2018 Life Logs, Day 129—Busy Day
Date: Wednesday, May 9, 2018
Weather: Mostly Sunny; High 66, Low 47 degrees
Location: At Home in the Cottage, East Falmouth, MA

What a busy day! Started my day by stopping by Heather’s to change laundry from washer to dryer and put in another load as part of my role as laundry lady for her this week. I then went to the gym for my 9:15 am hour-long class. Then it was to the grocery store to pick up a couple of things I forgot yesterday and to Walmart to pick up a couple of things. Then it was back to Heather’s to do another laundry switch and fold the clothes that were dry. When I arrived, Heather was standing outside the front door looking rather lost. She was due at the elementary school in ten minutes to set up for the Teacher Appreciation Luncheon. She had made a huge pot of quinoa salad and then discovered it was too heavy for her to carry. So she had come out to see if there were any neighbors that could help her. I think she was looking lost because she is just not used to having to depend on others for help in carrying things. So my timing was perfect. I took her to the school and carried the pot inside to a cart. Then I went back to her house to continue the laundry thing. It was after 12 noon when I got home. I had only enough time to shower and fix lunch before I returned to the school to help with clean-up after the luncheon. I came home to do a few things mid-afternoon, but then I returned to pick the boys up after school and stayed at Heather’s until time for Jonah’s 6 pm 3rd grade chorus concert. There was singing, xylophone playing, and recorder playing. All 3rd graders get the experience of learning all those skills. Their teacher, Mr. Charles, is a young, dedicated educator that is very enthusiastic about making sure that all children to learn the basics of rhythm. It is heart-warming to watch him with these kids.

Tomorrow is going to be another day. I have a Newcomers breakfast/meeting in the morning, some things to do in Woods Hole after that, and after that I am then meeting my former neighbor from The Studio at her storage unit to buy a kayak from her. Then I’m supposed to go to the gym for a 5 pm class if I still have any energy left! We have had a few days of beautiful spring weather, but the upcoming weekend does not look good. Rain all day Saturday with a 10 degree drop in the temperature and then a cloudy Sunday. I was hoping to get the raised bed kits I bought at Home Depot assembled on Saturday, but it looks like I need to do that on Friday. If I get that done, maybe I’ll just sit inside and read a good book all day on Saturday. I doubt that happens, but I do feel the need a day of do-nothing day.

2018 Life Logs, Day 128—Visit to an Orthopedic Surgeon
Date: Tuesday, May 8, 2018
Weather: Mostly Sunny; High 65, Low 45 degrees
Location: At Home in the Cottage, East Falmouth, MA

I have put off today’s visit to an orthopedic surgeon to assess the state of my left knee for almost 10 years. So, needless to say, it was long overdue. The doctor confirmed what I already knew. There is absolutely no cartilage remaining in my left knee, so it is ‘bone on bone’. When the doctor walked in the room to meet me for the first time, he immediately said he had bad news. He had the results of the x-rays that had been taken when I first arrived for today’s appointment and after the niceties of meeting and greeting, he went into detail with the bad news. He first said that on the arthritis scale of 1 to 10, my knee is at an 11. He explained that I am obviously ‘an adaptor’ and must have a very high pain threshold. After asking many questions about my normal activities, he then outlined my two options. Both include a knee replacement, but that can happen sooner or later with no further damage to my knee. The ‘when’ of the surgery all depends on what I can tolerate in terms of pain and still keep up an active life. When my level of activity is further affected, then it is time for the surgery. The doctor spent a great deal of time with me, answered all my questions, and thoroughly outlined my two options. When I made it clear that I am just not ready for the surgery right now, he agreed and suggested cortisone shots every 3 months to control inflammation in the knee, a brace that I should wear when walking and standing for periods of time, and a few physical therapy sessions to teach me what I should and should not be doing on that knee. I agreed to all three. I reluctantly got the cortisone shot in the knee today, will receive the brace in about two weeks, and will start the PT next Wednesday. As doctors go, I really liked this one. I truly appreciated his thoroughness and the amount of time he took with me. I feel like I now have someone I can trust to keep watch over my knee situation and help me make the decision when it becomes apparent that I really need to have the surgery. When I eventually got home at the end of the day, I was greeted by Shirley Wiedemann, the 92 year-old woman who owns the home I am renting. She and her sister returned from their other home today and will spend the next month or so here. Shirley is mentally sharp as a tack and doesn’t look like she is 92, but her left knee is a major problem for her. She has to use a walker to get around and when we talked about what I had been doing this afternoon, her wise recommendation was that I should not wait too long to get the surgery done or I could end up like her. I will remember that advice.

