365-3 | Peaches Prattlings

{November 18, 2015} It’s good to be back

I’m back to blogging every day and it feels great.

For almost three years I have been blogging every day and it’s become a habit and a way of life. If I don’t blog, I feel weird. I’ve even woken up in the middle of the night realizing I didn’t post! I’ve also woken up mid blog, sometimes with my stylus in my hand, poised to write!

I know I told you, but I’m sure you can imagine how frustrated I was when we were traveling and I couldn’t post every day. I did get a post almost every day, but those few days were…grrrr.

Now I’m back and I’ve posted every day and it feels great. To be normal…so to speak. I still have the issues of writers block, if I am allowed to say that, some days I can’t think of anything to tell you and other days I can’t tell you enough!

I have told you before, I’ll say it again and I know it won’t be the last time…thank you for reading my posts, day after day, and caring about what I have to say.

Happy to be back! Here’s to the next three years! Wait, it’s not January yet! Until tomorrow…

{November 17, 2015} For the first time, I’m ok Christmas is early!

Tonight we checked into the Hyatt Regency Buffalo and Christmas is in full swing.

At first, I was thinking, like everyone else…it’s not even Thanksgiving! Of course, the Christmas/Holiday movies have started and don’t the mushpots out there love it? Yes, we do! But I digress…

It is a Festival of Trees, A Multi-Event Benefit for Women & Children’s Hospital and it is fabulous! http://www.festivaloftreesbuffalo.com/. This is the 38th annual event and to date, they have raised over $6.5 MMMMMILLION dollars, amazing!

Designers volunteer to design trees, wreathes, tables. There are some items that already have prices and others are up for auction. Such a worthy cause and ARA and I were completely blown away!

We even ran to our rooms to grab our credit cards and do a little shopping! I’m so excited! I can’t tell you what I got, but they gave us a bunch of sparkly snowflakes in different colors, because we bought some items and helped in a little way. It was so worth it!

There are Nutcrackers taller than EJS! There are presents, wreaths, trees, oh the trees!

Themes, like Nightmare Before Christmas, Disney, Peanuts, Inside Out. Clever trees that look like dresses.

If you are going to be in the Buffalo area over the next month, especially this weekend, stop by the Hyatt Regency in Buffalo and check out this amazing event and the trees, the trees, oh the trees!!!

{November 16, 2015} Why do things have to change?

Aren’t some things good enough as they are?

Do we really have to change? But it works the way it is. I’m just whining at the moment, sorry. A few of the apps I use have made changes recently, most recently, WordPress, where I write this blog.

I was speaking with a provider who was giving me an earful about their new electronic medical record system and as a trainer of said record systems, I get it and I can sympathize and empathize.

It would be nice, with certain things, if they told you they were changing, instead of it just happening.

I don’t have much else to say on the matter. There’s more to say, but you know what I mean, don’t you?

{November 15, 2015} Ouch! It was H O T!!!

Today I burned my tongue and throat, but good!

We went out for a really good meal. I had a fried eggplant sandwich, a very tasty treat, but hot as hades!!! It was very juicy, pretty sure it was the juice from the eggplant, not the grease from frying.

I cut the sandwich in half, looked good. I knew it was hot, but, oh my! I took the first bite and the juice that squired out from the eggplant scorched my tongue and my throat! The look on my face said it all! Within the seconds the server came over and I asked for some ice, she was back post haste and I sat there sucking on an ice cube, ahhhh.

I didn’t stop eating, I was hungry and it was good, but I proceeded very, very slowly…

Let’s just say, I am still hurting! My tongu!

{November 14, 2015} Saddened and renewed by the world

I am saddened by what happened in Paris. I am renewed by the support the world has shown.

There is so much sadness and violence in the world it breaks my heart.

I was out with PSM and his friends Friday night when MM texted and said he was glad I was home and not in Paris. I didn’t know what he was talking about at the moment, I did very quickly and it was heartbreaking. And it’s only gotten worse.

I remember what it was like each time there is a horrible attack somewhere. People who try to destroy the human spirit by taking lives. Why? Does it truly serve a purpose? What did you hope to accomplish? Did it work?

I don’t really want to talk about what happened, you know, you can research it online. What I want to talk about is the support the world has shown to the people in France.

We, as a people, come together to support each other, show our love and that we care and whatever happens we will not be defeated.

It’s hard when I am saddened by humanity when they try to hurt each other and I have hope when I see the outpouring of support.

mon cœur, de soutien et de bonnes pensées vont à tous ceux qui ont été touché et affecté par les attaques sur Paris. vous êtes fort et allez survivre.

http://www.cnn.com/2015/11/14/world/gallery/french-colors-1114/

{November 13, 2015} Drinks after work

Tonight, I went out for drinks after work.

