A New Adventure | Peaches Prattlings

{April 29, 2016} A travel day treat!

Today was a travel day, heading back to Boston.

My very dear friend RJS was traveling to Chicago this weekend for a conference and we realized we would be like ships passing in the night, my flight was leaving at 3:30pm and she was getting in at 4pm.

As I go to the airport I got notice that my flight was delayed, guess who I texted first! Perfect, she was just landing!

She came into another terminal and decided to come my way and hang out with me while I waited for my flight. Fabulous!

We found each other, hugged a bunch then went to get something to seat, tea and fruit tarts, yum! Not to worry my Passover following friends, I only ate the fruit and custard. Tee hee hee. Guess who got to eat the crust, lucky girl!

This visit was fantastic and made my wait all the better! Ah…

I hope you have the best time RJS!!

{April 28, 2016} What a day! It started blech…and got better!

When I say it started early, I wasn’t kidding. 3:30AM! Yes, I said 3:30AM!

I am staying at a hotel I really like in Chicago on my new project, The Palmer House, http://www.palmerhousehiltonhotel.com/about-our-hotel/. It’s a grand and historic hotel, I don’t know if you remember me telling you about the weekend I spent in Chicago about two years ago.

I checked in, headed up to my room, changed into my jammies and settled in to eat some dinner and get some work done. I was tired and crashed out early, you know, for me that’s about 11:30pm/12am. There were loud voices coming from one of the rooms, I didn’t see anyone in the hallway and let it go.

At 3:30AM when I woke the voices were still going and getting louder, including the room across the hall. I can’t believe it, but I “narc-ed”, I called down to the front desk to voice my concern. I don’t think they actually sent security up to do anything about it, because the only thing I heard was more voices coming down the hall, calling out room numbers, looking for…yup, the room across the hall.

I opened the door and they just looked at me, no apologies, gee thanks. When I closed the door, I heard them continue to knock and the people inside the room, talking and “shush”ing. Please shut up!

And…as you know, with my trouble with insomnia, I couldn’t fall back asleep, pook. I did fall asleep about 6am for an hour, it was a glorious hour!

Ok, so that was the start. Then…when I went to take a shower…after 15 minutes I gave up and took a sponge bath in the sink, fun, at least there was hot water. I got dressed and headed to the office, it should take about 20 minutes.

I missed my turn, the sign is very small, so, I walked the quarter mile back to my turn and then on to the office. I really didn’t want to be late and…I wasn’t. It was a decent walk and it added to my steps, priorities you know. The flowers are all in bloom.

The training day was good, I learned a lot, got to know people even better, welcomed a new person and I trained them on what I learned yesterday, pretty cool!

After work, I walked back to the hotel, no issues this time! I decided to say something, so I ended up at the front desk talking to a manager, told him what happened last night and this morning. He upgraded me to a king room on the executive level, you know…need a key to get onto the elevator and it’s a special elevator that holds just a few people, with a bench, love it!

Part of the reason for noises is that the NFL Draft is happening in Chicago, this weekend and a bunch of them are staying at this hotel! Go figure! Sorry, I don’t know football players, couldn’t tell you who is here, but there are some massive guys walking around the hotel, blocking the doorways!

I went up to my new room…ahhhh. Then off to find some dinner and found a fabulous vegan restaurant, Native Foods Cafe, https://www.nativefoods.com/. I’m looking forward to going next week to get something in sandwich form! I got a chicken salad and a peanut butter pudding for dessert, just finished it, fabulous! And I feel great! All vegan! Wahoo!

On the way back to the hotel, I gave a homeless guy the rest of my salad, it felt good to be able to share my meal with someone who was in need. I missed that from my days in Michigan.

When I got in, I decided to take a shower, just to be on the safe side, in case I have the same problem in the morning and it was hot and glorious! Fingers crossed I don’t have an issue in the morning.

So…the day started out not so great, improved along the way, Hilton pulled it out and I had a great meal and now I’m sitting here talking to you, what could be better? Please keep your fingers crossed I get to sleep past 3, 4, 5, 6am even!

{April 26, 2016} The day started in a tube and ended in a stadium

Or, I could say it started and ended with imaging, so to speak.

I keep hearing The Muppet Show announcer “The continuing saga” of a nauseous girl. I saw the GI yesterday who I continue to perplex, go me! She still has no idea what’s causing the nausea, so next step…gall bladder. Huh? Ok

Today, I went in for a gall bladder emptying study. I know, you’re excited and on the edge of your seat! This was similar to the gastric emptying, as in no eating four hours prior to the test and time in an open MRI machine.

