365-3 | Peaches Prattlings

{January 23, 2015} It seemed like a good/bad idea at the time

I flew into Atlanta today and did something that used to be a tradition for me, but now, not such a good idea.

Ok, so, backstory… there is a great pizza place in Atlanta called Fellini’s. They have NY style pizzas, which means they are large pies and slices, which makes me happy and isn’t that what it’s all about?

So…I used to go with friends all the time, especially LGR, when I first moved to Atlanta, on the way home after going out to the bars in Buckhead, our favorite thing to get was a salad, which has wonderfully fat shreds of mozzarella, a slice [all you have to do at a “real” pizza joint, especially if you are from NYC is say “One slice please” or “I want to order a pie” and they know it’s a pizza pie, not a peach pie!] and a soda. Heaven!

Then we would sit and wait for our food and read Creative Loafing, http://clatl.com/, a local paper in Atlanta that gives you all sorts of good stuff: Arts & Entertainment, the Blotter [weird new stories around Atlanta, sometimes about really dumb stuff and people, and things that make you go “hmmm”] upcoming shows [stage, screen, theater, music], articles about goings on about town, etc. A great way to find out what’s happening.

One tradition I had is with the wasband. We lived near one Fellini’s location and would go all the time, the kids always loved going when they stayed and on our way home from the airport, whenever we traveled, we would stop at Fellini’s and have a salad, slice and a soda or beer for him and it was such a great tradition.

I continued the same tradition after we split and sometimes I would call people to meet me there, like CKM and SDL, that was fun, even DCM and I got into the habit, either when we went somewhere or when he would pick me up, or sometimes, just stopping there on my own.

As you may remember, I finally gave up dairy about 6 months ago and I have been a little happier since then, from a health perspective and not getting nauseous all the time, not happy about missing stuff like cheese. I also, due to dietary issues cannot have caffeine or colored soda or tomatoes, to name a few things. I stopped drinking colored sodas about a year ago, I have a sip here and there, but not a full one and now they taste kind of funny. Funny weird, not funny ha ha.

That being said…I decided to do something stupid [for my digestive system]. I thought about it and said “the hell with it!’ I stopped at Fellini’s and had…a slice, salad and soda and creative loafing… ah… so good… and so bad.

Let’s just say it was and wasn’t worth it and I will not being doing that again any time soon!

Am I still happy? You bet your sweet hippy!

http://www.fellinisatlanta.com/fellinis.html

{January 22, 2015} It is 2015, right? Seriously people!

What is the deal with all the bullying?

I know, bullying is nothing new, it’s been going on for centuries, but it’s gotten worse in the last decade and I just don’t get it. I guess the thing that makes it more prevalent is with the internet being what it is and cell phones and Facebook and Twitter and Instagram and…

Part of the reason I don’t watch the news, especially at night and most especially before bed is all I do is cry and then go to bed depressed and sad and crying. I get my news from a lot of sources and yahoo is one of them.

Today, I am disheartened yet again… Another case of cyber bullying and its just nauseating. A set of twins made nasty comments and video messages towards a young girl, calling her nasty names and being disgustingly rude and immature and just plain mean. There was also a voice mail from the twin’s father, equally disgusting.

Her father made an equally public video, how he was dealing with it, helping his daughter get through it, his disgust, revulsion and lack of understanding for something so disgusting.

Look at some of the statistics for bullying from 2014. http://nobullying.com/bullying-statistics-2014/

I am sickened and disheartened, someone please prove Me wrong!

https://www.yahoo.com/parenting/dad-calls-out-daughters-bullies-on-viral-youtube-108843392047.html

{January 21, 2015} UNO!

I am not counting in Spanish, I am referring to the game of UNO.

UNO was created in 1971, by a barber in Ohio, to play with his family and families have been playing for over forty years, know how I know that? I was born in 1971. Boo-yah!

Boo-yah! That is what is shouted by the 7+ and 4+ year old, better known as EJS and MGS every time they get a good card or throw something down that will jam someone up or put them in a better place in the game. “Aw, man!” is what they say when things don’t go their way and “is it my turn?” “is it my turn?” EVERY TURN! No, someone else has to go!

The version of the game in the picture is an older version, it shows the word and not the symbol for the action and this is what we are playing on… the very deck that GES and I played with as a kid, in the same blue plastic pouch we used to carry it around in! GES counted and we are only missing one card out of the entire original deck, that’s pretty impressive if you ask me for a card game that is obviously over 30 years old!

What a great memory to be building, first playing games with the girls, then it’s playing a game from our childhood and then it’s remembering our childhood, which was awesome, if you ask me. Win-Win-Win… Boo-yah!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uno_(card_game)

{January 20, 2015} An experience, not completely new, not necessarily a good thing…

A shooting near my location.

