A New Adventure | Peaches Prattlings

{May 3, 2015} Another fabulous day! Am I lucky? You bet your bippie!

Another fabulous day, awesome!

I have to tell you what I forgot yesterday, one of the best things and the perfect way to end the day. I got to the house just before GES and ACS, after they got home, I went in and right after GES, I went to EJS’ room and kissed her cheek while she was sleeping and then I went to MGS’ room and kissed her little cheek, SO cute and sweet while they sleep! Then chatting with GES a bit, talking to you then sleep…now that’s the perfect end to a day!

Today I woke up too early, it was after 7am, but still too early! About 8am, I had a visitor in the form of a very ticklish MGS, we giggled and laughed and tickled and jumped for about 30 minutes and then like a flash she was gone! Relaxed a few more minutes, then got up and took a shower, my hair felt waayyyy better!

Got dressed, checked on the laundry, saw AS & JS, who were there to hang out and pressure wash the deck, bonus! PSM showed up on his Yamaha, inspiring me a little further to get another bike…I miss Thing2! It’s coming soon! Then we all went to town to watch the Softball Opening Day parade starring EJS and ACS! Very cool! Then at the park we listened to the opening day ceremony, saw the first pitch, then PSM and I took off for brunch at Petit Robert Bistro, http://prbneedham.com/, c’est manifique!

The restaurant was charming, the food was good, the company was terrific and all I want now is to go to Paris, sigh.

After the restaurant, we headed back to the house, after a stop at CVS for some supplies for the week and as we all know, I am easily amused and excited on occasion, today, I found a travel size of the lotion I use, I haven’t found it in a smaller size, I usually have to take the giant tub, so wahoo me!

Back at the house, everyone was there, including JS and AS, who didn’t even know they were coming back! We went upstairs to see what was going on with the movies on my hard drive, finally fixed some of the issues, wahoo! Then we went outside and climbed into the hammock to hang out for a while, that was great!

About 5pm, GES, ACS and the girls went to dinner with the family/friends across the street and since my taxi was coming at 7, PSM and I hopped in Annie, dropped the top and headed out and on ACS’ recommendation, went to The Walnut Grill, http://www.walnutgrille.com/. It was terrific! We shared a cup of butternut squash soup, a salad, a VEGAN pizza and dessert. YUM! We will definitely be going back!

After dinner, headed back to the house and the taxi was waiting, perfect! Collected my stuff, headed to the airport and went right through security, I LOVE traveling without luggage! They changed the gate without changing the signs, luckily I got up to ask a question!

The worst part about today was my allergies killing me, but…I found my wonderful herbal allergy medication online, on the way to the airport, I am going to pick some up tomorrow. Props to PSM for the suggestion.

Got to Buffalo, picked up the car, got to the hotel and the guy at the desk recognized me, that was a nice feeling.

So…another great, wouldn’t you agree?

{April 24, 2015} Repacking to go home

It seems like an easy task…you are only packing what you brought, right?

Well…sort of. You packed it all, got to your destination and unpacked it all, all seems right with the world. Now, this is just vacation packing I’m talking about, not work, that’s different, I just wanted to make that distinction.

So, it’s the night before you leave [and for the record, when I do travel for business, I pack the night before as well] and you might have an early flight or have to get to the airport early and you decide to pack. You think, “well, it took me a while to pack for the trip. but I’m taking back only what I brought, maybe a few souvenirs, that shouldn’t make a huge difference, right?

WRONG!

What seems like it should only take about 20, maybe thirty minutes ends up taking about an hour. While you are packing, you are lamenting the fact that you barely wore anything you brought, you so over packed, but I do believe it’s better to have too much than not enough, right? It may not be convenient for you to buy something new while you are on your trip.

Then, after you check that all the drawers and closet are empty, you have to pack your souvenirs and as your bag was packed so tight to get here, there’s not much wiggle room, good thing you brought that extra bag! Remember, you get two carry-ons!

So…next step once the bags are packed? Set the alarm early so you can make sure you have all your toiletries packed after you shower. Then you do the idiot check to be sure you have everything, but you know you’re going to do the idiot check again just before you leave the room. [The idiot check is something my friends in a band used to do, check all the drawers, closets, bathrooms because inadvertently, someone is going to leave something behind, hence…the idiot check.

Then it’s time to blog and pass out.

Goodnight!

{April 22, 2015} Rain, rain go away…

You have to make the best of a bad situation.

I promise, I’m not going to give you a bunch of sayings like “when life gives you lemons…”

so, when you’re at the beach or on an island resort and you wake up and the sun is not shining and the sky is foggy and very grey and you can see the storm clouds roll in, what do you do? Pout because you can’t go to pool or the beach?

Nope, you change direction and plans and make it a new exciting day. First,
you watch the storm roll in and marvel at the wonder of Mother Nature, the lightening, the thunder, the rain going sideways.

Next you check the weather to see what the storm is doing and you see things that might make you nervous.

Next, you make other plans in the assumption that the pool or beach may not happen and you have a great time!

Eventually the rain stops, you go outside and enjoy your new adventure!

{April 21, 2015} Sunburn…don’t do it! Ouch!

