A New Adventure | Peaches Prattlings

{December 18, 2017} My dad rocks and my sister has an anniversary!

I think you already know I think my dad is awesome, but I’m gonna tell you again! So there!

Today, I had to mail out those packages I told you about yesterday and we were at the post office and as I’m writing some addresses, a woman comes in, looks to be about my age and is grinning like a Cheshire cat and I look over and she says quietly, I think I know him! He looks so familiar! I smile and then I look at my dad and tell him what she said. They look at each other and all of a sudden, the light bulb is going off over both their heads! And the recognition is starting to creep in.

First, where did you go to high school, that wasn’t it, she didn’t go to the school he taught at. Then they both start to talk sports, high school sports that is and all of a sudden, he said soccer and they both said basketball! She was on a rival school’s girls basketball team that my dad was coaching! She is now a teacher and the basketball coach at my old high school. They started going down memory lane, ‘you played with so and so’, ‘you were great’.

I have to tell you, all I did was stand there, addressing my envelopes and grinning from ear to ear and my chest swelling with pride! I love when people see my dad and get excited. And he remembers so much about his days as a coach and the people he coached and or coached against, and what a coach he was! Boys basketball for a minute, girls tennis for a minute, then girls basketball and soccer.

He was a such great coach, as evident by the Facebook friends in his former players, the things people say when they meet him, the glint and gleam they get in their eye. It tickles me so much, I am so proud of him and to be his daughter. Like I needed another reason!

On to the next great thing happening today, my sister and brother-in-law are celebrating their thirteenth wedding anniversary today! I remember the day I met ACS, had no idea what would blossom and develop and a few years later I would be standing up next to my sister as her matron of honor and a minute there would be a bundle of joy and love and light called EJS and three minutes later there would be a fireball of love and goofiness and wonder and now thirteen years later I would be sitting here, wishing them a very happy anniversary.

What a fantastic couple they are, standing by each other, with each other and for each other and you know my family has been through some shite over the last few years. They have stuck together and stuck it out, through thick and thin, as they say and whatever adversity has thrown their way, they have smacked it straight out of the park, but what’s most important is they did it together.

I’ll never forget way back in the beginning when we were all sitting at the table in my parents kitchen and ACS said something and GES zinged him but good! I was so proud and ACS was thrown and thought it was great! My sister, so cute, still in the honeymoon phase apologized! What?! Nooo! you don’t apologize for a good zing, you go with it! Today, they have fun and zing each other left and right and I love watching it because most of the time, they can’t keep a straight face when they do it!

They welcome everyone and anyone into their home as if they are family and they pretty much become family instantly. You come into their home and it’s welcoming and warm and you feel like you can prop your feet up on a chair or chill out and take a nap on the sofa and no one would say boo. I’ve told you about the holidays and parties and get-togethers, once you attend one, you have an open invitation to the next and so on. This is a life they built together and it’s fabulous to see.

Here we are thirteen years of marriage later and they are as strong as ever and and I am looking forward to watching the next thirteen and the next and the next to see how much more fabulous they can become, I have a feeling they are going to be a force to be reckoned with, wait, that’s what they are now. I can’t wait to see what’s next!

Happy anniversary GES and ACS. I love you both very much.

{December 15, 2017} Hmmm…interesting or humorous

Not sure what to call it. Nothing major. I picked up my rental car in Chicago, NY plates. I happen to be a New Yorker so that works for me. Next, I am doing from Will County, Joliet, Illinois to Kankakee, Illinois through Manhattan. Manhattan, Illinois that is. By the way, Manhattan, Illinois holds no candle to its namesake, just in case you were curious. So… New Yorker driving through Manhattan, Illinois in a NY registered car. andnow, I am in NYC driving a car registered in Virgina. Go figure! Doesn’t get much more creative that that, sorry! Oh…a few miles on the treadmill and day 2 of a new workout, someone please come and lift my shoulders for me!

{December 13, 2017} Happy Chanukah 2017

Tonight at sundown, we begin to celebrate the Festival of Light, also known as Chanukah.

You might also know it as Hanukkah, however you say it or spell it, the meaning is the same. This is the festival of lights, a great miracle happened here. Let’s talk about the miracle.

