2017 Life Logs, Day 91: Welcome April—No Foolin’
Date: Saturday, April 1, 2017
Weather: Rain with Freezy Bits; 40, Low 32 degrees F
Location: At Home in The Studio, Falmouth, MA

Although April came in with a roaring nor’easter, at least we were spared the snow. We just got wind and rain with freezy bits. If the forecast is correct, tomorrow will give us some much needed sunshine and a high temp around 50. That’s not really warm, but it sure is better than a high in the 30’s and 40’s, so I’ll take it. Tomorrow is birthday party, cancelled last weekend due to illness, and it would be great if the sun really shines, the wind pipes down, and the temp goes up. Welcome April!

I felt a bit better today and have found a way to take the antibiotic without making my body totally reject it. It says on the bottle, “Take on an empty stomach. If the Dr advises take with food to avoid upset stomach.” So, I’m pretending I am the doctor and am now taking it with food. Taking it on an empty stomach just didn’t work for me. Heather invited me over for dinner tonight, so I ate dinner and then took the antibiotic two hours later. That worked. And it was fun to get out of this apartment and see the Goldstones. That always makes me feel better. But I am so sad tonight about something I saw on Facebook. Justin and Jo have both put out a reward on Facebook for the return of Coco’s puppy, Annabelle. The toy Yorkshire was Coco’s Christmas present and she loves that little puppy soooooo much. In fact, everyone in the family loves that little puppy so much. I cannot even imagine how sad they are that she is missing. Here’s hoping that by tomorrow, Annabelle will miraculously return.

2017 Life Logs, Day 90: Bump in the Road
Date: Friday, March 31, 2017
Weather: Sleety Drizzle; 40, Low 34 degrees F
Location: At Home in The Studio, Falmouth, MA

I hit a little bump in the road this evening. Following doctor’s orders, I started the new round of antibiotics yesterday, but obviously, my body does not like this decision. You are supposed to take the antibiotic on an empty stomach. I didn’t do that last night and things were fine. But today I followed the directions and by the time I started to eat dinner, my body revolted. So no dinner for me tonight. Thankfully I have never had to take much medication, but when I have, I have always had difficulty with my stomach going along with the idea. I will try taking the antibiotic with food tomorrow and see if that works. If not, I’ll just have to go without the antibiotic until Monday when I can call the doctor and see if there is alternative that better suits my system. I really can’t believe how bad I feel and there seems to be no reprieve. Maybe tomorrow.

2017 Life Logs, Day 89: More Medications and Khichdi
Date: Thursday, March 30, 2017
Weather: Beautiful Sunshine; High 44, Low 33 degrees F
Location: At Home in The Studio, Falmouth, MA

I went to the doctor and the doctor said, “More medications are needed for your head.” So I am on a new round of a different antibiotic, more antibiotic ear drops, more pills for my cough, and a host of other interventions that, in the doctor’s words, “my grandmother might have used.” I also had to go to a different clinic to have a chest x-ray just to make sure I don’t have pneumonia. After the stop for the x-ray and a grocery store and drug store stop, I finally returned home. And no sooner did I get home than good friend Olivia White called wanting to know if she could come over to deliver the Indian answer to chicken soup called khichdi. Khichdi is a dish made with basmati rice and lentils and as Olivia explained it is good for you but can taste a bit bland. So she added some mango pickles—one of my favorite things in the food world. It was great to see Olivia and I really appreciated her thoughtfulness. And the khichdi and pickles were delicious. Thank you, Olivia.

Just before Olivia arrived, Heather came by to drop off Ollie. Ollie had a 2 pm annual check-up with his pediatrician this afternoon and got a glowing report. Heather dropped him off because she had to return to work. It is public radio fund raising time here and that means that Heather will have early morning and late day on-air time over the next week. This afternoon Ollie needed a place to hang out for a couple of hours until Jed could pick him up after Jonah’s soccer practice and I jumped at the chance of having him over. Thank you, Ollie, for brightening my day.

