by Judy Handley | May 3, 2023 | 2023 Life Logs |
2023 Life Logs, Day 123: Field Trip to the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum
Date: Wednesday, May 3, 2023
Weather: Mostly Sunny; High 56, Low 44 degrees F
Location: At Home in the Cottage, East Falmouth, MA
In 1903 in the Fenway area of Boston, Isabella Stewart Gardner had constructed and opened her own museum that she called Fenway Court. It is a four-story building, unremarkable on the outside, but quite impressive on the inside. In the center of the building is a sky-lit courtyard with a glass roof that is always in bloom.
After New York born Isabella Stewart Gardner lost her husband, she threw her life into the construction of this museum to house the art and books that she and her husband had acquired, and that she continued to amass.
Venice was the source of many of the pieces and red is the color that dominates.
Today I visited the museum with the Newcomers Field Trip group. We arrived and had lunch in the New Wing of the building and then had a two-hour guided tour. The courtyard was by far my favorite part of the museum, but I certainly enjoyed learning about this most interesting woman.
I returned from Boston in time to take Ollie to his Wednesday saxophone lesson. Instead of waiting for him, I drove home to take Shadow for a quick walk before returning to take Ollie home. I spent my evening catching up on Ted Lasso episodes. Another day in the life.
by Judy Handley | May 2, 2023 | 2023 Life Logs |
2023 Life Logs, Day 122: Wonderful to be Home with My Shadow
Date: Tuesday, May 2, 2023
Weather: Windy and Cool; High 59, Low 46 degrees F
Location: At Home in the Cottage, East Falmouth, MA
Although I didn’t get to sleep until 2:30 am, I was up early to go get my Shadow. When I got home last night, I was so lonely without him. He is not an easy dog to handle, but I love that little guy. When I arrived at the Woodin’s this morning, Shadow seemed as happy to see me as I was to see him. Bruce and Jane had Shadow’s things packed and ready to go, and they swore they enjoyed having Shadow. They admitted that he is rambunctious, but despite that, they bonded and had a great time. Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you to my dear friends, Bruce and Jane Woodin.
Shadow and I got home and before I knew it, it was time to head to a 1 pm meeting with Christina Brodie. Christina and I have just been voted in to be the co-Presidents of Encore and we needed to meet to go over what needs to be done before July 1 when we take the helm. We meant to meet until 3 pm, but the first time I checked my phone, it was 4:45 pm. We had no idea that much time had passed. Christina had another meeting at 5 pm, so we were both out the door quickly. We will have to touch base again later in the week to finish that to do list.
It was windy and cool today. In fact, I have been freezing since I arrived at Logan Airport last night. It was not that much warmer in North Carolina, but I didn’t need to wear a winter coat. I am going to get my winter coat out of the closet tomorrow morning. Walking Shadow this evening was just not comfortable.
Tomorrow morning, I am off to Boston to the Isabella Gardner Museum with the Newcomers Field Trip group. There are over 7,500 paintings and sculptures on display. I visited the museum once a few years ago with Mark, and I am looking forward to visiting again.
by Judy Handley | May 1, 2023 | 2023 Life Logs |
2023 Life Logs, Day 121: April Fool’s Day in May
Date: Monday, May 1, 2023
Weather in Charlotte: Partly Cloudy, Cool, Windy
Location: Back Home in the Cottage, East Falmouth, MA
This was a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day in my life. I had way too much to do for my sister before I flew home tonight and at every turn, I was blocked. I felt like it was April Fool’s Day on the first day of May. Surely the things that were happening were a joke. These things do not all happen to a normal person in one day. I guess I am not normal, as they really happened. I won’t bore you with the details, but I will list the major issues. Literally everything I did today went awry.
Made a special trip to Terra Bella where my sister lives at 10 am to talk to the Director and Manager of House Maintenance about issues with my sister’s apartment–Both out sick today.
Went to pick up my niece and sister-in-law at their hotel and ran into a yellow construction tape blocking the entrance—Had to turn into a one way exit to pick them up.
Got online to order lunch for my sister, my niece, my sister-in-law, myself, and my sister’s helper—First choice closed permanently, second choice closed on Monday). Asked my niece to call and order from a third place at a set time so I could pick up on my way back from a 30 minute drive each way to get a pair of shoes for my sister in her favorite brand and known size—On my way home, my niece called and said she could not get online and that the restaurant would not take an order called in. So I stopped to get lunch when I returned to Mooresville.