When Antiochus IV was in power, he took to less than pleasant activities towards the Jews and the desecration of the temple. When the Jews went in to the temple for the rededication, they found enough oil to light the lamps for one night and a great miracle happened there and the oil burned for eight nights!

And that, my friends, is why we celebrate Chanukah for eight nights, why we call it the Festival of Light and why treats that are traditional are fried in oil. There is a theme here!

Oh, the treats! Potato latkes, you might know them as potato pancakes. There are different ways they can be made, regular potato, sweet potato, with scallions, served with apple sauce or sour cream. The Sufganiyah, the fried jelly donut covered in powdered sugar. Anything fried, it’s the frying in the oil that’s important.

We play games, like dreidel, it’s a square top with Hebrew letters. We play for matchsticks, candy, gelt, which are chocolate coins. The traditional explanation of this game is that during the time of Antiochus’ oppression, those who wanted to study Torah (an illegal activity) would conceal their activity by playing gambling games with a top (a common and legal activity) whenever an official or inspector was within sight. Each letter tells you how much you’re going to get out of the pot or have to add to the pot.

The magical part of Chanukah? The tradition of lighting the candles in the menorah. Now, all menorahs are different, some are more traditional, some even use oil to keep very much with tradition. The important thing are the prayers, lighting the candles from right to left, one candle added for each night. There are nine candles, one for each night and the shammus, this candle lights all the others and it is set either slightly away from the others, higher from the others, you just know this is the candle to light the others.

And yes, there are gifts, but that is not what’s important about the holiday. Gift giving is at each person’s discretion. As kids, our big family gift was tickets to see The Nutcracker Ballet at Lincoln Center in New York City. Then we would get little things each night, just something to open, but it is a nice sight to see the menorahs lit, the gifts lined or piled up and family playing together and really just spending the time together, that is what is most important, knowing what the holiday is about and enjoying in each other’s company.

My family has a few menorahs, my favorite family menorah, one that was made by a family friend, HT, it’s hand made and it looks like his arms are stretched out with the holes for the candles in each arm. I have my own collection of menorahs, I can’t wait to get them out of storage one day! Oh, when I have them all lit up, what a glow and feeling of love and warmth.

Oh, one more tradition, my mom would read us one story each night from The Power of Light, stories by Issac Bashevis Singer. As adults, GES and I realized some of these stories are not that happy, but they are important and my favorite, The Parakeet Named Dreidel.

When young David and Mama and Papa are celebrating Hanukkah one frosty winter evening in Brooklyn, Papa sees a parakeet sitting on the window ledge. He lets the parakeet in and everyone is delighted to find that it speaks Yiddish. They name it Dreidel and it becomes part of their family. Many years later, when David is in college, he is at a party one night and tells Dreidel’s story―only to discover that Zelda, a young woman at the party, owned the bird herself as a child. Papa and Mama are worried that they will have to give their beloved pet back, but then David and Zelda decide to get married after college, and everyone agrees that they should take Dreidel with them as they start their own family. Isn’t that wonderful?

I hope you’ve enjoyed my wonderful holiday of Chanukah, maybe one day you’ll celebrate and light the lights with me!

Chag Sameach!

{December 11, 2017} Step…Ouch…Step…Ouch…Repeat

So…did I mention that I knew I would be in pain today?

The day after I did the Honolulu Marathon 10k? Then sitting on one flight for 7+ hours, in a 2nd seat with minimal movement? Then a one hour flight stretched out, but not moving?

What do you think happened when I stood up and walked off that plane? Oh yeah, then driving an hour plus to get to the client site? Then at the client site, walking a little, but a lot more sitting? Oh my!

Let’s just say my legs were saying ” you are an awful individual, why do you hate us so? And because you hate us, we will make you miserable!” Done! What I will say to my legs and any other part that is cursing the vessel? Get ready! This was the kick off!

The kick off? Yup! I am about to start training for the Hot Chocolate 15k in Atlanta in February! What? Yup! This will be my third Hot Chocolate 15k. I truly want to run it, or at least run the majority of it and I know if I just set my mind to it and train, I can do it. If you think about it, it’s really just 3 5k races! It’s 9.3 miles, just 3 5ks combined into one race.

