by Judy Handley | Jul 26, 2024 | 2024 Life Logs |
2024 Life Logs, Day 208: Falmouth to Boston to Mooresville, North Carolina
Date: Friday, July 26, 2024
Weather: Mostly Cloudy; High Temp 83, Low 69 degrees F
Location: At Home with My Sister in Mooresville, NC
It was an 11 hour trek from Falmouth to my sister’s apartment in Mooresville, NC today. Lynne took me to the bus station at 7 am. There was no traffic this morning, so we arrived at the airport in an hour and a half instead of two hours. Check in was fast, but then I had a two and a half hour wait for my flight. I was a little nervous as I was flying Delta, but everything was on time for the two-and-a-half-hour flight. But upon arrival in Charlotte, things slowed down. We landed on time at 1:40 pm, but it was 3:45 before I got in my rental and started the last leg of the trip, the 45 minutes to Mooresville. Once in Mooresville, I stopped to have a late lunch/early dinner, picked up some items at the grocery store and a drug store, and finally arrived at Terra Bella Senior Living just after 6 pm. Before we landed in Charlotte, I got one of what I call my instant colds. These ‘events’ are obviously an allergic reaction to something and more often than not, it always happens when I fly and is usually gone by the next morning with a little help from Sudafed. I sure hope that is the case this time.
Patsy and I have spent the evening watching the parade of athletes from around the world in the Olympic Opening Ceremony. She put me to work tonight taking a whole shelf of framed photos out of frames. I have a huge list of things I want to accomplish in my three days here, but tomorrow afternoon we will take a break and visit with our nephew who lives about 20 minutes from here.
I am sleeping in one of Patsy’s living room recliners for as many nights as I can handle. One of the tasks on my list is observing just how much assistance she is receiving in assisted living. It is 10:45 pm and no one has come in to take off her compression stockings and help her get dressed for bed. Hmmm. She pays an extra $900+ a month for assistance in showering twice a week and getting dressed in the morning and ready for bed at night. But when I arrived today, she did not have compression stockings on as per her doctor’s orders. It might be an enlightening three days.
by Judy Handley | Jul 25, 2024 | 2024 Life Logs |
2024 Life Logs, Day 207: A Little Bit of Everything
Date: Thursday, July 25, 2024
Weather: Partly Cloudy; High Temp 76, Low 62 degrees F
Location: At Home on Lakeview Avenue, Falmouth, MA
This was definitely a day of jumping from one thing to another, just a little bit of everything. Lynne went with me this morning to the bank to deal with some Encore business and she got to meet Christinia. Then we were off to the library where Christina and I were presenting a donation to the Friends of the Library as this year’s Encore charitable donation. Lynne served as our photographer to capture the moment, and then we headed to Heather and Jed’s to make sure Ollie was up and about. I then took Lynne home as she hadn’t eaten breakfast yet. I changed into beach clothes, picked up Ollie and then two other friends and we headed to the beach for swim lessons. I dropped the boys and went back home to get Lynne so we could sit on the beach and visit.
After swim lessons, we went home so Ollie could shower and do his chores for today. He had to unload the dishwasher and clean his aquarium. We went to CVS to buy the things he needed for Scout camp next week, stopped at Stop and Shop to buy some clam chowder for Ollie, and then to my house to have lunch. I spent time outside playing with Shadow, fixed a leak in my garden irrigation system, and before we knew it, it was time to take Ollie home so he could get ready to go to the County Fair with Seton and his family.
Lynne and made up a new recipe for stuffed zucchini for dinner that required tofu crumbles. I have been wanting to make them all summer and finally got the opportunity. The crumbles which are fried with a spicey mixture make a great substitute for ground beef in a stuffed zucchini recipe. By this time, my back was beginning to ache, so while the stuffed zucchini baked, Lynne and I sat down and had a glass of wine. After dinner, I finally packed for tomorrow’s trip to North Carolina and we called it a day.
