A New Adventure | Peaches Prattlings

{October 8, 2017} OMG! I am such a lucky JJ!!!

Today I got the best text!

I get some awesome texts quite often, but today… extra special.

As you know, I have a fabulous add important responsibility this time of year. Halloween costumes for my nieces and grandbabies. I’ve been getting them ordered and delivered over the past few weeks and they have been arriving over the past few days.

For me, the absolute best part about all of it, hearing how much they love their costumes and seeing their faces in their costumes. As soon as they are all in, I’ll tell you what each one wanted and got.

Well, the reason I’m telling you all of this is that today, Baby A got his costume and he loves it. Along with a photo of him in his costume, adorable! I got the picture below with the text message attached.

He painted a picture in school of his house next to my house!!! And he painted it for me!!! Think I was excited? Speechless? Teary? Think I’m turning into my mother? You bet your bippy!!!

I am such a lucky auntie and JJ! Thank you!!!

My day 3 of 7 photo. I like this challenge!

{October 3, 2017} It really pays to say something

I’m a legacy! Wow!

Ok, let me explain what a legacy is and then how I am and why it pays to say something.

As you know, this weekend I did the Hot Chocolate 15k in Denver. This was my fifth Hot Chocolate race, two 15k’s, the rest 5k’s. The majority were in Atlanta and some in Denver.

A few months ago Ram Racing, who sponsors and puts on the Hot Chocolate Race, among others, sent out an email to all participants about their new Legacy Program. You would get an a medal, pin, beanie, picture frame and a special bib to wear, in addition to your race bib showing that you’re a legacy.

The legacy categories are three, five and ten years. Three is bronze, five is silver and ten is gold.

I got the email and rushed to check, yup, I have five! You know me and my bling!

Then… they send an email changing the policy… you have to participate for those years… in the same city.. what?! Now I’m just annoyed…

So… Have you met me? You guessed it, I went to guest services and said my peace. The woman I talked to, Serena, was very nice and understanding. She looked up my name and saw that I had participated in at least five Hot Chocolate races.

And… ready… She told me that the organizers are going to honor those that received the original letters that said three, five or ten years in a row. What? Really?! I wasn’t trying to get something, I wanted to voice a concern. But… yrs, they are going to honor my five years!

So…I got a five year silver medal, in the shape of a mug, a silver five year pin, a picture frame and my legacy bib! There is also a beanie, which they are mailing to me. I got it!

Now, if I decide to do this race again, which I have a feeling I will continue to do, I participated in the inaugural race in Atlanta in 2013! I will be sure to do the race in the same city.. if I want the legacy to continue.

Thank you to Ram Racing and The Hot Chocolate Race for honoring what you said and recognizing those of us who made it.

It really does pay to say something!

{October 2, 2017} Hot Chocolate 15k!

What a day!

So, you know my goals when I participate in a race: Start the race…check! Finish the race… check! Have people behind you… check!

That last one was touch and go! I totally admit, I had not trained, totally on me and I don’t know if it has anything to do with it, but fasting the day before, probably not the best thing for a race. As we’ve talked about before, I’ve done all different race lengths, from 5k to half marathon and only once, when everyone else was a runner did I come in last and didn’t like it.

So… along the route, I kept with people and then I was behind and then more behind and more behind. But I was doing it. I was tired by mile 7, ok, by mile 6, but that was a 10k, I’m doing this. Mile 7, I can’t quit now! It’s on my 2.3 miles left!

But… just before mile 7, the sweeper van was right there! The cop behind me, the end of the race, I ignored, he can’t do anything, but the sweeper van! I’ve told you about getting swept before, not a great feeling! I heard that door open and I ran for it! Just beat him!!!

Then I was with the other 6-10 stragglers. We were all motivating each other! It’s only 2 miles to go! Do you see the 8 mile? The 9 mile marker? One girl, this was her first and she said she was going to cry! I said go for it! My first 5k, I cried! And the first one I ran the whole thing, you bet your bippy!