And…if I can run a 15k, a half marathon is not that far off, that’s 13.1 miles. This is a goal I am setting for myself. Send good feelings and swift feet vibes into the universe for me, I’ll run around and hopefully they will fall on my head and be absorbed into my feet!

And what I’m going to do…be accountable. I’m going to tell you what I do each week, it may be a full post or just a blip at the end of my daily posts, but I want to share my journey with you, just like everything else I do!

Ready…set…run!

{December 10, 2017} What do you do on a Sunday at 5am in Hawaii?

Well, if you were me this morning, you would have been at the starting line of the 45th Honolulu Marathon/10k!

This was my first race in Hawaii since I moved here, crazy, right? I’ve been wanting to do a race here and here I am! PSM had registered for the race, I wasn’t scheduled to be home this weekend so I didn’t sign up. Since he’s still recovering, I said I would run in his place! Yesterday, we went to the Expo, picked up his packet and I was able to get a t-shirt in my size, go figure, bling! We couldn’t transfer his bibb number, so when I got the results, they were under his name. I just want to know what my time is.

It was VERY early when I started out. It doesn’t help, as you know, that I don’t sleep very much! I fell asleep about 12am, go figure and that alarm went off at 3am, what? This is Sunday, what have I done to myself? Of course, I also haven’t trained for this one, duh! I snoozed and finally got up at 3:10am, got dressed and out of the house at 3:34am, yup, I even brushed mt teeth!

Hit the road and made it to the Honolulu Zoo at 3:57am, drove around and finally found a place to part at the Marriott and rushed to the Zoo about two blocks away. I really need to start carrying cash so I can park in the lots! I completely forgot! And I have done so many races, you’d think I would remember! I re-read the email and it said that the last shuttle was leaving at 4am! What?! Go figure…on island time, the last shuttle was right there and I made it! 4:22am! We were dropped off near the start and all walked over, then with my fellow racers, stood in line for the port-o-potties!

As we waited for the start, the fireworks started, what a show! Then, somewhere around 5:15am we were off! It was still very dark, but lots of lights and good vibes in the air. We walked/ran down the streets that are usually packed with people, cars, tourists and locals alike. We ran past the mall, where PSM had his shoulder surgery. Ala Moana Boulevard, which means “Path by the Ocean” in Hawaiian, we saw King Street, Queen Street, Prince Street I felt like royalty!

We passed by the Honolulu City Lights Display, can’t wait to go back and actually walk around! There were people in costumes, some of them a lot of fun. There were Minions, Pokeman, Rainbow Brights, Santa and Mrs Clauses, even a honeymooning couple! A lot of the businesses have giant displays set up for Christmas.

So many people cheering each other on, there were some clever signs, most I didn’t take pictures of, since they were in Japanese! Most of the runners were from Japan, as JAL, Japan Air Lines was a major sponsor, Mitsubishi UFJ NICOS and SportsBeauty, just to name a few! Someone told me a joke “What do you call 30,000 Japanese running after 3 Kenyans?” “The Honolulu Marathon!”

I crossed the finish approximately 1:45 after I started and the sun had just started to come up about 20/25 minutes earlier, it was nice to run past the beach as the sun was rising to greet us. I got my medal, banana and malasada. A malasada is a Portuguese confection, made of egg-sized balls of yeast dough that are deep-fried in oil and coated with granulated sugar. They were first made by inhabitants of the Madeira islands and when the Portuguese immigrated to Hawaii, they brought them along! Now, they have become a Hawaiian delicacy and staple. You won’t find them anywhere else in the United States, unless the owner is from Hawaii! Our favorite breakfast place makes malasada pancakes, O M G!!!

After the race, got a few photos taken and as I was standing in line struck up a conversation with a nice Japanese woman named Jackie who said she was going to start studying English right now!

Then it was time to get back to my car and since I wasn’t sure where I was and there was no shuttle, since we crossed the finish line near the zoo. I asked someone directions and they sent me in the wrong direction! This went from a .3 mile walk to 1.5 mile walk, what?! No thank you! I called for an Uber! Yes I did! Best money I spent all weekend!

