365-6 | Peaches Prattlings

{March 5, 2018} Do I really have to go?

I know, I know, all good things must come to an end.

No, I’m not dying, we’re not leaving Hawaii, I am so dramatic sometimes! I just didn’t want to leave home. That’s all! I have to go back to the real world, I have to go back to work. Well, I worked last week, I have to go to Chicago and go into an office at the client’s site.

It was nice being home, I wonder what it would be like to be home full time. Well, it depends on where I live, of course. In this case, Hawaii, yeah, I think I could do it. I’m not sure if I could get up to start work at 4:15am every day, but that finishing and being able to go to the beach at 1:30/2pm every day, hmmm…

I got up every morning between 4:15 and 4:45am, started working, got on conference calls, if I was able to actually get out of bed at 4:15/4:30am, I’d work out, otherwise, I would work out later in the day, have lunch about 1pm, done between 1 and 2pm, either go to the beach, take Mollie for a walk, eventually cook dinner, I experimented with a few things, I ate some good meals! did some

Now, on the other hand, if I can go every weekend, or at least three weekends a month, that would be like a ‘normal consultant’, oh wow! I could do that!

I have to say, every time I’m home and we get to spend the weekend together, like a normal couple, it gets harder to leave, especially when we know we won’t see each other for about a month.

On that note, I am happy to report that we booked our next trip! OMG! We are so excited about it and I cannot wait to tell you all about it! But you know that won’t happen until we go, but I promise to tell you everything, well, maybe not everything! We had the darnedest time, yes I said darnedest! Getting to where we want to go! I think I told you that as long as we live in Hawaii, we want to go to as many Pacific Islands we can, while it’s not too difficult to get to from where we are. It was something, but at least we have a going/coming tickets, in the middle, we’ll figure it out!

I think this was more of a ramble, wouldn’t you say? I just wanted to get things on paper, so to speak, just my thoughts. Remember, this is free therapy for me and I also want to share with you. You see, no matter how much fun I have on the road, with all my adventures, being home is just another adventure to me and I’d like more of that!

I’m flying back to Chicago as we speak, so please have a great week! I wonder what we’ll talk about tomorrow!

{March 4, 2018} A day at home, together… sigh

PSM got home yesterday and today we got to spend the day together. What more could you ask for?

Nothing, it was great! He’s been off island for two weeks, he’s happy to be home, wouldn’t you be? We got up, hung out, eventually got some food and as we were trying to figure out what we wanted to do and the weather was not too favorable, it became a movie day.

We started with Jumanji, loved. Geostorm, ok. The Princess Bride, la la la love, who doesn’t?! The Secret Life of Walter Mitty, with Ben Stiller, always like. Forgetting Sarah Marshall, it was ok.

What a great day, we talked, we laughed, we watched movies, we cooked together, talked, laughed, connected.

The perfect day. Do I really have to leave tomorrow?

{March 2, 2018} Island Life…it’s rough…

So, last week and this week, I am working remotely.

Yes, you figured it out, that means I am working from home…in Hawaii. Now, I know you’re thinking ‘ooh, rough life’ “I’m not sure I like her right now”. Ok, fine, hate on me, ha ha.

Now, there are pluses and minuses. Wait, did she just say minuses? Yes, I said minuses. Let’s talk about the pros and cons. The pros…I get to be at home, in my own bed, in my house, my dog, the beach, the weather. Um, you forgot your honey. Nope, he’s not here! What? You’re there, he’s not? How does that work?!

Well, I’ll tell ya. He had to be off island last week and this week, so someone had to sacrifice and stay with Mollie, so I fell on my sword for this one, I know, I know, it’s a sacrifice, but I’m so humble, what else could I do?! Ha ha!

PSM was in Illinois, go figure, last week and Iowa this week. I know, you’re jealous, Iowa in February, hold yourself back! So, I’m here in Hawaii. I have everything I want/need, except the fella. Luckily, he’ll be home on Friday so we’ll have our normal weekend together!

Now, here I am in paradise and the con…I am keeping my central time zone hours, that means I start working 5am, I’m glad it’s not east coast hours, that’s another hour! Yup, the alarm starts going off at 4:30am, another at 4:45am, the nice thing, I roll out of bed and into the office, sometimes in my jammies, I have no energy to get dressed yet, sometimes I’m lucky to brush my teeth!

