by Judy Handley | Jun 7, 2024 | 2024 Life Logs |
2024 Life Logs, Day 159: Coco and Jo in Boston, Indian Dinner with the Goldstones
Date: Friday, June 7, 2024
Weather: Beautiful Day; Temp 73, Low 59 degrees F
Location: At Home on Lakeview Avenue, Falmouth, MA
The time with Justin and family is passing by way too quickly. We have only two days left before they leave at 4 am on Monday morning. Jo and Coco will return from Boston tomorrow afternoon, but then Sam and Jed have to leave by 3 pm to head almost 2 hours north for a soccer tournament game from 5 to 7 pm. And if Sam’s team wins tomorrow night’s game, he and Jed will have to do a repeat performance on Sunday afternoon and evening. If they win, maybe we can have brunch on Sunday morning so the whole family can be together one more time. But we made the most of our time this evening by ordering Indian food from the Golden Swan and eating here in the front yard. After dinner, Sam took Ollie, Jonah, and Ziggy to the beach to play with a frisbee but returned sooner than expected because Sam got a cut on his heel by stepping on a sharp piece of metal. After he got that cleaned up, we all sat together around the fire pit.
We missed Jo and Coco, but Jo kept sending photos of Coco and her friend Lily as they got ready for the Melanie Martinez concert tonight.
and more photos and videos of the girls at the concert. Jo said Coco was so excited she could hardly contain herself. I will look forward to hearing more about this from Coco when she returns tomorrow.
by Judy Handley | Jun 6, 2024 | 2024 Life Logs |
2024 Life Logs, Day 158: Coco and Jo Off to Boston
Date: Thursday, June 6, 2024
Weather: Rainy Day; Temp 68, Low 63 degrees F
Location: At Home on Lakeview Avenue, Falmouth, MA
We have had beautiful weather the whole time JJZ&C have been here, but today it rained all day, ending in a foggy evening. I had PT this morning. Then in the early afternoon, Jo and Coco were off to Boston. Coco’s Christmas present last year was a ticket to a Melanie Martinez concert at TD Gardens. Ziggy asked her why she was so excited. He said, “It’s not Christmas, you know.” She replied that is Christmas for her. Justin drove them to the Quincy Adams T station south of Boston and they took the T to the Medford-Tufts stop which is a short walk from the Airbnb they are renting. Coco’s friend, Lily, and her mother were flying in from Missouri to meet them. Tomorrow they will tour Boston and then go to the concert. Then on Saturday, they will take the T back to Quincy Adams to be picked up.
Ziggy and I watched a Star Wars movie in the afternoon, followed by a taco dinner. Then Justin and I watched Dune 1. I asked him if he wanted to watch Dune 2 with me, but since he had never seen the first one, this will be a two night affair. Ziggy has zero interest in watching what he deems to be a long, boring movie. However, Justin and I really enjoyed it. But the biggest excitement here at home today was the snapping turtle in the driveway. Lots of snappers out and about these days.
by Judy Handley | Jun 5, 2024 | 2024 Life Logs |
2024 Life Logs, Day 157: Trip to Hyannis, Fabulous Dinner at the Goldstones
Date: Wednesday, June 5, 2024
Weather: Mostly Sunny; Temp 68, Low 63 degrees F
Location: At Home on Lakeview Avenue, Falmouth, MA
The trip to Hyannis was necessary because I had my three-week post op appointment with my knee surgeon, Dr. Timothy Kinkead. I got good reports all around. The x-rays looked good, the bandage was removed from my incision, and it looks good. Next week I can stop wearing the compression stockings and stop taking the Aspirin as a blood thinner. Dr. Kinkead was very happy with my progress to date and said I can drive if I can easily push on the brake pedal. He saw no reason that I shouldn’t be able to do that now. He said that I should spend a day going in and out of the car and just practicing pushing on the brake. Once I do that and feel comfortable with it, I’ll drive a short distance and see how it goes. I don’t have another appointment with Dr. Kinkead until May of next year and that is just to check in and see how things are going. All good.
While I was at Cape Cod Orthopedics, JJZ&C walked down Main Street in Hyannis, mostly window shopping but buying a pair of Carhartt pants for Ziggy at the Army surplus store. Then it was on to the Cape Cod Mall for lunch at 5 Guys. Justin had a 3 pm Zoom meeting, so he headed to Barnes & Nobles and the rest of us followed soon. He sat in the coffee shop for his meeting while Ziggy, Coco, and Jo just enjoyed looking through all the books. They do not have a book store in western Puerto Rico, so this was a special treat. Then after Justin’s meeting, he and I took off to run some shopping errands in Hyannis while Jo, Ziggy, and Coco walked through the mall. The bookstore was definitely the highlight of their afternoon, but the successful visit with Dr. Kinkead was my highlight.