Back home I sat on the couch and…zzzzzzzz. I had planned to finish packing and then take a nap, nope, sleep took over, apparently Mollie and I were both dead to the world! It was He kupaianaha [Hawaiian], 素晴らしい [Subarashī] [Japanese], vunderlekh [Yiddish] that would be Marvelous in English!!!

Then it was up, pack, head to the airport and dread what my body is going to feel like after I am on a plane for eight hours barely moving…think I’m going to be a bit sore?! You would be correct! I saw a few people with their marathon and 10k shirts on at the airport, wonder how many are on my flights!

I am so hoping all that exercise will wear me out and get me to sleep on the flights, fingers crossed!

Holo, JJ, holo! [Hawaiian for run]

{December 7, 2017} Just like mom used to make…

Tonight, I made something and when I tasted it, it was like my mom was right there with me.

I’ve made this dish once since I was a kid, I was inspired the other day when I was looking in the pantry I saw one main ingredient and when I went to the grocery store picked up the other main ingredient and tonight I made it. I have such fond memories of my mom making this when I was younger.

It’s kasha varnishkas, a dish descendants of Ashkenazi and Yiddish-speaking Jews from Eastern Europe and Russia and look at that, I am! It is made with kasha, an earthy and fiber-filled grain, is one of the oldest known food staples in Eastern European cuisine and bowtie pasta.

This was such a comfort food from my childhood. I made this once before, but I didn’t follow these directions, at least I don’t remember doing so. Tonight, I followed the recipe from the link I posted and it turned out fabulous! I baked the kasha in the oven with an egg and salt, that made it nice and toasted. Then I cooked the kasha on the stove top in boiling water, got it nice and fluffy, the way rice cooks, almost. At the same time, I so should have taken photos of my progress, I had three pots and pans going on at once! I didn’t have any onions as the recipe called for, but I did have minced onion flakes, so I browned those in vegan schmaltz. The last pot had the farfella pasta, or better known as bow tie pasta, fun to eat and say bow tie pasta!

Schmaltz, for those not in the know, is chicken fat, which, as you know, I am definitely not using! I used a vegan butter, which actually has quite a lot of flavor and a good texture. I will let you in on a little secret about me. I don’t care of ‘I can’t believe it’s not butter’ is vegan, I don’t think it tastes like butter, I’m not a fan of margarine, it’s ok for cooking with, sometimes, and country crock….um, no thanks. So, Earth Balance is a nice vegan spread that has a nice flavor, no, it does not taste like butter, but it makes you warm inside, so there!

The pasta was cooking, the kasha was cooking and since this is a very simple dish, I needed protein. I’m pretty sure my mom cooked this as a side dish, but what I made was ginormous, so…it was the main dish and I added some seitan, this was made by Uptons, it’s pretty good. Now, we all know it’s not real chicken or steak or whatever it’s portraying, but it’s got nice texture, something to really chew and adds protein, job done!

The vegan schmaltz, kasha, bow tie pasta, onions, seitan, all combined was a good dish and made me think of my mom, almost as if she was in the kitchen cooking and me asking whats for dinner and her answer ‘poison’, that was a family joke I’ll tell you about some time. But the first smell of the kasha, the first taste. Yup, all mom. And yum!

There’s plenty left, want to come for leftovers?

https://toriavey.com/toris-kitchen/kasha-varnishkes-kasha-and-bows/

{December 3, 2017} I’ve made what?

This week, I’ve been home and cooking! It’s been brilliant! And, just using what’s in the house and the pantry is getting bare!

So…I’ve been home about a week and helping PSM through his recovery, he’s fine, promise, but we’ve been a little house bound and I’ve been cooking. It’s been great fun, since it’s not something I do or have to do every day, I get to create. I’ve been going through the cupboards and getting creative.

There have been egg sandwiches, pb&j, eggs and rice, turns out we have a rice cooker and a ginormous bag of rice, doesn’t everyone have that in the pantry. Eggs and rice was good, I remember eating that when I had a procedure coming up and I had to do very bland, and then I got on an egg and rice kick, so I started added different seasonings, this time I added rice seasoning, which I got at an Asian market, it’s the kind you find in some Asian restaurants, it has sea salt, seaweed and sesame seeds, and some other spices, love it! Adds salt and some additional flavors, gives it a little something extra.