What there was not…food! At least with the gastric emptying, they feed me. This one, nor so lucky. So, four plus hours after breakfast, start test, food came three hours later, what? Ok

They start with an IV, saline and then the dye, which, let me tell you, that saline is cold and felt weird going through my shoulder. A new experience. Then they lie me down and put me into the imaging machine and monitor my gall bladder as I go night night, and a hour later, what a nap! Did they see my gall bladder and intestine? Yup, no blockage.

I had to sit cross legged in the chair while I waited to go to imaging, my feet didn’t quite touch the floor. No jokes from the peanut gallery, thank you!

Next, wake up and the nurse comes in to give you the medication in your IV. Wait, wait, wait. Then she attaches, but we wait for the technician to start whatever else needs to be started. Wait, wait, wait.

Lay back down, start the machine and…no nap for this hour, unfortunately, sleep did not come, oh well, at least Netflix did!

When it was over, buh bye, that’s it. Away I went, in search of…yes, you guessed it! Food! I found a Starbucks in the lobby of the hospital, go figure, and got a cup of fruit. Go figure, the only thing I could have from there, remember, it’s Passover, was the one thing that made me more nauseous! I can have certain fruits in moderation, good apparently was too much! Oh well, tasted good!

Now that that’s over, on to the fun…spending time with my sister, just us, well us and over 100 of her closest friends. No, I’m kidding. The Dana Farber Cancer Institute, which I’ll have you know is the place that saved my sister’s life, was hosting an event for people who have done fundraising for the organization.
http://www.dana-farber.org/mobile/default.aspx

It was hosted at Fenway Park, I know, two Yankee fans in Red Sox territory, amazingly enough, we survived!

It started with a tour of the stadium, the Green Monster seating and my favorite part, the rooftop garden. It’s approximately 1800 square feet and brings in about 5000 pounds of fresh produce each year! The vegetables are used in the EMC restaurant. Now that’s green!

After the tour, there were drinks and appetizers at the club level. You could tell there were quite a few people celebrating passover because there were slider buns still in the trays and the meat was gone. They did have some black bean/quinoa burgers, little kick, but good, I was just happy to have a little something.

After the cocktail hour, we went upstairs to the EMC Restaurant for dessert and talks. There were five main speakers, the opening speaker was a three time survivor and the four who followed were doctors and researchers all giving a “Ted Talk” of sorts about exciting things happening in research and the fight or race to find a cure for cancer.

It was fascinating to hear what they had to say, how they each had a story to tell, some how they were touched by their patients and the strides and contributions not just by them but by the entire medical and research communities and Dana Farber, not just what it represents, but what it means to so many people.

After they all spoke there was a question and answer period, then discussions at our own tables.

It really was interesting and eye opening and anything that supports my sister works for me!

After the event we walked to the train station, said goodbye and went our separate ways, literally.

Here I am to tell you all about it and my day, share pictures and then get some sleep, the alarm is coming very early and I have a new project starting tomorrow, I’ll tell you all about it…tomorrow!

Goodnight!

{April 24, 2016} PSM’s whirlwind weekend! Started strong and never stopped!

I know everyone wants to be me, I think PSM really tried this weekend! And what a weekend!

It started Friday morning when he arrived from Hawaii at 9am and went from there. I surprised him at the airport, a quick breakfast reunion, he went off to see his office and coworkers in Boston, then take care of something at his house, then to GES’ house to help set up and then participate in first night of Passover.

After clean up and goodnights, off to his brother’s house to spend the night and Saturday with his brother, sister-in-law and nephew, and their dog, Chelsea of course. After a nice relaxing day, there was breakfast, catching up, business, looking at photos of family and a quick nap for him, we were off to his family’s Passover seder.

Another rousing, exciting and enjoyable eveningwith family. Then…after clean up, back to my sister’s house for the night. I snuck into the girls rooms for goodnight kisses and we helped set the house back to order after the second seder at GES’ house. Then we sat down to talk and tell jokes for a while, laugh until we cried and then off to sleep, another big day ahead!

Today, we got up, said good morning and goodbyes to my family and headed towards PSM’s extended family, his crazy group of friends. G&JB had offered their place when I emailed the group about having a brunch for PSM, who they all call Boo.

Everyone came and brought something for brunch and GB was the omelet master! They even made order forms, it was great! It wad funny when they thanked me me for giving them an excuse to get the house ready for spring/summer!

There was food, drink, laughter, fun, frivolity and fire! They have a great fire pit in the backyard and since it was cold, they threw a few things, besides wood onto the fire, including some old Christmas trees, which take off like crazy!

We really had a great time, people stayed for a long time, one by one, families had to leave for soccer and softball and…what a great, fabulous and special time. They really do love “their Boo”. Someone was laughing because they tried to come up with a cute nickname putting our names together and all she cane up with was Joo, ha ha, back to the drawing board!

We left about 5pm and headed to my place to check on the cats, return the rental car and on to a hotel for hotel last night in town, just the two of us…sigh.

