Day 266, Year 11: Nice Day with Kevin and Claire
Date: Thursday, July 14, 2016
Weather: Mostly Cloudy, Rain Shower in PM; High Temp in the 80’s F
Location: At Home in The Studio #8, Falmouth, MA

We had a low-key, but really nice day with Kevin and Claire. We started our morning with a walk down to the beach to say good morning to Heather and the boys. They were there for swim lessons, but no one was in the water today. It was way too windy and rough. But the classes were playing games on the beach and having fun together. When we got back, it was time for Mark’s second breakfast and then we ran some errands. We went to buy a propane tank to use with our new grill and stopped by CVS to pick up a prescription for Mark. One of his big toes is infected, either from an ingrown toe-nail or a split in the skin. His current treatment makes his skin extremely dry, thus the cracks. But unfortunately, there was no prescription to pick up. It took Mark a couple of hours to actually reach someone at Mass General to find out why there was no antibiotic to pick-up. After checking, the nurse practitioner found out that the trial he is on will not allow an additional antibiotic. He is already on an anti-biotic for his skin, and that is going to have to do it. So instead he is using epsom salts soaks and a topical antibiotic.

Mark and I had appointments today to meet our new primary care physician, so Kevin and Claire went with us to Sandwich. That is about a 30 minute drive and while we were in the doctor’s office, they drove around exploring Sandwich and trying to get some work done on their computers. When we got back to Falmouth, Kevin and Claire walked around the harbor to the Farmer’s Market to get some things for dinner and then I went to pick them up and we went to the local fish store to get fish and oysters for dinner. We came home and prepped dinner and then we headed to our storage unit to do another purge. Kevin and Claire really wanted to help and we so much appreciate their efforts. They were actually pleasantly surprised at how little is left in the storage unit. They both think we can probably get it cleaned out by the end of the month. So we’ll continue to work on that goal.

We worked as team to get dinner ready and Mark got to use his new grill. We sat on the deck and listened to the Falmouth Town Band concert across the harbor as long as we could, but it was windy and felt cool, so we moved inside, opened the French doors, and let the sounds filter in to us. After the concert, Kevin and Mark launched into the last activity of the day. We had brought our 1981 Apple II Plus computer home from storage to assemble it and see if it still works. He has been packed up since we moved to New Hampshire in 1990. Everyone but me thinks we need to get rid of it, but after keeping it all these years, I just wanted to see if we could get it running before saying farewell to it. They were only half successful at getting it running. I insisted on leaving it set up until we can try at least one more time before trying to sell the thing on Ebay.

Tomorrow is a Camp Oma day, so we are thinking of starting the day with a walk in woods at Highfield Hall. It is something that Sam, Jonah, and Ollie love to do, as well as Kevin and Claire and ourselves. Then by noon, Kevin and Claire will head to Cold Springs on Long Island where Claire is presenting at a conference. These visits are always too short.

160715 Day 266 Cape Cod, USA–Fun Day with Kevin and Claire

Day 265, Year 11: Kevin and Claire Are Here
Date: Wednesday, July 13, 2016
Weather: Another Beautiful, Sunny Day; High Temp in the 70’s F
Location: At Home in The Studio #8, Falmouth, MA

We are so excited that Kevin and Claire are here for a short visit. It took them the same amount of time to drive here from Ashburn, Virginia, as it did for us to drive to Boston for Mark’s infusion and CT scan and return. In fact, our timing was almost perfect. They made a stop in New Haven for lunch with one of Kevin’s best friends that he hasn’t seen for years and we made a stop at a Home Depot to buy a grill on our way home. Mark and I arrived at our chosen restaurant destination, Stir Fry, at 6:21 pm and about two minutes later Kevin and Claire walked in the door. Kevin and Claire treated us to a wonderful dinner and then we headed home. We were all tired, but we spent part of the evening on the deck and then came inside so Mark could sit in his recliner and get those feet up. We just couldn’t stop talking about what has been happening in our lives since we last saw each other in February. We have no special plans for tomorrow. We just want to hang out together. But I do think we will all go to our storage unit in the morning and make some decisions on what stays and what goes. Kevin and Claire say they will be ruthless and help us get rid of things that we should be gotten rid of years ago.

And by the way, Mark LOVES his new recliner. And as a result of sitting in it with his feet up, the swelling in his feet and ankles has all but disappeared. His children couldn’t have chosen a better birthday present for him! Thank you to Heather, Jed, Justin, Jo, and the Fantastic Five—Sam, Ziggy, Jonah, Ollie, and Coco.