We were so close! I was not giving up! I put my sweatshirt back on so they could see my bib number when I crossed the finish. Here are some of the advantages of finishing towards the end. Serious cheering! They can look up your bib number and say your name and where you’re from!

Now, when you look at my stats, feel free to laugh, I couldn’t stop! Overall, out of 2831 participants, I was 2827! Out of 2140 females, I was 2136! Now, in my age group, saved the best for last! I saw that and could not stop laughing!

So… Start… check. Finish.. check. People behind me… check! Get medal… check!

I’m a happy girl!

{October 1, 2017} An easy fast…A happy birthday!

It’s my birthday! And I’m fasting! What a combo, but it’s been great day!

I’m in Denver for the weekend, I’ll tell you all about it. I got in last night a little before 10pm, got the rental car, a Ford Mustang. Well, when I got to the assigned spot, no car, so when I asked the guy at the preferred desk, he said, what happened to the car? Well, that’s why I’m here! So, I had a choice, a Mustang or a Mustang. Um, I’ll the the Mustang… convertible!

PSM was asleep when I got in, just about that time, DLP texted that she was in Denver too! Well alrighty! I set up the bed in the living room and started working in my time and expenses. PSM got up a little while later and when DLP got there we all caught up. Then crashed!

Got up today with the sun, that was nice. It’s my birthday! This means presents and calls from my family!! The cards from my dad all played music and sang! Do you see the awesome JJ with pics from my grandbabies??? I am so lucky and spoiled!

Then sent DLP and PSM down to breakfast. Turns out, I wasn’t missing much, this hotel did not impress.

After breakfast, showers and get ready, off to the Hot Chocolate 5k/15k Race Expo. Only thing missing, CKM. We did this race and volunteered several years and such a blast. At the expo we picked up our packets with the bibs, jackets and maybe an extra treat or two. I have a story about that later.

After the expo, adventure! Drop the top on the car and head to Boulder for some sightseeing and fun. You never know what you’re going to find! Oh… the guy in blue! There was a Sonic convention happening in Denver. Different stores from all over the country compete! Customer interaction, car hop, whatever! These guys were the judges and were waiting for the teams and would welcome them with those hand clappers, so fun!

After Boulder, back to the hotel to cool and make dinner plans. I asked my friend AM if he, his wife NM and their daughter, A could join us. AM could, love seeing him when I’m in Denver. I can’t believe we’ve known each other for over thirty years! Wow!

We were going to go to City O’ City, that vegan restaurant I told you about the last time we were here. Who knew we needed a reservation! So, we went to another restaurant owned by the same people called Watercourse. Yum! It was all vegan! I broke my fast with a glass of water and a delicious chai made with coconut milk and cinnamon.

We had ‘wings’, which were lightly fried cauliflower with different sauces for dipping. Even came with ranch or blue cheese dressing with carrots and celery! We also had spinach and artichoke dip! Yum!

Main course, I had southern comfort food, deep fried cauliflower, like chicken, mac-n- cheese and salad. A Cuban for PSM, breakfast sandwich for AM and risotto for DLP.

Dessert time! I ordered a banana and caramel shake, didn’t think to ask, but after my ears and tongue started to itch, umm what’s in this? Coconut milk yogurt, bananas and soy milk, what? Uh oh! That explains the itching! Benadryl will clear that right up!

Then came the cake with a candle in it! A birthday should have cake! And singing! Thank you!

After dinner, back to the hotel for Bemedryl and, talk to you and say thank you for all the birthday wishes on Facebook.

I am so lucky! Thank you all!!

{September 22, 2017} Wow, status really helps!

United pulled one out for me tonight!

Flying to Boston on Delta tonight, flight goes from 630pm departure to 748 pm departure. Well…that doesn’t bode well for my 9pm connection in Detroit. Hmm..

