2019 Life Logs, Day 343: The Sky is Falling
Date: Monday, December 9, 2019
Weather: Rainy Day; High 61, Low 51 degrees F
Location: At Home in The Cottage, East Falmouth, MA

During the evening a warm wind has been blowing and at times the rain has come down in buckets. Earlier it literally felt like the sky is falling. Shadow has never minded going out in the rain and he loves snow, but tonight I have had to literally carry him outside. I guess blustery weather is not his thing. And neither is it mine. We get more rain tomorrow and then the temperature plummets again and we are supposed to get snow on Wednesday morning.

I started my day at a pilates class at the gym and when I got home, Karen Baranowski texted me from next door to ask if she could come over to get out of the cold. She was there to oversee the installation of new Anderson outside doors, but in doing so, she discovered that the heat was not working. So she had to call the heating and air conditioning people to come take care of that. She came over and we had tea and then I invited her to stay for lunch. In the afternoon, I worked on ordering Christmas for Justin, Jo, and the Goldpebbles. And then it was time to go to Jonah’s band concert. Jonah is tiny, but mighty. He is aggressive on the soccer field and in music. He plays the trombone and bass guitar. Both instruments are huge. Tonight he was playing trombone with the 5th grade band and then electric bass guitar with the 5th and 6th grade jazz band. He had to take not only his instruments, but also his amp for tonight’s concert, so Heather pitched in help carry. And he looked so handsome in a white shirt and tie. I had hoped to get good photos of him with his electric bass guitar (which is bright red), but he was sitting behind other students and it just wasn’t possible. But you can always find Jonah by looking for his hair, so I did and I zoomed in and get some photos of his facial expressions as he played. You could hear the bass as the jazz band played and he sounded great. I was able to get some video that I think he will be excited to hear.

Tomorrow is Early Release Day and I am taking the Goldpebbles to an Edible Insects program at the public library. There will be some interested snacks, including sour cream and onion crickets and Mexican spice mealworms. Yuck! I’m with Jonah on this one. No way am I trying these things! But I’ll try to be open minded and give things a fair try. But regardless, it should be fun on a rainy afternoon.

2019 Life Logs, Day 342:  Christmas Parade and Jed’s Birthday
Date:  Sunday, December 8, 2019
Weather:  Sunny and Cold; High 45, Low 39 degrees F
Location:  At Home in The Cottage, East Falmouth, MA

The weather gods were kind to us today. 

Contrary to the forecast, the high temperature climbed out 30’s, the sun shone brightly all through the parade, and there was very little wind.   All of these things made for great weather for the Christmas Parade.  After our freezing experience downtown last night for the lighting of the town Christmas tree, the Goldstones and I were delighted with the weather. Karen Baranowski and I went to watch the parade as Peter was riding on the Newcomers float, Heather and Jonah were marching with the Falmouth Soccer Club, Jed and Ollie were marching with the Cub Scouts, and Sam was marching with the Lawrence Middle School Band playing snare drum.  I know I’m just a bit biased, but I must say that the middle school band sounded great, especially the drummers!  As always, there were Clydesdale horses, old and new fire engines, the Aleppo Shrine clowns, various bands, representatives from many local clubs and activities, some on floats and some just marching in the parade, and of course, Santa Claus.  I had thought about taking Shadow with me to the parade, but then I realized that he is just too young and untrained to be in a crowd of people of very loud noises.  Good choice because it really was loud, especially the fire engines.  I think I would have had a very frightened little puppy.  I’ll slowly introduce him to the community sights and sounds and then maybe he can go with me next year.

After the parade, I hurried home to spend time with Shadow before taking him with me to Heather and Jed’s for a pizza party to celebrate Jed’s birthday.  When we arrived, the boys really enjoyed playing outside with Shadow and then everyone came in to get showers to get ready for the school week.  Heather and Jed were out front decorating with Christmas lights.  Heather came in to prepare dinner.  And once all the boys were showered.  Jed opened his presents and the boys each opened a present for me while the pizzas were baking.  They all needed new pajamas, so I got holiday Hannah Anderson pajamas for Ollie and Jonah and a pair of green camping pajamas for Sam.  Rather than wait until Christmas to give them to them, I thought they should have them now to enjoy during the holiday season.  They all immediately donned their new apparel and let me take photos of them in front of their beautiful Christmas tree.  Then we ate pizza and birthday cake.  During dinner, Ollie announced that he lost a loose front tooth today during the parade.  Just another indication of how fast the Goldpebbles are growing up.  It was a nice evening together celebrating Jed’s birthday.  Happy Birthday, Jed!