We didn’t get home until almost 6 pm, so we all took a little rest before heading to Heather and Jed’s for dinner. While I was icing my leg, Mark’s brother Steve called from Florida. I hadn’t heard from Steve for about two years, so we had a wonderful conversation, catching up on all the Handley news. Then it was on to H & J’s. Sam was not home tonight as he had soccer practice in Hyannis, but the rest of us enjoyed a meal of seared ahi tuna served with asparagus and arugula, quinoa, pumpkin seed, and dried cranberry salad
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Everything was delicious. So, another big thank you to Heather and Jed.
by Judy Handley | Jun 4, 2024 | 2024 Life Logs |
2024 Life Logs, Day 156: Pancakes, PT, and Pizza
Date: Tuesday, June 4, 2024
Weather: Mostly Sunny; Temp 67, Low 57 degrees F
Location: At Home on Lakeview Avenue, Falmouth, MA
Pancakes, PT, and pizza all in one day. I almost never eat pancakes and pizza, but I did it today and survived just fine. This morning, I made Tassajara whole wheat pancakes for Ziggy and Coco and decided I just had to try them. These were a staple in our house as Heather and Justin were growing up, so it was like a trip down memory lane. This afternoon Jo took me to PT. Things are moving along. I now have 125 degrees of knee flection and will find out from my knee surgeon tomorrow how he thinks I am doing.
In the late afternoon, we headed over to Heather and Jed’s. H & J were going out tonight to a Farming Falmouth affair, so we offered to come over and spend the evening with the boys. We ordered Moto Pizza and enjoyed the pizza and an evening of fun. For a while we just sat around talking and then the kids (that includes Justin) went down to the basement to play ping pong and foosball. So great to be with all five grandkids!
by Judy Handley | Jun 3, 2024 | 2024 Life Logs |
2024 Life Logs, Day 155: Gardening Day with JJZ&C
Date: Monday, June 3, 2024
Weather: Overcast AM, Mostly Sunny PM; Temp 78, Low 56 degrees F
Location: At Home on Lakeview Avenue, Falmouth, MA
My Christmas present from JJZ&C was a day of gardening work and today was that day. We got most of the plants that I started from seed planted, fixed the garden fencing, got two of the four raised beds in the garden ready to plant, dug up much of the prickly weed that seems to take over in the summer and accomplished many other miscellaneous jobs. What a wonderful Christmas gift! We got lobster rolls for lunch from Jack in the Beanstalk for those of us who love lobster. Otherwise, it was just a low-key day. Late afternoon we made two strawberry rhubarb pies, one with a regular crust and the other with a grain-free crust for Jo. Coco took a walk downtown, Ziggy went over to be with Jonah and Sam after school, and Jo, Justin, and I worked together to fix dinner. We ate dinner outside, but when the sun goes down, it does feel a bit cool outside. So, we came back inside to have dessert. It was the first time I have ever made a strawberry rhubarb pie with no granulated sugar. I substituted maple syrup and that worked great.
by Judy Handley | Jun 2, 2024 | 2024 Life Logs |
2024 Life Logs, Day 154: A Walk About Town and a Cookout at the Goldstones
Date: Sunday, June 2, 2024
Weather: Another Beautiful Day; Temp 73, Low 61 degrees F
Location: At Home on Lakeview Avenue, Falmouth, MA
It was another lovely day with family. In the early afternoon, JJZ&C went for a walk about town with me and my Shadow. We walked to the far end of town and then back home.
It was probably about a mile and a half, the longest walk I’ve been on since my knee surgery, and it was fine. I still get tired easily, but otherwise the healing process is moving along. I see my surgeon for my post-op check up on Wednesday. I’m anxious to find out how he thinks I am doing.
Mid-afternoon, Heather invited all of us to come over. We were going there for dinner, but she thought it would be nice to come early and just hang out together. I had planned a repeat of the marinated meat and veggie dinner we had on Memorial Day and started marinating the chicken and steak tips yesterday. So I sent the meat and lettuce from the garden with Justin and gang and I stayed home to prep the veggies. It takes a lot of food to feed the 10 of us! When I was ready, Justin came to pick me up. Jed did the grilling. Thank you, Jed!
And Heather made the salad and did all of the other preparation. It was a great dinner that all but Jonah enjoyed. He got braces on Friday and is having a hard time eating anything but mac and cheese and yogurt!
and more photos and videos of the girls at the concert. Jo said Coco was so excited she could hardly contain herself. I will look forward to hearing more about this from Coco when she returns tomorrow.
