Peaches Prattlings











I realized I haven’t talked about places I’ve eaten lately, shame on me! 

So, today, I am at a new site for training and support and I found the Eleven City Diner.  Oh my! It was awesome! A gps Jewish Deli with good, fresh ingredients and piled high on the plate! I had an egg salad sandwich on challah, yum! It came with a pickle Spear and coleslaw, really good. I pigged out and ate it all! If you know me, you know I usually have leftovers, not today! This place reminded me a little of Zaftigs in Boston. 

For dinner, I met up with someone I met on this project in a class and then again recently and we had hit it off the first time and decided to go to dinner. She came up with a few suggestions and Isla, a Filipino restaurant had more options than the other, it’s family owned and delicious! She had given me some vegan options the first time we meet and I haven’t been disappointed yet! 

We had a great time getting to know each other, we have a lot in common, like our love of movies and travel. It was a lot of fun and we’re looking forward to the next time! I made another friend in Chicago! 



{February 7, 2017}   Life on the road can be fun! 

Tonight was a fun evening. 

Traveling for work is what you make of it.  There are times there is nothing to make of it. Travel-meeting-travel or travel-meeting-dinner-hotel- travel. I’ve done those,  fun, not so much all the time…or as it is now, when I’m in a place for a few months or more, you get to know the place and some people. 

On this project, when I’m in Chicago, I go out to dinners, shows, movies.  I’ve made friends on the project. Tonight was one of those nights.  It was like any other job anywhere, you have friends and decide to go out. DLP and I wanted to do something, so, away we went. We went to the movies, settled in and saw Sing. Loved it a second time! She loved it a first time! 

There is fun to be had on the road, it’s all what you make of it and sometimes what you have time for. I’m having fun! 



{February 6, 2017}   Superbowl…won and lost 

You have to have a winner. You have to have a not-winner [that sounds so much better than loser]

I am writing this objectively, yes, I’m disappointed that the Falcons lost, they played their hearts out, tomorrow, I’ll be glad football season is over.  I’m not going to say they were beaten by a better team, they played a helluva game until the end of the last quarter.

What fans, no matter who they rooted for, have to remember and respect…the Falcons made it to the Superbowl for the first time in fifty-one years! They made it!  

Think about the Cubs…weren’t you pulling for them no matter who you support, they made it to the show! 

Yes, you have to have a winner, that’s just the way it goes, but the fact that they made it at all is what’s important and played hard and held the Patriots back for almost the entire game. They made the Pats work for it, a team that has been to the Superbowl how many times? They forced an overtime…the first one in Superbowl history! These are records not to be discounted.

I actually watched most of the game and I was right there with you, well, with the Falcons fans hoping, screaming, cheering, mouth open in disbelief. I didn’t know how the game would turn out, but I had hope. I knew that it was likely if the Pats didn’t win, they would make it again in the future, but I was pulling for the Pats. 

To my friends and family who cheer for the Pats congrats on another championship. To my friends and family so cheered for the Falcons,  congrats to making it and there’s no stopping you getting there again! 



{February 3, 2017}   Did I actually day that? 

Sometimes you think about it after you say it and think “huh…did I really just say that!?”

I’ve done that a few times in my life, I know we all have and I’ve probably told you one or two of them. This wasn’t that bad, just not sure it was completely appropriate.

I was teaching a class yesterday and we needed a name, we make them up for one of the lessons and someone decided to select Willie Nelson. That led to a few comments about weed. Uh oh…here I am teaching a class and they are talking about weed. But…it helped to put things into perspective and it made the class laugh and understand what we were trying to do,  so that worked out. 

You never know where inspiration is going to come from our what will make the light bulb go off over someone’s head…do what you can! 



{February 2, 2017}   Well, ain’t that fancy! 

Quote-unquote.

This is what I heard one of the women say when they got in the elevator with me at my hotel. 

This hotel has the elevator that you punch the number on the pad and it tells you which elevator car to use, no numbers inside. There is a display in the elevator indicating the floors requested.

When the women got in the car they thought the display was for the floors that car serviced. I told them it was for the floors we were going to and one of them said “We’ll ain’t that fancy!” 

Well ladies, I guess it is! 

Made me giggle.



{February 2, 2017}   A good few days

Here’s what’s happened since I got back to the mainland. 

I got to the client’s  site on Tuesday and settled in. When the manager saw me she said “I’m so glad it’s you!” How great did that make me feel!  I found a good restaurant for lunch, middle eastern yum! Two for two. To make it three for three I couldn’t get an Uber yesterday morning so I took a taxi. The driver was very nice and offered to pick me up today and gave me his number.  I called him this morning and there he was.  Cool.

Over the last two days there are so many people I remember and who remember me from training classes they attended, they have been very happy to see me, isn’t that awesome? 

I had a decent veggie burger for lunch at an Irish pub. Last night’s dinner was the leftover vegan pizza from Monday night and tonight I went to a decent Chinese restaurant, all but four of the patrons, including me, we’re Chinese, a good sign in my opinion. It was cool that everyone who came in the bartender spoke to in Chinese.  Made me miss JCT and her mom. 

All in all,  two good days, looking forward to the next two. 



{January 27, 2017}   Where am I? When am I?

So…you know I travel a little right? 