Day 264, Year 11: Beach Morning, Library Afternoon
Date: Tuesday, July 12, 2016
Weather: Beautiful, Sunny Day, a Little Windy, High 80 degrees F
Location: At Home in The Studio #8, Falmouth, MA

Today was another Camp Oma day and we spent the morning at the beach playing in between swim lessons and after lunch, we headed downtown to the public library for a special event. On Tuesday afternoons the library hosts a guest presenter for children ages 3 to 10. Today it was a man whose program was very entertaining. The theme was Reading Olympics with Jungle Jim and his presentation was a really fun balloon magic show. The balloons were shaped so that children from the audience could engage in archery, basketball, fencing, and even Scottish caber toss. Sam and Jonah really enjoyed the show and Sam even got to be the audience participant to engage in a Star Wars light saber battle with Jungle Jim as the finale to the show. Ollie was not quite as enthusiastic about the presentation, but he loved seeing Sam engage in the light saber battle. After the show, we walked across the street to the Mullen Hall elementary school playground and played with friends who also attended the show.

Tonight was all about cooking dinner and making a casserole for Mark’s midnight ‘snack.’ Trying to come up with choices for his five meals a day is quite a challenge. But he is steadily gaining weight at about the rate of a half a pound a week. That doesn’t sound like much, but just a month ago, he was losing weight at that same rate. Gaining is better than losing, so we’ll continue to multiple meals a day. Tomorrow we head to Boston for another treatment and a CT scan. We won’t know the results of the scan until next week, but we will anxiously await knowing whether or not the trial drug is still effective. When we return home tomorrow night, our good friends Kevin and Claire are arriving for a short visit. Actually we are hoping to coordinate our arrival times so we will meet at Stir Crazy, a Cambodian restaurant, for dinner. It is on the way home and the food is fantastic. We’re really hoping our timing works out for that.

Day 263, Year 11: Windbird Update
Date: Monday, July 11, 2016
Weather: Mix of Sun, Clouds, a Little Rain, High 71 degrees F
Location: At Home in The Studio #8, Falmouth, MA

The time has come for an update on Windbird. On March 8, I wrote in my log that a decision had been made to put Windbird on the market. It was a heart wrenching decision, but a decision that needed to be made. Since then, with the help of wonderful friends and family, I have reported on how Windbird has been emptied and made ready for the transition to new owners. What I have not reported is that we do have a couple who has made an offer that we accepted. The survey and sea trials were set to be last Friday, but we ran into a little hitch. The place where Windbird was to be hauled out for the survey was too shallow and Windbird was sitting in the mud at high tide. There was no way to get the straps under the boat so she could be raised out of the water. So our agent, John Schwab, is searching for another location with deeper water. Unfortunately the chosen surveyor doesn’t have another appointment availability for at least a month, so a second surveyor will be chosen to do the bottom survey. Once that is done the prospective buyers make their final decision. We knew, through the agent, the first names of the prospective buyers—Sam and Dawn. And we knew they were planning to become live-aboard cruisers. We also knew Sam is a pilot and that they currently live in Minnesota. Over a month ago, Sam sent a comment to this blog site, but I somehow did not see his comment until late last week. I felt terrible that he has written and I had not responded. My only excuse is that it has been a VERY busy time. But when I did finally read Sam’s comments, I learned his last name. I Googled that and found that he has a blog focused on aviation. I quickly read through his most recent posts and saw that he was sharing online that he and his wife are seriously considering purchasing Windbird and that Sam was starting a new blog to deal with their new sailing life. It is called “Weigels on the Water” and Sam said we could share the site with our readers. It can be found here: http://wotwater.blogspot.com/

Sam and Dawn have been reading our blog and now we are reading theirs. It is so exciting to learn about the couple that we hope will be Windbird’s new captain and admiral. Sam and Dawn are much younger than we thought, have some sailing experience through charters, and are obviously eager to learn more. Windbird can teach them what they need to know, and being able to follow Windbird’s new adventures through Sam and Dawn’s blog would be quite a gift to us. Sam said it best in his email to us, “There will always be a piece of you in Windbird and always a piece of Windbird in you.” So true!

Life as usual continues here. Today was a Camp Oma day. We started with swim lessons at the beach, followed by playing at the beach, and then headed home when the sprinkles arrived just after noon. Mid-afternoon Sam and Jonah went to play at a neighbor’s home and Ollie and I played together. Ollie wanted to ride his little green John Deere tractor on the street as it is almost impossible to peddle it on the lawn. So he got dressed in his farmer overalls and off we went. When we returned home, Ollie wanted to do some gardening, so we headed to the garden and weeded, hoed, and raked to get ready to plant seeds. We had hoped to plant arugula as the old arugula has gone to seed. But we found that we had no arugula seeds. That task will have to continue tomorrow.

