Peaches Prattlings











{August 10, 2015}   Thank you for the compliment!

Today, I got a compliment on my calves, cool.

I have been working with a personal trainer, along with the project manager on my project, MS. It’s been great working with a trainer, but even better, working out with a friend, it’s nice to challenge each other and commiserate with each other as well! You know, the trainer is trying to kill us after all!

We have yet to do the same circuit twice, we do some of the same exercises, but we haven’t repeated circuits, which is cool. Today we pushed ourselves, or I should say CG, the trainer, pushed us! We took turns, either on the elliptical or treadmill, going until a quarter mile and the other person had to hold a plank. I felt really bad, MS is a lot faster on the elliptical than I am on the treadmill!

One of the times on the treadmill, CG came over and said I had killer calves, something to that effect, a great compliment from your trainer. I told her it was all my dad, well that and a little hard work!

I am working on a lot of areas that I want to improve, but the one place I really like and would not trade…my legs, I like them in a skirt and heels, working it!

Dad does have the best legs, thanks dad!

calves



{August 9, 2015}   The weekend in New Hampshire

A new weekend, new friends, new experiences, new food, what more could you want!

Another eventful, wonderful weekend in New Hampshire, sounds pretty good, huh? I got lucky and had the weekend off, so I got to take advantage of the opportunity and join PSM up at the house in New Hampshire. We headed up Friday evening, I got back to the hotel from the hospital, remember…I am working at a hospital, I’m fine! about 30 minutes before PSM and Mollie picked me up and away we went.

We didn’t hit too much traffic, it was good, and unusual! Could be because it was close to 8pm. We got to the house about 10:30, settled in and relaxed, then conked out about one am, luckily I was able to fall back asleep after the alarm went off at 5:30am! PSM was not so lucky, poor guy! We finally got motivated and decided to walk into town to get some breakfast. It was a really nice walk, about 2.5 miles and it was off the beaten path, so to speak. We walked through the neighborhood, then the next, came out of there, crossed the street and walked on the path that was created behind the trees, off the street, then across the street, same thing, until we got to the street, about a quarter mile from our destination. It was a good walk for Mollie too.

After a great breakfast, we waited while the other families showed up, we decided to wait for them at the restaurant, easy to find. The first family, J&AH and their kids, C and B, every sweet kids and great family. Next was C&CV with their kids, O and E. E and C are the boys and were so excited to see each other, the girls were just as excited to see each other. After a nice reunion, we all piled into the two cars and headed back to the house.

M&K and their son JT were the last to arrive, another nice reunion, then everyone figured out where they were going to sleep, kids in one room, parents in other rooms, the kids were excited, there are bunk beds, what kid isn’t excited! All of these people have known PSM for a very long time and they are all part of the group who call him Boo. Even the kids!

That is frustrating sometimes…I call his name a bunch of times, but then I say “Boo!” and he hears me, geesh!

After everyone settled in, we headed out for a hike to a trail less than a mile from the house. All the kids piled in the back with Mollie and away we went. We hiked/walked for about a mile and a half, maybe two, possibly, came to a spot where we could go in the water. Lots of rocks and deeper pockets for swimming, the kids had a blast! Swimming, jumping a bit, skimming stones. Then it was back to the path to head back to the house, perfect timing so we could shower, have some snacks and then head to dinner, reservations at 7:30, there were 13 of us!

On the way back is when I twisted my ankle, fun…One of the kids gave me their walking stick, very sweet. We all piled back into the truck and headed back to the house, chilled out, wine and cheese, beers, special concoctions made by our two resident bartenders, AH and KS, I did not partake, but everyone seemed to like it.

The sad part was that C&C got a call that one of their dogs had gotten out and mom had to go because the dog would not come to anyone except her, we were all bummed out. 5:30 this morning we got the news that the puppy was home! Wahoo!

Off to dinner, all piled into the two vehicles again, apparently we were the kid mobile, they are so funny! Dinner was good, good food, conversation and company, then off to get some ice cream, well, most of the party had ice cream, yours truly and PSM were good and skipped. After everyone was happy with dessert, back to the house.

Right to jammies, brushing teeth and movies while the kids fall asleep, one even on the floor, he was so tired!

The rest of us huddled around the table and put in $20, thanks to PSM for covering me, and got down to playing Texas Hold ‘Em. Yup, yours truly included! I held my own for a while and as we neared 2:30am, I starting betting pretty hard, I was winding down and getting tired, I still needed to write to you, of course! I did this in between rounds. Finally about 2:45, we all cashed in and split the money, oh, I was the banker! It was kind of cool having that much cash in my pocket!

We all cleaned up and headed to bed, crashing out pretty quickly and slept until about 8:30am, it was lovely! No alarms!

Tired yet?

