by Judy Handley | Jan 26, 2023 | 2023 Life Logs |
2023 Life Logs, Day 26: Lunch with Friends
Date: Thursday, January 26, 2023
Weather: Sunny, Gale Force Winds; High 52, Low 30 degrees F
Sunrise and Sunset: 7:00 am & 4:51 pm
Location: At Home in the Cottage, East Falmouth, MA
I stayed up very late last night trying to finish Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver—a must read book. I didn’t finish the book, but Shadow and I slept in this morning and didn’t get up until almost 9 am. I managed to then spend an hour ‘studying’ the jigsaw puzzle I am working on. It is a very different kind of puzzle that I have pieced together parts of, but can’t seem to find the way to connect the parts. Then I was off to lunch with friends Karen Baranowski and Christina Brodie. Christina just got home from a fabulous trip to Hawaii, so we had lots to catch up on. I had planned to come home and finish that book, but I ended up doing Newcomers Nominating Committee work and playing outside with Shadow. Maybe I’ll finish the book tonight.
We have not had a lot of sunshine lately, but today was sunny. It was also super windy and warm. Not sure when we are going to get winter this year. In addition to the sunshine we had today, we have gained ten minutes of daylight this week. Sunrise is now 7 am and sunset is moving quickly towards 5 pm. I love it!
by Judy Handley | Jan 25, 2023 | 2023 Life Logs |
2023 Life Logs, Day 25: Meeting, Ollie’s Saxophone Lesson, Dinner with the Goldstones
Date: Wednesday, January 25, 2023
Weather: Overcast, Rain Tonight; High 45, Low 40 degrees F
Sunrise and Sunset: 7:01 am & 4:50 pm
Location: At Home in the Cottage, East Falmouth, MA
Remember my friend Lynne’s favorite saying? “You make plans, then life happens.” It happened again this evening. I was supposed to fix dinner for Ollie and Sam while Heather took Jonah to winter soccer practice and Jed attended meetings all evening. Well, Jonah decided to not go to practice, so he and Heather were at home for dinner. And Jed’s meetings were online, so he was home as well. Ollie and I got home from his saxophone lesson at 5:30 pm and suddenly found the dinner plans changed. It took a while, but all worked out in the end. And working backwards through the day, I spent almost three hours at a Newcomers Nominating Committee meeting in the late morning and early afternoon. I did walk and play fetch with Shadow, but he was at home alone most of the day. I promised him tonight that I will spend more time at home with him tomorrow.
by Judy Handley | Jan 24, 2023 | 2023 Life Logs |
2023 Life Logs, Day 24: Watering, Walking, Eating, and Contacting
Date: Tuesday, January 24, 2023
Weather: Sunshine Early, then Overcast; High 40, Low 29 degrees F
Sunrise and Sunset: 7:02 am & 4:48 pm
Location: At Home in the Cottage, East Falmouth, MA
My day started by watering plants for friends who are out of town and then going for a 1.7 mile walk on the Quashnet River Trail with Shadow and my friend Olga Mitchell. I drove to West Falmouth to water the plants, drove back to East Falmouth to pick Olga up, drove to my house to get my hiking boots that I had forgotten to bring with me, drove to Waquoit to walk, took Olga home, took Shadow home, and headed into Falmouth for 1 pm birthday luncheon for friend Karen Baranowski. Then I raced home to make some contact calls with prospective officers for Newcomers. The Nominating Committee meets tomorrow, and I still had a couple of people to contact before that meeting. Somehow it was suddenly 6:30 pm and I was still sitting at my computer. I got up, fixed dinner, hopped on my exercise bike, watched some news, and now it is time to go to bed. Tomorrow is another busy one. Thursday I have lunch with a friend. And Friday. Yes, Friday I have nothing on my calendar except a walk with Shadow and Olga. Can’t wait for do-nothing day.
by Judy Handley | Jan 23, 2023 | 2023 Life Logs |
2023 Life Logs, Day 23: Shopping Day
Date: Monday, January 23, 2023
Weather: Overcast with Rain, Turning to Snowy Mix; High 46, Low 30 degrees F
Sunrise and Sunset: 7:02 am & 4:48 pm
Location: At Home in the Cottage, East Falmouth, MA
Last Tuesday we had a beautiful, sunny day and Wednesday was partly sunny. But we have not seen the sun since. Tomorrow looks promising for at least a tiny bit of sunshine. On the brighter side, we might not be getting a lot of sunshine, but we continue to gain hours of daylight. Yesterday we gained two minutes and today three. But whose keeping track? Certainly, not me!
