A New Adventure | Peaches Prattlings

{May 15, 2017} Happy Mother’s Day

It’s Mother’s Day. Are you a mom?

Did you have to think about that? Moms come in all shapes and sizes. Some are born to do it, some fall into it, some choose to do it and some, surprise! And don’t forget fur baby moms!

I have children, instant family, I used to say. I became a mom the minute I met my kids. Get this… within a month of becoming a mom, step-mom for anyone who is slightly confused, my feet grew! What? Yeah half a size! I went from 7.5 to 8!

I like to joke that I got all of the joys and none of the stretch marks!

I missed the wee stage with diapers and potty training, oh there are stages I am sorry I missed, the first step, the first tooth, but I was there for other firsts and that was fabulous. I watched my kids thrive, shine, blossom, achieve milestones, drive a car, first boyfriend and girlfriend, get a job, graduate high school for starters and now, both my kids are successful adults. Both married and my baby had a baby. TYL is a mom! She celebrates her first mother’s day! And oh, does motherhood suit her. Thank you for giving me a beautiful baby boy to love on and be a part of his life.

I have people in my life who have welcomed me into their lives in a grandmother and auntie role.

KAB and CS didn’t have to let me in, but they did and oh do they make my heart soar! Baby A, who’s not a baby anymore, his baby sister EB, LB, my first granddaughter, the first to call me JJ and now her little sister, LS. Watching their moms is amazing, the way they teach their children and help them navigate life, wow.
My sister, who gave me the most amazing little nieces, I didn’t realize what being an aunt does to you, it’s a whole different level. What a mom she is, nurturing, teaching, calming, celebrating, thriving, she amazes me every day. I still remember the day, when I was living with them, sometimes three adults in the house, um, you can imagine…’we got this, you be the cool aunt’. done! Do you know what it means when I hear they won’t go to a movie without Auntie J?!

My friends who are these amazing mom’s, LBK, her three girls were the first to call me Aunt J, I love when get to spend one-on-one time with them, it’s rare, but wonderful. Bright, goofy, full of life, dramatic, athletic, I can’t wait to see what’s next! Oh yeah, don’t forget the two fur babies!

SDL, well, you know what I think about her! We still can’t figure out what life was like before Miss A! I’ll never forget the email “Auntie G, do you want to see your niece?” Tried to hold back those waterworks! And Boogie Bear, what a cat!

TS, so much she’s done to have an amazing daughter in her life, KS, bright, funny, caring and now a teacher. Well read, traveled, spoken, that’s almost all to do with TS. She also is amazing for being allergic to cats and had her grand kitty, Molly living with them!

JCT, she’s raising an amazing daughter, SAT, smart, funny, shy, talented and… she just became an aunt to get brother’s new baby! She’s also a fur mom to two goofy pugs.

CWB, friends since middle school! Lost touch, got in touch, lost touch, got in touch. No time had passed and I so love talking to her about her daughter, SB and hearing them interact while we’re on the phone. She is so good, all she’s teaching her daughter about life, compassion, love, caring, giving. Wow!

LGR, we’ve known each other for over twenty years, seen each other go through some stuff and now, to watch her raising her daughter, a bright, precocious, funny, inquisitive little girl and big sister to a fur baby. I love spending time with them!

KWH, she even posted on Facebook she didn’t think kids were in her future, we went through some similar things as step moms, it was so good to have someone who understood. Now, Baby J is just a love and not a day goes by that KWH isn’t amazed and thankful and joyful.

RJS has two fur babies that I get to spend time with and she officially became a mom and grandmother, when she got married to get long time love a few months ago.

I’ve also had the honor of being a fur mom to a range of furry babies, even my friends fur babies call me auntie!

GES and I had an amazing mom and she taught us what it was to be a great mom. Hugs, birthday parties, education, snuggling, loving, caring, generosity, being genuine, living life to the fullest, silliness. I see that and so much more in how I jeep raise my kids, how I interact with my kids, grandkids, nieces, nephews, children in general and I see it in my sister the same way with her kids and all the kids that call us auntie.

There are so many more women in my life who are moms, of two legged, four legged, whatever legged who are amazing and deserve nothing less than amazement and admiration and love.

What an honor to be a mom, in whatever capacity you are. We are amazing and I love you all for it.

Happy Mother’s Day.

{May 14, 2017} A day at the beach and touching tribute

Today we saw and heard a celebration of a person’s life.

We were on the beach with friends and there was a collection of tents, as is par for the course on the beach here. They had a lot of people, food and music. There were also quite a few conch shell blowers.

