my day | Peaches Prattlings

{October 22, 2017} Time with my girls

I don’t know if you have heard me talk about my girls, my nieces, EJS and MGS. Oh well maybe once or twice, ha ha!

This weekend, albiet short, was the chance to spend one on one time with my sister, which you know is rare and a date with just me and my girls. How happy was I?

GES and I went somewhere, more will be revealed later, some quality time at lunch then retail therapy. I’m really good at encouraging her… to spend money! She got some great stuff! For the first time, there were more shoe options for her than me! I’m an eight, she’s a five, what are the odds?

We got home and the parents went out for dinner with friends and it was me and my girls!

Turns out no kid appropriate movies were in the theater so it was mac-n- cheese for dinner and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. They both curled up with me, MGS on my lap and EJS next to me and laughed and talked about the movie.

After, no fights, just teeth brushed, jammies on, hugs and kisses and lights out. That was easy.

I am leaving early in the morning to go back to Chicago, big dinner meeting tomorrow night. Extra hugs and kisses since I won’t see them again until Thanksgiving.

{October 20, 2017} Travel too much?

Um…I don’t think so, others might.

I’ve told you, at least I think I have, that if I’m not on a plane every week or every other week, I get a bit antsy. I like my lifestyle and now I’m spoiled. I admit it!

Well, things just got real! I am currently Platinum status on Delta, that’s the third tier and Gold status on United. I was wondering when I was going to catch up to PSM on United and promote to Gold, this was a few months ago when I was traveling back and forth to Hawaii more often then he was and then one day, wow, Gold!

Now I’m Platinum on Delta and Gold on United for this year and working towards Platinum for both for next year. Platinum gets you some nice perks. More upgrade opportunities to first class, better seat options, more free checked bags, boarding earlier, first on, first off, more legroom and some other nice perks.

Well, all of a sudden, I go to check into my flight and bam! Platinum on United! For this year and next! What? When did that happen? Who cares, I’ll take it! Now, all I need is Platinum on Delta for next year and I’m golden! Ha ha!

So… tonight I was upgraded to first class from Chicago to Boston. They serve dinner on these flights, but since I was upgraded, no vegan for me. The flight attendant told me to pick something from the snacks for sale and I got hummus and chips. She was very sweet and took this box and put it on a tray with a placemat, napkin roll with real silver and added a roll for me and the wine glass. Not necessary, off course, I would have been happy just to have the snack, but she made it more special, thank you!

Let the spoiling commence and continue!

{October 19, 2017} I’m bummed… last official hokey…

And pokey. Sigh…

Today was my last official End User training class with the client before we go- live on Tuesday. That meant my last official song and dance.

Let me explain…

If I haven’t already told you, one of the things I do and I’m known for in the world of training, is singing and sometimes dancing every day at 2pm I’m my class. It started when I got on this project.

Picture it… you’re teaching a class, these are all adults, and you look out and see yawning , eyelids drooping and fidgeting. You may not be bored, just tired, hopefully not bored! I can guarantee that people don’t get bored in my classes! I don’t let them! I have my methods.

I call on people to read, answer questions, cal them out when they yawn! I do the last one with humor, never embarrass anyone, doesn’t accomplish anything. I also tell a lot of bad dad jokes! I also know what I’m like as a student and this would work on me!

So… we get back from lunch at 1pm and by 2pm, fidgeting…I tell them to get on their feet and then I have them sing and add dancing and even hand gestures. We go back to pre-k and kindergarten! The Itsy Bitsy Spider, The Wheels on the Bus, Take Me Out To The Ballgame, You Are My Sunshine, Row, Row, Row Your Boat, in a round!

I go to one site and when I get there…”what are you going to sing today?!” How much do you think I love that!

Lately, with one day classes…The Hokey and Pokey! Oh, it’s awesome! A bunch of grown men and women all singing and putting their right hand in, taking their right hand out, putting their right hand in and shaking it about. They do the hokey pokey and turn themselves about and that’s what it’s all about! Right hand! Left hand! Right foot! Left foot! Finally… whole self! Wahoo!

So, today, being the last official End User class, the last song and dance. Sigh…

Can’t wait for the next training project!

{October 19, 2017} Oh my yum!

Today, I went to two and very different places for great meals.

The first was Ritz’s, a small, very casual place open for breakfast and lunch. A very locals place as I found out listening to the conversions going on around me as I sat at the counter.