Day 262, Year 11: Happy Birthday to Patsy
Date: Sunday, July 10, 2016
Weather: Mostly Cloudy but Warmer, High in the 70’s F
Location: At Home in The Studio #8, Falmouth, MA

Today was my sister Patsy’s 83rd birthday. Happy Birthday, Patsy! She had both of her daughters and her granddaughter with her to celebrate, so I am sure that was the best present she could get. Mark and I had a quiet day at home and Mark really enjoyed his new recliner. I think I need to get him a crown and start calling him King Mark as he looks like he is sitting on a royal throne!

Day 261, Year 11: Auto-Lounger Supreme
Date: Saturday, July 09, 2016
Weather: Mostly Cloudy and Cool, High in the 60’s F
Location: At Home in The Studio #8, Falmouth, MA

Tonight Mark has been enjoying his birthday present which I will call the auto-lounger supreme. The search for a recliner began when Mark’s feet and ankles started swelling. This kind of edema is expected with the drugs he is taking, but he has only recently developed the problem. The first recommendation for this is to lie down with your feet above heart level. But since no one wants to spend their days lying flat on their back, a recliner that can reach zero gravity seemed like the answer. So in addition to me, Justin and Jo, Heather and Jed, and Jonah, Sam, and Ollie all chipped in to get a recliner for Mark’s birthday. We had to drive north to Costco today for a hearing aid check-up, and after that was completed we just moved next door to Jordan’s Furniture outlet department to take a second look at recliners. Mark decided he wanted a power recliner that can lay back to zero gravity with feet above heart level. None of the non-powered recliners went back this far, so we went with a powered one. And actually only one of the powered recliners that were discounted actually reached zero gravity. It was a little bigger and a lighter color than we wanted, but it was comfortable and the price was right. So we bought it and headed home. Heather, Jed, and boys met us when we got home to carry the chair into the apartment. The motor makes it super heavy and there was no way Mark and I could have moved it. So once again, thank you so much to Heather and Jed. And of course, the boys loved trying out the chair with the remote control. In order to get his feet up, Mark has had to lie down on the sofa with three pillows under his feet which is very awkward. Now he just has to sit down and push a button. Maybe it is the chair or maybe it is the chair in combination with the cooler weather, but for whatever reason, the swelling in his ankles and feet is way down tonight. Mark is a very happy ‘birthday boy’ tonight.

160709 Day 261 Cape Cod, USA–Granddad's Birthday Present

Day 260, Year 11: Weather Flip-Flop
Date: Friday, July 08, 2016
Weather: Overcast and Feeling Cool, High Temp 70 degrees F
Location: At Home in The Studio #8, Falmouth, MA

The weather did a complete flip-flop overnight. The last two days were sunny, humid, and hot. But this morning we awoke to overcast skies, fog, and cooler temps. The high temperature today was 70 degrees F, but it felt considerably cooler. Mark stayed home all day while I went to Heather and Jed’s for another Camp Oma day. I tried to convince Sam, Jonah, and Ollie that we should drive to Plymouth to visit the Plimouth Plantation as it was on the list of Free Friday Museums in Massachusetts for today. But the boys really just wanted to play at home, and so we did. After lunch, Jonah, Ollie, and I went to see the movie, Finding Dory, while Sam stayed in the neighborhood to play with his good friend Zach.

It looks like we are in for a few more days of this cooler than normal July weather before it warms up again. But overcast, cooler weather works just fine for our plans for tomorrow. We have a follow-up appointment at Costco for Mark’s hearing aids. He loves them and wishes this technology was available years ago. But they are so high tech that learning to take advantage of all of their capabilities takes a few return appointments. We will also do more shopping for a recliner for Mark. Heather and family, Justin and family, and I have decided that this is what he needs, so we need to narrow the field and find the ‘just right’ recliner.

Day 259, Year 11: Happy Birthday to Mark
Date: Thursday, July 07, 2016
Weather: Mostly Sunny and Humid; Overcast Evening
Location: At Home in The Studio #8, Falmouth, MA