2017 Life Logs, Day 88: The Pendulum Swings
Date: Wednesday, March 29, 2017
Weather: Partly Cloudy; High 50, Low 31 degrees F
Location: At Home in The Studio, Falmouth, MA

The pendulum swings—yesterday I thought I was just a tad better, but today I am just a tad worse. When I saw the doctor last week and was put on an antibiotic for an ear infection, he told me to call if after the course of medication, I was no better. So today I called and will be seen tomorrow afternoon. Heather keeps reminding me that I have two different things going. I must have had the sinus/ear infection for a while when it was discovered by the doctor last Wednesday, but then I got this cold/flu/whatever that so many of us have. I think I just have to live through the latter, but I want to be proactive about getting rid of the infection.

I went out for a quick shopping trip mid-day, but otherwise, I just sat here and read. I cannot remember spending so many days doing absolutely nothing in my entire life. It is just not in my DNA. But I’m afraid this is going to have to continue for a few more days.

2017 Life Logs, Day 87: Feeling Just a Tad Better
Date: Tuesday, March 28, 2017
Weather: Another Day of Drizzle; High 45, Low 38 degrees F
Location: At Home in The Studio, Falmouth, MA

I woke up this morning feeling just a tad better. It was enough better that I decided not to call the doctor. If tomorrow I feel even just a bit better, then I will focus on recovery. The weather forecast says we will have a high of 50 tomorrow with some sunshine, so that might help as well. But then the weather forecast calls for a little snow and more rain on Friday and Saturday, so I won’t let tomorrow’s sunshine get me too excited! For now, I’ll just focus on putting one foot in front of the other and hoping to make a little progress.

2017 Life Logs, Day 86: Maybe Tomorrow
Date: Monday, March 27, 2017
Weather: Chilly, Rainy Day; High 47, Low 37 degrees F
Location: At Home in The Studio, Falmouth, MA

I had another day just like yesterday, but tonight I seem to feel just a tad better. So maybe tomorrow will be my day. The good news is that Heather, Jed, and boys are all on the mend. In the meantime, I keep trying to eat healthy foods and I do a lot of reading to pass the time. Warmer weather would help, but it doesn’t look like that is in the forecast. We might see a little sunshine on Wednesday and Thursday, but the high temp will remain in the 40’s. So more of the same weather wise. Let’s just hope that it is not more of the same health wise. I’m definitely looking for improvement on that front.

2017 Life Logs, Day 85: Getting Good at Doing Nothing
Date: Sunday, March 26, 2017
Weather: Overcast and Chilly; High 46, Low 35 degrees F
Location: At Home in The Studio, Falmouth, MA

This cold/flu persists and it is forcing me to get really good at doing nothing. I talked to Heather late today and she reports that everyone in the Goldstone household is feeling a tad better today. That is not the same for me, but maybe tomorrow.

2017 Life Logs, Day 84: Still Cold, Still Sick–Yuck
Date: Saturday, March 25, 2017
Weather: Overcast and Chilly; High 48, Low 30 degrees F
Location: At Home in the The Studio, Falmouth, MA

There’s not much to say today except that it is still cold and we are all still sick. Although it was 10 degrees warmer today than yesterday, it still feels like winter. And Heather, Jonah, Ollie, and I are all still sick and now Jed has this ‘whatever’. Actually, Heather and Ollie report to feel a tad bit better today, but Jonah and I seem to be staying even or maybe even going back downhill. I’m going to go to bed with the hope that tomorrow brings a brand new day where we all feel better. That is the hope, but whatever this bug is that we all have seems to be a tough one with lots of staying power. We shall see.