So, what do you think? Was he trying to be like me and have a whirlwind weekend? I was right there with him! And I loved every minute of it! Now we need a nap!

That is a burning Christmas tree.

A fabulous omelet

Our view for the night

{April 23, 2016} Chag Semeach…second night of Passover

Another rousing success.

Today we hung out with PSM’s brother’s family, then went to his aunt and uncle’s house for their family seder.

It’s great getting to experience other people’s traditions. PSM’s family was raised more conservative than my family and their seder was a little different, it followed more traditional lines, there was more Hebrew and more singing, and more singing in Hebrew. everyone read from the haggadah, something I like that we do as well, everyone participates, that is very important.

What was not different in any way was the amount of food, the noise level, the kids, both children and adults were rowdy and out of hand here and there, which, it turns out, is very common. Don’t believe me, check out people’s posts on Facebook!

Everyone is always so accommodating to my special dietary needs. PSM’s Auntie L made me special soup and a stuffed acorn squash, oh my! And thank you so very much!

Everyone there is so kind, caring and welcoming, I feel like part of the family, we had only been dating a few months last year when he invited me to be a part of hours families second night seder, I was touched and this year it was even more familiar, thank you!

Some families will celebrate the first two nights and the last two nights. We are done! We will keep kosher and follow the dietary rules, for the most part, for the next 6 nights, but our seder days are over, for this year at least. I look forward to seeing what next year holds!

{April 23, 2016} Chag Sameach…second night of Passover

Another rousing success.

Today we hung out with PSM’s brother’s family, then went to his aunt and uncle’s house for their family seder.

Everyone is always so accommodating to my special dietary needs. PSM’s Auntie L made me special soup and a stuffed acorn squash, oh my! And thank you so very much!

{April 19, 2016} White House and The Capitol, wahoo!

We toured The White House and The Capitol today, it was really cool!

We had 10am tour time for the East Wing of the White House, we had to be lined up by 9:30/9:45am. ACS dropped GES, MGS, EJS, dad, LaLa and I at the White House Visitor Center.

There was a background check before we got passes to get in. GES has a friend who’s brother works at The Pentagon and got us in, sweet!

We went through several security checks, showing our licenses, verifying who we are, that sort of thing. The last one was good, the guard told me to stand there, close my eyes and wait for the shock, so I did, cracked them up! Then we we were in!

It was a self guided tour, we started with some great black and white photos of different presidents, first ladies, visitors, dinners and even some first pets.

We saw the Blue Room, Red Room, Green Room, Library, China Room, Formal Dining Room, personal dining room. In a lot of these rooms, they are set up just for the tours, after the last tour, they set the room back to the way it was at the start of the day.

See how the carpets are rolled up!

After the tour, we went to get some lunch and then head to The Capitol for a private tour. GES has a friend from high school who works for a senator and got us this tour, it pays to know people! It was great to catch up with her.

She walked with us to the train that took us from the offices to the Capitol. It was cool, you would never have to leave the office, they have a hair salon, bank machines, food, coffee, whatever you need!

From there we went into The Capitol and began our tour. We saw Washington’s tomb, where he would have been if his descendant’s would have let him be moved from Mt Vernon.

We saw THE Rotunda! It’s under some construction, so a lot of scaffolding, but you can see a bit of the ceiling, where George Washington is represented as becoming a god.

In the Hall of Sculputres, there are columns that you can see where slaves and pages carved their names into the columns.

The last statue as we walked out was of Ronald Reagan and as he was famous for saying [regarding the Berlin Wall] “Tear down this wall!” At the base of the statue, the light colored stone is actually pieces of the Berlin Wall. How cool is that?

This is a tribute Flight 93, the plane that was brought down in Pennsylvania, the thought is that the plane, if not diverted, would have hot the Capitol.

We saw where the Supreme Court sat, it was awe inspiring.

Check out the spittoon, ick!

This is a replica of a hopper!

After the tour, we went to sit in on a sexton of the Senate! No pictures, sorry, we had to leave anything electronic at security.

Someone asked me what I took away from the being there. The interesting thing, I couldn’t tell you what they were talking about, after all the appreciation [“I would like to thank my constituent” “I would like to thank…”].

It was more just being there, in that room, where so much happens. It was live C-SPAN!

After the tour and goodbyes, we headed back to the hotel for a quick rest and then dinner at the hotel. GES and ACS went to dinner with some friends of ACS’ so it was just me, dad, LaLa, EJS, MGS, JS and AS. Lots of laughing and fun.

Then it was night night for the girls and when GES and ACS got back, ACS and I went down to the bar for a drink, it was nice for some one-on-one time.

Now, back in the room to talk to you and crash. Goodnight!