This morning, we all got motivated, sort of, and everyone decided they wanted breakfast from the same place PSM and I ate at yesterday and Dunkin’ Donuts, so orders were placed and away the guys went. We took showers, packed bags, stripped beds, threw towels and sheets in the washer and all cleaned the house, people were coming in about 5pm for the week.

The cutest thing, at one point this morning, all five kids were sitting on the sofa playing on their devices, but all the same game, they were in the same Minecraft world. AH laughed and said that they came all the way to the mountains to play games together!

After the house was cleaned and everyone was packed, all the families went to take the gondola up the mountain like we did a few weeks ago with GES and family. PSM and I headed to the craft fair happening in town, it was great! I got some Chanukah, Christmas and birthday shopping done! I am thinking I may go online to find some of these vendors, I want more! Not to worry, I did pick up a little something for myself and…one of the vendors found out I was buying gifts, gave me one of her products for free, how cool is that!

Then we got some lunch, headed out for home, PSM dropped me off at my hotel, I picked up the car and headed to GES and ACS’ house for dinner with the F family across the street. Grilling out, burgers, dogs, corn, the works, it was great! MGS even gets excited seeing PSM, running and jumping up for hugs, I love to see that, I know her parents do too! She was excited to see Mollie too!

After good food, friends, conversation, it was time to come back to the hotel to hang with the cats, unpack, get ready for the week and talk to you.

I am sure you are tired, I am, and you just read about my weekend! How was yours?

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For of you that know me,  you know my ankles suck, yes, I said suck. Sorry.

Once again, I turned my ankle. We are up in New Hampshire with friends of PSM’s and we went for a hike. There are 3 families with a total of five kids, one dog and the two of us.

We went about half way, found a swimming hole,  everyone had a good time,  I’m not sure who had more fun…the kids or Mollie!

On the way back, rolling alalalalong and OUCH! Foot turns, ankle rolls under and I almost go down, almost…

That hurt a lot.  I am tired of my weak ankles. I know I am kvetching, in Yiddish that means complaining,  but I’m tired of it.  I never know when it’s going to happen.

But,  everyone was very nice and helpful,  someone gave me a tree branch to use as a walking stick, PSM held my arm,  when we got back to the house,  people helped me ice and elevate my ankle and everyone, including some of the kids asked how my ankle was, very thoughtful.

So,  I know I can’t get replacement ankles, just going to have to figure out how to save them!

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You may have heard, but in case you haven’t, my baby sister, GES, turned 40 this year!

And when your sister turns 40, then you have to do something big! So…after several months of working on schedules…you try arranging a weekend away with a mother of an 8 year old and 5 year old! This weekend it was!

We headed out by The Acela, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acela_Express, the high speed train run by Amtrak, it took a little over 3 hours to get from Boston to NYC and if you read my post on Friday, you know I missed the train GES was on by seconds! I hopped on the next one and came in about an hour after she got to Penn Station in NY. We found each other!

We headed out of the train station and walked to the Grand Hyatt, which was literally right next to Grand Central Station, an amazing classic train station. It was about a half mile between the two locations, but it was fun to walk through Times Square and see all the people, commotion, hear the noise, smell the different smells, it was fabulous! I know I’m a New Yorker because as we were pulling into Penn Station, I saw all the graffiti on the buildings, felt the vibe and I had an overwhelming sense of calm come over me, it felt like a weight had been lifted off my shoulders and my chest opened, I was home, sigh.

We got to the hotel, eventually got to check into the room, they were a little busy. Went up to the 31st floor, settled in and then went to the Grand Club level to get some drinks, membership does have its privileges…Then we went ventured out to see what we could bring back for a nosh, found some salad, back to the hotel to eat and watch Pitch Perfect 2, don’t bother, sorry, we were disappointed.

Eventually, we turned it, but not after a few times marveling at how great it was to be together and that’s what it’s all about!

Saturday, we slept until 9:30am, what a treat! For both of us! We got out of bed eventually, then headed back to the club level, you have to use your room key to get to the floor, how fancy! We had breakfast on the outdoor patio, it was really nice to be up that high and having breakfast outside. GES sent a text with our photo to some friends and said “We slept in and having breakfast at 10:30…I can go home now!”

After breakfast, we headed back to the room, showered and got dressed, then headed out up to Broadway to meet dad near the theater. What theater you ask? We were meeting at the Palace Theater to pick up tickets for “An American In Paris”! Dad was taking us to see a 4 Tony award winning musical! http://www.broadway.com/shows/american-paris/?gclid=CjwKEAjw__atBRDfqe-9voylym8SJAAOBeQ_2siOl7q4i8Ihd82lMMywru2hEbAWUWls-F29JOPjpRoCx9Lw_wcB

After we picked up the tickets we walked to the M&Ms store, a three level store with candy, clothing, housewares and more! It’s an experience and if you’ve never been, you must go! I’ve been to the one in NY and Las Vegas. We stocked up on some Chanukah and Christmas gifts, how good are we!