2017 Life Logs, Day 83: Sickies
Date: Friday, March 24, 2017
Weather: Overcast and Chilly; High 38, Low 25 degrees F
Location: At Home in the The Studio, Falmouth, MA

We are a bunch of sickies here. I went to Heather and Jed’s this morning to spend the day with Jonah, but when I got there, I found that Ollie was also going to be at home with a fever. And even though Heather was going to work, she was feeling just awful. Then there is me. You would think that since a started a round of antibiotics on Wednesday for an ear infection that maybe, just maybe, it would also help in other ways. But no, just like Heather and Jonah, I just keep getting worse. And poor little Ollie was much worse as the day progressed. Hopefully a weekend of rest will put us all on the road to health again.

What do two little boys do when they are home sick? They started out by working puzzles and doing artwork, but soon this morphed into putting on ‘armor’ and playing indoor ice hockey! Jonah was the team captain of the Boston Bruins, Zdeno Chara, and Ollie was the team captain of the New York Raiders, Ryan McDonagh. After an hour or so of hockey, I was very happy that the boys decided to switch gears back to the quieter activities. We had lunch and I could see that Ollie was fading and his temperature was back up. Heather came home in the early afternoon and had to make the decision to postpone Ollie’s birthday party with friends scheduled for tomorrow. That will have to happen next weekend. The focus for this weekend will be rest, rest, and more rest in hopes of that all of us start to recover. Since I am on an antibiotic and just seem to keep getting worse, it is obvious that this is bug is a tough one. Hopefully the antibiotic will get rid of my ear infection, but otherwise, I’m going to have to heal naturally.

When Heather got home, the boys lobbied to watch a movie. Given the circumstances, it seemed like a good idea, but no one could agree on the same choice. Finally, it was agreed to watch ‘Sing’. Heather and I weren’t so much in favor of this, but it was actually a great choice. Very funny and entertaining.

As I prepare for this weekend of healing, I just had to check the weather to see if it was going to cooperate. Not so. For as far as the forecast goes, we will continue to have highs in the 40, even low 50’s on a couple of days, but with lows in the 30’s. Somehow this doesn’t feel much like spring. Hopefully April will bring spring-like weather.

2017 Life Logs, Day 82: Contact with Adventuresome Friends
Date: Thursday, March 23, 2017
Weather: Mostly Sunny and Cold; High 38, Low 25 degrees F
Location: At Home in the The Studio, Falmouth, MA

I have to admit that I am not feeling very adventuresome today. The antibiotic has not yet kicked in and I’m not feeling all that great at all. Unfortunately Heather had to stay at home again today with Ollie and Jonah was sent home from school with a fever and was told not to return to school until Monday. So none of us are getting better quickly. I will spend tomorrow at home with Jonah and whomever else is not able to be out and about and hopefully we will all be better than today.

But I did hear from friends that are feeling adventuresome today. First I heard from my biking friends, Mike and Linda Stuart. Due to continuing rains that are causing floods and collapsing roads, they had to fly from one place in Peru to another. They weren’t biking, but the trip was quite an adventure. They had to box up their bikes, wait days for a flight, wait hours on the tarmac in Lima just to be returned there with plane problems, and then finally got to a place high in the mountains called Cajamarca. They had issues with security along the way with their boxed up bikes, so they were really excited when They were exhausted when they arrived, but were very happy to get those boxed up bikes in the baggage claim area. There is a forecast of two more weeks of rain, but they are happy to be where they are, safe and sound. It was great to talk to and see them via Skype tonight.

And this evening I heard from Sam, Windbird’s new owner. He and Dawn sailed Windbird into Georgetown in the southern Exumas this week with Sam’s parents aboard. Sam’s parents will fly home to Minnesota and Sam and Dawn will now explore further south and then return to Georgetown in mid-April where I will meet them for a sail north to Eleuthera and the Abacos in the northern Bahamas. At least that is the current plan. And it was so interesting to hear that when they got on the cruisers net in Georgetown, they immediately heard back from fellow cruisers in the area that crossed the Pacific with Mark and I on Windbird. The cruising community is amazing.