{April 18, 2016} Ruby slippers make everything better!

Oh yeah, Dorothy’s ruby red slippers…sigh.

I am in Washington, DC with the family for spring break week. See, I told you things would be better.

Today’s agenda was to start with breakfast, of course, then take the shuttle to the metro, I remember being awed by the DC metro system, then… The Smithsonian, Air and Space Museum. Big reason…EJS wanted to see Amelia Earhart’s plane. Cool, wouldn’t you say?

There were some amazing things we saw and learned today.

There was a sculpture garden on the way, some fabulous pieces, one by one of my favoriteartists, Roy Lichtenstein!

After lunch ACS, his brother and sister-in-law, JS and AS, headed back to the hotel with EJS and MGS for some pool time.

GES, dad, LaLa and I headed to the National Museum, loved it! All sorts of exhibits throughout our history. My one goal, Dorothy’s ruby red slippers! We saw them towards the end, so worth it!

Back to the hotel, swim with the girls, shower and off to dinner with the family.

Sounds like a better day, wouldn’t you say?

{April 17, 2016} It started with an explosion and ended flat

Cut off again? What’s with you Disney?

The Star Wars Dark Side Half Marathon was scheduled to start at 5am. Up at 3:15am, uck…at 10pm last night I was trying to [using the] force myself to sleep, you know me, it was hard! So, up at 3:15am, out by 3:30am and at Epcot by 4am, took some pictures and then head to corral K.

At the start of each corral, there were fireworks. By the time corral K started, it was about 5:45.

And we were off. The thing about Disney runs and something people don’t realize, there are so many people participating that it gets bottlenecked in so many places and they have characters along the way everyone wants to take pictures.

We started at Epcot, through the park, then The Boardwalk, on to Hollywood Studios, out onto the highway.

Now…here’s where the flat comes in. At mile 5, there were a bunch of us just behind the 16 minute mile pacers and they cut us off and loaded us into the bus. The only other place I have been cut off was last year at Disneyland, but that was at the 9 mile point. At least there I got in more than half, this wasn’t even fully half of the half. What’s with that?

If you don’t want us to stop and take pictures, don’t have the characters throughout the park. And maybe control the bottleneck issues.

Now, I’m not saying I wasn’t slower, I’m not saying I was better than anyone, but seriously…what was it that they had to cut off the rest of us at 730am.

I did make a friend, a fellow “cut-offer”, we rode the bus together back to the parking lot and get this..she lives around the corner from my house in Georgia! She was disappointed that she didn’t finish, this was her first race ever, she was more disappointed in the swag!

Now, we did find the bright sides…we got our medals, we were done in time to go back to our hotels and have free breakfast, take a shower and make my flight, see bright side.

I’m still kind of miffed, I’ll be fine tomorrow, maybe the next day, I’m just disappointed. I know there will be a next time and I need to train for it, something I really want to do and let’s see what comes next. Onward and upward!

A week with the family will help, don’t you think?

[I tried to post more pics, keeps failing, I’ll keep trying]

{April 15, 2016} Goodbye Atlanta…hello Orlando…packet pickup!

It’s travel day, lots to do!

The alarm went off, so I could tell after I woke up, snoozing is amazing! JCT made me breakfast, yes, I’m spoiled! I got some work done, took a shower, repacked and headed to the airport. I did get to say goodbye to her mom and daughter, love them all.

At the airport, got thru security easily, boarded and settled in, started watching The Wedding Singer, I love when they have movies in the seat backs…then I can play games on my phone, tee hee hee.

I got my rental car, ready for it…a convertible beetle! In Atlanta a red beetle, here, a silver convertible! And I rented an economy, get this…they can’t give them away! Apparently, not a family friendly car with a week’s worth of luggage. Works for me!

I decided to head to the Expo at Walt Disney World’s Wide World of Sports to pick up my race packet for the Dark Side Half Marathon.

The shoes match the character’s outfit, fitting!

I was good…they gave us the Darkside shirt and Active Advantage gave all its members a free t-shirt. I bought a running belt, hopefully it will hold everything and not pooch, so to speak. There wasn’t a lot I couldn’t live without.

My other purchase was a new running skirt with a matching headband, isn’t it fabulous! Perfect for Hawaii, wouldn’t you say? There was a woman there who said it was perfect for Hawaii, she lives there! Go figure!

I got my knees and back taped with Rock Tape, hopefully it will help my knees and back on Sunday. I’m set.

On the way to the expo I had the top dropped on the car, stereo cranked and dancing my heart out, it felt SO good to be in a convertible, I can’t wait to see Annie again!

Then it was time to go, drop the top, crank the tunes, head back towards the airport to check into my hotel, order some food and relax.

Tomorrow is another adventure! Time to dream about Mickey, Minnie and Winnie the Pooh!

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