I start work and then take a break to at least maybe get dressed! I work 5am until about 12:30/1pm that’s a full 9 hour day, but guess what I get to do now?! Yup, take a nap! lol. It’s lunchtime about then and…yes, as you may have thought, go to the beach.

Now, at the moment, it’s still winter in Hawaii and the last month hasn’t been great for the beach goer, it’s been colder, windy and raining a lot. I’ve been to the beach three so far since I got home last week, sigh.

I keep looking to the clouds to ask where the sun is and if they could just part a little, but no love there. Now, even though there’s no sun, I’m done by 2pm at the latest and that means I have the rest of the day to do everything or nothing! How much would we love to be able to do that in our normal days? I take nothing for granted!

I finished work and said, I don’t care, I’m going to the beach. So I put in my suit, grabbed a towel, beach mat, bottle of water and my book and to the beach I went. Oh yeah, and a sweatshirt, it was chilly.

I got to the beach, it was Tracks Beach, one of my favorites, a locals beach, it’s not much of a beach, great for surfing, no, I haven’t tried it, too rough for me on a stand up paddle board, I’m not that experienced yet. I think I’ve told you, if there are 20 people on it, it’s crowded.

When I got there, there were two people leaving and two kids were fishing. I rolled out the mat, settled in, opened my book and enjoyed the breeze.

Eventually it was just me and the two fishing and then three boys showed up, all about 10 years old, they played, swam, jumped, horsed around and enjoyed just being together and brothers.

Eventually, the mist came in, a good time to pack up and go. Good thing to! As I was driving, with the top down, the downpour started! Now, the great thing about a convertible, keep moving, windows up and the drops go past ya! I made it home and the headrest was a little damp, but I was dry, love that!

What a day! Even a rainy day on an island is a good day! Who wants to join me?!

{February 27, 2018} Come and meet the individuals who live with me

Well, there’s PSM and Mollie McDougal, but we are never really alone, are we?

No, it’s not a woogie alien thing, there are creatures all over the planet, they just don’t all have homes, or take their homes with them, so to speak.

When I go onto the lanai, I like to investigate what’s going on and who’s going where. Apparently, our house is a hotbed for snails and slugs. Snails have shells, slugs don’t, in case you weren’t in the know. It was a fact I knew, but there was a great line from the animated movie, ‘Epic’. “No shell baby, I’m a sluuug”, cute movie.

So, snails, slugs and spiders, oh my! check out his coloring! The bees are having a grand time on the basil bushes. You have to be quick to catch a gecko! The birds too, if you move or make a noise, they’re gone!

Oh my, look at that snail fly!

h my… look at that snail fly!

{February 26, 2018} Ah, there you are!

I love getting a new haircut and I do love my short haircuts.

I’m sure I’ve told you that I look just like my mom and every time I cut it short and dye it this shade of red, I look even more like her. This time several people said it was the best cut and color I’ve had in a long time, the color was perfect, especially for my coloring. That was a lot of color, wasn’t it?!

And then on top of the short haircut, I really like spiking it. It feels fun and fierce. I don’t spike it for a bit after I cut it, at first, it doesn’t need it, stands up on its own! Then it gets too long to stand up on its own, so I need to give it some help. I’ve tried different products, some hold all day, some I find fall flat after a few hours, some are like cement, some keep a wave, some stand straight up, it’s been a challenge. I know when the gel just slicks it all back, it’s time for a haircut.

I cut it a few weeks ago in Denver, I’ve just been washing, scrunching and going, this morning, after I showered, I put gel in my hair and spiked it and looked in the mirror and thought “Oh, there you are!’

I smiled big at that!

{February 21, 2018} I’m home, make the most of the day!

Another day in paradise. Even though I had to work, it’s still paradise.

I got up way too early, which was planned, I’m keeping my central time hours, that means a 4:15am wake up. Wait, isn’t that what I did yesterday?!

I got up, worked out, my ankle finally decided it was done giving me trouble! Wahoo! So, work out, protein shake and get to work. I started at 5am, which is 9am in Chicago, perfect! I worked until about 2:30pm my time, I had lunch about 1:30pm my time, 5:30pm Chicago, I think that would be considered a very late lunch!

After I finished working, I picked some basil from the garden and made some vegan pesto, yum! I was wandering through our garden and saw that we have a new orchid, it’s great, we don’t do anything and they keep showing up in the base of the palm tree, go figure!

