My day | Peaches Prattlings

{February 8, 2024} Hot Chocolate Expo…I should have paid for packet delivery

I talked about participating in the Hot Chocolate 15k, I want to tell you a little about the expo.

The race expo is where you pick up your race packet. Sometimes, you pick up your packet before the start of the race, maybe at a table or a tent. Some races, you pick up the packet at an expo, which is usually somewhere near the start of the race, a hotel, a convention center, if you’re Walt Disney World, it’s at the runDisney Health & Fitness Expo, I’ve done that one a few times, if you’re Disneyland, it’s at the runDisney Health & Fitness Expo, that one I did only once.

There have been some good expos, but my favorites were Disney and the Hot Chocolate. A great expo has a lot of vendors, could be up to 100, vendors include other races from around the country and the world, sign up for your next Disney or Hot Chocolate or Rock-n-Roll race, just to name three out of so many more! Footwear vendors, like Mizuno, or Brooks, or Saucony, running clothing, running skirts, like Sparkle Athletic, socks, hydration, photos, jewelry, medal hangers, recovery experts, running snacks, expert speakers, the list truly does go on.

In the past, I would spend an hour or two at the expo, after I picked up my race packet, just walking up and down each aisle, looking at everything, window shopping, browsing, and purchasing. I would get new Saucony running socks, my absolute favorite, an extra shirt, sweatshirt, jacket, from the race sponsor, maybe some fun things to add to my shoes, or a piece of jewelry, or if it’s cold, a pair of gloves, sometimes I would buy my next pair of running shoes, it was fun just walking, talking, exploring, and treating myself to something, I knew I was about to do something big.

The Hot Chocolate Expo has been at the Georgia World Congress Center, it’s been at the Atlanta Marriott Marquis, at least I think it was! But…wherever it was, it was grand! Lots of vendors, big venue, just grand I tell ya! In 2021, it was virtual, as you can imagine, but I still did it…virtually! I walked to the park near where we lived, walked around the lake and back home, 9.1 miles. It had been snowing and doing it in my snow boots, not the best idea!

2022 it was virtual again, I actually did it on a treadmill at a hotel in Boston, I watched several episodes of Reacher, season 1 and the time went by like that! When I did the run virtually, I had the packet delivered, it cost a little more, but it was worth it, I had my stuff. Last year, I was excited to be back in Atlanta to do the race in person again! I went to the expo and I was disappointed, not many vendors, it was a small space, and I was able to walk around the entire expo very quickly and very disappointed.

This year, I was hopeful, but disappointed again…let’s just say, I paid $13 for parking because I was there about 30 minutes total! I walked in, went past the Hot Chocolate Runner’s store, and into the main area where we would pick up our packets.

It was very industrial, and dark. They had a few chandeliers up and groupings of edison bulbs giving off not much light. This wasn’t a date in a romantic setting with mood lighting, this was a race expo that should have had some more life to it.

I picked up my packet and asked where the gear exchange was, not happening this year! What?! Gear exchange is where you can try on the sweatshirt to see if it’s a good fit. When I asked customer service, they had shipping and supply issues, ok, that sucks. I tried my sweatshrit on, well, I tried, I got my arms in…it will look great in my closet with the rest of my Hot Chocolate gear! I should do a post with each year’s swag/gear!

Even some of the volunteers, because almost everyone who is working there is a volunteer, some of them said they couldn’t see anything, that’s great, they need to read people’s names and sizes! I did one tour around to see if there was something I might want, just had to have, couldn’t go home without it. Well, once around was enough to see that the answer was nothing…

I stopped by the Hot Chocolate store, nothing there either, they usually have some good deals, but I left with only my race bib and an event sweatshirt. It’s not the worst thing in the world to not spend money, but…one of the fun things I enjoy is finding a new treat or going to experts for some new gear or trucks, and my trucks, I mean running shoes.

I already signed up for next year, I didn’t purchase packet delivery, I’ll go pick it up…hoping to not be disappointed again. Fingers crossed the Hot Chocolate Expo comes back to life, maybe give it some chocolate and marshmallows, that seems to do the trick for some people!

A fine and happy good evening and happy Friday Eve!

{February 7, 2024} Am I a jinx? I sure hope not!

No, I’m not a jinx! I know that, it just made me think…

I was up a little early this morning and I decided to jump online and start my workday a little early. One of the things we have to do as trainers, not just at this new job, but anywhere you are a trainer or facilitator, is to do a teach back.

Now…you may be wondering what a teach back is, and I’m going to tell you! A teach back, like it may sound, is where I learn a product or software application and then I teach it back to someone, could be the person who taught it to me, could be someone else, but the idea is to teach back what I learned. The purpose is for the person observing is to see 1. If you know the product/materials to be presented to the end user. 2. To see how you present the material, not just reading from a script or a powerpoint. 3. How do you handle questions. Do you say “I think….” or do you say “Great question, I don’t know the answer, let’s put that on the parking lot”. 4. How do you handle the participants, your audience.

