A New Adventure | Peaches Prattlings

{March 7, 2018} A work GNO…awesome!

Tonight was a girls night out with some co-workers.

It was DLP, myself, JM, you might remember her from our movies in the park over the summer and PB. OMG! I just realized, she and I together and PB & J! How funny is that?! I am so easily amused!

PB has been in the field, JM rolled off the project a while ago, so it was great to

We met at MAD Social, https://www.madsocialchicago.com/, a lot of plates for sharing, salads, flats, skewers, they were able to make some of them vegan, which was great for me and plenty to eat!

DLP and I went from the office, PB and JM were coming from other locations. We haven’t all seen each other in quite a while, so it was fabulous to be together. We laughed, we caught up, we talked about what’s next, laughed, and repeated the process all over again.

What a great time we had tonight, seeing each other and spending time together, sharing stories, time and affection. It’s not always easy to connect with co-workers on that level. You might be friendly with some, but to take it to the next level, it doesn’t always happen, but when it does, it’s special.

Looking forward to the next GNO, fabulous!

{March 5, 2018} That’s so cool!

Got into the Uber tonight and saw something cool!

On the center console was a clear case made by Car Go. It had all sorts of goodies. I’ve been in Uber’s that had water, sometimes candy, but this went beyond!

It was like a vending machine all in a small box! There were chips, candy, healthy snacks, junk, gum, energy shots, headache pills and even condoms! You had it all!

You go to the app, put in the number, select your items, it gets charged to the card on file and the driver is notified and you get your items. There are also USB charging ports.

You have everything you could possibly need. Seriously, how cool is that?!

{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!

{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 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 15, 2018} Four years?! Has it really been four years?!

Wow, four years ago this week I started with my current company. Can you believe it!?

To date, I have never been anywhere more than five years and my goal is to stay with this company until I retire and that’s quite a few more years.

I was brought to the company for my experience as a software trainer, specializing in EPIC, it’s an EMR, Electronic Medical Records, application. You know EMRs, when you go to the doctor and they enter everything on the pc, no more paper charts. Much more efficient in record keeping and depending on the software at the medical office, your records could be pulled up anywhere!

It’s been quite the ride since I started with the company. I have been on six projects, five different applications and two new ones to me. All of this has made me more well rounded, as an employee, as a trainer and team member, sounds good to me.

And now, I’m looking for my next opportunity, will it be the same type of software I’ve been training on this project, will it be something I already know, something new? Where will I be? Closer to home or farther away? Will my new co-workers be as wonderful as they have been on all my other projects?

It doesn’t matter, every new project is a new and exciting possibility to try something new, learn new things and all new experiences, not only with the application, but new team members, places to explore, cities to get to know, restaurants to sample.

I’m ready for my next adventure, are you with me?!

{February 12, 2018} A great day on the mountain, do we have to leave?

Today was a much better day on the mountain, so hard to leave!

This morning we slept in a minute, we were only about 20 minutes from the mountain, so we took our time. Got some breakfast, a late checkout of 1pm and headed back to Breck for some fun.

It was a clear, crisp, beautiful day, all that powder from yesterday was groomed, so definitely better for ST and for me, my goggles didn’t fog, definitely better for me! We hopped on one of the shuttles, went back to where we were yesterday and no ice build up! We had almost no issue with the build up at all! Off to a great start!

We did a few more runs than yesterday, oh how we wish we had today’s weather yesterday! No regrets! About 11:45 we headed back to the hotel, quick shower, pack the bags and car, get gas, clean the windshield, grab something to eat and get on the road, about 1.47 hours to get back to Denver to drop off our skis. Oh! Do you see the ice on the windshield? That’s on the inside!

Ok, so, I thought 1pm would be alright to leave. Ha ha. We hit the on ramp, it was backed up, not a good sign…It was very stop and go the entire way! And, oh joy… all of a sudden, a warning light comes on “Transmission overheating, stop for 5 minutes’ What?!

