A New Adventure | Peaches Prattlings

{October 10, 2014} Day two in Ireland

I’m still in Ireland! I am a lucky girl!

I fell asleep about 10pm, yes I know, you’re shocked, but remember, it’s five hours ahead here and I only had two hours of sleep, come on, I was tired! I woke up about 9am, literally jumped out of bed like a shot and then remembered where I was and decided to lay back down! It felt great, fully refreshed!

I had breakfast and then headed out to Powerscourt House and Gardens, ranked number 3 on the top ten gardens in the world, impressive! It really was stunning! I wish you could have been there with me! There was a wonderful walk around the grounds including the Japanese Garden, Pet Cemetery, Italian Gardens, just a wonderful opportunity to see some amazing architecture and so many different nationalities enjoying the gardens with me. http://powerscourt.com/house

Next it was on to Glendalough, http://www.glendalough.ie. An amazing place to visit, part of the Wicklow County National Parks. There are the ruins of the monastic city, a long walking path, you can go around or up to the waterfall, you know I went up! I went around two lakes and fields and meadows, passing sheep, deer, ducks, lots of kids (children, not goats!). It was so peaceful, beautiful, breathtaking! I was there until the sun started setting.

I got in the car and headed out, GPS deciding not to work, so I turned left and hoped for the best and it was wonderful, I drove through the countryside, beautiful and green and lush and vast and then, just like in the movies, there were sheep on the side of the road! Am I that easily amused? So cool! I did stop and take pictures! Then eventually, I was in a town I recognized, I know, after two whole days! And I stopped there for dinner at a nice pub, great soup with brown bread and a veggie burger with chips (and for those of you not in the know chips are French fries on this side of the pond).

I realized when I was going to leave Glendalough that I did not have my new disposable cell phone, great…I probably left it in the hotel. So, I decided that I would stay at the same hotel tonight and get my cell phone in the morning so I could call hotels and B&Bs to see about booking rooms. (I love hotel points!)

Now, it is after midnight and I am going to get some sleep, new adventures await me tomorrow!

Positivity Challenge – Day #23
1 – I am thankful I left the disposable cell phone at the hotel and didn’t lose it completely (I’ll get it tomorrow)
2 – I am thankful that by just driving I got to see some amazing countryside and ended up not far from where I needed to go
3 – I am thankful I seem to have really gotten the hang of driving on the left and shifting on the left (I do hope they check the clutch and transmission after I turn the car in!)

{October 9, 2014} Day One in Ireland

Today was my first full day in Ireland and it was grand, grand I tell ya!

The flight from JFK to Dublin was uneventful, mostly. Just the mix up with my meal and the two hiccups of turbulence, other than that, all good! I slept for about two hours and watched two movies, Edge of Tomorrow and Maleficient. All in all, a smooth ride.

We landed a few minutes early and then sat on the runway for a bit, headed to customs, then to get my rental car. Get in the car, on “the wrong side”, the shifter is on the other side too! luckily, the pedals are in the same place. Once I got the hang of driving on the left, I was good to go! And as GES said…easier when you can follow someone too! Bottom line, I did it! And there are many more days to come!

First stop was a recommendation, Russborough, a beautiful estate in County Wicklow. The estate is beautiful, housing an impressive art collection, many pieces having been donated to National Galleries. The ceilings were all hand done, no molds and each one more impressive than the next. The artwork, furniture, rugs, all amazing.

Before the tour, I needed a little sustenance, so to the cafe I went. I had a cherry scone, yum! And some black current tea, it was exactly what I needed.

After the tour, I checked out the photography exhibit, it was very cool the people that were hosted at the house, Fred Astaire, Mick Jagger, Jackie O, just to name a few. http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russborough_House

I walked out the door and headed towards the walking trail, it went through the woods, by pastures of cows and sheep, ponds with ducks, it was lovely and a few miles long, perfect!

After walking the grounds, potty break! Then to see the crafts people at work, welder, hat maker, the stone carver, who I actually met and talked to for about thirty minutes, a very cool guy!

After a few hours, I was ready to head out and ended up in Wicklow, looking for a cell phone and internet connection. Why? Because something didn’t work when I tried to set up my phone to be international, so when I got off the plane, no phone! I am getting a lot of photos though and the battery is lasting longer.