Then it was time…for the beach, I am going to make the most of my time at home! I packed a bag and headed out, it was fabulous, super simple. Laid out my blanket and got to, well, doing nothing! I waded into the water, talked to a few people, read my book, took a nap and then the sun started setting, phenomenal! Look at those colors!

Back to the house, I had some work to do, make some dinner, laundry and now talk to you. I’m a wee bit knackered, wonder why!

How was your day?

{February 20, 2018} 2 flights, 2 hour delays, 6 movies, some work and I’m home!

I kid you not, today was a killer travel day!

So… 4:15am alarm, oh joy! I had already packed last night, laid out my clothes, so it was just a matter of getting up, showered, dressed and to the airport. Easy peasy. Seriously, that was the easy part!

I couldn’t get to curbside check in, so it was gas, drop off the rental car, get on the shuttle, lug everything into the airport, then drop the bags. That was fun, waiting on the line, watching them take someone else. Why have two lines if you’re not going to look at this one. And this one was simpler, just bag drop. One nice thing about the wait, the TSA pre-check line was a lot shorter when I got there!

Ok, this one is on me…I mis-read the sign for the gate, which is odd because I am in this terminal all the time…I must have been on auto-pilot because I went down the escalator, down the walkway, up the escalator…A4 was back where I was when I came through security, ugh! There went my dream of getting breakfast before my flight to Salt Lake City!

I settled in, watched three movies and worked, I am just that good! I worked when I was able to get connection. Let’s see, movies, which will be reviewed later…The Man Who Invented Christmas, about Charles Dickens writing A Christmas Carol, The Hitman’s Bodyguard, with Ryan Reynolds and Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri and Loving Vincent. I also watched the 2 episodes that made up Witness for the Prosecution by Agatha Christie, what a mind and last was Sleeping with the Enemy until we landed in Honolulu.

We landed with just enough time to get to my next flight in SLC, Salt Lake CIty, for those of you not in the know…had I known what was about to transpire, I would have stopped to get breakfast!

I got to the gate, they hadn’t started loading the plane yet, but how long would I have? They kept saying we’re about ready…Then they only boarded rows 1-9 because they were cleaning the plane, huh? I was in row 10, can I sneak in?! Then it was people who need assistance and people traveling with small children, ok. Then it was Diamond and Platinum and first class. Wait, isn’t 1-9 first class?

Then it was time for the rest of us, that had only taken about 30 minutes, felt like an hour or more. But wait, there’s more! We are delayed due to the snow, then we need to gas and de-ice. Seriously? Then it was another 20 minutes, then we were number 8 for takeoff… Then it was two hours later and we were off. Here it was about 2pm, I haven’t eaten since I woke up at 4:15am and I’m not going to eat until we land? Which we did about 4:30pm. Ok, I snacked, but those airline snacks don’t fill you up!

The woman next to me was very nice, from Salt Lake City, she has a house on the North Shore, so we chatted for part of the flight and felt for the babies crying in the back, poor things.

We finally land and then the baggage carousels changed, but eventually I got my stuff. I grabbed a taxi, made it home, finally! Then as quickly as I could, put the food in the fridge that was in my bags, changed into my bathing suit and headed to the beach for the last hour before sunset! It was fabulous!

Then I decided, food and a movie! In the theater! So, Raman Ya it was and Black Panther. I got lucky, it seems that every theater on the mainland was sold out! Great flick! I’ll tell you about that later too. That was movie number six! Then home to write to you and zzzz! I gotta get up and work in a few hours!

Ah, the life of a road warrior!

{February 19, 2018} Another great Boston weekend!

Come to think of it, when isn’t it?!

I arrived Friday night, no issues, thankfully. GES had just gotten home from girls night, I didn’t expect anyone to be up, so this was a nice treat. We chatted for a bit then, up to talk to you and eventually zzzzz.

There should be no alarms on Saturday, but alas…GES and I got in the car and on the road. We eventually stopped to grab a bite for breakfast and then on our way, we were in a town in New Hampshire and all of a sudden I look in the rearview mirror and ugh, blue lights, crud! I had been wondering what the speed limit was, I’m about to find out!

When the officer came to the window, I was honest, “I guess I was speeding”, ‘yup’, “I honestly don’t know how fast I was going, sorry”, ’30 in a 50′, crap…

‘Where are you headed?’ He gave a second glance at my Hawaiian license. ” To a camp up the near here to look at for a wedding” ‘its nice up there, very pretty’. Eventually he came back and let us, well, me, with a warning, thank you!