Then it was off to the theater! Our first show, as I said, was An American In Paris and after waiting on line to get into the theater for what seemed like forever, we were in for a treat!

This was a fabulous musical based on the 1951 musical film starring Gene Kelley and Leslie Caron, which is one of my all time favorite movies! http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0043278/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1. The musical was a little different from the origianly screen production, but it was so amazing! Thank you daddy!

After the production, LaLa, dad, GES and I all walked around for a bit and went to Trattoria TreColore, http://www.trattoriatrecolori.com/menu.html, one of our favorite Italian restaurants in the Theater District. We had a lovely supper, celebrating my sister and dad’s birthday.

After dinner, we parted company and GES and I headed the few blocks to the next theater, the main reason for this trip…to see KINKY BOOTS!!! We have loved the movie Kinky Boots, Kinky Boots, The movie, http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0434124/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1, since we first saw it years ago. I’ve probably seen it close to 50 times, I’m not kidding!

It’s based on a true story, about a shoe factory that makes shoes for men and when the factory is going under, Charlie, the owner of the shoe factory, meets Lola, a fabulous drag queen and he has an epiphany…they go from “making a range of shoes for men to shoes for a range of men” thus going from Price and Son Shoes to…The Kinky Boots Factory!

RG had a connection who got us fabulous seats in the orchestra, row K off the stage! The show was fabulous! It was produced by Cindy Lauper, who I la la la LOVE! She’s one of my idols from my childhood in the 1980s! I had a poster of her, ala “Girls Just Wanna Have Fun” over my bed growing up! She’s one of my favorites and Harvey Fierstein wrote the book!

I cannot begin to tell you how fabulous this show was. We love this movie and to see it come to life on the stage, which amazing music, lyrics and choreography. We got some tshirts and I got…a bag! It looks like an old fashioned Pan Am flight bag, I’ll show it to you another time! GES said it’s a great bag, thanks for helping my problem!! I’m not complaining!

After the show we walked back to the hotel, reliving the show and every wonderful moment, from the sounds, the sights, the drag queens, all of it. And being together, that was the best part! We got to the hotel, got some hot teas and took them to the room where we relaxed, I wrote to you, watched movies and just enjoyed our time together.

Eventually we both fell asleep, my faster than GES, imagine that! Slept until 9:30 again, how nice! This time we showered before we went to breakfast, took our food out on to the patio again and just enjoyed ourselves again, deciding that we needed to do this again, at least once a year. Well, we said that numerous times over the weekend! So it’s going to happen!

After we went back to the room, we finished packing and headed out towards Penn Station, stopping at the Crocs store, I found some shoes for work, hopefully they will treat my feet right after 12 hours! Then the two blocks to Penn Station to stand and wait and wait and wait until the train came in and they told us what track to get to.

People can get a little testy while waiting for the train, oh well. We found some seats, settled in and started to watch a movie. The WiFi didn’t want to help us, so I pulled out my portable hard drive and we watched Better Off Dead, with John Cusack, http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0088794/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1. Then we started watching We Hot American Summer, I’ll keep you posted!

We got to the train station, headed to the house and had dinner with the family and some neighbors, then I headed out to the hotel to check on my kids, unpack, write to you and then sack out, I have to be at work at 6am tomorrow, gotta go!

If you have the opportunity, when Kinky Boots comes to your town, go see it! Kinky Boots, The Musical, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kinky_Boots_(musical)

Happy Birthday GES! It was such an amazing weekend! I cannot wait to take another sister/girls trip with you!

Kinky_Boots_(musical_poster)



Doable, but not the easiest thing in the world, not going to stop us!

Things are different when you’re of short stature, you can’t reach certain things, can’t see over certain things. And no, I do not need to sit on a phone book when I drive!

Today, GES and I were with dad and LaLa at a Broadway show, I’ll tell you all about the weekend tomorrow, it’s been awesome so far! The first show we went to, yes I said the first show, we were in the very top row of the balcony, we could see everything except if the actors were at the very edge of the stage, a fabulous view and if there was something we couldn’t see, we could always stand up, how cool is that!

The not so cool thing…the woman in front of me and the woman in front of GES spent most of the show leaned over, towards the stage. Really? So, did we see the show? Most of it, as long as we stayed leaning to one side or the other. When the action was towards the back of the stage, what was towards the front of the stage, not so much, but overall, it was still a fabulous show, the music was terrific, the choreography, the lyrics, the acting, top notch, the woman blocking the view…not so much.