Tomorrow morning, just before 7 am, Lynne will take me to the bus station for the first leg of my trip to visit with my sister in North Carolina. Car to bus station, bus to Logan airport, plane trip to Charlotte, rent a car, drive north to visit briefly with my nephew Tommy, then drive on to my sister’s apartment in her assisted living facility. That will be my day tomorrow.
by Judy Handley | Jul 24, 2024 | 2024 Life Logs |
2024 Life Logs, Day 206: Lynne Arrived
Date: Wednesday, July 24, 2024
Weather: Mostly Cloudy, Cooler; High Temp 69, Low 67 degrees F
Location: At Home on Lakeview Avenue, Falmouth, MA
It was another cloudy day with a little mist this morning. And it was cooler by just a few degrees but enough that it felt a little chilly at the beach. I had an morning meeting, picked Ollie and friend Teddy up from soccer, and then it was on to swim lessons. Teddy came home with us and I hung out with the kids until about 3:00 so that I would be home when Lynne arrived. Yesterday she drove from Michigan to Nyack, NY, and then on to Cape Cod today. I only get to see her once a year when she is home from New Zealand visiting with family for the summer. So, it is always wonderful to see her. We went for a long walk with Shadow, had leftovers from last night’s dinner, and watch a movie called, “Eating for Tomorrow.” A number of people recommended it, but I think Lynne and I were not as impressed as others. I think that is because we already know and believe what was being presented. We need to move to a plant-based diet to preserve our health and the earth.
by Judy Handley | Jul 23, 2024 | 2024 Life Logs |
2024 Life Logs, Day 205: Swim Lessons, Afternoon with Ollie, Dining-in Group
Date: Tuesday, July 23, 2024
Weather: Rain Overnight, Misty Rain AM, Clearing Late PM; High Temp 74, Low 68 degrees F
Location: At Home on Lakeview Avenue, Falmouth, MA
Early this morning, I headed to Mashpee to buy salmon for tonight’s Dining-in Group dinner at my house tonight. I rushed back, put the salmon in the fridge, and was off to my final PT appointment. I have been seeing a young man named Matt DeBona at the Falmouth Hospital Rehabilitation Cetner since March, first for my back and then for my knee. He was recommended to me by my friends Christina and Warren Brodie, and he was everything they promised and more. I left our last session with a long list of exercises that I need to do routinely. Now, it is up to me to make sure I get this done.
I rushed home to make the marinade for the salmon kebabs I was having for dinner and then took Ollie to his swim lesson. His friends Seton and Teddy were already there.
Soon they were off with their instructor, Molly. She is great with them and in only a few lessons, Ollie’s stamina for swimming long distances has really improved. He said today that swim lessons are so much fun that he hopes to do them again next year. This is from the same child that refused to sign up for swim lessons at the very beginning of the summer.
After lessons, I dropped Ollie at home and went to my house to get the salmon cut into cubes and in the marinade and to make sure I had everything else ready for tonight. I grabbed lunch for me and Ollie and headed to the Goldstones. We had lunch and then did some household chores that took the better part of the afternoon. Jonah had walked downtown to get a haircut, so he had Steve’s Pizza for lunch. Jed was going to pick up Jonah to take him to a soccer game, and I really needed to get to my house to assemble the kebabs and do all the other last minute prep for dinner. That left Ollie alone for a while, but just before the arrival of my friends at 5:30, I took Shadow over to be with Ollie as he had agreed to dog sit for me tonight. I assumed that Heather would be home from work soon, but when I went to pick Shadow up tonight, I learned that Heather had a work function and still wasn’t home. She had come home for about an hour before going back to work, so Ollie wasn’t alone all evening until Jed and Jonah returned from soccer. Next time, I’ll check ahead.