2019 Life Logs, Day 341:  O Christmas Tree
Date:  Saturday, December 7, 2019
Weather:  Sunny and Cold; High 46, Low 21 degrees F
Location:  At Home in The Cottage, East Falmouth, MA

O Christmas Tree, O Christmas Tree . . . Today was Christmas tree day.  Shadow and I got our tree this morning and when I got it out of the car, Shadow immediately attacked it.  But in the house, it is sitting up on a box, out of the reach of puppy attacks.  I have the lights and lace trim on it, but not the ornaments.  That will happen tomorrow.  I spent time talking on the phone with Justin and then finalizing the purchase of gifts for Ziggy and Coco.  Tomorrow I hope to get Justin and Jo’s presents ordered so that I don’t have to worry about them not getting there on time.  This evening I went over to Heather and Jed’s to go with them for the 7 pm lighting of the town Christmas tree on the Green. 

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They got their tree today as well and when I arrived it was fully decorated and beautiful.  It was cold on the Green tonight. The temp was in the 30’s but due to humidity, it felt like 21 degrees F.  Brrrrr.  But the boys enjoyed listening to the town band play Christmas songs.  Sam and Jonah found friends to hang out with, but Ollie was wide-eyed with Christmas amazement and was not going to stop watching the band until the end.  Jonah left and then returned to listen to White Christmas with Heather.  She loves the song and so does he, so they hugged and sang together.  When we arrived, Santa walked by walked by where we were standing and again Ollie’s eyes got as big as saucers.  Before we left the Green, even though he was freezing, Ollie walked to see his favorite decoration on the Green, Santa and his reindeer, with Rudolph leading the pack.  Tomorrow is the Christmas Parade and it is going to be a cold one.  All of the Goldstones are in the parade this year, so I am going with Karen Baranowski as Peter is also in the parade.

2019 Life Logs, Day 340: Shopping and Laundry
Date: Friday, December 6, 2019
Weather: Cloudy, Wind Late; High 50, Low 25 degrees F
Location: At Home in The Cottage, East Falmouth, MA

Yesterday was a do-nothing day and today was the opposite. I needed to go off Cape to do some shopping and it ended up twice as long as I had estimated. Sam needs blue sweatpants and a bright red sweatshirt to wear in Sunday’s Holiday Parade. I thought I could be helpful by picking those items up while I was shopping for other things. And I thought it would be an easy task. Not so. I first went to Target and was sure they would the items, but they had nothing. TJ Max, JC Penny’s, and the LL Bean Outlet also had nothing. Old Navy had something that might work in a pinch, but the red was maroon and the pants were a light blue, not dark blue. I stopped at Marshall’s in Mashpee on my way home, and they did have something that will work. By the time I got to Mashpee I was getting worried about Shadow, so I quickly bought what they had at Marshall’s and headed home. The information I have been reading about puppies all says that you should not leave a puppy in a crate for more than hour at a time. If you are going to be gone longer than that, the puppy should be in an exercise pen. So today I left him in the ex pen. He seemed fine when I got home, but like Wednesday when I was gone for four hours, the stress seems to give him tummy problems. Thankfully he bounces back quickly. After lunch, Shadow and I headed to Heather and Jed’s to do some laundry and we stayed there until Sam got home so he could try on the clothes I had bought for him. I wanted to make sure he is all set for the parade. The red top I got for him was not a sweatshirt, but he loved it. And the blue sweatpants had Puma written repeated in white like a stripe up the sides, but he loved the way they fit and thought they would be perfect. I just hope both will be warm enough with a few layers underneath as he will be marching with the band for over two hours.
Then tonight while Shadow sat beside me and played with his chewy toys, I worked on grandkid Christmas shopping online. Justin sent the lists for Coco and Ziggy this evening, and it is definitely time to have things sent to Puerto Rico.

We have had days hovering around 50 degrees this week, but tonight a northeast wind is blowing in cold weather. If the forecast is correct, we won’t get out of the 30’s during the day this weekend. Tomorrow is Christmas tree day. Shadow and I will head to Mashpee early to get our tree and Heather and family will be getting their tree tomorrow as well. Tomorrow evening we will all have dinner together and then go downtown for the lighting of the town Christmas tree on the Green. ‘Tis the season.

