A New Adventure | Peaches Prattlings

{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!

{August 19, 2014} It was a very, very, very, very, very…long drive

I drove about 9 hours yesterday and thought I only had about 10 left today, not so.

The day started off about 7:30am, I woke leisurely, well as leisurely as two cats let you wake. Nose on face, nose on hand, head pushes, ‘c’mon mom, time to get up, wake up, c’mon, c’mon”. Anyone with a cat will know what I’m talking about! This video screams it! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jrq03XENSdY

I got up, got breakfast and was ready to get on the road at 8:30, which I did, cats and all. I decided I would leave them in the carriers for a while so I could keep the top down on the car. Contrary to popular beliefs, cats do not find riding in cars with their heads hanging out the windows as entertaining as dogs, go figure.

As soon as I got on the road, the tire pressure indicator came on, I wasn’t sure what it was, so I had to Google it, I now know what all the symbols on my dashboard are, so if you need to know what any symbol for a VW Beetle are, here you go!

There were no service stations in the downtown Omaha area, so I got on the highway and pulled off for the first gas station I could find. When I got there, luckily, I found the air pump and got out of the car and lo-and-behold…the rear drivers side..almost dead. I started inflating the tire and it looked like it was starting to bubble and might possibly explode and again, contrary to popular belief, I’m smarter than I look and stopped pumping. I went inside to ask for help and guess what, the woman who worked there pointed me across the road to Paco’s Tires! Wahoo! Saved!

I went to Paco’s and they said, yup, flat and it could have exploded! There was a screw in it and then 30 minutes [total] later I drove out with a new tire and peace of mind!

I had the top down on the car for about two hours and then decided it wasn’t fair to the cats, or my ears as they were crying intermittently, so up went the top and out came the cats. No! Don’t sit on my feet, I still have to drive! I finally got them situated and was on my way again.

I listened to the radio, some pandora radio and then…I plugged in my phone and then iPad to the stereo jack and played a movie, putting the device on the floor, of course! But I listened to a movie, and since I know the movies so well, it was like listening to an old radio serial! One of the movies was even Haunted Honeymoon, which was based on a radio show! Clever me!

When I wasn’t listening to something, I got to chat with a few people, MM, Dad, JCT, JFT, SR, BD and BG, it was awesome, I had lots of time and could only concentrate on the road and my friends!

I drove and drove and drove and enjoyed myself, most of the time, the country is beautiful, boring in some places, but beautiful. I understand why JASC loves to drive so much, but honestly, I would rather have been on a plane getting there faster, unless I had company, then it would have been even more entertaining, but I wouldn’t have gotten to talk to so many people. Go figure.

I finally got to Debra’s house to drop off the cats, she so generously offered to keep them for me this week until I leave on Sunday. She even sent a picture of Jymy cuddling with her as I was heading to the hotel.

I finally got to the hotel about 12:30, after driving forever. I wish I knew exactly how many hours as I went through a few different time zones today! [Omaha, Nebraska, Idaho, Illinois, Michigan, yeah, I think that’s it!]

Goodnight!

{August 17, 2014} Warrior Dash…Go!

Today, I participated in the Warrior Dash at Copper Mountain, CO and had a blast!

I participated in the Warrior Dash two years ago in Georgia, actually, my first obstacle/mud run. Then, as I’m thinking about it, I’ve participated in 11 obstacle/mud runs over the last two years! WOW! One of the tag lines for The Warrior Dash is “The hardest, most fun you’ll ever have” and it was!

Admittedly, I skipped 4 of the 11 obstacles and I’m ok with that, I’m the only one who has to live with it! The obstacles that I skipped involved steep drops on the other side and I don’t trust what happens with my ankles in those cases. The first one I was already waiting 15 minutes to do because there was a bottle neck and it would have been another 15/20 minutes before I had the opportunity to go. But…it was awesome the way everyone was helping each other, especially on that first obstacle, either push or pull over the top and then the cheering was fantastic!

The last obstacle I skipped was the last one, which i would have enjoyed a lot. It was a cargo net climb and then a slide down into a pool. There wasn’t enough water at one point, so they had to shut down while they pumped water in so it would be safe. It was already a 30 minute delay and it would be another 30 minutes, maybe more, no thanks! Although, it did make the end of the run a little anti-climactic!