One day PSM said I really want some ice cream, we don’t have any in the house, but…I happen to have a frozen fruit ice cream maker! And four frozen bananas, add some vanilla and voila! Ice cream!

I said I wanted rice pudding, so…looked up a recipe for vegan rice pudding and we had all the ingredients except the imitation almond extract, quite tasty when you add maple syrup, raisins and almonds, it was a great breakfast treat and enough for two breakfasts, yum! I am going to experiment with some different flavors, look at me go!

I even cooked turkey burgers, no not for me! For PSM! First time, he said they were good, have to go with his opinion on that! Brussel sprouts rice and hot dogs, well, veggie dogs, needed a little protein in there. Lentil soup with chicken and rice, ooh that one was tasty! I definitely liked it better than the brussel sprouts and rice, but ya gotta start somewhere!

Part of the problem…we keep watching cooking shows or more baking shows, so we are hungry more often than not! Not good! Now I want to make a sponge cake! It’s mostly British Baking Championships and they do love their sponge!

I don’t mind cooking, I enjoy it even and figuring out what to make with what you have but…I think it might be time to go to the grocery store! What should I make for lunch?!

{November 29, 2017} An early flight, a canyon and an opinion

The day started way early, but we had an adventure to get to! SDL, Miss A and I were going to Kauai! Miss A had this strong desire to see lots of roosters and chickens, how could we deny her!? 430am wake up on vacation seems excessive, but the traffic on Oahu can be horrible, especially at 5am, which is rush hour. But we made it in plenty of time to get a snack and watch the sunrise. Then it was time to board our 40 minute flight and have an adventure! We got to the car rental desk and upgraded for a jeep. So, here is where my opinion comes in… I’ll stick with a convertible! We had a few circumstsnces that made me think this. It’s a two door jeep, which makes it tougher getting a child in and out of the back seat, I’m sure with a four door it would be different. And the window and back flaps were not that cooperative, especially when it started raining! I really enjoyed driving it and it was esay getting up the canyon drive. I did miss having the top down, but after the trouble with the flaps, we weren’t taking a chance with the top, especially since rain was in our future! SDL had a jeep in the past, she said it was much easier. I’ll take my 13 second up/ down beetle convertible top any day! We got in the jeep, headed to the hotel to drop our bags and started out for the Waimea Canyon Drive. They say that The Waimea Canyon is the Grand Canyon of Hawaii and when you see it, you get it! You can really see it as you go up and up and up, amazing!it We stopped along the way at some of the scenic overlooks, and they were true to their name, scenic and overlooking the canyon. We saw rock faces and formations, waterfalls, foliage and so much more! Spectacular! Even the second time! A few times, the three of us got out, walked around and took pictures, other times, just SDL, Miss A and I admired from the jeep. We drove up the canyon, it’s close to 30 miles up into the mountains to the top. We got out at a few of the state parks to walk around and get up to the overlooks there. It truly is spectacular. And Miss A walked them all, like a champ! We didn’t take the stroller out once today, awesome! After we viewed the canyon, we drove back down the Waimea Canyon Drive into Waimea, had some lunch at a local Thai stand with all the chickens and roosters. We were going to go to Ke’e beach, but it was getting late and the sun would be going down in about two hours, when we got to the beach. We took a chance and got on the road. Guess what happened…the sky opened up! So…rain makes for a different experience! We stopped at Kauai Harley Davidson, https://www.kauaiharley.com/, for a gift for Miss A’s bus driver and a photo with the Hawaiian hog! Then a stop at the famous Hilo Hattie’s, a Hawaiian staple, unfortunately had gone under a few years ago and then a few shops have popped up and here was one! SDL had great memories of shopping at Hilo Hattie’s years ago, as did I when I first visited Hawaii. https://www.hilohattie.com/ Each time we walked into or out of a store, we were running through the raindrops, ok, let’s be real, we were dashing through the deluge! A quick stop at Walmart for some rain ponchos was just the thing! Luckily, the rain stopped when we went in and when we came out! Imagine us getting Miss A into the jeep in the rain! At Hilo Hattie’s we decided to put the windows back on, um… that was fun! But we would be dry! All that matters! So, raining hard, we went back to the hotel, dinner for Miss A, SDL and I ordered Italian and ate on the sofa while Miss A crashed out. What a day! What’s in store for tomorrow?!

