My day | Peaches Prattlings

{March 19, 2015} Bread really does make a difference

Face it, we all love bread, even if you don’t, you do.

We can buy it in the store, but we love when we get it on the table at a restaurant, it seems to taste better. Especially warm french bread and butter? I’d rather have that than dessert…

The reason I am inspired to write today is that I had a great sandwich tonight. Now…as you know I am a veg-head, a vegan, if you will and a lot of times, I need to ask for something special to be made. Now, I will tell you when I first became a vegetarian, I didn’t like vegetables, slightly awkward for a vegetarian, but understandable for a 14 year old. Not to worry, that changed, I love veggies.

I love veggies and I enjoy them prepared in different ways, grilled is ok, but I find that there are certain vegetables that I don’t enjoy grilled or on a plate, but put them in a wrap or between two pieces of toasted bread of some sort, with some sort of sauce on the side, say a garlic mayo…and I am there!

Bottom line, grilled veggie sandwich on toasted whole grain bread with a said of garlic mayo with a Caesar salad with the dressing on the side and I was golden! Happy happy yum.

{March 18, 2015} New Phone..good and bad

I got a replacement phone today!

For a few weeks, I have been having trouble with my cell phone, my beloved Galaxy Note 3, I love this thing! Unfortunately, I have dropped it a few times, but it still works, and that was in the beginning with a bad case.

For the past few weeks, it has started to get fuzzy, the volume doesn’t work well, for calls, notifications, alarms [you know, for waking up on time], anything. The charging port seems loose, won’t keep the cable in, battery is not so hot either. There is also this double beep, like someone is listening…who wants to listen to my oh so stimulating conversations!? [I watch too many crime dramas and spy movies, maybe someone is taping my phone! ooh].

So, needless to say, I was not a happy camper these last few weeks and I am not due for a new phone until February, but I went to Verizon to see what they could do and they did! A new phone was shipped yesterday and now, it’s in my hot little hands.

So…the good…it’s new, no bumps, bruises or scratches, sound quality is good. Now, the bad…you have to download all those apps again, personalization, things like that, where your old phone was set up just so, now you have to start over. On the other hand…you have to start over! Fresh, clean, slate.

You just got a new cell phone /replacement phone…what are you going to do next?

“I’m going to Disneyland!”

{March 17, 2015} Happy St Patricks Day!

Today is St Patrick’s Day.

Saint Patrick’s Day, or the Feast of Saint Patrick (Irish: Lá Fhéile Pádraig, “the Day of the Festival of Patrick”), is a cultural and religious celebration held on 17 March, the traditional death date of Saint Patrick (c. AD 385–461), the foremost patron saint of Ireland.

It is a religious and cultural celebration, but it also seems to be an excuse to party, which is not a bad thing, by any means! There are stories behind everything, for instance, wearing of the green, which is associated with a shamrock and a song, just to name a few.

There are celebrations all over the world, not just in Ireland and the US, it would be foolish to think it ends there! Even at the International Space Station, they are wearing green! Chicago, New York, Boston and Savannah have the biggest celebrations in the US, Chicago and Savannah dye the rivers green, that is a sight to see!

There are so many traditions…you get pinched if you don’t wear green, you should drink green beer and lots of it, corned beef and cabbage to feat on.

I was day dreaming about Ireland, wishing I was there, missing it and knowing I’ll be there again some day and I know I’ll go one day with my twin! I haven’t forgotten and there is so much more I want to see.

Today in between class, I had Irish music playing, Pandora had an Irish station, it was great! Then I went to run a few errands, got back to the hotel and I am a red head again! I could fit in with any Irish pub!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Patrick’s_Day

I will leave you with this Irish Blessing…

May the road rise up to meet you. May the wind always be at your back. May the sun shine warm upon your face, may the rains fall softly upon your fields.

I hope today was full of fun and silly and all you hoped it would be.

{March 16, 2015} What a day…start to finish!

I started in Boston and ended in Buffalo.

Today was a travel day, there was good, blech and great. Got up, showered and dressed, taxi to the airport, dropped my yogurt when I got out of the taxi, breezed through security, had a egg Mcgriddle, yum! Eventually boarded the plane, settled in and then the flight attendant asked for a volunteer to move to the back of the plane [it was a baby “planelet”] to help balance the weight. What?