As we all listened, this was a celebration for a guy with the same first name as PSM and another guy with out group. We all joked, asking how they felt about the tributes to their lives.

Then there were several groups who went out on surf boards, paddle boards, canoes, race crews, boats, all going out past the jetty to spread his ashes.

It was a very nice tribute to a man who wss important to a lot of people. The conch shell blowers had different tributes.

The celebration started before we got there and was going on after we left. Hawaiians know how to celebrate life.

{May 13, 2017} How do I go back to reality?

These have been an amazing two weeks.

It’s not over, I still have a day and a half, but… it’s been great! This is the first time PSM and i have really “lived” together since we’ve been together. Even the two weeks I was here at the end of the year we were both off, so it was more of a vacation.

This time, he went to work every day and I worked from home, usually between 4am and 6am, which worked out perfectly because that meant I was done between 12 and 2pm. Somewhere in there, dog duties, domestic stuff, like meeting with the pest control or yard guys, then it was either hang out in the hammock for a bit or take Mollie to the beach.

By 3 or 5pm, whichever PSM was able to make work, we would meet at the gym or somewhere to go stand up paddle boarding. Then it was dinner at home, we cooked a few times, even used basil from our garden!

Or eat where we were. Tonight it was burritos from Killer Taco, made me think of Moe’s, and anyone who knows me, knows I love some Moe’s! Home to chill with Mollie and then crash or tonight, go to see Baby Groot again.

I get why people love it. Mornings at the beach for a surf or paddle, great exercise, work or school then to the beach. It starts filling up about 3 or 4pm, surfing, paddle boarding, swimming, playing, some people bring grills for dinner. Play until the sun starts going down, then go home.

Today, I worked until 1245pm, hung out in the hammock, ok, fell asleep in the hammock, met PSM in Haleiwa for some stand up paddle boarding, then dinner, then movies.

Tomorrow beach and paddle boarding with friends, then Sunday afternoon back to Chicago. I know I’ll have fun with my friends from work and I’m ready for summer in Chicago, beaches and sun, maybe even some paddle boarding! But… it’s not home…sigh…

Good thing I’m coming back in two weekends!

{May 12, 2017} It’s official, I am a dog mommy

It happened gradually, but that’s where we are. Mollie thinks I’m one of her people.

I think I’ve told you a few of the things she has done since PSM got serious. It started when she would get in between us when we would get close on the sofa, then it was pressing into me when we’re out, protecting her pack. Then it was taking over the bed or pushing into me with her back when she’s sleeping on the bed.

Then the excitement when we get home, a little more than just saying hello, she’s sees us, grabs a toy and circles us. Last week when I walked in the door she wasn’t sure at first, then sniffed the air and it was on.

Now… since I’ve been home these last two wonderful weeks, she won’t get out of bed or up until I do. She won’t listen to PSM, ‘come on Mollie, let’s go out’ ‘breakfast?’ Nope, I’m good, I’ll just stay here.

So that means, I do the morning walks, medication [covered in peanut butter], eye drops, breakfast. She waits for me each morning, very rarely does she wake me up. And, when the dog walker comes twice a week, their walks are cut short, apparently she wants to come home because I’m here!

She listens to me, mostly, I know you know how selective dogs hearing can be… she goes to the beach with me, loves the convertible, meets new people, they are just taken with her and how mellow she is, sits with me, lets me use her as a pillow while she sleeps.

Comes when I call or whistle. Looks at me with those puppy dog eyes. Follows me from room to room…like a puppy.

There you have it, I’m a dog mom…

{May 10, 2017} She really is Super Duper L! Congratulations!!

Today, May 9th, one of my best friends did something fabulous!

As you know, I call her Super Dooper L! She truly is a Super Woman! She walked with her fellow classmates in their cap and gowns to receive her diploma to say that 18 months of hard work, sacrifice and determination were all for this moment.

SDL decided almost two years ago that she was going to go for her EMBA, Executive Masters in Business Administration. Wow! That’s a mouthful in itself!

She took on the challenge, a single mom with a full-time job. She enlisted help from family and friends to help her on the nights and weekends she had school. CKM, her sister, parents and even me, when I could, spent the weekends with Miss A. And you know how jam packed her weekends are!

During this whole time, her role as mom never wavered, some nights she didn’t get to her studies until 10 or 11pm, bed at 1 or 2am, up early to get her on the bus on time.

Travel with school to Chile and still made time to make a Halloween costume when she got back, with two days to spare!