I booked myself into a Hilton at the airport, I realized that I was just too tired to do much more, I wanted food and bed. I think two hours of sleep is contributing to my very sleepy nature right now! I fought traffic, checked in and went across the way to get a disposable phone, backs to the hotel for some soup and brown bread and up to the room to talk to you and say goodnight!

Oh…with no access, I probably won’t be posting photos before I get back! It will be fun when I do!

Positivity Challenge – Day #22
1 – I am so very thankful I AM IN IRELAND!!!
2 – I am thankful I was able to find/purchase a disposable phone when mine decided not to work when I got here (no big bill for me when I get back!)
3 – I am thankful to get the hang of driving on the “wrong side of the road”

{October 8, 2014} I’m going to….Ireland!!!

I am sitting at the gate at JFK airport waiting for my second flight of the day… I’m going to Ireland!!

I don’t know if I’ve told you that my “twin” and I, NB, have been taking about going to Ireland for years. We were going to go for our 40th, but things happen and now, I have the time and funds and my birthday was just eight days ago, so…happy birthday to me!

I have loved all things Irish for a long time…movies, music, the accent, who doesn’t know I’m a sucker for a red-head! and everyone knows I have trouble passing up the opportunity to go to an Irish pub for a meal!!

I am beyond excited! I have my flight and a rental car (manual transmission, wahoo!) a list of things to do. Yup, that’s it! I even found a site for all things vegan and vegetarian!
And yes, I know they drive on the opposite side of the street, good luck to me, a new challenge!

Last week when I was at the Atlanta airport I met a nice woman and her son and a friend traveling back from Ashville. We started talking about trips and another friend just got back from a trip with her nieces and what did she do? Connected us and now I have a list of things to do and I am surrounded by people speaking with Irish accents! Who is on cloud nine?

I’ve been excited for a while, but I got positively giddy (yes, i said giddy)when I got off the first flight and saw the sign for the shuttle to my terminal and the flight info.

I will still be posting every night, although since I will be several hours ahead, my posts will come early! Lucky you!

Aaacckkkk! I’m going to Ireland!

And now you know!

Positivity Challenge – Day #21
1 – I am thankful I got everything packed!
2 – I am thankful my flights are on time!
3 – I am thankful I have this amazing opportunity! I’m going to Ireland!!!!
Bonus…I am thankful my youngeat niece looked at me this morning and said “I love you” and then her sister cried tonight when she got her costume and said “I miss J!” XOXOXO

{October 7, 2014} Packing for vacation…slightly stressful!

Tonight I am packing for a trip and I am so bad about packing early. Where is the packing fariy when I need him/her???

I will tell you very soon where I am going, but I am taking myself on a very overdue vacation. A trip that I have talked about before and talked about going on with “My twin”, NB. I am using this trip to scope things out so we can go again in the future. I so want to explore it with him!

So, i have been getting ready, but is it really that different from any trip I take for work? Well, a little, I am going out of the country and want to be sure I have everything and don’t need to buy too much while I am wherever it is that I am not telling you at the moment.

There is stuff in storage in Colorado and some stuff here in Boston, together it made a full suitcase, well it will when I pack it! I am waiting on the dryer to finish and then I’m good to go. I could have just gone shopping and gotten new stuff, but I want to get some goodies while I’m there, so load up here! Maybe my stuff will meet in the middle one day and make a happy home!

Passport-check, converter-check, new bagalini bag-check [quiet from the peanut gallery, it’s a new bag for traveling!], camera-check, extra chargers-check, brain- um…

I can’t wait to tell you all about my trip and tomorrow, I will! Well, at least where I’m going!

Gotta go, buzzer!

Positivity Challenge – Day #21
1 – I am thankful I have any nails left at all. Apparently gel polish looks great, but kills the strength of your nails, lesson learned. Clear polish to build them up again!
2 – I am so very thankful to have an amazing counselor who helps me get where i need to be and to navigate my company, she rocks!
3 – I am so very thankful Peanut is recovering well, a little groggy and sleepy, but seems ok

{September 30, 2014} Back to work!

It’s time to get back to work, so here I am back in Louisville! For part of the week anyway.

The day started way too early, 5:45am, up by 6:10, showered and out the door by 6:30am. I decided to take Annie, the Beetlebug to the airport instead of a taxi or Uber and I got to put on my aggressive face when the fine drivers in Boston wanted to cut me off! Finally made it to the airport, parked and waited patiently for the shuttle.