Well, no one volunteered, so guess who raised their hand? Went to the back, ‘re’-settled in, put on Joe vs. The Volcano and fell in love with it all over again! Waited to take off and waited, de-ice something and waited. Multi-tasked by playing a game while I watched the movie. Get to Buffalo a little late, get off the plane, get my bag, head to car rental, get in the car, can’t find my license, ack! I get to the hospital where I am teaching, still can’t find my license, but I had to get to class to teach.

I get down there, where are the materials? over there instead of over here, where’s the presentation? Can’t get to it right now, no worries, taught without the presentation on the overhead, class still went well. Taught two classes, took care of things during the third as no one was registered.

Got the car, headed to the hotel, bumped my head not once but twice getting out of the car and looking for something, front and back seat! What? Checked into the hotel eventually, while I was waiting, the valet brought my license to me, wahoo! I didn’t have any cash, but I gave him a $1M chocolate bar to say thank you!

Headed to the room, same as the one I was in last week, what are the odds! Hung out, got some work done and then my friend from college, JC, well, when I knew him he spelled his first name with a G and that’s how I will always think of him GC. He came from Rochester to go to dinner, how awesome was that?! We went to Chef’s, http://www.ilovechefs.com/, which was a recommendation from someone in the office as well.

The food was good, company was great, décor typical, lots of famous people on the walls. Dessert is still in the bag waiting for me to eat it [cookie is mine], probably tomorrow, I couldn’t resist it! Then on the way out, the $5 for 3 raffle tickets for a FIFTEEN POUND chocolate bunny, what? If I win, who gets it?

So, all in all, a good day and now I’m chilling out in my room at the hotel, ready to start everything over again tomorrow. No head bumps please!

{March 15, 2015} I am adrift…bereft…

Everything’s ok, I just realized I didn’t talk to my dad yesterday!

I talk to my dad just about every day, we are great friends and it’s a relationship that I treasure, so when I don’t talk to him every day, it’s weird!

Some days we talk for five minutes, ten, sometimes an hour. Some days there is substance, other days, I couldn’t tell you what we talked about, I have a feeling it’s the same for him!

Bottom line, we talk just about every day and this morning, I realized I didn’t talk to him and I felt lost…adrift…bereft…then I called, we chatted and all was right with the world.

Yay!

{March 14, 2015} Skiing with my family! FUN!

This weekend we are all up in New Hampshire skiing and it’s been great!

I landed last night in Boston, PSM picked me up, we headed to New Hampshire where GES, ACS, EJS and MGS were meeting us to spend the weekend. I haven’t seen them in two weeks since I went to NYC to visit dad last week, so seeing them was great!

MGS saw me when I got out of the car and she was fit to be tied, what a greeting, EJS was still waking up from the drive, not as enthusiastic! MGS asked if I could sleep with them last night, I loved that!

This morning, we all got up, some earlier than others, EJS…had breakfast and hung out. There is also another family here to ski, friends of PSM, with two kids one year younger than both the girls, so there is playing, running, screaming, let’s just say fun!

The other family needed to rent skis, so we headed to the mountain. EJS was excited to ski with me again and MGS couldn’t wait to get on a chair lift with Auntie J! I was tickled. We got to the top of one of the lifts and away we went. What a great skier both girls are! EJS is getting better with her form and parallels, but…she just wants to go fast, which I totally get and she wants to beat everyone to the bottom, you go girl!

MGS is so stinking cute! She really got into her own this year and has made great strides, she is also fearless! There were many times where the girls would ski ahead and we would catch up or someone would ski first, then the girls, then someone taking up the caboose.

One of the times I was with MGS it was great because…I believe I told you she is a wee tot, well, those kids are so cute when you see them on the slopes and as we were skiing under the lift, people were looking at her and smiling and saying things like “you go!” “woo hoo!” It was a lot of fun.

It really was a treat to ski with both of them, to see and feel their enthusiasm and they are such troopers “one more, one more, I’m going to beat you to the bottom, one more”. It was neat to be able to ski with my sister again after all these years. I don’t think we’ve skied together since college, so this was fun. I loved watching her, she has great form and is a very smooth skier.

We skied from about 10:30am to 3:15pm, with a short break for lunch in between, really great!

After skiing, back to the house to relax, snack, have dinner and then eventually pass out on the couch in front of the fire. That sounds pretty good to me, I wonder what’s in store tomorrow!