Birthdays, Mother’s Day, Christmas, Thanksgiving, Riding Shows, school stuff, nothing was missed. I told you super duper!

I’m so proud of my friend, for so many things, but today, for graduating with honors. Of course, I expected nothing less!

What’s next SDL?! Congratulations!

{May 8, 2017} Happy Birthday TYL!

I have to wish my daughter, TYL, a very happy birthday!

I met my daughter, TYL, in November of 1996, she was eight years old and a fireball. She was very sweet, smart, funny and skeptical, of me that is! How else could she be meeting me for the first time, not her mom, what was I going to be like and very protective of her brother. Understandable. But when the gate opened, oh boy!

She was a love, a goofball, a challenge and well worth it! We loved to play games, snuggle, watch movies, giggle, talk, travel, be silly, go places, shop, do nothing, sometimes that was our favorite part.

We had a typical mother-daughter relationship, we had our share of disagreements, and we could row, but in the end we never went to bed angry. I loved watching her face, the wonder, joy and amazement at life and what it had to offer. The way she examined and explored, took charge and took no, you-no-what from anyone!

To see how she has grown into an amazing human being, woman and mother amazes me every day. Reconnecting with her was nothing short of, well, it was what I needed in my life and I hope hers as well. We actually reconnected one year ago today when I messaged her on FaceBook to wish her a happy birthday.

May 8, always a very special day and quite often Mother’s Day, this year she gets her own day and when she celebrates her first Mother’s Day this coming Sunday, it will be something.

Happiest of happy birthdays to my baby girl, TYL. No matter where life takes us, you will always be someone I am proud to call my daughter. I love you.

birthday daughter

{May 7, 2017} I am Groot!

I WANT A BABY GROOT! SOMEONE GET ME A BABY GROOT STAT!!!

We went to see Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 2 tonight, it was fabulous! It was me, PSM, A&B R, M&D R and L ,who also happens to be Mollie’s vet, we love her, her husband works with PSM, it’s a win-win.

The cast and cameos were awesome and surprising, sprinkled in here and there. Kurt Russel was fabulous, still smokin’ hot! Perfect to play the role he was cast in and if I told you more, it would give away the secret. And the CG for his younger self, wow!

Do I mention the cameos? Oh, why not, I’m not telling where, who or why…David Hasselhoff, Ving Rhames, Sylvester Stallone, Rob Zombie and don’t forget Stan Lee, of course! Interestingly, he was in more than one place in the movie, a rare double Stan Lee sighting.

There was action, romance, well, sort of, adventure, space travel, snow, wait what? Yup, snow, I said to PSM, look, it’s Boston! A dorky, self-centered race of people dipped in gold, video games and another great soundtrack, of course!

It was a story about friendship, a story of families, which come in all shapes and sizes, not just the ones you’re born in to, the ones you make, self worth, self discovery, redemption, maybe a even a little pure revenge, and the love a boy has for his mother. It reminded me a little of the new Star Trek when a Vulcan boy teased Spock about his mother…you don’t talk about Star Lord’s momma, gonna get your arse whopped!

And…Baby Groot. Just watch the opening scene and you are hooked. Who knew there could be so much said in three little words “I am Groot”.

Worth it? YES YES and I AM GROOT [translation “Heck YES!]

{May 7, 2017} Another fabulous day

How many more of these can I take? Um… let’s find out!

Up too early again, watched the sunrise with Mollie from the lanai in the hammock waiting for PSM to get up. Mollie said he really needed the sleep, and I agreed. Before the hammock time, there’s a walk, medicine and breakfast, oh, and a snack.

Hung out in the hammock for a while reading Miss Peregeine’s Home for Peculiar Children. I really liked the movie, so I thought I would try the book, it’s great so far!

After PSM joined us, I made breakfast, should have taken a pic, it was good! Broccoli, pepper and cheese omelet with bagel, English muffin and pancakes.

Then to meet a few families on a local beach that’s pretty much locals only. Two tents, seven chairs, five SU Paddleboards, three coolers, seven adults, five kids, one dog later, we were set. And actually, that set up, aside from the time it takes to get the boards down, maybe 15 minutes. Impressive when everyone works together!

There was playing, splashing, swimming, paddling, talking, laughing, sunning, sleeping. Most of us got on our boards, not all of us made it very far, wink wink. It was choppier than normal and PSM made it around a few times, in and out of the water, I didnt get very far and spent more time in the water holding the board! Even the more experienced boarders had trouble staying upright, some did, very impressive! We decided more practice tomorrow, somewhere calmer.