So…pull over for about five minutes. Somewhere in there, a guy walks up to the car and asks if we’re ok. I told him what happened and he said, oh yeah, that happens all the time! And it will probably happen again! Really?! Great…

And he was right, it happened about three more times, grr. So… the stop and go, having to pull over four times, our little two hour trip down from the mountain turned into a little over three. We dropped off ST’s skis and then mine and then made a beeline for the airport.

Then that comedy of errors began! Dropped off the car, meanwhile, ST’s flight is now delayed, not good. I was going to do curbside checkin with my bag, but I missed the entrance, so car return it is. We get off the shuttle and on the way in to the airport, I wiped out! Seriously?! I get to the counter and I had just missed the 45 minute cutoff for dropping bags, but… status is fabulous!

I limp through security and to the gate, made it just as they were finishing my boarding group. Then… the longest boarding process ever! It was like no one had ever been on a plane! But amazingly, we left 2 minutes late and arrived on time! And my bag made it too!

Now I’m at the hotel, icing my ankle, enjoying the fireplace thinking about sleeping right here on the sofa!

I can’t wait for my next adventure!

{February 11, 2018} A day on the mountain!

What a great day! Second time on the slopes for me this season, first time for ST in a few years! Let’s do this thing!

We got up earlier than anyone should for a Saturday! 6am, ugh! But, we had to get on the road, it’s about 1.5 hours to Breckenridge from Golden, Colorado. Ok, so that’s without traffic…GPS said 1.55, ok. In reality…3 hours, we literally got there about 9:45am, wow! It was snowing pretty hard, so everyone is moving slowly and we see the snow plows…going in the other direction!

I have to say, growing up in NYC, going to college in western NY, living in Colorado for a bit, all of that helped with driving in the snow, especially since we were in a Ford Escort! Nothing more suitable for the snow this time, that wouldn’t cost me a lot extra, no thanks! There were a few slip and slide potential moments, but…according to ST, I handled it like a champ! I hope he wasn’t lying!

We got to Breck, found a place to park, thankfully! Suited up, ok, tomorrow, we are wearing our ski pants to the mountain instead of putting them on in the car and in the snow! Boots on, that in and of itself is a beast! We got our skis, walked to the shuttle and poof! We were at the gondola! We got ST’s buddy pass and up the mountain we went!

Here is where the real struggle began! This happened to me the last time I was up here and it is incredibly frustrating, but…it’s nice, sort of, to know it’s happening to others as well, not just us! The snow is so wet, it is building up on the bottom of the boots, with ice, so fast that you cannot hook into the skis! You had to scraped the bottom of the boots really well before you can snap in. About 30 minutes later! we were on the lift!

Since this was ST’s first time in a while, it was slow going, only meaning that he took his time and I was totally fine with that! I remember my first time back on skis when I moved to Colorado. There was a lot of fresh powder, which sometimes makes skiing a little more difficult when it hasn’t been groomed. He took it all in stride and like a champ!

We skied a few runs, then it was time for lunch, well, we decided to have lunch with I think everyone else on the mountain! We were lucky to find a seat! Got some lunch, wow, what they charge for food! I am not sure if the lift ticket was cheaper!

After lunch, I went back out to do a few more runs and…after about 30 minutes of trying to get the skis back on, I was done. I was SO frustrated! I called ST and told him what happened and that we were outta here! GRRRRR

Do you see the amount of snow that piled up while we were in the lodge?!

Well, it was only about 3pm, we headed to the shuttle, got on the wrong one and got a short tour of Breckenridge, then back at the gondolas, got on the right shuttle and back to the car.

Then…it turns out a co-worker from my project in Chicago, who lives in Colorado, SG, was going to be in Breckenridge this weekend with his family and some friends, as well so we made plans to meet up this afternoon. We ended meeting them at Mi Casa, a Mexican restaurant, in downtown Breckenridge, for happy hour and we oh my, a very happy bunch!

There were three couples, with five kids between them, they are all neighbors and friends. There were pitchers or beer, drinks for the kids, wings, tacos, guac and chips for all, not to mention good conversations, a lot of laughs and new friendships.

A few hours later, we all parted ways, they all headed to their hotel in Breck and we headed to Silverthorne to our hotel. The roads were better than when we came in this morning! We chilled, got settled and thought about dinner.