The Amazon Prime delivery to Terra Bella did not arrive with the outfit I had ordered for my sister to wear to her granddaughter’s wedding in August. It is early, but I will not be back and there is no one else to buy her clothes. I paid $50 to get it delivered before I left, but that didn’t happen—So I taught her helper how to take a photo of my sister in the outfit and how to send it to me when it does arrive. Hopefully it will fit, but if not, I will deal with that later.
Took two pairs of my sister’s pants to the cleaner/alterations place I took things to in December—Closed permanently, no forwarding address. I brought them home with me and will have to get it done her and send back to her.
Thought I had done all of her dirty laundry as she will not allow the people at the assistant living facility where she lives to touch her clothes—Found another whole drawer of hidden dirty clothes, along with a treasure trove of junk mail that she has saved that needed to be thrown away. I was able to take the bag of paper out back at Terra Bella and put it in the dumpster, but I had to make a special trip to the Thompson’s to ask them to do her laundry and get it back to her.
Delivered my niece and sister-in-law to my nephew’s during rush hour so they could visit while I took off to go to a Whole Foods to drop off a box of things I had ordered for my sister to be returned that didn’t fit—All the Whole Foods employees were in the parking lot to tell people their electricity was out and no one could enter the building. Unbelievable. They did get the Amazon Coordinator to come talk to me, but nothing was resolved. I left the box with two pair of shoes and told my nephew to give them to the poor.
By this time, I was exhausted and in tears. But I had a quick dinner at my nephew’s and took off for the airport with my niece and sister-in-law who were taking the same flight to Boston. There was not one gas station on our way, so I dropped them off and went to get gas before returning the rental car. Once I returned the car, I went into the airport to check in with Jet Blue at Terminal A. That went smoothly, but it was after 6:30 pm and by this time all terminal security check-in stations were closed except Terminal E. So I had to walk the entire length of the airport to Terminal E, go through security, walk the entire of length of the airport back to Terminal B and then walk another gauntlet in a different direction to Terminal A—During this time I got an email saying our 8:40 pm flight to Boston was delayed until 12:54 am. But they were working on that. By the time I arrived at Terminal A at 7:30 pm, the flight was back to only a 30-minute delay. That seemed like nothing compared to waiting to 1 am to take off. At least the flight went smoothly.
I had not checked my bag because I didn’t want to wait at Baggage Claim in Boston. Bad mistake. I was in seat 6C and had to take my bag to 15A to find a place for it. That meant I had to wait until everyone up to that part of the plane departed before I could go back to pick it up and there was no one I could ask to help me get it down. But I was able to get it down without injury to my very fragile back. This is the first time since 2016 that I have not checked my bag to protect my back and it is the very last time ever that I will not check my bag.
Arrived at Logan and got to Central Parking where Heather had left my car. I misinterpreted her directions and could not find my car which was on the very top of the parking garage. I walked the entire perimeter and up and down the rows of cars before I finally found it. I then had to get the ticket out of the car and go back to the terminal and down to Level 4 from Level 7 to pay for the ticket. I have no idea how much it cost as I was almost catatonic by this time.
Got in the car and drove down to ground level to exit. There was an oversized truck blocking the exit and I had to wait for airport personnel to come and get the long line of cars I was in to back up while they backed the truck out.
Exited the airport to go through the Williams Tunnel to find a traffic jam at midnight! They were doing maintenance in the tunnel and the lanes went from 4 to 3 to 2 to 1 and we moved at 4 miles an hour. It took 35 minutes.
Finally, I was out of the tunnel and on the way home. That went smoothly and I got home at 1:55 pm to find my Anderson glass storm door stuck halfway open. I could not open it all the way nor close it. It had obviously blown open due to wind and had probably slammed back against the house and back to being shut enough times to totally bend the rod. I slipped in and went to bed. I’ll deal with that tomorrow.