The sun came out just about the time the dinner group arrived, so we had a lovely time outside visiting before coming inside for dinner. The Brodie’s brought the appetizer, the Baranowski’s a yummy napa cabbage warm salad,
the Woodin’s brought corn on the cob that was the best I’ve had this summer, and the grilled salmon kebabs and California Roll rice dish I made last night both turned out great. Then to top it off, Midge Frieswyk made an absolutely delicious cake from a recipe by Ottolenghi.
Now on to tomorrow. I have an early morning meeting, then take Ollie, Seton, and Teddy to swim lessons, and later tomorrow afternoon my friend Lynne arrives. So I had better get some rest!
by Judy Handley | Jul 22, 2024 | 2024 Life Logs |
2024 Life Logs, Day 204: Last Night’s Full Moon
Date: Monday, July 22, 2024
Weather: Mostly Sunny; High Temp 79, Low 69 degrees F
Location: At Home on Lakeview Avenue, Falmouth, MA
Last night after I sent my log, Shadow and I went outside for his bedtime bathroom break. I had no idea it was a full moon night, but there was that beautiful full moon lighting up the nighttime world. If I didn’t have Shadow, I would never be going outside for a walk at 11 pm and I would miss seeing the beauty of the night. Thank you, Shadow.
This was my activity list for today:
• Go to post surgeries appointment with my primary care doctor.
• Go to the beach to pick Ollie up after swim class.
• Get lunch for Ollie and me.
• Check the to do list for Jonah and Ollie for today.
• Be on ‘watch’ while Ollie mowed the neighbor’s yard with his lawn tractor and his back yard with the push mower.
• Go over the list of things to bring to Scout camp with Ollie and make a list of things we need to buy..
• Drive to Mashpee to buy salmon for tomorrow night’s Dining-in group gathering at my house. (Unfortunately, I have to return tomorrow morning as they did not have enough of the salmon I wanted.)
• Come home and play outside with Shadow and do a little more yard work.
• Get the outside furniture set for tomorrow night’s dinner.
• Make the rice dish that does with the salmon kebabs for tomorrow evening.
• Catch up on the news of the day.
• Write this log.
• Collapse
106 Days . . . Go, Kamala!
by Judy Handley | Jul 21, 2024 | 2024 Life Logs |
2024 Life Logs, Day 203: Joe Biden Passes the Torch
Date: Sunday, July 21, 2024
Weather: Early AM Rain, Then Sunshine; High Temp 78, Low 66 degrees F
Location: At Home on Lakeview Avenue, Falmouth, MA
It has been almost a month since the disastrous (on both side) Presidential debate on June 27. In the meantime, we have had a building coalition of Democrats who have been very vocal in their thinking that Biden should exit the race. We have had an attempted assassination on the life of former President Trump. And we survived the Republication National Convention. And this afternoon, President Biden made the announcement that he is ending his bid for another term in office and passing the torch to Vice President Kamala Harris. The only reaction I have heard from Biden’s opponent was a statement that Joe Biden is the worst president in US history. I just want to say that the records show that Joe Biden’s three and a half years as President have been very successful, maybe the most successful Presidency since FDR. History will be the final judge of that. But I just want to say that I love Joe Biden for the more than 50 years of his life that he devoted this county. And for the fact that after that many years living as a politician that he is still a man of principles. For the past few weeks, I have sounded like a broken record. I was convinced that Biden was our only chance at beating Trump, not a man of principles. After Trump beat Hillary, I have doubted that this country is ready to elect a woman as President. But Joe Biden chose Kamala Harris as Vice President because he felt she was ready to step into the Presidency if something happened to him. He has now endorsed her. And I am with her all the way. I never doubted her. I only doubted the readiness of this country to accept her. I surely hope my doubts are unfounded because the stakes have never been higher. And so far, from the way people have responded to Biden’s endorsement of Harris today, it looks like a lot of people are very excited about Harris for President. Go, Kamala! And thank you, Joe Biden, for always putting your country first.