{November 28, 2017} I’m home and it’s date night!

It’s Monday, and after a great week and weekend, it was time to head home and away I went!

I boarded my first flight, settled in, connected to WiFi and started working. I worked and watched movies on both my flights, even caught a few zzzz’s, could be why I’m wide awake at 10:17pm Pacific Island time!

PSM was able to meet me at the airport, it’s been so long since we’ve seen each other, just about 36 hours! On the way home, we decided we would get some dinner and then see a movie.

So, off to the movie theater complex and went to Gyu-Koku, Japanese BBQ, a few tasty treats for dinner and then a movie! We went to see Justice League and we both loved it!

Tomorrow, I’ll tell you all about the movie, but right now, I think I need to pass out! I just sat down and my body is telling me what time it thinks it is!

That being said, have a great night!

{November 23, 2017} I’m Thankful For…

It’s Thanksgiving 2017 and don’t we have so much to be thankful for? I do! Where do I start?

There is so much to be thankful for, every day we should be thankful, I know am, but it’s interesting that we almost boil it down to one day, but that’s not even true, is it? It’s more like we boil it down to one day to shout it from the rooftops! We are all thankful in some small way each and every day, but may not express it to everyone. Today, we feel the gratitude well up in our hearts and want to share it with everyone and that’s why we gather together with friends and family to tell them how we feel and that’s what I’m going to do with you now!

How did you spend your Thanksgiving holiday? For me, typical, ha ha. Got up, spent a little time with the family before EJS, dad and ACS went off to the local high school for the big Thanksgiving rivalry football game. Now, this is what I call a rivalry, it’s been going on since 1882! Now, that is something! They came back at half time, apparently, the visitors were sitting in the shade and in Boston, in the fall/winter cusp, pretty cold!

GES, PSM, MGS and I had a nice breakfast of eggs and home made waffles, GES was prepping for what she needed for Thanksgiving dinner at S&T S’s house. GES and I talked about what to cook for tomorrow’s second Thanksgiving lunch with ACS’ brother and sister-in-law. Then…

PSM and I went to visit his family, first stop, was to meet his mom, aunt and grandparents in two lovely cemeteries, not far from my sister’s house. It was a nice tribute and a special time for both of us. He tries to visit at least once a year and he is faithful about it and this year, I was able to join him and visit their graves and hear wonderful stories, I was honored that he asked me to join him.

The next stop was his brother, SM’s house. There, it was several families for appetizers, then some of the family go to their aunt’s sister’s house and the rest of us stayed for a nice meal. His brother doesn’t care for turkey, so there is chicken and brisket. I had plenty to eat, don’t you worry! A great time talking, catching up, laughing and just enjoying each other’s company.

A few hours later, we left to go to S&T S’s house for their Thanksgiving dinner. My sister hosts the Jewish holidays and TS host Thanksgiving and wow! Do you see the cornucopia she made? And the Oreo turkeys? They have little kids, so it’s always fun to see what cute treats they are going to come up with each year. We always arrive at the tail end of dinner, just in time for a taste of the meal, then clean up, we seem to time that just right, hmmm. Then chatting and then dessert, sounds good to me! More laughing, talking, catching up, enjoying each other’s company.

Oh yeah, of course there was some football thrown in, along with Arlo Guthrie’s Alice’s Restaurant. This is a Thanksgiving staple and I don’t feel the holiday is complete without it! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m57gzA2JCcM

After dessert, eventually it was time to clean up and head home. Jammies, games with the girls, movies and bed. I think that is a full day.

Now, since I’ve told you about my day, I want to tell you what I am thankful for and I hope you will indulge me for a moment.

I am thankful for a job that I love that affords me the opportunity to learn new things, explore strange new worlds, to boldly go…just wanted to see if you were paying attention. Thankful that it gives me the opportunity to travel to see friends and family and explore new places. It’s brought people into my life who I value and now regard as friends.