At the airport, drop off my bag, head through security, love TSA Pre-check! On to my gate for my flight to Atlanta. I stopped at a restaurant to get some breakfast, decided to get some breakfast and I proceeded to see the woman use the same spatula to mix the and cook the food as she did to mix the other ingredients. ick.

I grabbed my breakfast and headed to the gate area, waited a few minutes, then boarded the plane. The first flight was uneventful, I had an aisle seat next to a very quiet Indian couple. Arrived in Atlanta with a few moments to spare getting to my connecting flight, only about 30, what guarantee was there that my luggage would make it with such a tight connection. Rest assured, it made it! I got to the plane, after I stopped for a snack of Nutter Butters and a bottle of water. It’s been so long since I have had Nutter Butters! Boarded the flight, no one sitting in the middle seat, wahoo, although you couldn’t move the arm rests, oh well, no one in the middle, wahoo.

Plane lands, check my voice mail…when are you going to be here? Soon! I get the car, meet PM and we head to the office, get there about 2pm, lots of things to do, go here, pick up that, look for this, back to the office to work until about 7pm, drop everyone off at their respective hotels, park, check in, change, head out to meet PM for dinner.

Then I got to talk to JCT and TS, I am happy. Now, I am writing to you, dear frineds!

Positivity Challenge – Day #13
1 – I am thankful that I made the connection between my two flights coming back to Louisville.
2 – I am thankful to be able to laugh with my friends
3 – I am thankful for the amazing air conditioning in my rental car!

{September 24, 2014} Farewell…So Long…Auf Wiedersehen, goodnight

No, I am not going to start singing, but if I did, you would have to listen, ha! No, I did not watch The Sound of Music tonight.

Tonight was a team dinner, a farewell of sorts. The project I have been with for a little over a month so far, is winding down and wrapping up and next week I will be heading for parts unknown, well, I know where I am going, you do not! So there. Awe, come on, you know I’ll tell you eventually!

As we are nearing the end of the project and some people are rolling off sooner than others [oh brother, I had a seguay here, I will hold my tongue], there was a team dinner with everyone from Deloitte that was in town to join and there were a lot of us!

The nice thing was it was very relaxed and no one seemed to talk about work, well, except when I asked someone what they did for the company and when JM got up and thanked us all for the fantastic job we all did on this project and go-live, which I’ve talked to you about a few times. Then two of the guys got up and gave out “awards” like “Most time spent in Indiana” you remember that I am in Kentucky for this project, but the Sheraton is over the Ohio River in Indiana, so one of the guys stays there. Then there was the award for the most Starbucks runs, PM and I got newest members because we came on just a few weeks ago. Our prizes…chocolate bourbon balls! Guess who is going to benefit from those? Dad and ACS, you’r welcome!

It really was a fun time talking to everyone, sharing stories and laughing, non-stop laughter and really good food and conversation about where we were going on our next projects, where we were from, what we were doing for the weekend because almost all of us were going home for a long weekend! WAHOO!

All in all, a fabulous time was had by all and some people were going to continue on with the night and go have an even better time at some of the finer establishments that Louisville has to offer, but I came back to My hotel to pack because I am going in to the office tomorrow and then to the airport because I’m heading to Bahston!

I want to thank JM for the opportunity to be a part of this team, I believe that everything happens for a reason and my couselor PD told me to call JM and I did and he remembered me when it was time to fill a need, so good things can happen. I also would not have met all these great people or spent the time in Louisville if it had not been for this project.

So, in closing, as we are having a gratitude festival…I want to say thank you for the opportunity to learn something new, be a part of a great team and an amazing go-live experience and I look forward to working with some of you again!

Goodnight!

Positivity Challenge – Day #8
1 – I am thankful to have made it through this past year with my family and I look forward to a new year full of good health, much sweetness and tremendous happiness
2 – I am thankful for an amazing group of people that I got to work with on this project, albiet a short time, but I am lucky to have gotten to know them
3 – I am thankful they think I am funny and now some of them are following my blog!

{September 23, 2014} Getting pulled over – funny story

Ok, I know I’ve talked about my lead foot before, which has gotten me in trouble on more than one occasion. Well, this is not one of those occasions.

I was driving home from the hospital where I was working on Friday night, it was about 1:15 in the morning and I was driving between 48 and 50 on the road and the speed limit was 45, so I was doing alright. There weren’t many cars on the road at 1am, but I did see the two police cars sitting in a parking lot.