As we drive off, GES wondered if he thought we might be looking for place for us to get married since the camp specializes in specialty groups, physical issues, gender choices, genetic specialties, if that makes sense, and we’re two women. Ha ha!

It was a beautiful drive up thru the New Hampshire towns, snow in places, frozen lakes. The way back was charming too, along with the good conversations up and back. You know my sister and I didn’t get a lot of one-on- one/ alone time, so this is great!

When we got back, it was lunch with everyone and ACS’ brother and s-i-l, then the girls each had play dates. I took MGS to S&L R’s house for a play date with the cousins, gave GES a chance to get some rest.

After all the play dates, GES, MGS, EJS and I went out to meet ACS and some friends for dinner. On the way home from the restaurant it started snowing and continued. Any guesses what it looked like when I got up? White, white, white, but the plows had already been.

GES and I had an appointment, so, away we went! So beautiful as we drove to Glochester, the trees do pretty covered in snow. We get there and I check my email, should have done that before we left, go figure. Oh well, good excuse to try a me place for brunch!

Back on the road towards home, stop in Burlington, the girls had a camp meet and greet at a local bowling alley. We get there and ugh, forgotten purse, leave GES and go back to the restaurant. No worries, no traffic, easy 35/40 min there, get bag, back to bowling alley for fun!

Then to the house, EJS had a play date. GES, MGS and I hung out, eventually dinner was ordered, fire was lit and we were watching Ultimate Beastmaster! Ultimate athletes trying to defeat the beast!

Then it was lights out for the girls and chill out for the rest of us! And I had to talk to you!

Did I mention never a dull moment at my sister’s? How was your weekend?!

{February 17, 2018} Sam Waterston…such a change

From one extreme to the other.

I know I’ve told you I love Grace and Frankie starring Lily Tomlin and Jane Fonda, Martin Sheen and Sam Waterston. In the show, Martin Sheen and Sam Waterston were married to the Lily & Jane, had an affair for years and now they are out and married to each other.

Sam Waterston’s character, Sol, the way he is playing him, he’s flamboyant, a little over the top. The character could have been seen, pre-coming out, by friends and family, as goofy, silly, forgetful and bumbling. Since coming out, he’s all that, but add the flamboyance to it, and there you have it.

Sometimes you forget what his characters were like before this role. I am watching an episode of Law & Order and Jack McCoy is a hard arse! He is a strong, serious, non-flinching prosecutor, interesting to see him in a role like the latest.

How about this…he’s still on Law & Order while he’s in Frankie & Grace. Now, that’s talent! I think I want to see more roles!

{February 16, 2018} Gong hei fat choy

That is Cantonese for “wishing you great happiness and prosperity”. In Mandarin, you would say ‘gong xi fa cai’.

This is what you would say to someone to wish them a Happy Chinese New Year. And why? Because today, February 16th, is the beginning of the Chinese New year! It’s the year of the dog.

I found out some facts when I went online. Officially, the holiday is three days, unofficially, it will be celebrated over two weeks, I like that! Chinese New Year follows the lunar calendar, so it’s not the same date every year, hmm…sounds familiar!

The holiday was born out of the myth of Nian, which is also the Chinese word for year, who was a beast that would appear every New Year’s Eve and attack villagers, ouch! So, the legend says that to scare away the beast, villagers would put up red banners and explode firecrackers and bang drums. Does that sound like some Chinese celebrations you’ve seen or heard of?

When I was a kid, we would celebrate Chinese New Year with a family we were close with, it was wonderful, the food, the family, friends and I’ll never forget the red envelopes with cash in them. I bet I still have one of those envelopes!

Just like astrological zodiac signs, each sign of the Chinese zodiac has their own personality traits. The dog is a true companion, associated with loyalty, honestly, intelligence with a strong sense of right and wrong. They are known to be swift and passionate believers in their own personal philosophy. The dog does its best to protect high-integrity people and support their cause.

Famous dogs: Winston Churchill, Mother Theresa, Elvis Presley, Bill Clinton, Steven Spielberg, Madonna and Michael Jackson!

I wish to tell all who are celebrating and especially JCT, her daughter, ST and her mom, LaLa, Gǒu nián jí xiáng.

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