Heather continues to recover quickly from her hernia surgery. I stopped in twice today to check on her and to do laundry. She can negotiate steps, but there is no need for her to be going down to the basement to do laundry for another few days. So, as I drove into town to go to the grocery store, I stopped to see Heather and put a laundry load in. This also gave us a chance to walk down to the garden to assess progress. Everything we have planted is coming up and is looking good at this point. Now it is time to plant a few more weather hearty seeds. We picked out the seed packets to be planted next and I will do that sometime this week. Then, at the end of the day when I returned from Hyannis, I stopped in again, put the clothes from the washer into the dryer, and started a new load. I’ll continue this little laundry dance over the next few days. Tomorrow Heather has to set-up and clean-up after a Teacher Appreciation Luncheon and then starting at 3 pm, she has to be at the school to distribute packets to parents who bought things during a recent fundraiser. Then at 6 pm, she has to be at the school for Jonah’s 3rd grade chorus concert. Heather swears she feels up to doing all this, but I did get her to relent to let me come help with luncheon clean-up. Hopefully that will speed things up enough that she will have time for a short nap. Then on Thursday, she is back to work full-time. And she is still planning to continue with plans to attend a two-night camping outing with Jonah’s Scout troop this weekend. This includes a day of biking on Saturday. Sure hope this all works out for her as this was her request for Mother’s Day.

My day tomorrow includes going to a class at the gym at 9:15 am, doing Teacher Appreciation Luncheon clean-up at 1 pm, and going to Jonah’s concert at 6 pm. In between all of that, I hope to start assembling the garden raised beds I bought today while in Hyannis. I had a house warming Home Depot gift certificate from Tom and Detta Porat and this morning I got an early Mother’s Day Home Depot gift certificate from Heather, Jed, and boys. So I bought out all of the 8-foot raised beds available at the Hyannis Home Depot. The area in front of the house where I plan to locate these raised beds is covered with a mixture of grass and moss with a sand base. I will remove the grass and moss, put in the raised beds, fill them with organic garden soil, and hope something will grow.

The activity level in my life just seems to keep on going. I desperately need to take a day off focus on paperwork. I have to contact all of my accounts to make an official address change and I’m sure that is going to cause all sorts of stress. Because of that, I have been putting off the contacts, but the time has come. So hopefully on Thursday or Friday, I will stop all projects and do that necessary ‘paperwork’. In between all of these jobs, I will make sure to enjoy the lovely spring weather that has finally arrived.

2018 Life Logs, Day 127—Heather’s Hernia Surgery
Date: Monday, May 7, 2018
Weather: Partly Sunny; High 59, Low 44 degrees F
Location: At Home in the Cottage, East Falmouth, MA

Hurray! Hurray! Heather’s hernia surgery was a great success. It started right on time and she was out of the operating room and wide awake in less than hour. The surgeon went in and repaired with what he told Heather are permanent stitches. Whatever the stitches are made of, they will evidently be with her for the rest of her life. She was in the OR by 8:30 am and we were headed home by 10:30. She is doing great and is able to move about normally, just slowly and carefully. I stayed with her until 7:30 pm when Jed got home. She will stay home tomorrow and promises to rest and will not return to work until Thursday. Wednesday is actually a personal day for her as she will be setting up for a Teacher Appreciation luncheon at East Falmouth Elementary School as part of her PTO duties. At this point she is still planning on going camping and biking this weekend, but she wait a couple of days to see how things are going before making a final commitment.