A great morning/ afternoon. Time too pack it in about 4pm, home for a very quick shower, load the cooler back up and out to a going away party for of of the leads at one of the farms.

This was at a co-worker’s house. Mostly local folks, it was a great scene and a great time. Lots of good home made foods, ribs, poke, other fishes and meats and dessert, I’m sorry, I was remiss at my food picture taking job! Three tables of local goodness.

Talk about easy drink and be merry! This was a party for the guy who, during our first tour of the farms when we first came to Hawaii gave me a tour on one of the tractors! We’ll my first and only! He loved it when I told someone “And I think his tractor’s sexy!”

We had a really good time, everyone there was genuine and goofy and really loves PSM, how could I not be so proud of that! I met outgoing and incoming newbies, what a way to get indoctrinated to the culture.

Adults, kids, babies, teenagers, food, stories, cheering, videos, laughter, trying not to cry during speeches, introductions, families, hugging, eating, drinking.

A really great time, well, a really great day. Just another day in paradise, right?

{May 6, 2017} A normal day in paradise

Well, who’s to say what’s normal?

Ok, a perfect day, a working day, in paradise. The way it should be, let’s just say that.

Got up way too early, only negative, which works out to be a positive, you’ll see why. Started working about 630am, what else is there to do? Method to the madness. Started working, Mollie will not leave my side when I’m home, very sweet. To the point she won’t get up, out of bed untiI do! So that means no walk, medication or breakfast, wow.

About 7am, PSM left, I took a break, took Mollie for a walk, give her her meds, then breakfast, for both of us. During our walk, she decided that spot was perfect to roll around in the grass, she looked so happy!

Back to the house, work until almost two, that’s a full 8 hour day, minus the 15 minutes total I took to make breakfast, lunch and potty breaks. It’s amazing how much more you work when you’re home!

Then I got dressed, dropped the top on the bug, well, let’s face it, the top hasn’t been up on the bug since she got here! Then I headed to meet PSM on the North Shore for some Stand Up Paddleboarding [SUP]!

It was great! He had the boards strapped to the roof of the truck, got him some street cred, that did! We parked at Haleiwa Monument, unloaded, put the boards in the water and we were off. It was slightly choppy at first, ocean does that you know. We paddled to an inlet that was smooth, only fell in once before getting to the inlet, felt nice and cool, and salty…

The inlet was great practice because it’s smooth and calm. We saw turtles, manta rays and flying fish, it was awesome! Also meet two couples from Breckenridge, CO, very cool.

Only bad part was PSM taking one for the team when he found out the rocks would be too rocky and we turned around.

It was peaceful going back, got out of the inlet and it was a little choppy again, but that’s what we need to practice! I even found out there are inflatable stand up paddle boards, which would be perfect for me to take in my car! [I haven’t found a way to transport one of ours I the bug. It would look cool though, standing up in the car!

After we put the boards up, we spent a little time hanging out in the ocean, started talking to a woman with a beautiful weimeramer dog and it turns out she’s a realtor…hmmm wheels are turning…

Standing there talking someone comes up to say hello…DD and her two kids! These are friends we have here, her husband works with PSM. I haven’t seen them in a long time, it was so much fun, big screams and hugs. She took us over to where her visiting family was hanging out and we caught up.

PSM came over after he put the boards back on the roof, he’s so good! Then it was decided we would join them for dinner at one of the food trucks down the road. Lots of good food, fun, music, screaming and dancing kids.

Eventually it was time to take off and we went to this place that DD told us about, Snow Factory. It’s icecream, but in a whole new way, a bizarre looking way. It looks like this mound of ribbons of shaved snow and its like eating air. PSM took his first bite and looked around because he thought it had fallen off the fork, nope, it’s line eating air…

They have so many different flavor combinations, too many to list. He had green tea and taro, I had honeydew, one of the three dairy- free flavors. Bizarre experience, but tasty. https://www.snowfactorystl.com/

Then, back to the house to take care of Mollie and relax.

Not a bad day, huh? Just another work day in Hawaii…I could get used to this..

{May 5, 2017} Our garden

Well, our borrowed garden, we get to enjoy it while we rent out house.

We had a lawn maintenance crew come out yesterday to trim it all up since neither of us have green thumbs or really know what to do with what’s there. And there wasn’t any information on caring for the plants we have.

So, now someone is going to make sure it’s kept clean and we don’t kill anything!

We have palm trees, a random orchid, grape leaves, a mango tree, basil, scallions and our very own pineapple! Sounds like a vegan’s paradise!

Or just paradise!

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