by Judy Handley | Sep 25, 2023 | 2023 Life Logs |
2023 Life Logs, Day 269: Lunch in Newburyport, Dinner at the Goldstones
Date: Monday, September 25, 2023
Weather: Another Rainy Day; High 62, Low 57 degrees F
Location: At Home on Lakeview Avenue, Falmouth, MA
My two days of doing nothing are over. This morning I drove two and a half hours to Newburyport, Massachusetts, to have lunch with friend Peppe Christianson and her sister Lynne’. It was a lovely lunch at the Tuscan Seafood Grille on the water and it was great to see Peppe again. I took Shadow with me in the car today, so he didn’t have to be alone all day. He did have wait in the car while we had lunch, but then we drove home, played fetch in the backyard, before I headed to Heather and Jed’s for dinner. I haven’t seen Heather since she returned from New York City on Friday, so we caught up on things and compared calendars for the next week. Tomorrow is an Early Release Day and each of the boys has a different afternoon schedule. I will fill in where needed and then go to my wine group gathering tomorrow evening. I thought it was tonight, but when I checked my calendar this morning, I saw that I had that wrong.
I will spend tomorrow getting ready for my friend Lynne Kirwin to arrive on Wednesday and hanging out with Ollie. It continued to rain today, but the rain should go away for at least a couple of days beginning tomorrow. I’m hoping for at least a partly sunny Tuesday.
by Judy Handley | Sep 24, 2023 | 2023 Life Logs |
2023 Life Logs, Day 268: Another Day Off
Date: Sunday, September 24, 2023The
Weather: Rainy Day; High 62, Low 59 degrees F
Location: At Home on Lakeview Avenue, Falmouth, MA
The rainy weather and the situation with my back called for another day off. I really did almost nothing today except read and watch television. And I did book my trip to Puerto Rico to visit with Justin and family during the Thanksgiving week. I am excited about that.
Tomorrow I will join the real world again with a trip north and west of Boston to Newburyport to have lunch with my friend Peppe visiting from the Seattle area and her sister Lynne’. Then tomorrow evening my wine group is having our September get together.
by Judy Handley | Sep 23, 2023 | 2023 Life Logs |
2023 Life Logs, Day 267: A Day Off
Date: Saturday, September 23, 2023
Weather: Rainy Day; High 61, Low 59 degrees F
Location: At Home on Lakeview Avenue, Falmouth, MA
Since I didn’t end up having guests this weekend, I simply took the day off today. My back has gotten worse and worse over the past two weeks, so I tried a little R&R today. I did find that it is much more comfortable for me to sleep on the sofa in the living room than in my bed. I decided to take a nap this afternoon on the sofa and I slept better than I have for weeks. I am going back to my bed tonight, but if I don’t sleep as well, I am going to be spending my nights on the sofa in the living room until my back is better.
by Judy Handley | Sep 22, 2023 | 2023 Life Logs |
2023 Life Logs, Day 266: Change of Plans
Date: Friday, September 22, 2023
Weather: Partly Cloudy; High 68, Low 56 degrees F
Location: At Home on Lakeview Avenue, Falmouth, MA
First, I was going to have three guests this weekend, then two, now none. My friend Lynne is now arriving sometime this week, hopefully Wednesday. But my friend Peppe, and her sister Lynne’, are not coming at all. But a storm is coming, so tomorrow should be windy and rainy, and Sunday could be more of the same. On Monday, I will drive to Newburyport, on the coast just before you reach New Hampshire, to have lunch with Peppe and her sister before Peppe flies back to Seattle on Wednesday. So, instead of going into high gear to get ready for company, I spent part of my day slowing cleaning house. At 4 pm, I went to the high school to watch Jonah’s soccer game.
Sam has either a cold or severe sinus issues and did not go to school today. He couldn’t play in the Varsity game, but he did go to watch.
I did some future trip planning today. I am contemplating going to Puerto Rico for Thanksgiving, and I have to make that decision quickly. Flights that were available earlier this week are already filled. My first task tomorrow will be to make a final decision and make flight reservations. I also need to make reservations for the next trip to North Carolina to see my sister.
In last night’s log was titled “Happy First Birthday to Shadow.” Well, it wasn’t his first birthday, it was his 4th. And I must add that he loves his new stuffy that Ollie and I bought for him. He spent a great deal of time today cuddling it.
by Judy Handley | Sep 21, 2023 | 2023 Life Logs |
2023 Life Logs, Day 265: Happy 4th Birthday to Shadow
Date: Thursday, September 21, 2023
Weather: Yet Another Beautiful Day; High 72, Low 55 degrees F
Location: At Home on Lakeview Avenue, Falmouth, MA
Yeah! Today was a one meeting day, but I did have one more appointment, a visit to my chiropractor. I called his office early this morning begging for an appointment today. My back is giving me fits making it difficult to sleep or do anything else. The chiropractor tried to help but said there was very little he can do at this point. He suggests I go back to the pain management doctor and see if there is anything else he can do to help control the muscle spasms. He also recommended that I see my neurosurgeon again. All the neurosurgeon can do is recommend surgery, so I am hoping for some other miracle.
I spent the time between the chiropractor visit and the Newcomers-Encore Field Trip group meeting preparing for the meeting. Christina Brodie and I are the co-chairs, so I had to lead part of the meeting. We had a number of new people attending and came up with great list of field trips for this year.
Today was Shadow’s 4th birthday.
Actually, yesterday was his birthday, but as I explained in last night’s log, Ollie wants to celebrate it on the 21st and Shadow has no complaint with that. Ollie rode his bike over after school
and we then went shopping for birthday presents. We came home and gave Shadow a new stuffed animal to destroy
and a very expensive Yak bone. Ollie presented him with his gifts and Shadow definitely prefers the bone. While Ollie was here, he cleaned up all the branches in the backyard left behind after the limb fell on Sunday morning.
He is a great little worker.
The weather is slowing cooling down. The days have been warm, but the nighttime temps are now down in the 50’s. We have one more nice day and then the temperature drops and the rains come down. Not a great weekend for my friends to visit the Cape, but no complaints. This week has been spectacular.
by Judy Handley | Sep 20, 2023 | 2023 Life Logs |
2023 Life Logs, Day 264: First Meeting, Second Meeting, Then Ollie to Sax Lesson
Date: Wednesday, September 20, 2023
Weather: Another Drop Dead Beautiful Day; High 69, Low 54 degrees F
Location: At Home on Lakeview Avenue, Falmouth, MA
The first General Meeting of Encore was today and it was my turn to run the business meeting. I spent my morning preparing for that and then went to The Flying Bridge for the luncheon meeting. It was a beautiful day, and The Flying Bridge was a perfect place for lunch. It is located on Falmouth Harbor, so we all enjoyed the water view as we conducted business and then had a wonderful lunch. It was after 2:30 pm when I got home, so I took Shadow out, changed clothes into something a little more comfortable, and headed to the first Public Policy meeting of the year. The question we addressed was: What is the state of childcare in Massachusetts and in Falmouth in particular? This also included a discussion of foster care. I left the meeting early to go pick up Ollie and take him to saxophone lesson. When I got home around 6 pm, I took Shadow out to play fetch and then I came in and crashed. It was a good day, but a long one.
As I have written before, Christina Brodie and I share the role of co-presidents of Encore. Olivia White took a photo of us today that really captures the essence of how we work together. I am sharing that photo here.
PS … Shadow’s fourth birthday was today, but Ollie has talked me into celebrating his birthday on the 21st instead of the 20th because both Sam and Ollie were born on the 21st day of the month, one in January, the other in March. Ollie comes over after school tomorrow and we will celebrate then.
