by Judy Handley | Aug 16, 2023 | 2023 Life Logs |
2023 Life Logs, Day 229: Oppenheimer
Date: Wednesday, August 16, 2023
Weather: Cloudy, More Rain: High 70, Low 64 degrees F
Location: At Home on Lakeview Avenue, Falmouth, MA
My activity level these days is totally dependent on my back. I did something on Monday that threw my back out of alignment and I could not get an appointment with my chiropractor until tomorrow. Hopefully, we can get me back on track. But in the meantime, I am in slow gear. The steroid injection I had yesterday is helping manage the pain, but that doesn’t solve the problem. Since I have to fly to North Carolina next Tuesday and I have to be able to get my sister’s walker in and out of the car constantly for five days, I need a miracle to make my back better. Wish me luck with that.
I got a text message and email from the garage that has my car with an estimate on repairs this morning. The reason for the check engine light is one bad ignition coil plus the spark plugs. The estimate for fixing those things is about $500. But then they found that the battery needs to be replaced plus the front suspension stabilizer and sway bar need replacement parts. Neither the battery nor the sway bar have to be dealt with right now, but I decided to go ahead and have the work done. That doubles the cost to $1,000. The good news is that I should have the car back tomorrow.
This afternoon Andrew Dearman invited me to go to see Oppenheimer with him, Lily, and Charlie. It was great seeing them and seeing the movie. It is definitely a movie that makes you think, long and hard. As I watched the movie, I realized that I know almost nothing about Oppenheimer. But this movie insured that I will learn more. After I do some background reading, I will go back to see it again. Formidable is the word that comes to my mind in describing this movie. A must see for young and old.
by Judy Handley | Aug 15, 2023 | 2023 Life Logs |
2023 Life Logs, Day 228: Resting Ye Ole Back
Date: Tuesday, August 15, 2023
Weather: Cloudy with Rain; High 73, Low 65 degrees F
Location: At Home on Lakeview Avenue, Falmouth, MA
Today I followed the doctor’s orders. I had an early afternoon appointment to get a second steroid injection in the lumbar region of my back. It is to manage the pain while my body hopefully, eventually reabsorbs the two herniated disks I have from a fall last summer. The injection just buys time for healing, but this time I am going to have to stop lifting and carrying heavy loads. The move didn’t help things, but I have to rethink the way I get groceries into the house, the way I do gardening and yard work, and on and on. But the doctors last words to me today were to go home and rest. So, for once in my life, I did what I was told. We’ll see how this goes.
by Judy Handley | Aug 14, 2023 | 2023 Life Logs |
2023 Life Logs, Day 227: Low Country Shrimp, Sausage, Potato, Corn Boil
Date: Monday, August 14, 2023
Weather: Partly Cloudy; High 78, Low 68 degrees F
Location: At Home on Lakeview Avenue, Falmouth, MA
New England has its clam bakes. Maryland is famous for its boiled blue crab. The Great Lakes have white fish boils. In Louisiana, it is a crawfish boil. America’s coastlines all have their specialty. In South Carolina and Georgia, it is called a Low-Country boil and that is what I served to my dining-in group tonight. I have boiled crabs and I have boiled lobster, but it has been years since I did that. So, I was skeptical that I could pull this off, but I did it. Tonight’s Low-Country boil was a success, but it did take the better part of the day for me to get it together. I also made a super-moist jalapeno cornbread. Christina and Warren Brodie, our new members, brought cole slaw, Midge Frieswyk brought the appetizer, and Karen and Peter Baranowski added a blueberry cobbler for dessert. Great group, great fun being together, and good food. Can’t think of a better way to spend a summer evening.
by Judy Handley | Aug 13, 2023 | 2023 Life Logs |
2023 Life Logs, Day 225: Gardening and Trip to the Airport
Date: Saturday, August 12, 2023
Weather: Mostly Sunny, Rain Forecast for Tonight; High 79, Low 70 degrees F
Location: At Home on Lakeview Avenue, Falmouth, MA
Right now, I am sitting in the Cell Phone lot at Boston Logan Airport. The Woodin’s were kind enough to loan me their car this week, so I offered to pick them up from the airport tonight. They have been in Florida with Jane’s brother who is terminally ill and now in hospice. Jane had to come home for a few days as she has doctor appointments next week that can’t be missed, but she really didn’t want to leave her brother. The good thing is that Jane is very pleased with the hospice situation with a very caring and attentive staff.
