Many of the personal freedoms I enjoyed before Shadow are gone, but the tradeoff is certainly worth it. I have to put Shadow in the crate so I can take a shower or when I need to go out shopping. I’m used to coming and going at will, but that has all changed. This afternoon, I had a Wine Group gathering from 4 until 6 pm.
I hated to leave him so long, so Jonah offered to come over after school for an hour. I was so grateful. Ollie and Sam had after school activities, so Jonah would have been alone at home anyway. So, this was perfect and gave me peace of mind. I instructed Jonah to put Shadow in the crate when he left and when I got home, the puppy was just fine. Day by day, we will grow into this partnership together.
Karen Baranowski came over to meet Shadow late morning and they bonded immediately. He had also met the guy who picks up my compost earlier in the morning and he seems to love meeting new people.
Right now he is sleeping on the sofa beside me as I write this log and watch news of today’s Impeachment hearings. Life is good.