Updates: Friend Lynne Kirwin arrived safely in New Zealand last weekend. She is settling in and bought a car today. Helaine Kanegsberg called this afternoon to report that the physical therapist was pleased with Alan’s knee replacement recovery. He had his second knee replaced about three weeks ago and things have not gone as smoothly as the first replacement. But it looks like he is now on the right path. My ‘biking around the world’ friends, Linda and Mike Stuart flew to Naples, Florida this week. They will be there through January and I hope to fly down for a couple of days mid-January to visit. It has been much too long since we have seen each other. And finally, Shadow had a ‘no potty in the house’ day. Hurray! But I just noticed that while I have been writing, he has been chewing on the edge of the carpet. So tomorrow will also be ‘remove the area rugs’ day. It is just too hard to watch him every moment, so puppy-proofing seems the way to go.

2019 Life Logs, Day 339: Do Nothing Day
Date: Thursday, December 5, 2019
Weather: Sunny; High 48, Low 27 degrees F
Location: At Home in The Cottage, East Falmouth, MA

I did it. I managed to have a day where I really did almost nothing. And I enjoyed it. Part of this do nothing day was imposed by the puppy. I think leaving Shadow for so many hours yesterday really stressed him and this morning he wouldn’t eat and just could not wake up. He slept all morning and then mid-afternoon he woke up and ate a little bit. I took him for short walks and spent a lot of time just letting him sleep beside me, and finally this evening he perked up, ate a normal dinner, and played all evening. I realize now that he is just too young to leave in crate for so many hours. The one thing I did do today was read more about the best ways of dealing with puppies and I learned that if you are going to leave a puppy the age of Shadow for more than hour they need to be in an exercise pen with water available, not in a small crate. I have the ex pen and will start using that for longer confinement periods. Live and learn. And thankfully puppies are very forgiving. Tomorrow is another day free of meetings or appointments, so I can spend more time with Shadow. Everyone keeps reminding me that I call him a her, but he is a he. I have always had female dogs, so this is quite an adjustment for me to think of a dog as a he. Bear with me. Eventually I’ll get it.

2019 Life Logs, Day 338: Tour of the Neil Armstrong Research Vessel
Date: Wednesday, December 4, 2019
Weather: High 50, Low 30 degrees F
Location: At Home in The Cottage, East Falmouth, MA

Poor Shadow. I left home at 9:15 am with him in his crate and didn’t return until 1:30 pm. That’s the longest I have left him in his crate, but he seemed to do just fine. And I thoroughly enjoyed my Newcomers Teacher Group field trip to Woods Hole to tour the Neil Armstrong. Then at 2:45 pm, I had to take off with Shadow and her crate and take her to Heather’s to leave her alone for another hour and a half while I took Ollie to his violin lesson and returned home with Ollie, Sam, Jonah, and Jonah’s friend Kaiden. All had after-school band practice. By the time we got home, Shadow was ready to run wild. And she did. I took her outside to play in the snow with Ollie for a bit, but then I had to take her in so I could fix dinner. Jonah and Kaiden were freezing from playing out in the snow while waiting for Ollie to finish his lesson, so they stayed inside. Once Shadow and I came in, they played with him for a bit while I got dinner together. Sam had homework, but he played with Shadow during breaks. He is amazingly good with the puppy and can settle him down better than any of us. It takes a village.

The tour of the Neil Armstrong was amazing. This research vessel was launched in 2015. As most US research vessels, it is owned by the US Navy but this one is operated by Woods Hole Oceanographic. It is 270+ feet long, 50 feet wide, and supports 20 crew members and 24 scientists. And it costs approximately $45,000 a day to operate. We toured the vessel from bottom to top. The engine room was amazing and something like five flights above, we spent time on the bridge enjoying the views of Woods Hole and being amazed by the modern navigation systems, all computerized with steering by joy sticks and tiny little wheels (about 4 inches wide) that control rudder steering. Captain Ahab would be amazed.

2019 Life Logs, Day 337: Snow, Snow, Snow
Date: Tuesday, December 3, 2019
Weather: Snowy Day; High 44, Low 28 degrees F
Location: At Home in The Cottage, East Falmouth, MA

What a very busy day, but I took time out to romp in the first real snow of the year with Shadow. The world outside was covered in white this morning and it was beautiful. Shadow loves the snow and begs to stay outside even when he is shivering.

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We took one long walk, walked down to the dock where I think he was contemplating jumping into the water, and he spent a lot of time attacking very low branches laden with snow. The contrast of white snow on his black coat is beautiful.

I did call the trainer today and he laughed when I explained the problem. He said it is just that the honeymoon is over. Today was a better day, however, and the trainer suggested I make an appointment for him to meet Shadow in January and he said that in the meantime I might want to enroll him in any local classes where he can socialize with other puppies.