I will say, there wasn’t enough mud or barbed wire, like the first one I did, but…it was Colorado and there was SNOW! Before the mud pit, there was about .20 running through snow! What? Too cool!

All in all, it was a fun run, lots of people encouraging each other and just having fun and getting down and dirty, what more could you want!

After the run, it was time for a KILLER veggie burger and yes, you can say that, but only after I finally donated my sneakers, they had seen at least 6 of the mud runs for the last two years and it was time. I guess I’ll be calling RG to hook me up with a new pair of sneaks so i can turn my current ones into mud ones!

Hmmm…what’s next?

https://www.warriordash.com/location/2014-warrior-dash-colorado/

{July 24, 2014} Wow, my friends are AWESOME!!!

I cannot tell you how amazing my friends are! Especially during this past week! WOW!

I know I’ve told you how great my friends are, last year when I was packing my house to move to Colorado, I had friends help me at different stages.

CA, SDL and CKM helped me paint the bedroom and bathroom so the house would be sale worthy. CKM also helped me pack boxes a few times and was with myself and DCM when we were having the yard sale and packing the truck in the same weekend. TS was there a few times to help me pack. It was a team effort and if I have forgotten someone from last years events, I APOLOGIZE!

This week was crazy too! And without my friends, I would probably not have gotten half as far! I got in Friday morning and got a few things done, but it was Saturday and Sunday that rocked! The first person to show up was TS, who brought her packing abilities and food! As she was leaving, RJS was came to help me pack boxes and move things around the garage. After she left, BG showed up and helped me move boxes and pack more stuff. This is just Saturday!

After BG left, I continued to work, moving boxes, packing and moving stuff around. About 9:30, I messaged DG across the street and he and his wife, CG were kind enough to let me shower at their house, as I had no hot water. It was FABULOUS! I talked to them for a while and then headed home to get some sleep, early day Sunday.

Sunday had me up early to get started on the yard sale. About 11, who drives up but TS, what? I wasn’t expecting her, but welcomed her! She came ready to pack and move and feed me, wahoo!

We went crazy on the garage, getting everything set up for the movers and packing her SUV to take things to Goodwill and that vehicle was packed to the gills! Eventually she left and DG came over to get his ladder and I asked if they could keep my artwork and plant and helped me find my house key, very important!

Now all I had to do was find movers, a storage unit and someone to be there to greet the movers, RS to the rescue! She was able to get the lock and key for the storage unit, meet the movers, take them to the storage unit, lock up after they go and supervise, thank you!

Tomorrow, my good friend CMD is going to be cleaning my house top to bottom so the new tenants can move into a clean house on Friday, as well as getting the rest of the stuff out of the garage for donation.

Do you remember the saying “it takes a village”? It really does! And without my friends, I would have been absolutely LOST!

To my friends, I say THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!!! I am so lucky!

{July 6, 2014} Another busy day! Gravestones, Cars, Dinner

Ready for another crazy day? Are you still keeping up? Did you take a nap after my last post?

Today started early for a Sunday, but we had things to do! I woke up before my alarm was set to go off at 8am and leisurely got up, which is the best way to wake up, meandered out and met TS preparing some coffee and tea, we made breakfast and had a nice sit down meal.

Then we got in the car and headed down to Oakland Cemetery for the tour at 10am. I have always wanted to tour the cemetery, “Less than a mile from the heart of downtown Atlanta, a hidden treasure, a secret sanctuary, welcomes you. This garden cemetery, founded in 1850, is the final resting place of many of Atlanta’s settlers, builders, and most noted citizens like Bobby Jones, Margaret Mitchell, and Maynard Jackson. It is also a showplace of sculpture and architecture, and a botanical preserve with ancient oaks and magnolias. Here in this peaceful place the full scope of the city’s rich and fascinating history unfolds before you.”

They also have some great events, like ghost tours, music events, 5k races, so many events.