I would love to say I have never been in this situation before, but years ago and I mean years ago, there was a shooting in the office complex I worked in in Atlanta. There was a day trader who went a little coo-coo and decided to shoot up the offices he was associated with in the next building. Those of us in the building were forced to stay until about 9pm when he was finally apprehended, shot and killed himself, and of course, we were huddled near the front door of the office because the building was glass. A little unsettling. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_O._Barton

Today, there was a shooting at the hospital across the way from where I was at a doctor’s appointment. I am sitting in the waiting room with about ten other people, The View was on [I was playing on my phone] and all of a sudden, we are watching the news…a late breaking news story to be exact. A lone gunman had shot a doctor at the hospital, basically across the street, you could hear the helicopters and as I was leaving, a van from every channel had to be there. http://abcnews.go.com/Health/doctor-shot-brigham-womens-hospital/story?id=28348752

I wasn’t directly involved, thankfully in the craziness, I was still a part of it and all it does is make you wonder what is going on in the world today, could people please come to their senses?

{January 19, 2015} Long travel day

Friends, I am beat!

My day started at 5am in California, the alarm was set for 5:30 and 5:45, just to be on the safe side. I happened to wake up at 5, lucky me. I snooze twice, but then got up, took a hot bath, hoping it would help my legs a little, then a shower, finished packing and headed out, about 6am.

As it was a holiday, the dreaded traffic was not so dreaded and it took me less than an hour to get there, got gas, dropped off the car and took the shuttle to the airport. Dropped my bag, got through security, no problem, had some breakfast, hung out and then boarded the plane.

Flight was uneventful, except for the girl sitting next to me slept the entire way, I was lucky that she woke up twice, I had to go!!! There was a plane [equipment] change, they must have told us about 10 times and we left about an hour late, part of the reason was that we were waiting on some passengers that were just getting in from Australia, so we waited for them, I thought that was cool. The best thing… I’m pretty positive one of the pilots was from Ireland. Could he just talk some more?

I did watch 3 free movies: Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day, The Book of Life and The Boxtrolls. I was thoroughly entertained!

We arrived in JFK, two + hour wait…I went in search of some food, miso soup, seaweed salad and sushi rice, yum! Then I hung out waiting for my flight, upgraded to first class, go me! Flight was less than an hour, up and down.

Wait at baggage claim for about 25 minutes for my bag, then head to the Silver Line to South Station, then the commuter rail to home. I wasn’t paying attention and got off one stop early, ugh. GES was kind enough to pick me up, I wouldn’t have asked if it wasn’t so cold out and 11:30pm, but there were no other cars on the road.

Here I sit talking to you. A very long travel day. And now it is bedtime for bonzo!

{January 18, 2015} A new experience…challenge accepted…and failed

Not a complete failure and I’ll tell you why, but still sucked, to be blunt.

As you know, I am in Anaheim, CA to participate in The Rebel Challenge, 10k on Saturday and Half Marathon on Sunday. I did the 10k yesterday morning, started at 5:30am, my wave actually started closer to 6am, I finished 1:35:45, I was quite pleased with my time. I ran the first 3 miles, just like other races I have done and then did walk/run for the last 3, so I am happy. I ran 4 miles yesterday! I crossed the finish line and got my medal, headed back to the hotel satisfied.

Today, I participated in the Half Marathon, but did not finish. I had to stop at the medical tent, my usual blister issue, and after that I was three minutes behind the pacers, couldn’t catch back up with them and unfortunately, something happened that had never happened to me at a race, the course was cut off and I was shuttled back to the start. I collected the medal for the half marathon, but because I didn’t finish the race, I didn’t get the third medal, for The Rebel Challenge. I am just disappointed in myself.

There are a few things that contributed to this, I am not taking away any blame from myself at all. The shuttle did not show up to take a few of us to the park, so we walked the two miles to the park and then ran a mile to the start, right there…three miles! We also just made the start, they were closing the corral! I ran/walked the next ‘just under’ nine miles, about mile 7 I needed to stop at the medical tent for the blister, I just couldn’t catch up to the pacers, it happens. I also hadn’t trained for the run, my own fault. So, I got on the shuttle with everyone else, there were three shuttle busses getting sent back to the start, no one was happy.

After we got our medals, I walked to the shuttle busses, stopping at Jamba Juice, [apples and greens, yum] and since the shuttles wouldn’t be running until 10am, it was 9:20, I walked the two miles back to the hotel. So…even though I didn’t finish the half marathon, I did walk 18 miles today, I think I did alright.

It’s silly, but the mani/pedi I treated myself to helped, emotionally and cleaned my feet up.

I know, I did something, something more than other people wouldn’t attempt and I should be proud of the fact that I showed up and I tried and I am, I’m just disappointed in myself. Every experience is just that, an experience and I am ready for the next challenge.

{January 17, 2015} Reunions

As you know I am in California for two races and I’ll tell you all about them tomorrow.

One of the other fabulous things I am getting to do is see two friends from my past, one from college and one from high school, what an amazing treat!

Friday, I drove to Hollywood, geeked out, as you saw yesterday and then…I drove to a great vegan restaurant in Los Angeles to meet TH, one of my oldest and dearest friends from college. We met our very first day, because of a note passed under a door. He was in Hendrix Hall, I was in Igor Hall, and there was a door that separated our buildings and on the first day, he slid a note under the door that said “Are you experienced? We are”. I forgot that it was a Jimi Hendrix song and not just he and his suitemates being cheeky! I proceeded to walk around to his suite and confront them and it was the beginning of a lifelong friendship!