Happy Happy to my friend TS!

{March 13, 2015} Where does the energy come from?

Being a teacher/trainer/instructor is like being on stage.

I’m sure you probably know what I mean, but…for those of you that don’t…when you are in the profession to be in front of a classroom, you are basically an entertainer, for however many hours the class is going on for.

I was talking about it with someone the other day. I am normally a person who has a lot of energy, I have been referred to as the Energizer Bunny, I don’t seem to sit still. I have done theater, so I have been on in front of people for hours at a time.

Now, for each class, I am front of the class, I am on, for the entire time, and sometimes prior to the class and after, if people are still there or show up early. I can tell you that getting up at 5:30am every day and then teaching until 4pm is taking it’s toll on me here and there.

When I get to the first class, I’m good, I am on, then between classes, especially between class two and three and three and four, I could probably close my eyes and be out cold, but then the students show up and I am on and then I have the energy of a few cups of coffee!

I have no idea how that happens, it comes from somewhere and I am on…for the entire time. I have to be, I am there to teach and entertain, the classes on this project are one to three hours, so, like I said, I have to be on and keep the class motivated. I am happy to say I find the energy somewhere, I think I just really, really like what I am doing and I can’t help it!

And the fact that the students tell me they had a good time and learned something, that makes it all worth it.

{March 12, 2015} Isn’t decaf and caffeine free the same thing?

Things that make me go…huh?

I went to get a cup of tea at a coffee establishment that was in one of the hospitals I was teaching at yesterday, do I tell you the name of the establishment? It’s a famous place, nah, not going to do it, I don’t want to sully their reputation.

So…I get to the counter and ask if they have decaf [hot] tea. Yes. Great, what flavor? The decaf tea is black. Ok, well, just curious, what other flavors do you have?

This is what made me scratch my head…

The response “Well, the decaf tea is black, the caffeine free we have is chamomile, apple cinnamon, peppermint, lemon…” Huh? Well, alrighty then…without missing a beat, I ordered apple cinnamon and kept my mouth shut as I paid, took the tea and went back to teach my next class.

I got nothing…

{March 11, 2015} What a day!

The day started like all the others since I started training…early.

The alarm went off at 5:15am, snooze until 5:30, I also have a second alarm set up so that I won’t be able to oversleep, it worked. I showered, got dressed, finished packing and headed out about 5:50am, on the road, after check out and headed to my first hospital.

Got to the hospital about 6:30, parked, headed in and got my class ready to go. The classes I was teaching today were 1.5 hours each and there were 4classes that I taught today. After the first two I headed to the next hospital to teach two more classes. In between, there were some technical difficulties and I didn’t have an instructor’s pc, but no worries, I’ve got this! I kept them on track and entertained.

Four classes later, at 4pm, one debriefing call at 4:30pm and then to one of the offices to get some paperwork. Next, I headed to meet MY TWIN NB!!! For dinner! I’m in Buffalo and he’s in Rochester, so…we got to see each other, he came my way to an Irish Pub not far from my hotel, so awesome of him to do that!

What a great night, we talked and laughed and realized how much we adore each other and look out for each other and reinforce why he’s one of my closest and best friends, he has to be, we’ve known each other for…wait for it! TWENTY SIX years! OMG! Freshmen year of college!

Now to the next hotel, check in and get a little work done, then sleep. Sleep. Sleep..Perchance to dream, is it coming? Please say yes!

{March 10, 2015} Niagara Falls at night

Tonight, an exciting and fun experience.

I’ve told you how I get to do cool stuff while I’m onsite for some projects, tonight was no different. We went to Niagara after dinner, how cool is that?!

Since we are in Buffalo for this project, we knew we would have to go to The Falls at some point, so JO found a deal for the Sheraton, we got the room, vouchers for food and drinks, a bottle of wine and a voucher for the casino across the way, great! So tonight, after work, we met downstairs and had dinner then walked less than a mile to Niagara Falls!

It’s night time, so it wasn’t easy to see very far, but it was still cool and beautiful. From about two blocks away you could hear the rushing water, then as we got closer, it got a little chillier and when we were there, we could feel the spray on our faces.

It was a fun experience and one I hope to do again, in daylight hours, but I hope you enjoy the pictures as much as I enjoyed taking them!

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