We enjoyed the tour, saw some fantastic works of art that are actually grave markers, touching tributes, amazing statuary, stained glass. We learned about the foliage, how it is selected based on times in history, history of the different sections of the cemetery, tributes based on wealth and age of the loved on. One day soon, I will give you full photographs and information that I learned. Until then, here are a few pictures to enjoy. http://www.oaklandcemetery.com/

After the full two hour and so worth the money tour, we went across the street to Six Feet Under. I had been wanting to go and…if we showed our receipt would get $5 off our meal, what could be better!

We had a great lunch and for dessert, some fantastic white chocolate, banana bread pudding with whiskey caramel sauce! Let me just say Y U M!!! http://sixfeetunderatlanta.com/

After lunch, we took our coasters to the High Museum of Art, they had $3 off coupons, how could we resist? This was an amazing event, there were cars from the early 1940s to new cars from the 2000s. These were some sleek, beautiful and amazing looking cars, a beauty and a joy forever. I will post a full album very soon, here are a few to get your gears shifting! http://www.high.org/Art/Exhibitions/Dream-Cars-Innovative-Design-Visionary-Ideas.aspx

After the exhibit, we drove back to TS’ house to relax and I headed out at 5pm to head to Buckhead to meet my dear friend LGR and her husband MR and their adorable daughter, CR. We met at Farm Burger for some good food, conversation and laughs, it’s always a good time. LGR and I have known each other for almost 20 years, I met her my second year in Georgia and when we get together or talk on the phone, it’s as if no time has passed, don’t you just love friends like that? I know I do.

http://www.farmburger.net/buckhead/

After dinner, I headed to my house to have a peek around and now I am writing you and tomorrow, I will head back to Ann Arbor, MI. What might be my next adventure?

{June 18, 2014} Day 4…Fun in Chicago and back to A2

Tee hee hee, if you didn’t know, A2 is how people from Ann Arbor refer to it and since I’ve been there for a few months and will be there a while longer, I’m jumping on the bandwagon!

Today I was awakened way too early, 7:30am, by some texted pictures, not naming names, very happy to have them, but too early and my fault that I didn’t have the phone on silent. But…it was a good thing and I’ll tell you why soon.

I stretched and tried to go back to sleep but we both know me and that wasn’t happening, so I got up, showered, dressed, started packing, had some breakfast, chatted with Ernest, the nice gentleman that works the breakfast area at the hotel, saw pictures of his grandkids, talked about Father’s Day, back to the room to finish packing and headed out.

I dropped my bags at bag storage, headed out, took a right and began walking down South Michigan Avenue. The past three days, I had been staying primarily on North Michigan Avenue and South Michigan Avenue has so much to offer. Good thing I’m going to come back some time, more exploring!

It was about a mile and a half from the hotel to Shedd Aquarium. Someone told me I needed to be there by about 9:30am or the line would be ridiculous and when I left about 2:15, the line for tickets was probably about a 1.5-2 hours wait, no thanks!

The website said the best days to go, Wednesday and Thursday, well, now it know why. Teenagers and wee tots, class and camp trips and there were a lot of them, not to mention families, good thing crowds don’t bother me much.

When I talked to people from Chicago, they said that so many class trips every year were to Shedd Aquarium and The Field Museum of Natural History and Adler Planetarium. http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Museum_Campus

For my entry fee, I got entrance into the aquarium and all the sections including Oceanarium, Wild Reef, Jellies, Stingray Touch Experience, Aquatic Show and Sea Monsters, oh my!

I got to see the different sections including Caribbean Reef, River, Ocean, all great with frogs, snakes, fish, spiders, you name it, they had it. The Jellies were amazing, such beautiful creatures that can be so deadly. I got to pet stingrays, so soft and sleek, watch the aquatic show with dolphins, seals, a dog and some beluga whales, fascinating and touching, hang with some penguins and watch a 4D movie about sea monsters. That was fun! You sit in the seat and watch things come at you, get sprayed with mist and feel things touch your back, the audience reaction is the best.

I really enjoyed myself and could see myself possibly going back again, if I had people with me. I saw some beautiful creatures that I might never see on my own and learned a lot about them and how I could help, how we could all help.

I hope you enjoy some of my pictures.

http://www.sheddaquarium.org

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