But…not with my co-workers. I got to join PSM and his colleagues and friends for drinks after work to celebrate to celebrate a 4oth birthday.

I don’t know of you remember me telling you about the wedding we went to for one of PSMs coworkers, PV, it was a celebration for him.

First, I met him at his office and I got a tour and met a bunch of people, then we walked to Abigail’s, a nice restaurant/bar, for drinks. There were four of us for a while and we had drinks and some starters and then more people showed including PV’s wife. We ordered more drinks and eventually food. I had a really good sweet potato and kale burger, wow! And I wasnt the only one either!

We ate, drank, told stories, laughed and had a great time. His coworkers are funny and og course , when they started talking technical, my eyes glazed over! But it was still a lot of fun.

I’m glad I was invited and I’m glad I went.

{November 12, 2015} Are you a polite flyer?

A valid question.

The reason I ask is that today, I was flying back from Buffalo and there was a man sitting in front of the seat next to me, humming and singing almost the entire flight. In first class.

Now, it doesn’t matter where you are in terms of the plane, you should be polite no matter what.

I think it stuck out more, to those of us around him, because we were in first class.

One of the things I like about flying is that you can’t use your cellphone to talk to anyone. You can play games and watch movies, but I shouldn’t be able to hear you because you should have headphones on/in.

I don’t have a problem with people talking, but at normal volume for private conversations. I talk to people on occasion, whether I know them or not, I know go figure!The entire flight from Budapest to Amsterdam, the three people behind us…never. shut. up. Omg! Please! And it was at a decibel that I would not classify as polite in a small confined space.

The guy humming/singing today didn’t stop. He had giant headphones on and just kept going. Then on the shuttle from the plane to the terminal, still going, really?

I’m happy for you that you’re enjoying whatever it is, but I wasn’t asking to share and…

it might have helped if could actually sing!

{November 11, 2015} EscapeRoom

Today we had a team building experience, EscapeRoom Buffalo.

You may have heard of Escape the Room. This is an event for team building, birthday parties, a Friday night evening of fun, just because. Basically, your group is locked in a room, with a theme of some sort and there are clues you need to work together to figure out how to get out.

The theme of tonight’s event was Escape the Brewery. Uncle Albert owns a brewery and we have to make the delivery, we can’t be late or Uncle Albert goes under. There are clues hidden in drawers, under tables, behind things. You need to figure out the combinations to locks, find the key to a door or box. The key leads to the next door where there are more clues. If we are slowing down or not solving a clue in a decent amount of time, then a clue comes under the door to help the team.

I wasn’t sure what to expect, but it was loads of fun! There were times when one of us figured something out on our own, but mostly we worked as a team, just like we were supposed to and there was no fighting, as I’ve heard tell.

We were getting nervous, there were about eight minutes left and we found the key to get out! We finished in 51:12, with only 7 clues, we made 4th place! We did our team proud! The Learning Aggravators!

All in all, a really fun experience! I think I might have to arrange one soon!

About The Escape Room of Buffalo

A very happy birthday to my son, WCH, who turned 26 years old today. Sending him good thoughts, hugs, birthday wishes and love. Happy Birthday.

{November 11, 2015} Our trip

I know I was blogging every day while we were away, but there’s more.

There are a few posts that I need to try to get posted, add more photos, [I want to share about the people, the hotel rooms, the graffiti! Oh my!] so please forgive me for the overload of posts, but I don’t want you to miss a minute.

We had such an amazing time! I don’t know how much you’ve seen, but I want to give you a recap and a few pointers that we figured out.

We started in Lisbon, Portugal for the half marathon. We stayed in Lisbon for two more days, then the train to Porto, the home of Port wine, oh my, but fabulous! The city, for me, that is, PSM found a new affinity for Port wine, so for him, it might be a toss up!

Lisbon

Porto

Then it was on the train to Sevilla, Espana. Well, sort of, we missed the stop to change trains, it was an honest mistake and it sucked, but…we made the best of it, we ended up renting a car to drive from Lisbon to Sevilla. That was such a nice drive! I liked that we drove on the same side of the road as here, I didn’t have to think quite as much!

Lisbon to Sevilla

We didn’t really need a car on Sevilla, everything was walkable or we took the bus. And the streets were so narrow, no thank you!