2018 Life Logs, Day 126—Bright Spots in a Dreary Weather Day
Date: Sunday, May 6, 2018
Weather: Overcast with Rain; High 62, Low 48 degrees F
Location: At Home in the Cottage, East Falmouth, MA

Overcast morning, rainy afternoon. That’s the dreary part. Bright spots . . . assembled IKEA bookcase, brought books up from the basement to fill the bookcases, waxed the floor in the guest bedroom, enjoyed time with Heather and Ollie when they made a short visit so put drawers back in my big tool chest as I just couldn’t figure out how to do that, and talked to Justin, Coco, and Ziggy and got a full report on how things are going for them in Puerto Rico. Despite the dreary weather, it was a good day. Tomorrow morning it is off to the Cape Cod Hospital to wait while Heather has hernia surgery. I will then drive her home and hang out for the afternoon until Jed gets home. And I’ll do this for the next couple of days if needed. Heather’s surgeon has told her that because the tear in the abdominal wall is tiny, he will go in laparoscopically and just take a couple of stitches and that she should recover quickly. Sure hope for Heather’s sake that he is right.

Things in Puerto Rico are moving right along. Justin is settled into his office, electricity and water are more reliable but the electricity coming into their house is not ‘full strength’. Justin thinks the problem might be between the street and their house, but wherever the problem, it is not enough to run the pool pump. Business is tight, but they are making it. Ziggy and Coco now each have their own bedroom. Until yesterday, the slept in twin bunk beds in one room and used the other room as play room. Ziggy was feeling the need for his own space, so they made the move. Justin said Coco misses her big brother, but on the phone she told me she LOVES her new room. Jo’s Soul Food Fridays have become very popular and she has had to hire people to help her. So life is good, but there is already worry about the upcoming hurricane season. The rainy season has started early and the local word is that it is going to be another tough hurricane season. Sure hope the local word is wrong.

2018 Life Logs, Day 125—Fun and Productive Day
Date: Saturday, May 5, 2018
Weather: Mostly Sunny; High 70, Low 49 degrees F
Location: At Home in the Cottage, East Falmouth, MA

The fifth of May, Cinco de Mayo, and a lovely day here on the Cape. I had a very productive morning, getting more done in four hours than I got done all day yesterday. And then just before noon I headed to Heather’s. Jed was coaching a soccer game on Martha’s Vineyard and Heather was headed to Boston to the Massachusetts State Science & Engineering Fair at MIT. Sam is on Nantucket until tomorrow at a Scout camp-out, so I went to spend the afternoon with Jonah and Ollie. When I arrived, I found the two boys, plus Joey from next door, in bath suits. They had Brian, Joey’s dad, inflating a swimming pool and they were raking the area under the Ninjaline. The plan was to put the pool under the Ninjaline and then fill the pool with water to mimic a Ninja Warrior Challenge that they have seen on TV. They had a great time trying to work their way across the Ninja obstacle course and falling in the water. The air temperature was about 70 degrees and the sun was shining, so it was a great activity for little boys. But soon they were on the deck soaking in the sun and having lunch. Then it was time for Joey to go to his baseball game and Jonah and Ollie decided they would really like to go watch him play. So, we spent the rest of the afternoon watching Joey’s game. Jed arrived near the end of the game and he stayed to the end with Jonah while Ollie and I went to Walmart to buy a new bike helmet for Ollie. His old one is cracked on top, and after yesterday’s encounter with a fire extinguisher, I decided it was time for a new, tough bike helmet to protect the O’s head. Rain is expected tomorrow afternoon, I might go for a bike ride tomorrow morning and continue the unpacking process in the afternoon.

2018 Life Logs, Day 124—Not a Lot of Progress
Date: Friday, May 4, 2018
Weather: Partly Cloudy; High 60, Low 54 degrees F
Location: At Home in the Cottage, East Falmouth, MA