Otherwise, my day was spent finally planting my new herb and flower garden in front of my little deck. I have spent a couple of days getting it ready, so today was the day to plant. Some things are in containers and others are in the ground, which was hard as a brick and full of roots and rocks. But I persevered and transplanted oregano, mint, and a perennial garden vining plant from my garden at the cottage. Then I added parsley, sage, rosemary, thyme, marjoram, chives, and a few basil plants in containers. I fear the rabbits will eat the basil, but I have more in the vegetable garden. I also added a container of green and red coleus in honor of Mark. When I saw it at the garden shop, I was compelled to buy it. When I first met Mark he lived in Bloomington, Indiana where he had a vegetable garden edged in coleus. I have never since had coleus in a garden, so now I do.
Update: It is now midnight and I just got home from the airport trip. Bruce and Jane arrived right on time, just before 9 pm, but they had checked luggage and the conveyor belt was not working. Plus, the traffic at arrivals was crazy. They have made it almost impossible to pick someone up. All passengers have to either walk a very long way with their luggage to one pick up area for all gates or they have to walk across three lanes of bus and taxi traffic and the car picking up simply has to stop traffic to load bags and passengers. It is very dangerous and I’m not sure why it has changed to be this way. It was after 10:30 when we finally left the airport. I know they were exhausted and will be so glad to sleep in their own bed tonight. My thoughts are with you, Bruce and Jane, during this very difficult time.
by Judy Handley | Aug 13, 2023 | 2023 Life Logs |
2023 Life Logs, Day 226: Early Morning Thunderstorm
Date: Sunday, August 13, 2023
Weather: Rain Early, then Partly Sunny; High 78, Low 66 degrees F
Location: At Home on Lakeview Avenue, Falmouth, MA
CRACK! Rumble, rumble rumble, roar. Wham! That’s my best expression of the sounds that basically threw me out of bed at 6 am. The thunder was so loud, and it went on for an hour with driving rain. I stumbled though the house, shutting windows as the rain was in from and then I tried to go back to sleep. Shadow was shaking like a leaf for the entire time, so I had to hold him close to me to try and settle him down. I told him it was all okay, but he wasn’t having it. It was not until after 7 am that we could both finally close our eyes and get a little more sleep. I am happy to get the rain, but it comes down so hard, and the thunder and lightning is just scary. When I finally got up, the rain had stopped. Or so I thought. I got dressed and took Shadow out just in time for another downpour with more thunder. He was not going to pee as long as there was thunder, so we ran back to the house and waited until the rain finally did stop for that potty break. Then I spent most of my day shopping for food and cleaning house for tomorrow’s dining-in gathering here. Between the pain in my right knee and my back, everything is taking a longer than it should. But I’ll just keep on going at a snail’s pace and get the job done.
by Judy Handley | Aug 11, 2023 | 2023 Life Logs |
2023 Life Logs, Day 224: Star Wars Afternoon with Ollie
Date: Friday, August 11, 2023
Weather: Mostly Sunny; High 78, Low 68 degrees F
Location: At Home on Lakeview Avenue, Falmouth, MA
I took advantage of having no kids again this morning by catching up on Encore work. I am responsible for writing the greeting from the co-presidents for the September newsletter, so I got a start on that. I also continued working on my new herb and flower garden. Then I got a text from Jonah saying he needed a ride to go meet a friend downtown. I delivered him but then went back and invited Ollie to come to my house for the afternoon. He is a little better and I wanted to get him out in the sunshine for a bit. Besides, I really didn’t want to leave him alone all afternoon. After lunch and an Oma required 30 minutes in the sunshine, we came inside to continue my Star Wars education. Ollie didn’t want to watch the 8th major movie. Instead, we watched four episodes of Boba Fett. Ollie pointed out that I had ‘met’ Boba Fett in a couple of the movies we watched. He is a human male crime lord and a former bounty hunter whose career spans decades from the fall of the Galactic Republic to the end of the rule of the Galactic Empire. I am learning.