This morning I had a 9 am bone density scan, a 10 to 11:30 am For Your Health seminar, and a 1:45 pm annual appointment with my gynecologist. I played outside with Shadow before leaving home at 8:30 am, returned home after the seminar to have lunch and go for a long walk with him, and then spent the evening at home. This evening I opened the spreadsheet I had done over the weekend for the Newcomers Holiday Luncheon to make some updates and found that I had not saved many of the changes I had made. Thankfully, I had printed it out, so I spent this evening doing the spreadsheet again. Ugh! I really had been careful to save it and had it set on autosave, so I really don’t know what happened. But it was easier to rebuild than to spend time figuring out where the saved versions went. Tomorrow is another busy, busy day, so I am already looking forward to spending the day at home with Shadow on Thursday.

2019 Life Logs, Day 336: Puppy Challenges
Date: Monday, December 2, 2019
Weather: Rain and Wind; High 45, Low 34 degrees F
Location: At Home in The Cottage, East Falmouth, MA

Oh, no. There are strains on the love affair between Shadow and me. Puppies being puppies need to be trained not to nip and bite in play, not to bark and growl, not to go potty in the house, and on and on. It is a lot to ask of a little puppy and Shadow was doing great, but the past two days have been very challenging. All of a sudden he has a couple of periods each day when he has more energy than either of us knows what to do with. I have the name of a trainer given to me by the breeder, so I think I’ll make a call tomorrow. And I’ll keep reading. But the holiday season is upon us and the calendar is overflowing with activities. Hopefully we’ll survive.

I spent the morning cleaning house and rearranging things to make room for a Christmas tree that I will purchase on Friday. The tree will be placed on a small table, out of reach of the puppy so he won’t be tempted to tear it down. Then I made a trip into town to go to the gym and run a few errands. And then I went to play mah jongg. Our coach was not able to come tonight, but we decided to meet anyway to see just how much we have learned. We missed having Jackie’s guidance, but we all felt good that we were able to play without coaching. The four of us in the class all agree that we need more coaching, but we have learned a lot in five weeks. We have two more lessons and then we are on our own. I think the four of us will continue to meet one evening a week to practice what we have learned. I have never been much of a game player, but I am enjoying the challenges of mah jongg and will continue to play.

2019 Life Logs, Day 335:  A Little Work, A Little Play
Date:  Sunday, December 1, 2019
Weather:  Overcast, Icy Rain; High 45, Low 34 degrees F
Location:  At Home in The Cottage, East Falmouth, MA

Yikes!  I can’t believe it is December 1^st . . .  only 31 days until January 1, 2020.  I have obviously been sticking my head in the sand, refusing to believe that the holiday season and the cold weather of winter are upon us.  But the tiny little balls of ice falling from the sky and landing on the front stoop when I took Shadow out after dinner brought home the fact that winter is coming whether or not I want to acknowledge it.  And flipping the calendar to final month of the year tells me the holidays are upon us.  But I spent my day ignoring that.  I planted garlic, played with Shadow, spent a couple of hours doing a spreadsheet for the Newcomers Holiday Luncheon, and cooked dinner.  So a little work, a little play, and another day vanished right before my eyes.  Somehow as I get older and move a bit slower, time goes by much faster.

2019 Life Logs, Day 334: One Tired Little Puppy
Date: Saturday, November 30, 2019
Weather: Sunny; High 43, Low 23 degrees F
Location: At Home in The Cottage, East Falmouth, MA

I wrote last night about how much fun Heather, Sam, Jonah, Ollie, and I had on our impromptu walk to the bogs with Shadow. But that fun came at a price for Shadow. He hardly ate any dinner last night, slept all evening, got up this morning just long enough to eat a little, and then went back to sleep until early afternoon. By this time, he had a little more energy and ate most of his lunch. And he had plenty of energy when I took him outside, so I decided that I could take him with me to see the Goldstones play soccer in a community game. This means everyone can play, parents and children. The problem was that Shadow was quite insistent that he should be able to play as well. There was no way I was going to be able to hold him back, so I let him say hello to the boys and then we left. I took him home and then went back into town to do some shopping and came home to do more cooking. That was about it for my day. I did do some research into how much exercise a puppy should get and it is only 5 minutes for each month of age twice a day until the pup is fully grown. Shadow is two and half months old so should only get 12-15 minutes of moderate exercise twice a day. He has been walking about a half mile with me each day, but the wild run on the bogs yesterday was just too much for him. He loved it and certainly has the energy to do it, but evidently too much exercise while a puppy is growing can cause joint and bone problems when they are older. So, hard as it will be for the Goldpebbles, we’ll have to slow down and go by the guidelines from now on.