It is wide open, a bunch of square tables and a small counter that could seat maybe six people. The kitchen is open, then menus are paper and an old Pepsi signboard shows their specials, which around here are the horseshoes. The horseshoe is an open-faced sandwich originating in Springfield, Illinois, United States. It consists of thick-sliced toasted bread, a hamburger patty, French fries, and a “secret” cheese sauce. And that is as far as I go with that, we know I’m not eating it, as much as people rave about it! Make it vegan, I’ll give it a shot!

I ordered an egg sandwich and looked at my surroundings. I loved the menu ideas in the napkin holders. The atmosphere is relaxed, the kitchen had AC/DC playing, the cooks were having a good time and when one of them saw me taking pictures, started posing for me!

This was a good neighborhood joint, I’ll be going back!

For dinner, a different experience. Augie’s Front Burner in downtown Springfield.

This is a farm to table restaurant that featured good hearty food, definitely farm to table, lots of steak, lamb, salmon, good dairy like goat cheese, not the first choice for a vegan, but I loved looking at the creations they offered.

When I got there, one of my co- workers I was meeting had already told our server that there was a vegan coming, thank you, I so appreciate the people I work with! The server told me the chef was working on something for me and checked with me on s few things, thank you again!

The food came and oh my! I started with a beet and carrot salad with a cranberry relish. It was fabulous! I bet it would have been amazing with the lemon ricotta or some goat cheese, sigh.

My next course was so pretty. It looked like a flower of vegetables! Each was some sort of baby or small vegetable, seasoned and sauteed, laid out around rice with something sweet in it, like cherries, no idea, but yum! And it was topped with a few sweet potato chips and greens. This was fabulous!

A place I would go again, if I could have this, or something equally fabulous!

{October 15, 2017} The Kingsman: The Golden Circle

Date night! I’m home, on a date with my honey on a Saturday night!

The, first, Kingsman we loved. I haven’t read the graphic novel, but I want to, but I loved the movie. I thought it was clever and funny, inventive, and just violent enough to be ewe, ouch and yeah! And the toys! You might call them weapons…

The only issue I had with the movie, no, the unbelievability of the entire plot? I totally got into the movie. Samuel L Jackson’s speech pattern, lisp, whatever you want to call it, awful.

It’s been a while, but The Kingsman are back. This time, an equally annoying villain. To be honest, she’s just not my favorite actress. Now, in her defence, she played a fabulous nut job!

The basics were the same with some twists. There is an evil in the world that wants to wipe out the Kingsman and see their product take over the world or at least hold the world hostage for a price.

We start in England, following our favorite agent, Eggsy, doing well and we see where his training took him in the first movie. Then boom, explosions and his world, with the Kingsman is torn apart. He and Mark Strong, one of my favorite roles for him, end up traveling to America to enlist the help of The Statesman, the ‘yank’ version of The Kingsman. This time, instead of fine men’s tailor, this group is in Kentucky making fine whiskey, led by Jeff Bridges.

There was action, adventure, plot twists, violence, cool toys, ok weapons, bad guys, and gals, agents and a common enemy to rally against. While there were some great characters, there wasn’t a lot of character development. In the fittest movie it was a combination of bringing new recruits, watching one in particular, Eggsy, become the man and agent he is today. I get that this wasn’t about watching another new agent, but a little backstory on the other side would be good.

Big surprise in the middle that helped with the plot twists and action, and there was a lot of action, which I love and some of it was a bit ridiculous, but it worked for the movie.

Do the Kingsman and Statesmen save the world? You betcha. Do they do it in style? You betcha. Will there be another Kingsman movie? Part of me wants to say you betcha. Will I see it? You know it!

{October 13, 2017} I really enjoyed this challenge.

Thank you CWB, so much fun.

I really enjoyed the challenge: Seven days. Seven black and white photos of life. No people. No explanation. Challenge someone new each day.

I took up the challenge, took a bunch of black and white photos and challenged others. I really enjoyed taking the photos, I took a bunch, then decided what to post.

I’ve also really enjoyed looking at all the folks who have been challenged and what they’ve posted. There is something pleasant and soothing and thought provoking to black and white, no matter the subject.

Here are some of the photos I’ve taken over the last week.

And tonight’s post.

{October 12, 2017} Happy FIRST birthday CDL!