Happy Birthday to Mark! And I think he had a great day. His day began with a call from Justin. Justin, Jo, and kids are currently in France on a family vacation with Jo’s family. They are camping and having a great time, and we were so happy to have the unexpected Skype video call with them this morning. Then Mark got loads of birthday wishes on Facebook. I don’t think he has ever posted anything on Facebook, but he does have an account and friends and family far and near took time to send him a birthday note. It was very special. He went out to lunch with the Romeos and enjoyed that very much. While he was at lunch, I went to Woods Hole for a yoga session. It would have been much more relaxing had I not had a very hard time finding a place to park. Woods Hole is tiny and today it was packed with people and cars. After three trips through town, I finally found a vacated parking meter and then realized I didn’t have enough quarters. But after searching for so long for a space, I put in the quarters I had and hoped that I wouldn’t get a ticket. I didn’t, so that was good. When I got home, Mark and I went to the fitness center close to our apartment. It was a bit of a birthday present for Mark to explore the possibilities at this gym. He has wanted to do weight training and this place has all the equipment he could want in order to do that. We will give it a ‘try-out’ during the seven-day free trial and then make a decision as to whether or not we will join. During all of this, I was making Chicken Magic Mineral Broth, so in the late afternoon I finished that up and we headed to Heather and Jed’s for dinner. Heather and boys had spent the afternoon preparing dinner and making cards for Granddad. Ollie decided that Granddad should become a Tow Boat US captain and drew a picture of his boat on his card. Both Jonah and Sam drew pictures of Windbird and Mark really loved the cards. We had a fantastic dinner thanks to Heather and Jed and then we all headed back to our apartment for birthday cake while listening to the Falmouth Town Band concert from across the harbor. The cake was a chocolate decadence cake with no wheat flour. It was scrumptious and enjoyed by all. Thank you to Heather for making her dad’s 74th birthday a special one.

Day 258, Year 11: Infusion Day
Date: Wednesday, July 06, 2016
Weather: Mostly Sunny and Hot; High Temp Near 90 degrees F
Location: At Home in The Studio #8, Falmouth, MA

Today was the day of our weekly trip to Boston for Mark’s infusion. It was a sunny, hot day with a high of 94 in Boston and 87 back here in Falmouth. But we were in an air-conditioned hospital all day and didn’t feel the heat. The days in Boston are long days for us. We get up at 6 am and don’t get home until after 6 pm, but even though it was a long day, it was a good one. Mark is feeling good and on the way home we stopped at a huge furniture store to look at recliners. Mark is having problems with swelling in his feet and ankles and the one thing he can do for that is to have his feet raised to the level of his heart when he is resting. With his birthday coming up tomorrow, I was hopeful that we would find a recliner that would make the whole process easier for him. But finding one that is comfortable AND durable AND that we can afford makes it a bit of a challenge. We came away with some options, but we will have to go back this weekend to narrow the choices.

It looks like we are settling into a schedule of having Camp Oma on Monday, Tuesday, and Friday each week, which gives Mark and I Wednesday and Thursday off. But since Wednesdays are always spent in Boston, tomorrow (Thursday) is the day of the week that will be ear-marked for major food preparation. Tomorrow I need to make Magic Chicken Mineral Broth while Heather and gang will be making preparations for celebrating Granddad’s birthday tomorrow evening. I’m going to a noontime yoga class and Mark is going out to lunch with the Romeos. You’ve gotta love that name. Good friend, Bruce Woodin, has a group of older ‘gentlemen’ who go out to lunch once a week and they invited Mark to join them tomorrow. Later in the afternoon, Mark and I will make a visit to the Anytime Fitness gym just down the street and set up a weekly schedule for exercise. Oh so slowly we are settling into everyday life here . . . and enjoying it tremendously.

The update on my brother-in-law’s gallbladder operation is a positive one. Joe’s gallbladder removal was done laparoscopically and he was in and out of the hospital in just a couple of hours. Today he is recovering nicely at home. We have lots of healthcare issues in this country, but one of those is NOT surgeries. Our surgeons are good at that and we are so glad that Joe’s surgery went so smoothly.

Day 257, Year 11: Recovering from the Fourth
Date: Tuesday, July 05, 2016
Weather: Rain AM, Partly Sunny PM, Humid; High Temp 77 degrees F
Location: At Home in The Studio #8, Falmouth, MA

It was a low-key Camp Oma day as we were all recovering from the Fourth. Last night was a late night, so Ollie and Jonah slept in. Sam never sleeps in, no matter what time he goes to bed, so he was up early as usual. It was raining this morning, sometimes just misting, but not an inviting beach day. So we skipped the first day of swim lessons, had a late breakfast, and then headed downtown to see the Scholastic Summer Reading Bus visiting in Falmouth today. I have to say I was very disappointed. Instead of promoting reading, it seemed much more like one big promotion for the children’s book store on Main Street. I avoided the $15 per child face painting activity by letting each boy choose a book, game, or toy we could take home and that wouldn’t wash off in the rain. We then went to see Granddad and have lunch at the apartment. We had a long, leisurely lunch and read, played games, and watched an episode of Wild Kratts. I then took the boys home to play, but I took a very long way home so the boys could get a little nap. So there is no big news from today. It was just a nice, low-key summer day.

160705 Day 257 Cape Cod, USA–Scholastic Summer Reading Bus

Tomorrow we are off to Boston for Mark’s treatment and then on Thursday we will be celebrating Mark’s 74th birthday.