I was going along and all of a sudden..blue lights! Oh NO! What in the holy blue hell was this!? I pulled over, did not take my advice and call 911 and tell them I was being pulled over, but I did and then there was the flashlight. “Good evening ma’am”, I just love the ma’am thing. “Yes officer?” He asks for my license and leans into the car and turns the dial for the lights to A for auto, my headlights weren’t on! Seriously?

It looked like they were, I can’t see over the hood, but it looked like there were lights on. Maybe you couldn’t see the tail lights, but the headlights come on when you open the car door. I started laughing and said thank you I had no idea where that was! I thought the dial was to increase the light on the dashboard, like in my car. This was a rental and a lot I don’t know about it. Hey, did you know that they hide the trunk pop button on cars now, it might be somewhere in the dash, it’s not on the floorboard where it should be so there I go turning off the car to pop the trunk from the remote.

He did check my license, no issues, wahoo! And then when he came back to the window to give me my license, we ended up talking for about thirty minutes, he knew about the project I was working on and then he gave me his card and said if I needed anything while I was in Kentucky to give him a call. Think he was flirting with me?

We told each other a few jokes and then I was on my way. Crisis avoided, license intact!

Positivity Challenge – Day #7

1 – I am thankful when my friends don’t get mad if I don’t respond to a challenge right away, but they know I will do it
2 – I am thankful for having great co-workers
3 – I am thankful that I am going to see my family soon and spend the new year with them

{September 10, 2014} It feels like summer vacation!

I know I am working and all, but there are days it feels like I am on summer vacation. And here is where I will tell you why.

Do you remember when we talked about traveling for work and people thinking that it’s so exciting you get to go to all these different places? That when you are in a city for one or two days it’s “Airport>Client Site>Hotel>Restaurant>Hotel>Airport”, well this situation is a little different.

Ok, so…You know I am all over the place working, first in Ann Arbor for six months and now, Louisville, KY for about 1.5 months. Since I am in locations for more than a few days, I get to go exploring. I get to try new restaurants and experiences and that’s why some days it feels like I am on summer vacation and tomorrow, I will go to school, stand up in front of the class and tell them what I did over summer break.

For example…Today I didn’t have to work! Wahoo! No 12 hour shift for this girl! But..I have to get up in a few hours for my new shift, 5a-4p, who wants to be me? But…I had the day off today, so what did I do?

First, I slept in, ha ha, I was up about 10am, after falling asleep about 4:45, I was really hoping for more, but oh well. I answered some emails and then got dressed, packed and ready to switch to a new room, a bigger one! [BTW..said room I am sitting in right now is having A/C is having issues and I am using a box fan for a cool breeze, new and bigger room tomorrow.

After getting dressed, I headed out and made for the walking bridge to take me to Indiana! It was very cool, a few miles to the bridge, a mile over the bridge and then walk around the little town of Jeffersonville and…got a much needed manicure! Oh my! Navy blue, very enjoyable!

After the relaxing mani, I headed back over the bridge and to the hotel, enjoying my time along the way. There are speakers on the bridge and they were playing classical music, I was in heaven! I meandered a bit and enjoyed the breeze, ok gusts of wind, but it was better than the surface of the sun hot that I have been experiencing since I got here, so we know how happy I was!

I walked back to the hotel, stopping in a few places for a bite to eat, but alas, alack, to no avail. Back to the room where the AC was still not fixed, but I was burning up anyway, so it felt pretty good. Showered and dressed, ran out the door to the car down to Bardstown road to hopefully get a pedicure, goal number 2! I got one, ahhh…much better.

Louisville has some great works of art all over the city and in the different restaurants and I have been enjoying taking those pictures, which, of course, I will be sharing!

Speaking of sharing, two women I met at the nail salon recommended some restaurants and then told me I should blog about my experiences, go figure! Done and done!

After the pedi, I walked down the road to Kashmir, an Indian restaurant for some dinner of “No, it’s not too spicy” by the Indian waiter and his father, never trust an Indian to tell you the Indian food is not very spicy! I won’t tell you how many glasses of water I consumed!

After dinner, it was back to the hotel to write to you, rest up and get a few hours sleep for my next shift.

Fingers crossed my next room has working A/C! G’Night!

{August 29, 2014} Take a nap…this is going to be a long one!

