A New Adventure | Peaches Prattlings

{August 18, 2016} Was it over when the Germans bombed Pearl Harbour?!

What?

For those of you not in the know, you’re thinking this girl is crazy and does not know her history, maybe she was absent that day.

For those of you who knew instantly, rock on! Tonight, I went to a movie theater to see Animal House on the big screen! It was awesome!

I went with my friend from work, DLP. I asked her Monday if she wanted to go with me and she did! We left the office, went to have some dinner then movie! No previews, which was bad because we got there at 704pm, the restaurant was next door, and I needed the potty! I came in just as it was starting, there was a little intro from like you see on TCM, some background about the movie and the actors, then they were off!

I have to apologize to DLP, I quoted lines as it went, I’m usually pretty good about it, but I couldn’t help it tonight!

It was so much fun to see it on the big screen! I don’t know how many times I’ve seen this movie, but never on the big screen! It was awesome!

My one regret…not seeing it with my dad!

What’s next?

{August 16, 2016} Happy anniversary dad and LaLa

I missed telling you about a special anniversary this weekend! Shame on me!

Dad and LaLa just celebrated eleven years together!

They met through mutual friends and hit it off. He had been going out and meeting people but no one clicked until LaLa.

I remember when he first told me about her and then when they started dating and then it was on, museums, theater, opera, trips, you name it, they’ve probably done it.

They’re similar in some ways and very different in others. Dad likes to plan a trip by getting the plane tickets, hotels and going. LaLa likes to plan in more detail, which works for him, it’s all taken care of!

They are similar in being fabulous grandparents. There are four on Lana’s side and two on dad’s side and they are grandparents to all six. LaLa was around before EJS and MGS were born and dad was around before Lana’s two grandsons were born. I think I told you that EJS couldn’t say Lana’s name, so it became LaLa and stuck. The cool thing about that…LaLa means grandmother in Chinese.

They love coming to Boston to see EJS and MGS, play games, spoil the grandkids, that’s their job, after all. And when they travel, everyone gets postcards from wherever they are, we all love it.

They don’t live together, but spend just about every weekend together and it seems to work, they have their lives together and individually, which is nice.

LaLa met us and became part of the family almost immediately, we took our first trip together, BK, before kids, to Las Vegas eleven years ago and we’ve been doing a family vacation every year since that and is been nice to all get away together.

You never know what is going to happen when your parents start dating again, will they met someone nice, someone who accepts you and wants to fit in with your family, not try to take over or monopolize your parents time and that’s what is been like with them, they have adjusted and blended and become part of each other’s families.

Happy eleven years Dad and LaLa, here’s to the next eleven. We love you.

{August 11, 2016} Wardrobe malfunction

Not quite Janet Jackson at the superbowl wardrobe malfunction, but enough.

Ok, I think I’m exaggerating.

So…the shirt or nice tank top I was wearing yesterday was a little low cut. It seemed ok when I bought it and tested it out with my cardigan, but it was not to be yesterday, I was very conscious of it and slightly self conscious.

So, after work I made the executive decision to buy a new shirt. I new some new short sleeve shirts for work. I bought a few cute ones, I’m happy, I’ve been wearing the same ones over the last few weeks.

I decided to wear the emerald green shirt, I think they called it a cocoon shirt. It’s nice, only thing is, it’s got a deep V, but the “flaps/collar” overlap.

Everything seemed fine until I got to the office and things started to show. One thing I haven’t told you is that I’m, well, let’s just say, well endowed and leave it at that.

I got to the office and realized there’s no way the neck is going to stay closed on its own, so I go in search of a safety pin. Now, i have a lot of them…at home. All the races I’ve done in the past I have safety pins from the bibs and kept them. I used to keep some in my bag. Not today…go figure.

It’s also interesting that is the one thing hard to find in an office! When DLP got in, I thought, perfect! I bet she has one! Unfortunately, she was meeting with someone and had had a bad morning…ummm…

I apologized profusely for interrupting, met the person she was meeting with and asked if she had a safety pin. Her response “Are you flashing people in the office?” Umm…trying not to!

Lo and behold we found one in her desk, I thanked her profusely, headed to the restroom to fix the issue and the rest of my day…smooth, ahhh..

{August 7, 2016} A car show and a cookout…pretty good day

I got to sleep in a minute, it was nice.

I got a little work done and headed to GES’. We went to a car museum which happened to have a car show happening today.