Then we go to the second show, had amazing orchestra seats and the people in front of us were tall to begin with, how do you think it went sitting? Luckily, the seat one over and in front of me was empty, so I could see if I leaned to the left and GES was able to get comfortable sitting on her foot, crossing her leg. It all worked out fine.

Being short, you learn to adapt and accommodate and after that, a piece of cake.

theater



I really need to stop underestimating the Boston traffic!

I’ve told you how I just made it by the skin of my teeth a few times recently, well, this time did not work, pook. I was trying to make it to Amtrak and catch a train that was leaving at 3:24pm. I left the hotel at 2:15, I was only going about 17 miles. I was deceiving myself apparently.

My GPS also took me off the highway to help avoid some traffic, but get this, I ended up back on that very highway, huh? I got to the train station just in time…to miss it! I pulled in and parked and ran, let me tell you, I do races, but I’m not a runner and I ran. Just as I was running up the stairs to go up and over, I watched the train pull away…nooooooo!

Pook.

I went to the lobby to rebook my ticket and while I was talking to the agent, the next train left, what? Ok, so I am now booked on the 4:29 and let me tell you, I was out on the platform at 4:20, I was not missing it. And I didn’t! Yeah!

Blech is gone and I’m ready for a great weekend!



{July 28, 2015}   In person!

I was going to title the post “Fantasy vs. Reality”, but that would be weird and wrong.

Tonight, I had a great double date of sorts…PM and his wife, PSM and I. I got to meet PM’s wife, AM! When he asked if I was available for dinner tonight and then told me AM would be joining us, I was stoked! I immediately texted PSM to see if he was available! He wasn’t at first, but the stars seemed to align and he was available.

So…my title is “Office Spouse meets Real Spouse”. It was really cool! As you know, PM and I have worked together on four projects, almost two years and you get to know someone really well when you travel together and go to dinner together. I’ve told you he’s my work spouse. Well, during dinners, we talk about family and life and I learn all about his wife and children, I’ve seen photos, but we’ve never gotten to meet or talk and tonight we were able to!

It was great, she is charming and funny and caring and crazy about her hubby, as she should be. As soon as we saw each other, I asked “Are you a hugger?” And she was! We talked about family, travel, work and a few times, when PM and I talked about work, PSM and AM paired off and talked to each other about other things, then we came back to the conversation.

We left each other hoping to see each other again, maybe even get a chance to set up a play date with their kids and my nieces.  The best part is putting a face with a name.

A great evening and a new friend!

dd

I just thought this was funny!



{July 27, 2015}   I’m just not mommy

I totally get that and I’m ok with it.

This morning, GES and ACS got up very early to take EJS to sleep away camp! Second summer and this year, for three weeks! GES asked if I could spend the night and get MGS on the bus in the morning. Happy to!

I got up, took a shower and then went to wake MGS and in less than a minute it started. “Momma, momma, I want momma, mommy” and that went on for a good fifteen to twenty minute. I’m fine, promise! I’ve been through this once or twice!

I even got mommy on the phone, to no avail. So it was wait it out and eventually she’ll be ready. Yup, that happened about 8am when the bus left, but…all was not lost! GES texted the counselor to let her know we would take the next bus.

We got dressed, sun block, no bug spray, t-shirt on, ponytail installed, bag packed, lunch packed, snack packed, walked out the door and headed to the bus stop. We got there with a few minutes to spare, on the wrong side, duh on me! The counselor called MGS’ name, ran across the street to get her and away she went.

How did things go at pick up? All good, just tired!

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{July 23, 2015}   ;lgtrf3 mn

This post was brought to you by Jymy. Thank you Jymy.

So…when you’re working and live with a cat or cats, do they like to help you work? Maybe they lay all over your papers, they are trying to keep them straight, in a pile, so they don’t fly away!

Maybe you’re working on something and your cat walks across the keyboard, we all know it’s so they can get from point A to point B, but they think they’re helping you type up your dissertation, create that power point or spreadsheet.

I sit in bed at night writing to you or sometimes getting some work done and undoubtedly Jymy walks right across the keyboard, sometimes she jumps over the laptop, but more often than not, like tonight, as the title shows, the keyboard.

I hope you enjoyed it!

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The picture even looks like Jymy as a kitten!



{July 20, 2015}   A “Working Girl” moment

I never thought it would happen, but I had a “Working Girl” moment!

I got back to my hotel after being away for a few days away and I took a chance to leave them without anyone watching them or checking on their food and litter. A big chance.

The food was fine, most of it was still there, and the litter box, well…it was full, let’s leave it at that. Well, I needed to mop the floor and I didn’t want to do it in the dress I wore to work today, so I took off the dress and was just wearing my under things and shoes, wedges.

It wasn’t that exciting, but it cracked me up.

Yup, that’s about it.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0096463/?ref_=nv_sr_1

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et cetera