Call the travel company, there is a 730pm on United going to Boston, great, I’ll take it! Less stress because of the traffic I am now sitting in with my Uber driver.

I get to the airport, drop the bag, go through security and pass gate C20 with a flight leaving for Boston at 715pm. Hmmm, I wonder. Just about that time I get a notification that my 730pm flight is now delayed to 847pm due to air traffic control. Ok…

I overhear the gate agent tell someone there are still seats on the 715, ooh! I book it over, get in line, with everyone else… doesn’t look good for me. First, there is a $75 charge for the standby seat, if I get it. Ok, I just want to get there. Then, the next sentence is, with your status, there’s no charge! Score one for United.

I look at the board with all the standby names and I’m thinking no way. Then, they start calling standby names and mine is the second or third called! Exit row ok? Yes! New ticket issued, I am on my way to Boston!

The flight should have left at 715pm, but… weather, air traffic, whatever. We don’t leave until almost 9pm.

The most important thing…I made it to Boston, I get to see my family and United came thru. Go United!

The pictures have nothing to do with flying, they were just there, on the street in Chicago and they made me happy! I hope they make you happy!

{September 22, 2017} Oh what a night! Actually two nights!

What are the odds, two fabulous nights in a row?! Well, with my folks, 10000000%! Tuesday I got a text from ST that he was going to be in Chicago last minute for work, great! Tuesday night we met up to grab some dinner and DLP joined us! I’ve told you that ST and I used to work together and he’s my work husband. So… work wife met work husband! All we needed was WIS, work girlfriend and PSM and we would have had the full enchilada! Could you imagine! We met at the bar at my hotel for a drink, then on to dinner at Rosebuds,a great Italian restaurant about two blocks from the hotel, recommendation from the hotel staff. Sorry I don’t have pics of everyone’s food, I had a treat happem, I got to talk to GES for a bit. That was the way to start the new year, dad in the morning, sister in the evening! So excited to see them this weekend! We had a great time at dinner, DLP and ST hit it off like gangbusters, it was as if they’d known each other for years. I love how my friends can do that! Tonight, ST and I met for dinner again and he said he wanted to go to Lou Malnati’s for deep dish pizza. We put our names on the list, I don’t think there’s a night the famous places for deep dish aren’t crowded! ST went to the bar to get a beer and get me a water, comes back out ahs tells me he has a seat at the bar and he’s made friends. With two Patriots fans! Seriously!? I had seen the one guy walk by, I noticed his shirt, the old Pats logo, which I like. We started talking and found out they were from Maine and… get this… in town for the same conference as ST! What are the odds!! After a bit we were enjoying ourselves so much we decided to change our individual two top tables to a four person table, awesome! We had such a good time chatting, getting to know each other, sharing pizza and beer. Well, pasta, salad and water for me! We talked through a few pitchers, laughed, told jokes, swapped travel and business stories and passed the time until it was time to head out. We walked back to my hotel, the guys promised to find each other tomorrow at the conference and we all went on our merry way. Now I’m talking to you, avoiding thinking about packing tomorrow morning and hoping to get a good night’s sleep! I almost forgot! For lunch, I got to go to one of my favorite places, Eleven City Diner! Look at that egg salad sandwich, on challah! Oh my!!! Two stellar evenings, go me! Night!

{September 20, 2017} True Food Chicago…yum!