The museum is on the Larz Anderson Estate, http://larzanderson.org/. Very interesting history, it’s the home of America’s Oldest Car Collection. There were Electrmobiles, Porsches, BMWs.

Outside there were Porsches, Lamborghinis, Ferrari, a McLaren and so many more. It was a lot of fun, especially watching the folks at the exit waiting for cars to leave and gun the engine and take off down the street.

After the car show we went into Brookline for one of ACS’ favorite pizza joints from when he lived there.

Then back to the house to hang out for a bit until we headed across the street for dinner, all sorts of goodies on the grill. Good food, good conversation and lots of laughter.

Now, home, packed, talking to you and ready to head to the airport in a few hours. For another great week!

{August 5, 2016} First strep test…poor little bit

That first strep test, blech!

Oh my…what a day we had! It didn’t start so great. Last night I got to my sister’s house and MGS was already asleep, but over the course of the night she kept waking up, she was a little warm to the touch and had the sniffles.

This morning she didn’t have a fever, a little tummy ache, didn’t want to eat breakfast, but still wanted to go to camp.

We got a text from GES about 1045 this morning, who happens to be in Copenhagen this week…she got a call from camp, MGS is running a fever and we need to pick her up and bring her home. Ok…off to camp we go.

We pick her up, bring her home, give her some lunch and about 2pm we headed out to see the doctor.

In the exam room we met with a great NP, Nurser Practioner, named Lauren who asked a lot of questions and some of the answers were great…”did anything else hurt?” “My brain”, priceless!

Based on her answers, the NP came up with the same suggestion as GES, strep. Hey, a mother knows…

So, being that MGS has never had strep, this would be her first throat culture. I’m sure just about everyone reading this has had a strep test at least once in their lives. You know, the q-tip at the back of the throat and the nasty gag…let’s just say it did not go over well.

After a while she had calmed down and the results were in, positive for strep. So…off to CVS for medicine, Gatorade and treats for being a trooper!

I’m happy to say that when I left tonight she was doing much better! Thank goodness.

Feel better MGS

{August 2, 2016} A great class!

Today I taught a new class and it was great!

A while back I was told I would be teaching this new class, I’m also the only one teaching it, no pressure!

I downloaded the materials and started looking and studying, but I had to hold off on some parts and testing because there we changes coming. The classes also got moved from July to this week and next, great, more time to prep!

I worked with a bunch of awesome people to get the data set up so we would be ready today and it was worth it! The extra time and staying late to get cases built.

The funny thing was, I was going through all the scenarios so much over the last two weeks that I didn’t really pay attention to how I would teach, but then when I started teaching today, it all clicked and made sense.

I also had a great co-trainer who works for the client and has been on the testing team so she has all these hear “real world” examples and can speak to b what works in the live environment.

The learners have been great, some were apprehensive about learning something new, worried they wouldn’t get it, it’s normal, no one likes change, but they all wanted to find out what’s coming and we worked together today and they left on a positive note and I think they’re ready for more tomorrow.

I was jazzed, it was great! I had my runner’s high at the end of the day! I love that!!! Can’t wait for tomorrow! Let’s go!

{August 2, 2016} A flight…work…first day of school…mani…dinner…football

Yup, that was just today.

I got to sleep in, ha ha. The alarm went off at 545am, normal weekday alarm. I snoozed until the backup 6am, for a Monday morning, when I’ve had to get up at 4am, this was sleeping in!

Showered, dressed, kisses and hugs for Miss A and SDL, then off to the airport with a quick stop for petrol. Return the car, drop the bags and head to security. Surprisingly, it was relatively painless. I was early, but that have me time to pick up breakfast and get settled on the plane. Uneventful flight, whew.

Head to the office, work, prep for my new class tomorrow, lunch with LJ, prep, work, meeting, done for the day, ahh…

Somewhere in all of that, my big girl granddaughter, LB, had her very first day of kindergarten. When I talked to her on Friday, she was nervous, today…piece of cake, she loved it and she’s ready for tomorrow. Now, her little sister didn’t feel the same, she missed her big sis!! I’m very proud of her! Go LB!

LJ and I left the office, went to my hotel to drip my stuff and then headed out to have some pampering, a much needed mani. Let’s just say the trip there was not so great, awful Uber experience, but it’s over, let’s see how Uber handles it.

The mani was great! It was vegan and organic and the best part…inexpensive for a mani! Looks good too! I didn’t even know that a mani or pedi could be non-vegan!