I’m an idiot. Yes, I said it, I’m an idiot.

I went out in the very hot and strong sun without sunblock and I’m not sure if it was subconscious or not, but I didn’t and I thought…”oh, it will be fine”. Not…

Well, a few hours later when I took a break, I found out it was a mistake. I could tell where MGS had been sitting on my lap. I put sunblock on, might be helping for the days after, but not that day and didn’t make me less of a lobster.

When I went to take a shower, it looked like I was still wearing a bathing suit, just in negative!

I am in pain in my shoulders and chest and the shins are the worst, it gets tight for some reason, but…as I already said…it’s totally my fault.

The only plus…when this fades…I’ll have a fabulous tan (fingers crossed!)

In the past, I would start my working on my suntan in the Spring by dropping the top on my convertible and go, with sunblock, staying nice with a bronzed glow for the season, haven’t had much of a chance to do that in Buffalo!

Oh well..lesson learned!

{April 20, 2015} What’s a payphone?

Out of the mouths of babes.

“What’s a payphone?” So asks EJS after we had mentioned something about a payphone.

Well, EJS, it’s a phone that you put money in to make a phone call. Huh?

GES got a land line a while ago so the girls would know what a telephone was and how to answer the phone, all they knew was the cell phone. They now love answering the phone “Hello, S house, who is this?”

I still remember answering and using the rotary phone growing up. Dialing a number, making a mistake, starting over…they don’t know how good they have it!

Isn’t it amazing how many things people take for granted? What we have compared to the way things were?

You kids…you have it easy. Lol

{April 19, 2015} Ah…The wonder of playing in the water

I don’t know about you, but I love water, just about everything to do with water.

Now, when it comes to water playgrounds and water features and slides, my nieces are champs at them! They absolutely la la la love playing in the water, try getting them out of a fun bath time!

But put them in a kids pool with a water feature and slide and they are in heaven! They know where they are going, what they want to do and are so excited after they try something new and love it. At first, they are trepidatious, but once they do it, they know it and want to do it over and over and over and over and sometimes you are required to go with them and try it and some times, you just have to watch so they can show you how awesome they are at it!

Today, we went on a rapid river tube ride that I have been on many times and it’s not too rough, so we thought the girls could go with us. PSM and I got in one double tube and GES and EJS got into another and away we went. We, of course, had a blast and EJS, who we were concerned about, LOVED it! “Again! Again!” Should we see if ACS and MGS want to do this? We came around the bend and who did we see? ACS and MGS getting into a tube!

Did they have fun? You bet your bippy! Just before the rapids, MGS got into my tube and the boys went on their own and she had the best time! So good that when we got to the end…”Again! Again!” And again we went!

Those girls have so much fun and it’s such a fabulous thing to see and watch and experience and enjoy and I am so privileged that I get to share the experience with them!

{April 13, 2015} A comedy of errors to a wonderful result!

On way to a happy outcome and needless to say I’m happy.

I have been wanting to do Global Entry for quite some time now but I always got stopped in the process of completing the application. Two Sundays ago I decided to complete the application, I’m not sure which took longer Global Entry or eHarmony! So many questions!

I wish I’d had Global Entry when I was coming back from Ireland, it would have saved me a lot of time, but you live and learn. I’ve heard or stories about how long it takes to get an appointment, but I completed the application on sunday and received notification that my application was accepted on Wednesday!

I looked for places to set up the interview and they had an opening or several openings this morning in the Atlanta Airport. I set my appointment time for this morning at 6:30 a.m. EST.

I got up at 5.m., after falling asleep at 4 a.m. I left the house at 5:30 I was on the road by 5:33 which is exactly what I wanted. I even got to say goodbye to SDL.

I headed to the airport, got gas, then returned the car. My appointment was for 6:30, I got on the shuttle for the International terminal at 6:25…uh oh…I got to the terminal, got confused on where I needed to go, took everything through security, got stopped because of my sock change purse. What, doesn’t everyone keep their money in a sock?

I finally got to where I needed to go, it was about 6:50, they still took me! I had heard stories that it was hard and the interview took a long time, nope. I was in there probably about 6 minutes longer than was necessary, but Officer Gibbs and I were having a great laugh.

Approved! Wahoo!

What does Global Entry mean to me…I can skip customs by scanning my passport at one of the kiosks you see at the airport. I get TSA pre-check, but I already had that, I also get Nexus, which gets me in and out of Canada and in a few days, I’ll have the card that will help me at border stops in Canada and Mexico! Wa…hoo!

So now, I don’t have to wait in those long lines at customs when traveling, I am so excited! Where should we go first?

http://www.cbp.gov/global-entry/about

{April 8, 2015} Ooh, a treat!

Tomorrow, something wonderful is happening.

I get to sleep in! My first class isn’t until 9am, so I get to sleep until 7:30, oh my!

Now, you may be saying, 7:30, that’s not that late, but when you get up every day by 5:30am, oh boy, let me tell you my friends, sleeping until 7:30 is a dream! I am going to get up after the sun, what?

I will leave the hotel tomorrow and look at the sky and wonder what that big bright golden ball in the sky is, a new experience…I can’t wait!