But…we were so bushed, guess what’s about to happen in a few? zzzzzzzzzzzz What does tomorrow hold? More!!!

{February 7, 2018} Another farewell…

Another roll off dinner, another farewell to another co-worker.

Tonight, we said goodbye to the man who brought me on to this project in Illinois. Neither of us are sure how he found me, but he did. I don’t know if you remember me telling you about about the time we first talked, but I was in the back of a hotel shuttle in Washington, DC. I was with the family for Spring Break week.

We talked about the project and I told him that I knew nothing about IES, never even heard of it. I also didn’t know at the time that DHS stood for Department of Human Services, I still thought it was Department of Homeland Security! Imagine that! I quickly found out what it was and I was game.

I told him what I tell anyone I interview with, if you want an expert in that software, I’m not the person for you, but if you are want someone who can learn the product, get ramped up quickly and deliver, then take a chance on me. And he did! I’m so glad for it!

He’s always encouraged me, supported me, listened when I had ideas or needed to express or vent, as it were. Throughout the entire project, he’s been so supportive, giving me the tools I needed and always trying to help me grow in my role and take on more responsibility.

We’ve laughed together, been frustrated together, talked about movies, music, books, travel, had the same views on some things and differed on others. It’s fun to be able to talk to your manager about things other than work. There have been one-on-one dinners, team dinners, outings, events, meetings, calls, you name it, the list goes on.

And, as with all things, all good things must come to an end. This is the time that the project is wrapping up and people are rolling off left and right. A few weeks ago, a roll off, tonight, a roll off, I wonder who’s next!

So, tonight, we all gathered at a new restaurant and had food, drinks, toasts, poems, a team gift, lots of laughs, stories and a good time, just as a send off should be!

I wish him a lot of luck and as always, thank you for taking a chance bringing me to this project knowing I didn’t know the product. Good luck MS! I hope we get to work together again some time, I’d do it in a skinny minute!

{February 5, 2018} Take that Nikola Tesla!

I have been playing Words With Friends for a few months…this time.

I think I started playing Words With Friends years ago like everyone else and it was fun and exciting. I think I was playing Draw Something at the same time, weren’t you?

Like many games, we lose interest, something new and exciting comes along or maybe, like many others, you kept playing. Well, a few months ago, I decided to get back into the game, ha ha.

So, here I am playing Words With Friends 2, updates, new and improved. I’ve got about 10 games going with four different people, it’s fun and challenging.

Now, the title of my post, I know you’re scratching your head like “huh”? So, with this new version, there are different challenges that you can participate in. There are events, always theme based, right now, there is a Valentine’s Day theme. With the events, you have to reach a certain number of points to win a prize. The points are earned by completing so many solo games, so many words with big scoring letters, X, J, Z, Q, competing in lightening round games with strangers, things like that.

Then, the next challenge is against the game, but they make it interesting. Each challenge has a different theme, right now, it’s famous poets, the last was investors. There are a few in the bronze, silver and gold levels. Easy, medium and hard in each.

So, as you can guess, each level, since there is a theme, has to have a name. With the inventors, there was Alexander Bell, Edison and the last and hardest was Nikola Tesla.

The easy, in my opinion, is very easy. Then the medium, more of a challenge, as it should be and then the hard, sometimes not too bad, but it is harder and there have been times with the medium and hard that I have had to replay a few times. But this time, Nikola Tesla, wow! It took me seven, yes I said seven! times to beat him! It was so frustrating!

I’m sure when you play games against a computer you think it cheats sometimes, right? How does it get that perfect move, those letters, come on! Really?!

Ok, so… sometimes, when I’m playing I get a bit competitive. It’s funny, when I’m playing with real people, yes, you want to win but there are other opportunities. With the computer, yes, I can play again, but there’s a time limit, the event ends and a new one starts. But, if you know me and my race medals…I’m determined! I’m not missing out on that badge, that gold box!

So…I played Nikola Tesla, just like all the others, and I knew I was getting close, but I was cautious and that calculator… How many points do I need to beat the machine!

So… in this instance… Take that Nikola Tesla!

Hey, if you want to play me, let me know, I’m always up for the challenge!

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