That being said, I talk to people in different time zones and I’m in airports in different time zones all the time. People ask where I am, can’t always tell them. My dad gave me a watch made of paper for Chanukah and I set it to Hawaii time so I always know what time it is at home and when I can call PSM. Doesn’t help in airports, so…

I decided to get clever…my fabulous watch has many options on watch faces and one has multiple time zones, so I selected that one and chose New York, good for eastern standard time,  where dad is and GES in Boston,  then Honolulu, where my home and honey are,  Paris, well, if you know me, you know I love Paris and ‘my location’, so I’ll always know what time it is where I am. 

I thought it was a good idea. It’s 11:57 pm here in Honolulu where I just landed so I will say goodnight.  Good morning to some of you as it will be 5am in a few on the east coast. 



{January 26, 2017}   Wow! Thank you for asking! 

Lunch today was kind of a bust, but with a twist. 

I thought I’d try a new place for lunch today. No love for the vegan today, I ended up at Burger King, which I enjoy, but it wasn’t my first choice. 

Before I ended up at Burger King, the last place I went to, as I was leaving after looking at the menu and mentioning there was nothing for a vegan, the bartender asked what they could have on the menu that I might want. 

They were changing their menu and she would like to know what they could offer.  I said for me, I would love to see a veggie burger, as I’ve told you and I told her,  I don’t care if it’s frozen and they stick it in the microwave, I just want the option. I also mentioned that it shouldn’t be cooked where they cook meat, but if it is, like on a grill, cool it on tin foil. 

If I want to go out for a salad,  then that’s what I want, but I don’t want a salad to be my default and only option. 
I thanked her for asking and she thanked me for my help and away I went…to Burger King for a veggie burger. 



{January 22, 2017}   Definitely a thespian!

The Wizard of Oz! My favorite movie and now…my favorite young stage production! 

Today, EJS performed in The Wizard of Oz.  She’s in a theater group called Show Stoppers. Last year, she was in Beauty and the Beast, she was a few different characters. This year she was Elmira Gulch in Act I, wow! Elmira Gulch, if you’re not in the know, is the mean woman who becomes the Wicked Witch of the West. 

In the rest of the show, she was a jitterbug, and munchkin, a crow and part of the Queens Guard, versatile! There was singing and dancing and they were all great, but you know,  she’s my niece so of course, she was the star! 

She asked me to do her hair in a sideways French braid. First time…let’s give it a shot!  I did the braid, she approved and they pinned it up, looked great! Whew! 

It was a fun production, minimal sets…we had a farm, a yellow brick road, a curtain for the Great and Powerful Oz, colored lighting, music, singing, costumes…what more do you need? 

It really was great and EJS knew her lines, she was on point, she danced and sang and enjoyed herself and had an entourage of about 25 people! Aside from my sister, b-i-l, MGS, dad and LaLa, J&AS, B&SS she had three friends on their own, then J&EK with their kids,  S&P, S&LR and their kids S&E, RG and her daughter A. What a crowd and what a lucky girl! Can you image what her Broadway debut will look like! 

Congrats to the entire cast and easy to go EJS! I’m so proud of you! 



{January 21, 2017}   Good morning auntie….Sing! 

What happens when I go to Boston? Pure joy! 

I got in very late last night, my apologies for not writing, I hope I make up for it now.  

I got my few hours of sleep and I hear “good morning auntie! We’re going to the movies and we’re leaving now!” Huh?

I got some very quick snuggles, giggles and hugs, run up to take a shower while EJS and MGS got dressed and brushed their teeth. As I was waiting for them to get ready, apparently I can shower faster than they can brush their teeth and get dressed, go figure, my sister, GES, told me that they refused to go without me, since we had promised to see it together, how awesome did that feel! 

We got to the movie theatre, popcorn and drinks set and away we went. On the way they were very curious about my driving record, huh? Well, there were parts in the movie someone was speeding and I pointed out that I did not drive like that! 

Then there were previews and previews and more previews and “does that mean that’s the same dog over and over?” Among other questions. We also saw previews and made future movie dates, like Despicable Me 3! And finally… movie. 

The movie was great! It opened with a Beatles song, so immediately I approved! It was about ‘real people’ but all portrayed by animals. What I mean by real people…gangsters, moms, dads, shy kids, proud parents, overworked whatevers, bankers, folks flush and down on their luck. 

Buster Moon is a koala who owns an iconoc theatre that was something special in its heyday. Now, the theater needs love, he’s behind on his loans and bills, you get the idea. 

He is on his last dime and comes up with an idea…a singing contest. From there it was funny, silly, touching, beautiful, inspiring…so much talent to behold and what a soundtrack! 

And of course, there was a message…what good kids movie doesn’t have a message? You have to have faith and believe in yourself. Take a chance, you never know what you can do until you try. Let me think, I can probably come up with a few more.  

Oh my, but the music was fantastic! I think I knew all but one song. We danced in our seats, ok, I danced in my seat and shook the girls shoulders until they danced with me. It was cute when a scene came on that they knew from the previews and commercials and they said “oh,I know this!”

It was a great movie, the girls and I had a blast and on the way home I played some of the music. The best was when I played them Big Butts by Sir Humpty! In the movie, you’ve probably seen this in the previews, three bunnies say the opening line “Oh my gawd, did you see her butt!” They thought it was a very goofy song, good thing they didn’t really listen to the lyrics! 

A perfect way to start the weekend! Can’t wait for the next one! 



et cetera