There was not a lot of progress made today in terms of unpacking and organization. It was one of those days when everything I went to do was harder than anticipated . . .assembling IKEA purchases, turning the existing IKEA wardrobe into a pantry, hanging lamps and grow lights for the flats of garden plants, even buying another rug at Job Lot was problematic. Then at 3 pm, I got a call for help from Heather that saved me from further frustration with projects that weren’t working just right. Unfortunately, the reason Heather needed help was that Ollie hit his head on a fire extinguisher during PE class. They were running races and he ran with great speed right into the extinguisher that grazed the top of his head. He is fine, but it bled profusely which scared him. The principal had difficulty getting in touch with either Heather or Jed as both were out of their offices working on special projects and didn’t have their phones with them. When Heather got back to her office, she got the message and dropped everything to go pick him up. In the meantime, the school nurse and the kindergarten teacher’s aide took good care of him. Once she got him home and cleaned up, it appeared that he was just fine, no concussion. But she had to go back to work and Jed had to get Sam ready for a two-day Scout camp-out. So I gladly went over to cook an early dinner for Sam and Jed as they had to leave before normal dinner time. Ollie requested chili and mac and cheese, so that’s what I fixed. Ollie was fine, but we tried to encourage quiet activities for the evening . . . no jumping on the trampoline next door. He took all of this in stride and thankfully he does seem to be fine other than the scrape on the top of his head.

Tomorrow afternoon I am on Oma duty with Ollie and Jonah and on Monday morning Heather has hernia surgery and I will me mom duty. She has the same kind of hernia that Justin had just above the belly button, but her surgeon says he will be able to make repairs laparoscopically which will make rehab a whole lot easier. Let’s hope that is the case. Then on Tuesday afternoon I have an appointment with an orthopedic surgeon to get an official recommendation about my left knee. All of this means that the ‘settling in’ process is going to be slowed down for a few days. If I don’t go into the two spare bedrooms, the cottage looks just fine. Those two rooms and the basement are a mess, but I’m just going to ignore that for a few days and enjoy time with family.

2018 Life Logs, Day 123—Empty Boxes
Date: Thursday, May 3, 2018
Weather: Another Beautiful Day; High 77, Low 54 degrees F
Location: At Home in the Cottage, East Falmouth, MA

I continued to do my ‘turtle thing’ all morning and into the afternoon. I opened boxes and walked from room to room putting them away. I wish I had a FitBit that could tell me just how many steps I took today, but in the absence of a FitBit, my feet told the story. At 3 pm my feet just literally gave out. That usually doesn’t happen until I have walked at least two miles. But I don’t think that is possible in this small house, but I had also made many trips up and down the stairs to the basement to take the empty boxes. I LOVE empty boxes. But back to the feet that wouldn’t go any further, I felt like I needed to keep going, so I decided that sitting in the car and driving an hour to IKEA to buy some items I need in order to put things away would be a good use of my time. So that’s what I did. I bought a half-high bookcase to match the IKEA bookcases I have on one living room wall. It had to be half-high as the thermostat is on that wall and the book case has to fit under that. I bought cute little wooden storage boxes to hold bathroom items on the three-shelf wooden storage unit in the bathroom and I bought storage shelves for an IKEA wardrobe that was here and that I am transforming into a pantry. And, finally, I found a narrow kitchen cart that will fit between the stove and dining table. This will give me a little more counter space and storage space. Yeah! The trip was successful. I didn’t get home until 7:30 pm and I have spent the evening putting the kitchen cart together. Tomorrow I hope to finish unpacking the boxes that are in the house. Once that is done, I’ll continue going through the boxes in the basement to see what needs to come upstairs and what stays down. Little bit by little bit, I am getting there.