I really like this place! It’s Monday in Chicago. I taught a great class of Managers, I was back in the hotel, I needed to run some errands including Walgreens, TMobile and food! Well, there was also some window shopping, The Disney store and that included a…yup, you guessed a costume! One grandbaby costume, check! Four grandbaby and three niece costumes to go! By now, I’m very hungry and the first two places couldn’t accommodate me, then I saw a True Food, Wahoo! Do you remember me telling you about our fabulous breakfast in Denver with PSM’s cousins at True Food? I knew they could feed me, so I went to the bar, copped a squat and set in to order. I had…yum! An inside out quinoa burger, as they called it and it was fabulous! It’s two hard packed quinoa patties where the buns would be, layered between the patties were cucumbers, avocado, tomato and hummus. I skipped the tzatziki sauce since its made with yogurt and added their almond ricotta cheese and butter lettuce. As a side, I had their charred cauliflower instead of the kale salad or sweet potato hash. Oh my word, but this was good! My server said she likes it with the lake salad because she will break it all up and mix it with the kale to have a giant salad. It was such a nice contrast of flavors. The heat, temperature, of the quinoa against the cold of all the other ingredients, so nice! I could definitely eat that again! Come with me next time!

{September 18, 2017} What a weekend!!!

I had a very quick trip to Atlanta andI want to tell you all about it!

I arrived late on Friday night, crashed with ST and got to met his temporary roommate. First thing was to go to Waffle House! It was good to catch up, we haven’t seen each other in a few months. We talked work, travel, relationships, kids, I think we covered it all!

The next morning I went to my house to see it after the interior was painted, ran a vacuum, it’s definitely not my house anymore, that’s an interesting feeling.

Then, return the vacuum and head to see my kids, TYL and my newest grandbaby, CDL, her brother, CH and his wife, AH at the restaurant they all work at. Oh, what a doll baby my newest grandson, CDL, is! Smart, curious, sweet, happy, smells good and what a giggle! I’m so glad I get to be a part of his life and be in my kids lives again. What amazing human beings they are!

Get this…CH even cooked for me!!! He made me artichoke hearts with garlic and olive oil and let me tell you, wow and yum! He can cook for me anytime! Do I seem biased? You bet your sweet bippy! Every day and twice on Sunday!

When I left the kids, I headed to met SDL, MissA and DJL at our favorite Mexican restaurant. Last time we were there was the day before we left for Mexico!

Live music, good music at that, MissA was rocking out to a lot of the songs, she can get down! Good food, friends, conversation, laughs, silliness, Halloween costumes, the only thing missing, CKM! Unfortunately, she had plans last night, bummer!

Back to SDL’s house for a little more catch up and then… crash. Zzzzz Up today, grab the groceries and head out to see the rest of the grandbabies.

Unfortunately, LB and Baby L weren’t able to come, so it was just KLB, CS and the kiddies, BabyA and his sister ELB. I was in heaven, as you can imagine! We played, caught up, giggled, laughed, chased, BabyA crawled in my lap to show me his video game controler, I learned about Sonic the Hedgehog, Minecraft and MarioKart, all in a very short period of time! Then ELB was in my lap, then both of them, oh yes! Happy JJ! They both wanted to play with my watch and the rest of my jewelry.

Now, let’s go cook! KLB made pancakes while the kids played hide and seek in the cabinets, love it! Then BabyA and I cracked, scrambled and cooked eggs for everyone. How fabulous was that!

More chatting, laughing, giggling, rubbing. Let’s just say, thanks BabyA for giving me a lot of steps today! Oh, and the discussion of Halloween costumes! Then it was time to go with promises of a next visit.

Now, for my last visit, the Atlanta Botanical Gardens with TS. The Curious Garden. Wonderful! We walked the canopy in the trees, saw the lady in the water and smelled some fabulous smells.

Through the grounds, into the Chinese meditation garden. Through the archway to the orchid greenhouse.

What amazing creators orchids are!! Some even look like people. Different species and creations.

Then through the edible garden and a field of my favorite flower, sunflowers, sigh.

Then it was time to part company, I had to get gas in the retal car, return it, then catch my flight back to Chicago, teaching class in the morning.

Staying at a new hotel, I’ll tell you about it! Have a great night!

{September 11, 2017} Surprise… no go. Chinatown… go!

Today, my attempt to surprise my family didn’t go as planned…or at all!