I drove to Plymouth this morning to pick up Sam’s indoor soccer shoes and then traveled on to Costco. I went to buy a few more items of winter clothing for Justin and family for their February trip from Puerto Rico to Vermont,, and of course, I had to buy a few food items. Costco still had beautiful pomegranates, so that was my prized purchase of the day. On the way home, an icy mix started to fall and continued when I got home. A few snowflakes are still falling. However, the temperature is above freezing, so any white stuff falling melts as soon as it hits the ground.
by Judy Handley | Jan 22, 2023 | 2023 Life Logs |
2023 Life Logs, Day 22: Slow Motion Sunday
Date: Sunday, January 22, 2023
Weather: Overcast; High 43, Low 41 degrees F
Sunrise and Sunset: 7:03 am & 4:46 pm
Location: At Home in the Cottage, East Falmouth, MA
This Sunday felt like it was in slow motion. I had nothing on my calendar, so I stayed home, worked slowly on a new puzzle, took a nap, walked slowly with Shadow, and started watching the Three Pines series on Prime. Three Pines is based on the Inspector Gamache books by Louise Penny. I have read 17 of the 18 books in that series and have thoroughly enjoyed everyone of them. If you are not familiar, the setting is in Quebec, both in Montreal and in the small village of Three Pines. Late this afternoon, I finally had time to start watching Season One. I loved it and watched two episodes. I’m sure I’ll be through the whole season by the end of the week. The new jigsaw puzzle I’m working on I’m not so sure I love. It is challenging. A puzzle within a puzzle. My good friend Karen Baranowski dropped it off on Friday. I gave her the Ravensburger I had just completed—99 Beautiful Places in the World.
I have only been to 20 of the 99. She gave me a Ravensburger Escape Puzzle. Today was her birthday—Happy Birthday, Karen! She and Peter are up in Cohasset visiting with their daughter. But when she gets home, I have plenty of questions for her on how to work this impossible puzzle.
The weather has been overcast and tonight it is supposed to start raining and continue until tomorrow afternoon when it looks like it will turn to snow. I am making a shopping trip off Cape in the morning but will plan to be home before the snow starts. If the forecast is correct, we’ll get sunshine on Tuesday. Woohoo! Can’t wait.
by Judy Handley | Jan 21, 2023 | 2023 Life Logs |
2023 Life Logs, Day 21: Happy 16th Birthday to Sam
Date: Saturday, January 21, 2023
Weather: Overcast and Chilly; High 35, Low 26 degrees F
Sunrise and Sunset: 7:04 am & 4:45 pm
Location: At Home in the Cottage, East Falmouth, MA
I got up this morning thinking I would be headed to Supercharged Entertainment in Wrentham to celebrate Sam’s 16th birthday this afternoon with Heather, Jed, Ollie, Jonah, and three of Sam’s friends. I still can’t believe my oldest grandchild is now 16. Just yesterday he was one.
But the birthday party plans were abruptly changed when Sam found out that one of his best friends tested positive for Covid. In addition to family, Sam only wanted his three best friends—Sebastian, Ethan, and Robert—to go with him to the entertainment center. When he found out Robert couldn’t go, he asked if the party could be postponed until all could go. So now we will hope to do this in two weeks. But Sebastian and Ethan still joined us for dinner at Shipwrecked on Falmouth Heights Beach and were then spending the night with Sam.
Sam chose Shipwrecked because he could have sushi for an appetizer and then have a big, juicy burger. His idea of food heaven. We went early, but it was already slammed and we were told we would have an hour plus wait. As Heather, Jed, and I stood outside in the dark and the cold discussing other possibilities, the boys went out on the soccer field and played soccer with a ball Jonah had brought. Then they went down on the beach. Finally we all got cold and decided to go inside and wait. Heather talked to the hostess and they said waiting for a table for all of us was really going to take a while. They offered two tables, so Sam, Sebastian, and Ethan had their own table and the rest of us sat separately.
We missed being with Sam, but the three teenage boys were quite happy to have their own space. The wait staff was tipped off by Heather that it was Sam’s birthday and they asked if we wanted them to bring him cake with a candle. We were having cake when we got home, so Heather said no cake, but maybe a candle. They brought a candle in a cup of ice cream—just enough to embarrass him a little, but not too much.
Back at 43 Grasmere, we had the birthday cake. But that comes with a story. When Smitty’s ice cream shop closed for the season, Sam had special ordered a watermelon sherbet ice cream cake for his birthday. I picked it up and did notice that it had Goldstone written on the side, but another name on the top. But Smitty had assured me it was out order. When Heather opened the box last week to check it out, she was surprised to find that there was writing on the cake saying, “Happy Birthday, Laurie.”
It would have been easy to scrape that off and replace it with “Happy Birthday, Sam.” But no. Sam thought it was a riot that the cake had someone else’s name on it. And since we did not know what Laurie had ordered, we had no idea what kind of ice cream cake it was. It became known as the mystery cake. When Sam cut into it tonight, we found that it was the usual vanilla and chocolate. And we all got a kick out of eating Laurie’s birthday cake. Sorry, Laurie. We hope you enjoyed Sam’s cake.
Sam discovered his birthday present a day early and was so excited that he slept with it.
For Christmas he had asked Santa for a Milwaukee drill/driver set. He knew it was expensive and knew he might not get it. He didn’t get it for Christmas, but Heather and Jed, Grammy Marti, and I went together to buy it for him for his birthday to support his love of woodworking. Happy birthday, Sam!