Hungry! Time for dinner. We went to The Handlebar, a vegan friendly restaurant I had heard about. Let’s just say…just because it’s vegetarian or vegan, doesn’t mean it needs over spicing to make it taste good! My mouth was on fire! No thanks!!

Off to the hotel, as I unpack I turn on the TV and I find one of my favorite movies was on, The Replacements. For those of you who know me, you know that I don’t know football or that in not that interested in sports. But, you also know that I enjoy many sports movies, football for one and I just love this one! I took a minute to sit down and watch the last thirty minutes. Man, I love that movie!

Now, I’m talking to you, chilling out, watching Air Force One, great action, love Harrison Ford, pretty good way to end the day, wouldn’t you say?

{July 29, 2016} ST>WH>KAB, CS, LB, LS, BA, BE>SDL, CKM>JB

Got your attention, didn’t I?

Well…the day started at ST’s house, I crashed at hours place last night when I got to Atlanta. We motivated and went to Waffle House! Yum!

I worked for a few hours then fought Atlanta traffic to get to Dallas and see KAB, Baby A and his sister Baby E, CS, Lily Bean and her sister, Princess L. It took me almost three hours to get there so I didn’t have a lot of time with them, but the time was well spent! As many hugs, kisses and snuggles as I could get. Oh and the giving of gifts of course!

I left just in time…as the no nap melt downs were about to start. Oh my but I do love those fabulous wee tots! Their mom’s too! And how much do I love my new artwork for our new place in Hawaii!! JJ’s ‘tweet hearts’! Those are Baby A and Baby E’s footprints turned into birds!
I left and headed straight to girls night dinner with two of my besties, SDL and CKM! We had Thai food, lots of laughs and catching up and then on to the movies to see JB…the new Jason Bourne movie! CKM noticed when we were sitting, she was in a J sandwich, ha ha.

After the movie, back to SDL’s, kiss the sleeping Miss A, talk to you and then pass out. Full day, huh? Wonderful day! Let’s see what tomorrow holds!

{July 28, 2016} A nice end to a busy day

Shouldn’t they all be like that?

The day started early with some time on the treadmill, the elliptical machines were both busy. It’s been a while since I’ve been on a treadmill, let the sweat pour!

Of to the office for a very busy day, good lunch company, more busy and work, problem solved, whew! then a good bi-weekly check-in with my manager.

After work, I went with one of my co-workers, who I have become good friends with, LJ, to get much needed pedicures and then we ordered food while we walked back to get apartment. IWe ate, talked and watched the Wednesday night fireworks at Navy Pier. I also got to meet and play with her sweet cat, Max, sigh.

Then back to the hotel, a prior work and now I’m talking to you.

Pretty good day, huh?

{July 27, 2016} Technology in hotel…good or bad?

I am a techno-geek! There is said it.

I like the latest and greatest. Sometimes I want it all! I have a work laptop, an iPad and my personal computer is a Surface Project 3, which is is pc/tablet. I have my fabulous “phablet”, that would be my large smartphone that is almost like a pc/tablet so they call it a phablet and finally, well, I think finally, my smart watch.

There might be more and I have forgotten! Could I have more, why not! If money was no object, go for it! I am a software trainer, I work with technology, I want to know about the latest and greatest and I appreciate what’s out there, don’t understand it all, but I appreciate it!

Hilton has implemented their digital check in and keys, which I love. If you don’t know about the digital key, you request it and when it’s ready, hold it up to the door you want to open and it does, just like a plastic key. No more carrying a key and worrying about losing it.

Down side…sometimes the digital key, like everything else, might be having a right day and just won’t work. I’ve had that happen at my room, I call and they reset it or bring me a new one. Sometimes it just doesn’t worth in front of some doors, case in point, yesterday, I stood in front of the girl gym trying to get in, then go down to the front desk for an actual key.

The new thing some Hilton hotels are putting in are the digital elevator. I’ve seen it in other hotels. You put in the number on a key pad, it decides which elevator you take and then it goes.

That’s great until you have too many people and the doors are closed and you don’t move. Hmm…that’s what happened last night when I got back from dinner. Hey, I hadn’t eaten that much!

After a few minutes we all started to wonder, jokingly, if we had hit the weight limit! Someone pried the door open finally and we all got out. There was a gentleman who worked for the hotel counting how many of us there were, about 11. Five adults and six little kids, really? Ok…

We all got off, I tried to take it again, no dice. Next elevator, all good. Apparently this is an old elevator, ok…Made it to my room, all that matters, right?

So, technology in a hotel…good or bad? Not stopping me…

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What was I thinking?