To my friends who are my family, I am so thankful that you allow me to be a part of your lives, to accept me for who and what I am, and I know it can be trying at times, but you don’t throw it back in my face and hope you know I value and love you more than I could ever say.

My friends in Georgia, who make time for me when I come to visit, do you have any idea how amazing that is for me? The fact that we have stayed friends after I moved away, is a testament to the bonds we formed so many years ago and I cannot imagine my life without you in it. Actually, I refuse!

I am so thankful to have a group of people in my life that have stayed with me and reunited with me after the thing that brought us together is in the past. I have my kids, who I reconnected with after a very long time, who love me and make me feel welcome and loved. I knew the minute I met them that I wanted them in my life and I was lucky to help raise them and the memories they have. And that they want to spend time with me, now, that’s the real bonus!

My son, WCH, who is as wonderful, special and goofy, as ever, has brought a girl into his life and now mine who I am looking forward to getting to know better. My daughter, TYL, a bright, fabulous woman and amazing mother, has given me a grandson I get to spend time with, love on and spoil with hugs and kisses, what could be better!

KAB and CS, who first made me JJ! have given me four amazing, wonderful and very special grandchildren that I have spent the last six plus years getting to know, love and adore. Yeah, pretty special!

PSM’s family. To them, I am thankful to have been welcome and accepted as a part of the family, it was almost immediate and an amazing feeling. I am thankful to be allowed in to witness the love and affection they all have for each other and for PSM, how much they love and cherish him, yeah, wow.

To PSM’s friends, they couldn’t wait to meet me, but they were cautious, he is after all, their friend and we are all protective of our friends, especially the ones that are like family. I guess I won them over, because the love I feel when we are all together and that I am included in the events in their lives, pretty special.

To the extended family in Boston, I came as a package deal with my sister, but I was welcomed into the fold and never felt anything but a part of their worlds. I was auntie J to my nieces and why wouldn’t I become auntie J to all of their kids? I may have mentioned once or twice or a thousand times how much I love that! As my sister once said, you don’t have to be related by blood to be family.

LaLa came into our lives almost thirteen years ago and has been such a strong force in it since. The girls have a grandmother that dotes on them and when they get to spend time together, it’s definitely a treat!

Then there is my sister and her family. It’s not a visit when I come to Boston, it’s just a weekend, yup, I’m supposed to be there and it’s like any other day and that’s the way it should be, right? I sneak in late at night, kiss the girls while they sleep, big hugs when they get up in the morning, laughs, hugs, giggles, tickling, silliness. How long are you staying? Why can’t you stay longer? Oh man do I love to hear that! Sometimes it’s from GES and not just the girls! Big sister/auntie love!

My dad, what can I say about my dad that you haven’t already heard? He’s funny, goofy, smart, clever, a fighter, champion, granddad/Poppa extraordinaire. He is always in our corner, no matter what happens and will go to bat for us when we need it. GES and I were so lucky to grow up with a dad like him and I feel so fortunate for my girls that they have grandfather as awesome as he is. I am just thankful that he not only loves us, but likes us, just as we are. Oh, most thankful is that he got to pick my name! Ha Ha!

To PSM, my friend, my partner, my love. The goofy, sensitive, scary smart, talented, geeky, gentle, sexy, guy that took me to an Irish pub on our first date almost three years ago who has shared so much with me these past, almost three years! I am thankful for that brain, that heart, that love of exploring, new places, things, tastes, sounds, sights. I am thankful for his spirit his sense of indignation when someone is wronged and how he will go to bat for what he believes in, there’s a lot more, but I’ll save the rest for him. Mostly, I am thankful that he likes and loves me just the way I am, as frustrating as that can be sometimes! He said he’ll take it, and I think he means it!

Lastly, to you, my friends, I am thankful that you take this journey with me, almost every day. You are curious to what I have to say, what I want to share and sometimes, you just want to laugh and for those things and so many more, I am and forever will be grateful to you. You’ve stuck with me for almost five years and I hope you will continue this adventure wherever it chooses to take us!

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