PSM had a very early flight, so I got to sleep in, first time in a few weeks! Vacation in Hawaii meant up early, what? Yup, either up early for a tour or just the sun coming up! I didn’t even hear PSM leave this morning about 415am! I woke up at 515am, realized I was alone, confused at first! Then checked my phone and called PSM, then zzzzz until about 920am, wow!

Got up, showered, then the fire alarm goes off at the hotel, goody. Got back into the room, finished getting ready, packed and headed out.

I texted GES to see where they were, even threw in a phone call, no dice! I’m usually really good at surprises, this killed my record! I did leave them a great in the mailbox! I’m coming back in two weeks, I can’t wait to see them! They know I’m coming!

After I left their house, I drove into Boston and to Chinatown and went to a great vegan Thai restaurant for a good meal and got some food for tonight when I get back to Chicago, yum!

Then, off to the airport, return the car and head to my gate to hang until it was time to go.

Surprise…fail. Chinatown… win.

Chicago… here I come!

{September 9, 2017} Surprise! Happy birthday KN!

A surprise party it is and a surprise it was!

PSM’s best friend, KN, is turning 50 in October and his wife, DTS, wanted to throw him a birthday party, outside, so this was a great weekend for it!

As soon as I told PSM about it, of course I told him immediately! And no question we were going to be there! Just had to work out logistics. We were scheduled to be in vacation the week before the party. We had the hardest time scheduling our first two choices, Western and American Samoa or Saipan. Not difficult getting there, but the number of flights available coming back to Hawaii, not great. So… that’s when we decided to check out our new home state send go to Kauai, lots of flights in and out every day and only about 35 minutes. Sounds good to me!

PSM and I were talking a few weeks ago and hatched a plan! PSM then called DTN to see what she thought about PSM asking KN to go for a motorcycle ride the morning of the party. Perfect! Easiest way to get him out of the house! He called KN and said he was coming to Boston for work and how about a ride? Yes! I fibbed when he asked if I was coming…um…

We were all set, flights booked, for me, Chicago > Honolulu > Kauai > Honolulu >Boston > Chicago, tomorrow. For PSM Honolulu > Kauai > Honolulu >Boston > Honolulu.

After an amazing week in Kauai, with the chickens, roosters, sun, sand, surf and fun, home on Thursday for laundry and sleep! Friday afternoon, leave Hawaii, landed this morning, picked PSM up when he landed, went to the hotel for a minute. Yup, different flights, different airlines!

Then it was off to K&DTN’s for a party! So great to see everyone, all the usual suspects, fabulous! It’s a giant family! I love seeing everyone, getting to know them better each time. I’m not sure how they’ll feel about us after they try the spam flavored macadamia nuts we brought them!

It was great hanging out and catching up and a few false alarms “they’re here!” Nope, it was another Harley Davidson going by, which happens a lot by them!

On the last one, we all filed into the front yard to wait. After a bit, we heard them, the unmistakable rumble, this time , multiplied because there were several bikes coming down the road. Best part, we were all looking one way and someone said, wouldn’t it be funny if they came from the other direction. Guess what they did!

He was totally surprised! Even rode right past us and around the block! Then he came to the house and it was hugs and cheers by and for everyone!

Now it’s time to party! He was so thrilled and touched that we were all there to celebrate him. He couldn’t believe that PSM and I cut out vacation short to be there, but there was no where else we would be!

There was a great selection of treats for appetizers, a great Italian spread with pasta, meatballs, salad, bread for dinner and of course, a fabulous cake!

The weather was perfect, even a few kids in the pool! Eventually, there was a chill in the air and a fire got built, that was party central!

Eventually, it was time to head out, PSM has a very early flight in the morning. I’m going to sleep in… then, don’t tell GES, but I’m going to try to surprise the family with a quick visit! Fingers crossed I am successful! Then it’s back to Chicago for work.

What a whirlwind!

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