For the next four years, no matter where we lived, we saw each other just about every day, we were even on the same track for our majors, so that helped put us together almost every day, we loved it. Even when we weren’t in class, we spent time together, going to shows, eating meals, sporting events, just hanging out doing nothing. Not being around each other every day, bummer.

After graduation, we stayed in touch for a long time, but then life happens, you know, you live on opposite ends of the country. We reconnect on Facebook oh so many years ago and “stalked” each other as you do. Email each other, make comments, that sort of thing and as soon as I knew I was coming to California, I sent two emails, TH was the first…MUST see you! Are you free? YES! WAHOO!

So, yesterday, I drove to Hollywood, as you know and we were trading some texts back and forth and we fell back in sync, it was great! Then we met for dinner and it was like no time had passed and we picked up like we had just seen each other last week, so amazing! That is a testament to the friendship. We were talking so much the waitress must have come by at least four times before we actually looked at the menu. We laughed, we reminisced, we talked about what was going on in our lives, work, family, all the usual stuff. When we parted company we talked about another visit and staying in touch. Now that we can text, I am sure we will do better! I drove back to the hotel happy and ready to pass out!

Today, after the run, I went back to the hotel for a great nap and then went to meet a dear friend from high school AR, his wife, P and their adorable two year old son L, what a doll baby! Just like seeing TH, it was like no time had passed. We have known each other since I was a freshman and he was a sophomore. We would see each other almost every day, just like you do in high school, we would hang out outside of school, the usual… movies, pizza, hanging out at each others houses, parties.

We saw each other after high school, when I would be home on breaks and one semester we even went to college together, it was pretty cool. Even after college when I moved and he moved, we kept in touch and then, just as you know, life gets in the way, but with Facebook… awesome.

So… the other email when I knew I was coming to California, was to AR…another MUST see… the best part… just tell me when you’re available! Score!

Today was great, we saw each other and it was like no time had passed, how does that happen? Who cares, it was great! We talked, laughed, reminisced, I got to know his wife and apparently I was a hit with their son, I got hugs and fist bumps and lap cuddles, how cool is that! We parted company with promises to keep in touch and the next visit maybe stay with them, love it. We also talked about a reunion, fun!

Two fabulous visits, like no time had passed… who’s next?

{January 16, 2015} Hollywood Geek Out!

I know, I’m posting so early!

I’m meeting a friend, tell you about him later, and I may go back to the room and pass out (the race stats at 5:30am!) So I wanted to be sure I posted.

I am meeting my friend in Hollywood, so while I waited for him to get off work and meet me, to Hollywood I went!

I haven’t been here since college and I toured a little with AM, but no cell phones or Facebook. So…Hollywood sign, Mann’s Chinese Theater, Walk of Fame, stars and handprints!

Enjoy the photos! (I put my Chuck Taylor’s in a few…so you would know it was me! )

{January 15, 2015} I didn’t spend a dime!

Ok, anything extra!

I am in California to “run” two races, I say “run” with quotes because I have not trained at all, so I will be running some and walking most. And I am perfectly fine with that. But that’s not what this post is about.

So… here is what I was talking about…

As you know, for some races there are expos, you might remember CKM and I walking around the Hot Chocolate or Peachtree RoadRace Expos after we would get our race packets. This is a fun time to walk around, check out different vendors, see what’s new in running outfits, shoes, gear, other races, being…all that good stuff.

We have found some good stuff, I’ve shared with you some of the running dresses, skirts, socks, stuff like that. I go with the intention of maybe finding a new running outfit, which I have gotten a lot of use out of every dress, skirt, pant that I have gotten at the expo.

Some expos are better than others, some are called expos and they are just packet pick up and others are huge events. The Disney Expo I went to in Florida last February was stellar, this one was ok, not as many vendors, still good, but…. I WALKED AWAY AND BOUGHT NOTHING! Who am I, what did I do with me? I couldn’t believe it!

But… check out the gear I got! I don’t really need anything else! I got a shirt for the 10k, half marathon and The Rebel Challenge! All three are long sleeve performance shirts, who’s styling! And my Bibb has my name on it! ROCK ON ME!

{January 14, 2015} Kids toys noises

I know that kids toys make noise because kids love it, it’s educational, it reminds them of their favorite TV shows.

But… why are there times the noises are a mystery! The reason I was thinking about this is because every so often as I am driving in ACS’ car, I hear what sounds like tinkling, then I hear Doc McStuffins’ voice, there is no one in the back seat! It just happens!

Then there is the weird music and quacking happening in the garage, where is that coming from? My dad and I kept hearing it couldn’t figure it out, where it was coming from or why it was happening, then we saw the toy in the corner and what was touching it to set it off!

That stuff is startling and scary and creepy on occasion!
MAKE IT STOP!!!

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What was I thinking?