Are you ready to hear about my day?

As you know, i drove to Boston today, so here goes.

Last night, I found a hotel, not necessarily a pet friendly hotel…they were friendly and I snuck my pets in! shhh…I put BOTH cats into one carrier and smuggled them into the hotel and up the stairs, yeah for side doors! I slept for a few hours, they were both with me, then I got up at 8, put them both back into the carrier and Peanut proceeded to hiss and wail and whine! Oh NO! Please be quiet! So I smuggled them back out the door and into the car! whew!

On the road I went. I made it to NY State!

I checked in with NB, or Twin, as i call him and we decided on where to meet for lunch, since I was going to be going right past his neck of the woods. He then informed me that, duh, I would be driving right past my Alma mater, SUNY Fredonia, http://www.fredonia.edu/index.html, how excited was I! I was on the phone with SH when I got off the highway and she was almost as excited as I was!

Oh my goodness! Not much has changed! I had the cats with me, so I couldn’t spend a lot of time on campus, but I promised everyone on FaceBook who messaged me, that I would definitely be making a trip back to see them! And I will be doing that sometime in the near future! There are so many people I would love to see!

I did make a stop at the Campus Bookstore and geeked out! Everything they have for sale online pales in comparison to all they had to offer in the store! Dad got a Fredonia Dad sweatshirt, GES got a t-shirt and sweatshirt, ACS got a long sleeve t-shirt, EJS and GMS got t-shirts, LaLa got a t-shirt and yours truly: 2 sweatshirts, a t-shirt, notebook, postcard and a bag. come on, it’s a Fredonia bag! It’s my old school, so there!

The campus is still lovely and warm and inviting, but now there is a Tim Horton’s and Starbucks? On campus! What? And some high end apartments, huh? Who cares, it made me long for those days! GES asked if I would go back, yes I would is my answer!

I couldn’t spend too much time, first, there was a 30 minute time on the parking spot, not heavily enforce, thank goodness and second, I had the cats. I left the windows down, it was 67 degrees and in the shade, felt great and they were fine. No worries people, whenever there is sun and it’s any warmer, I leave the car running with the AC on, every time I went to a rest stop, that’s what I did.

Back in the car and head to lunch with NB and on the way, got a text from JC a dear friend I knew from MCC that I met at Binghamton when we were both a part of NYPIRG, all these acronyms! He wanted to see me, so he came to lunch too! It was so great to see them both, we laughed and had a great time, got some good pics and I headed back on the road with a promise of a visit soon!

Then it was uneventful for the next, oh, I don’t know…8billion miles! Kidding. I got to my sister’s house about 9, not too bad for a days journey. We started at 8:30, stopped at Fredonia for about 45 minutes, a little over an hour for lunch, a few gas stops and we made it in about 9 hours. Go me!

The girls did great, for the most part, they’re cats, they are not as enthusiastic about car rides as dogs, so all in all, good girls!

The suck part…THE TOLLS! I bet I spent close to $20 on tolls. NY State, aren’t the road good enough? FIVE CENTS per mile, what? IF and I say IF I were to ever make this drive again…EZ Pass will be my friend!

I got to GES’ house about 9, as I mentioned and the girls were up waiting for me! Running into my arms and so excited to meet Jymy and Peanut, so many questions and now, here I sit, talking to you and Peanut is purring in my arms. Happy kitty! And Jymy just joined to say hello.

Ok, here is where I leave you because I am a very tired girl and I need some sleep…beach tomorrow!

{August 23, 2014} Packing…ACK and ARGHHHH

I’ve been here for six months, how could I have accumulated this much stuff???

I am in a large room at this hotel and I have two bags packed full of clothes, my toiletries and then some other stuff, I’m not sure where it came from!

Anyone that knows me, like my family, knows I can be a slob, I used to be a slob when I was a kid. I like a good mess, don’t get me wrong, I like clean…I would pick up everything, clean and put it back. But in this hotel room, I have tried to keep everything straight, putting everything in its place, I like everything to be where it’s supposed to, this is a small space and it’s mine.

Somehow, I have accumulated more stuff than I realized! How? I don’t know. But..I have seen the accumulation, so tomorrow, I will be going to FedEx to ship things back to Colorado and taking just what I can fit into my little beetle bug along with two cats.

Let this be a lesson to me…don’t accumulate so much stuff and take stuff home when you can!

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