Gotta go to sleep now so I can sleep in!

{April 5, 2015} My day…starts with a Science party, ends with a Seder!

What a day, you may want to sit down for this, get a cup of coffee, it was a crazy day!

The day started at a reasonable hour, about 8:15am, this was after I woke up about 7am and said “no way, good night!” and went back to sleep!

When I got up, it was time for breakfast, matzoh brei was on the menu, Y U M! One of my favorite breakfasts and I think a favorite of many people who celebrate Passover, it’s basically matzoh fried with egg [or scrambled eggs with matzoh in it]. VERY simple recipe, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matzah_brei. You can eat it as is, you can eat it with salt, or something sweet, I like it with sugar and jam or preserves, I found out today, people like it with syrup, your choice. The funny thing about matzoh brei is that people who love it say they’d eat it throughout the year, but don’t, it’s not something you think about or always have a box of matzoh just hanging around waiting for you to want to make matzoh brei!

After breakfast it was time to finish the prep for EJS’ birthday party…I don’t know if you remember me telling you that she was sick on her birthday a few weeks ago and had to postpone the party, well today was the day. EJS is a huge fan of science and experiments, so for her birthday, she wanted to have a science party, how cool is that!

She has been fascinated with science and experiments for a long time and I’ve done some experiments with her and her friends, they all love it! She even wore the lab coat and protective goggles I got her for Chanukah!

So…the prep…we had already set out the pans with glass jars and glitter, but this morning, we had to prep a whole bunch of dixie cups with the ingredients for the experiments. We had baking soda, soap, vinegar, raisins and water, they were doing three different experiments, Dancing Raisins, Tornado and a Volcano.

The kids all started arriving about 11, they watched a video about 3D printing and then ACS gave a demonstration, very cool. Next they watched a video about the first experiment, then gathered in the dining room to try it. They followed the same pattern for the next two experiments, they had a blast!

After the experiments, it was time for lunch! Matzoh pizza it is! I told you we can get creative when the need arises! Then dessert and singing, soon after, it was time for everyone to leave.

But wait, there’s more! About an hour after everyone left, EJS went to a birthday party for someone else and two hours later, came back with two friends for a play date and during that time, MGS had a friend from across the street came to play with her, his dad was here too.

During this time, we finished cleaning up from the party, I did some organizing, which I love [cabinets, drawers], then it was time to get dressed, PSM was coming to take me to his second night Seder.

I think I told you last night that some people will do a second night Seder, well, I was invited to one tonight and as we weren’t hosting a second night, I went. Their Seder was a little more in depth, especially since there weren’t any teeny tiny tots running around. There was singing and prayers and food, oh at the food!

The awesome thing was that his aunt and uncle keep kosher, so I couldn’t even bring something if I wanted to, so we brought dried fruit for dessert, now you might be saying, what’s so awesome about that? I’ll tell you…his aunt made me a special meal that was 100% vegan, it was great! I appreciated it so very much.

The family is silly and funny and every engaging and welcoming and warm. I was comfortable and really enjoyed myself…I even got an invite for next year! So flattered!

Now, I just need to remember to send them a thank you!

Let’s just say it was a very long day. I hope you enjoy the photos as much as I had taking them and participating!

{March 30, 2015} My day! Surprise snow…twice! Niagra Falls…once!

This morning started early, as every day does, so what else is new?

I get to the airport in Boston, drop my bag, get through security, weather is chilly, but nice, skies are clear. I got breakfast, had a nice sit down, well, as nice as the food court at the airport is, but nice is what you make it, right?

I went to the gate, hung out, had to put my jacket back on when they opened the door, brrr, still clear skies, then I walk down the jet-way and get to the door and what? Snow? Really? Come on! Ok fine…but someone needs to have a chat with Mother Nature, seriously!

So, then we wait and wait and wait some more, the flight was supposed to leave at 9:25, it was about 10:15 that the de-icing truck finally showed up from the other side of the airport! They only have one?! I’m glad I wasn’t teaching today! We finally took off and got in about 11:54, getting off the plane, SNOW! What? Not on the menu! I got my bag, rental car had apparently been cancelled, but they gave me one, thankfully. Headed to the hotel in the snow.

By the time I got to the hotel, no snow, clear skies, so I decided I was going to take a trip to Niagara Falls, the Canadian side. Skies were clear, only about a thirty minute drive, parked, walked down to the water and what started happening? Rain, fun. But I did not let that damper my spirits, truly amazing! I walked to the welcome center, taking some great pictures along the way, ignoring the rain, what a site, so majestic and breathtaking!

I picked up a few things, I don’t bring things from each week I am away, but I went to Canada!

When I came out, it was really coming down, walked to the casino, had some lunch, then headed back to Buffalo…In the snow and rain and sleet and it stopped when I got to the hotel! The sky is beautiful and clear and bright. I was done for the day!

Up to the room, jammies on, chilling out, getting some work done and hoping to get some much needed rest before I start teaching classes tomorrow morning.

I hope you enjoy my photos as much as I enjoyed taking them and being there. A great way to end the day. Amazing!

Email Subscription

What was I thinking?