My baby had a baby.. and now he’s one! What?! I remember when I became a mom, a little different than “the normal channels” so to speak. The wasband had two kids, a girl, TYL, ne TYH, and a boy, WCH, we called him by CH, which is what he’s known as. She was seven and he had just turned eight. I remember when they started spending the night, I had new mom syndrome and loved it! By that I mean when I couldn’t sleep, and at the time, I could sleep! I was constantly checking on them, watching them sleep, and when I did sleep, it was a very light sleep because I would hear them turn over in their sleep! Forgot about hearing them cough or sniffle! The time we weren’t in each other’s lives was the hardest for me, but when we reconnected, wow! Ok, I could talk about them for days, but I need to tell you why we’re here! My baby, TYL, is a mom of a ONE year old! What! One minute he’s there, growing inside her and the next minute…a wonder! I met him when he was a few weeks old and like all my grandbabies, the second we met, I was in love! Well, from the sonogram, but seeing him, holding him, the sweet new baby smell, wrapping his little fingers around my hand and my heart. He didn’t do much at that stage, they don’t, except capture your heart and mind, watching him look at everything with wonder and curiosity. Seeing TYL as cool and collected mom, thinking she was a mess, but she was beautiful, that day and everyday, but this is a new kind of beauty. She is the mother of an amazing little person! CDL is a smart, precocious, precious, funny, silly, goofy, smart, curious, inquisitive, cautious, fearless, fabulous, little person. He embodies the best of his parents, I even see his uncle, CH, in there. He loves his mommy and daddy, he loves to laugh, play, snuggle, explore, learn, try. He’s a wonder and today, October 11th, he’s one! Happy, happy first birthday CDL, I love you and I can’t wait to watch you grow and smile and celebrate so many birthdays together!

{October 11, 2017} Three new vegan meals in two days? Yum!

I’ll take it!

One of my favorite vegan restaurants in Chicago, Native Foods has launched its new menu and I have tried a few things between yesterday and today.

I couldn’t believe it, vegan bagels, lox and cream cheese? What?! Yup! A bagel, unfortunately plain, but wait! The cream cheese was made from cashews, it was creamy and light and tasty. The lox was thin sliced carrots, but it’s the way they marinated it smells and tastes like lox, wow! They offer it just like a ‘real’ lox platter with capers, lemon and onions. Doesn’t it look fabulous?!

Last night, I ordered from True Foods, we’ve talked about it before, I hope you remember! I ordered a pizza with butternut squash, onions, spinach, cranberries and almond ricotta! Wow!

I also ordered guacamole with chips and Winter Squash toast, this had brussel sprouts and toasted hazelnuts. Yum! Think I was able to come close to finishing? Not a chance, guess what was for lunch!

Tonight, I went back to Native Foods, with LJ this time. I ordered plantains with two different dipping sauces and for dinner, chicken and waffles! The syrup was maple siracha, a little too spicy for me, but the ‘chicken’ and waffles, tasty!

Dessert was our favorite oatmeal cream cookie, which we shared, so rich!

Don’t the pictures make you hungry!

Day 5 of 7 Challenge!

{October 10, 2017} O M G…La la la love!!

My friends and family so know me!!

Look at what SDL and Miss A gave me for my birthday! Anyone who knows me knows my favorite movie is The Wizard of Oz! I love everything about it, I even have my “Dorothy Converse”! Converse/Chuck Taylors that are covered in red sparkles!

The way my Monopoly connection started was when LGR gave me a Wizard of Oz version and it kind of took off from there, people gave me a bunch of different versions. Love it!

I got a bag with Dorothy’s Ruby Red Slippers, “There’s no place like home” so true! It feels like I’m coming home when I’m with my friends. There was a Wizard of Oz Mad Libs book, can’t wait! A coloring book and colored pens, love! Great for my travels, I can’t wait to use it on my next long flight home!

The last, possibly best, gift of all! A t-shirt from Miss A…BAE Best Auntie Ever! O M G! A title I wear with pride! And she helps make me a BAE!!!

Thank you so much SDL and Miss A, you made my big day extra special! I love you both!

Day 4 of 7 Challenge:

{October 8, 2017} OMG! I am such a lucky JJ!!!

Today I got the best text!

I get some awesome texts quite often, but today… extra special.

As you know, I have a fabulous add important responsibility this time of year. Halloween costumes for my nieces and grandbabies. I’ve been getting them ordered and delivered over the past few weeks and they have been arriving over the past few days.

For me, the absolute best part about all of it, hearing how much they love their costumes and seeing their faces in their costumes. As soon as they are all in, I’ll tell you what each one wanted and got.

Well, the reason I’m telling you all of this is that today, Baby A got his costume and he loves it. Along with a photo of him in his costume, adorable! I got the picture below with the text message attached.

He painted a picture in school of his house next to my house!!! And he painted it for me!!! Think I was excited? Speechless? Teary? Think I’m turning into my mother? You bet your bippy!!!

I am such a lucky auntie and JJ! Thank you!!!

My day 3 of 7 photo. I like this challenge!

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