2018 Life Logs, Day 122—Slow and Steady
Date: Wednesday, May 2, 2018
Weather: Beautiful Day; High 80??, Low 54 degrees F
Location: At Home in the Cottage, East Falmouth, MA
I’ve always loved turtles and now I seem to moving like one! The good thing is that moving like a turtle might be slow . . . yet it is steady. I’m still stepping over and around boxes to move through the cottage, but it is getting better. I actually didn’t spend much time at home today. I went to Heather’s at 8 am to be with the Ollie and Jonah until it was time to take them to school and then I headed to the gym for my 9:15 am class. Afterwards I headed to AT&T to figure out what happened to my voice mail notification on my cell phone. It just went away and even the young man at the store couldn’t figure it out. Finally, he found an alternate way for me to access voice mail and I moved on to the grocery store. From there I went to Job Lot to purchase the carpet runners for my hallway and entry way, stopped by Heather’s to start a laundry of the new bedding for the guest bedroom, and finally headed home. I didn’t get home until 1:15, so all of that took three hours. By the time I had lunch and did a few things, it was time to go pick up Ollie after school. I had loaded up our bicycles because this morning Ollie said he would like to go bike riding on the bike path. But after school he decided he just wanted to go home and play. Fair enough. But before doing that, he suggested we stop at Smitty’s for an ice cream cone to celebrate the warmest day we have had this spring. Weather Underground tells me it was 80 degrees F today. I have a hard time believing it was that warm, but it was delightful, whatever the temperature. So, we had ice cream and found we weren’t the only ones with that idea. We ran into next door neighbor Mollie and her grandmother doing the same thing. When we finally got home, Mollie and Ollie played together and had a great time. Jonah and Sam were both at soccer practice and Mollie’s brother Joey was at an afterschool program. Heather came home just long enough to get ready to go to a PTO Board Meeting and then a general PTO Meeting. Jed got home from Boston in time to coach soccer and got home with Sam and Jonah at 6:30. In between pitching baseballs for Ollie, I got dinner ready and finished up the laundry I had started in earlier in the day. Then Jed got home with Sam and Jonah and we had dinner. Whew! That slow and steady turtle progress today wore me out. Do you think that is how turtles feel at the end of the day?!!!

2018 Life Logs, Day 121—Happy May
Date: Tuesday, May 1, 2018
Weather: Mix of Sun and Clouds; High 54, Low 39 degrees F
Location: At Home in the Cottage, East Falmouth, MA

I didn’t dance around a May Pole on this first day of May. Instead, I did the unpacking dance. Somehow it doesn’t look like I worked on unpacking all day, but I did, except for one trip into town to get something I forgot at The Studio and to go to Walmart to get all sorts of things. I also went to Job Lot and found carpet runners for the entryway and hallway. I didn’t buy them, but I will get them when I go into town to go to the gym. I start my morning by going to Heather’s to take Jonah and Ollie to school. Jed has to leave for Boston early and Heather has to be on the air at 9 am. So I will drop the boys at school, go to my Wednesday class at the gym, and then come home to continue the work. Then at 3:30 pm I will pick up Ollie. Jonah is going home with Kadyn and Kadyn’s parents will take them both to soccer practice. Ollie and I will go home, check in with Sam, and figure out what we will do until Heather gets home.

I got a little side-tracked with my unpacking today when I went to the basement to take some things. I had not been down there since the move, and I was a bit surprised at just how much stuff is down there. I just had to keep reminding myself that I can take as much time as needed to get things done. But I’m sure you understand the drive to get it done NOW!

2018 Life Logs, Day 120—Done
Date: Monday, April 30, 2018
Weather: Partly Sunny, Windy, Light Rain; High 49, Low 40 degrees F
Location: At Home in the Cottage, East Falmouth, MA
The move is done, complete, over, consummated, all over. Can you tell I am happy about that?!!! I spent my entire day making three trips to The Studio to get the last odds and ends and clean the apartment and meeting at the cottage with Comcast for two full hours. But at the end of the day, the move is done. Now I just have to find the ‘just right’ places for all of the things. That is going to take a while, but despite the mess, the cottage is functional and life will continue as usual.

Mark and I rented the apartment at The Studio beginning in mid-June of 2016. It was the absolutely perfect place for Mark to spend his last three months of life. I will always have a special place in my heart for that place, but the opportunity to move arose and I decided it was time for me to move on. I will be saving a ton of money by renting here versus there. And that is a very good thing. And I have tired of the constant strong winds that blow in the harbor. During my first year at The Studio, I don’t have any memory of the strong winds, but last summer and all winter, the wind has been incessant. Today was a perfect example. It was so windy at The Studio today that I had batten things down that I was transporting to my car in the parking lot so they wouldn’t blow away. But when I got here to the cottage, I hardly noticed the wind. This happened on all three trips back and forth, so I don’t think I was imagining it. Of course there will be wind here. The Cape is a windy place. But Falmouth Harbor seems to have more than its fair share of strong winds.

Tomorrow I think I can spend the entire day here in my new little home and start unpacking and figuring out what goes where. That won’t be completed in one day, but I think I can make a lot of progress. Wish me luck!