If you read this far, thanks for reading my rant. I needed to get that off my chest. It was one hell of a day!
by Judy Handley | Apr 30, 2023 | 2023 Life Logs |
2023 Life Logs, Day 120: A Day with Family
Date: Sunday, April 30, 2023
Weather in Charlotte: Rainy, Then Clearing, Then Windy; High 70, Low 45 degrees F
Location: At Home with Brian and Judy Thompson, Mooresville, NC
I was off to the Charlotte airport again early this morning to drop Heather off for her flight home.
She enjoyed time here with her cousins
and their children but was anxious to get home to her own children.
She took the bus from Boston Logan straight to Harwich on the Cape to see Jonah and Sam play in soccer games. After dropping Heather off, I went to my nephew Tommy’s, and we decided to have everyone go to lunch together before they started their drives home to West Virginia, Georgia, and Ashville, NC. I then drove back to Mooresville to pick up Candi, Sue, and Patsy. We drove back south to meet up for lunch with everyone, back to Marilou and Tommy’s to visit, and then back to Mooresville. I feel like I have done nothing but drive this weekend and have already had to fill the gas tank once!
I dropped Candi and Sue at their hotel, my sister at Terra Bella, and then I went on a shopping spree for my sister. That lasted only an hour as the stores were closing at 6 pm. I will have to continue that in the morning. I was exhausted, so I went back to say goodnight to my sister and deliver the things I bought for her. Then I stopped for quick dinner at Fresh Chef and home to the Thompsons. I have spent a good deal of time tonight going through all the photos from yesterday. I will share those on Facebook.
by Judy Handley | Apr 29, 2023 | 2023 Life Logs |
2023 Life Logs, Day 119: Celebration of Life for Jennifer Kerwood Price
Date: Saturday, April 29, 2023
Weather in Charlotte: Mix of Sun and Clouds; High 72, Low 59 degrees F
Location: At Home with Brian and Judy Thompson, Mooresville, NC
Today was the Celebration of Life for my niece Jennifer Kerwood Price.
Jennifer died in September, but her husband Bill decided to have the celebration in the spring as close to Jennifer’s birthday as possible. She was born on April 27, 1960, so Bill picked today as it was the closest Saturday. Bill and the two children Jessica and Jacob put together a perfect afternoon with the help of sister Janet and cousins Rex and Tommy. I know Jennifer was smiling from above in approval of this beautiful tribute.
by Judy Handley | Apr 28, 2023 | 2023 Life Logs |
2023 Life Logs, Day 118: Gathering the Forces
Date: Friday, April 28, 2023
Weather in Charlotte: Sunny and Warm; High 73, Low 56 degrees F
Location: At Home with Brian and Judy Thompson, Mooresville, NC
The gathering of the Martin family members is underway. Wednesday, a niece Janet, and one nephew Rex arrived in Mooresville. Yesterday I arrived. Today my niece Candi arrived and this evening, Heather and Candi’s mother Sue arrived. And Rex’s family, his wife Diana, and his daughter Rachel and her two children, Emma and Kit, drove in from West Virginia. This gathering of the forces is to celebrate the life of my niece, Jennifer Price, who died last September. Her two children, Jacob and Jessica arrived this afternoon to support their dad, Bill, who is hosting the celebration tomorrow afternoon and evening. More family arrives tomorrow, along with many friends. Quite a mighty force.
I spent my day driving to and from the airport in Charlotte twice and, along the way, checking out a few bridal venues looking for a dress for my sister Patsy to wear to her granddaughter’s wedding in August. Once I returned from the airport with my niece Candi, we went to visit with Patsy. It was such a warm and beautiful afternoon that we decided to take Patsy out to Brian and Judy Thompson’s to sit on their lovely porch overlooking Lake Norman. Normally my sister resists sitting outside, but today she loved it.
Brian and Judy are very close family friends that I am staying with this weekend. Sometime after 5 o’clock, we pried ourselves away from our lovely afternoon visit and headed back to Mooresville to run a couple of errands. We dropped my sister off before heading to the airport to pick up Heather and Sue and ended the day at my nephew Tommy’s to just sit and visit. We’ll do more of that tomorrow and Sunday before everyone heads back home. For just a couple of wonderful days, we will be together to share the stories that bond us together as family and to celebrate the life of one of us who died too young.
After New York born Isabella Stewart Gardner lost her husband, she threw her life into the construction of this museum to house the art and books that she and her husband had acquired, and that she continued to amass.
Venice was the source of many of the pieces and red is the color that dominates. 