From Sevilla for two and a half days, then on to Barcelona, by Eurrail, for three and a half days, is it possible to get “Gaudi’d out”? then on to Marseille for two days, heaven, then Nice for three. While we were in Nice, we took side trips to Monte Carlo/Monaco and Cannes, amazing!

Sevilla

Barcelona

Marseille

Marseille to Nice

Nice

Monte Carlo/Monaco

Cannes

From Nice we flew to Budapest, it was cheaper than the train and only took about five hours versus the 24 hours by train! Two full, jam packed days and it was back to the USA, Wow, talk about whirlwind!

Pest

Pest, from Buda

Buda

We had a few apps at our disposal, Triposo, which is fabulous, you can download the individual cities or countries or the parent app and download from there. It had suggestions on tour to take, top destinations and things to see in the city, food and lodging recommendations. A few of the cities even had free walking tours. Love this app! Use it if you can!

That was one of my contributions to the cause, PSM loves Lonely Planet and Trip Advisor, which we also used in conjunction with Triposo, sometimes we needed to verify times things were open, locations and other recommendations.

He was the navigator, wherever we went he was the one who mapped it out and led us where we wanted to go. Now, Google maps on occasion couldn’t figure out if we should go left or right, luckily, he has a pretty good sense of direction, so we made it where we needed to go, eventually. It was the adventure along the way!

I became the hotels.com queen, booking rooms sometimes as we pulled into the train station of that city or country! My job was to find the hotel and check out the ratings while PSM mapped the location to determine if we were in a good area, close to the city centre, the public transport, etc. Sounds like a good working relationship!

One of our best friends on the trip? Google translate! Oh my, but this app is fabulous and I recommend it highly! You can download the language package of your destination, make favorites, like “hello”, “do you speak English”, “where is the toilet? “, “how much”, “check please”, “thank you” and very important, “American decaffeinated coffee with milk” for PSM. If he could say that and thank you, he was set!

For me personally, there was one app I really like, Happy Cow. It gives you. Veg-friendly, vegan and vegetarian restaurants and stores wherever you are. We used it a times and I was quite pleased, well, as long as we could find the place, or it was open! You can select a nationality our select all and it gives you a list, each listing had location, offerings, reviews and dollar signs. I use this app in the states, it’s great!

The money was easy when it was in euros, Hungarian money, a lot more calculations! The nice thing was when there we signs for the price in HUF and EUR, that at least have us an idea.

This was an amazing experience that we had. We’ve traveled together, just the two of us a few times, but short trips, long weekends, this was a huge undertaking, three weeks, just the two of us. Two people used to doing everything on their own, that admittedly, was an adjustment, but it was also nice to have that other person to do stuff, take some of the responsibilities.

It’s nice to experience things together, it’s still a new relationship, so we haven’t gotten to the part about doing things on our own and meeting for dinner later, that may or may not happen, who knows.

Hey…We survived our first major trip together! No one got pushed in front of a train or a bus and we still like each other. We even talked about our next great adventure. Who knows where the road will take us, but I promise you’ll be right there with us!

{November 9, 2015} Panic attacks

Or moment of panic, fun, huh?

Tonight I had one, slightly stressful, ok, very stressful! I couldn’t find my wallet. I know none of you have ever experienced that before, so you just wouldn’t understand what I went through. Did you like that bit of sarcasm? I thought it was pretty good!

So…what happened was this…after finishing work tonight, I went to meet PSM for dinner at The Friendly Toast, a wonderful place near him that we love. All was fine at dinner, I gave him a ride back to his house after and when we got there, his sister-in-law, JM was there. She’s taking a class in the area on Tuesdays so she stays with PSM on Monday nights.

She and I chatted after PSM went to bed and then I left to head home. I was at home, packing for my trip tomorrow, back to Buffalo, and as I’m getting everything ready, I can’t find my wallet. Now, this is not a large space, so where could it be? I have another story to tell you soon about where I am staying, but enough about that now.

I went through everything, every nook and cranny looking for my wallet, I remember having it, but not what happened with it when I got home. I normally keep things in one place, but as I am in a new place, not sure where that place is just yet.

I unpacked my bag and repacked it…twice, looked through the trash…twice, the bathroom…twice, the laundry…twice, everywhere twice, including the car, although that may have been three times, to no avail. I texted PSM and then threw caution to the wind…called him.

I am so sorry I woke him, but I am glad I did because it was at his house, thank goodness! I know he went back to sleep and he’s my hero of the day, he’s my hero of the day quite often, for little things, but he gets big superman props for this one!

Now, I can sit down, write to you, breath and get some sleep. whew…

Email Subscription

What was I thinking?