Anywhere I have been on a project I have done at least one teachback, if not more. I fully expect to do a teach back, I want you to see I know my stuff! I’ve been on projects where people thought they were too good to do a teach back, I’ve had trainers on my team who thought it was beneath them, well… yeah, about that… You’re never above doing a teach back.

For me, with a teachback, sometimes you learn something, maybe someone asks a question you don’t have the answer to and neither do they! So you might start talking through things and go down a rabbit hold and you both learn something! Go figure!

Anyway…my current contract, I’ve taught a few different systems and over the past few weeks, we were in Train-the-Trainer sessions, some people call it TTT, I’ve always called it T3. These T3 sessions were to learn additional systems to the ones we’ve taught and sitting in on sessions for things we have already taught, we gained some new insight.

When the T3s were done, we were instructed to set up teach backs for the new content we learned. Well…I spent part pf last week and this week working on some materials for teach backs. I finished one, I was in the middle of another when I logged on this morning and got the dreaded 404 error! Noooooo!

I reached out to the help desk, it was about 730a, they tried their hardest to help me get back into the system I needed, no luck. Somewehre around 8a, I posted to a Teams chat asking if anyone else was having the same issue. They were, so the technician I was working with put the ticket in as a multi-customer issue. Ok, no worries, I’ll work on another one.

Nope, that was not to be! What? Now I’m getting the 502 Bad Gateway error. I checked with the team and other folks were having the same issue, so I took one for the team and called the help desk, again. After 40 minutes, they could not resolve my issue, so another multi-customer issue ticket. Two down, do I dare try another? Am I a jinx?

No! Whew! Another application opened, I’m good now!

Next step…finish my trainer guide, schedule the teach back, and practice!

G’night!

{February 5, 2024} It’s that time of year again! It’s the Hot Chocolate 15k! Let’s do this!

For the past 11 years, I have participated in the Hot Chocolate run in Atlanta. January 13, 2013 was the inaugural Hot Chocolate race in Atlanta, easy for me to do there because I lived there at the time.

The first race I did was a 5k, they offered a 5k and a 15k. As a background: a 5k is 3.1 miles, 10k is 6.2 miles, a 15k is 9.1 miles, a half marathon is 13.1 miles, and a full marathon is 26.2. Here’s a deeper description of all the distances. After that you get into the ultra marathon realm, and that is waaayyy beyond my comprehension! Although, I do know a few people who participate in those, and more power to ’em!

I’m not sure if you remember me talking, in the past, about some of the races I’ve done. I’ve done obstacle races, mud runs, 5ks, 10ks, 15ks, and a few half marathons. I actually used to do about 5 races a month, mostly 5ks and one mud run every month or every other month. I was even doing them while I was on the road for work or when I was traveling internationally. The week before I met PSM, I had just done a 5k in Ireland and for our first 3-week trip to Europe, the week before we left I did the Brooklyn Half and when we got to Lisbon, Portugal, the next day I did the Lisbon Half, crazy, I know! Why did I stop?

To be honest, I don’t actually enjoy running, and no judgement against those that do, I admire you, honest I do, I keep saying I’m going to keep doing these until I enjoy running, hasn’t happened yet! And don’t let me fool you, I run part of it, but most, I run the start and the finish, so when someone asks “Did you run?” Why yes, yes I did. Did they ask how much I ran? No, no they did not! There were a few 5ks I actually ran the entire race, I still remember the first one, The Atlanta Women’s 5k, I ran the entire thing and as I was crossing the finish line, I was tearing up, I was so proud of myself!

When I do a race, I try to run, not just the start and finish, but I try to run some of it, and sometimes I’m more successful than others. This time I ran the first almost mile and then I walked pretty much the duration of the course. I was speaking with someone at work, NO, who is training for a half and said she felt similarly to how I do, until she read a book ‘Born to Run‘ and that changed her whole perspective. I need to find that book. I realized that although I don’t enjoy running, I enjoyed participating in the races. I joke I do it all for the swag, but I did enjoy the sense of accomplishment at completing a race.

There were people who were trying their hardest, there were people who were pushing themselves, there were people who were training for other races, like a half or a full marathon and part of the training is to have a long run, well, 9.1 miles is a longer run and this was a fun way to get that long run in. Now, my friend BG is training for a full and he had a long run day today, his was 18 miles. When he sent me his time, for twice the distance, he took 30 minutes longer to finish than my 9.1 miles, gotta love that!

Back to the race…I started doing the Hot Chocolate in Atlanta in 2013, it was a 5k, I wasn’t quite ready for anything else yet! and I was doing it with a friend. The same year, in Ocotber of 2013, I did it again in Denver, 5k, I also volunteered at the expo for race pick up, that was fun, so I volunteered again at the expo in 2015 in Atlanta. 2014 in Atlanta, I did the 5k again, but the next time I did the race, 2015 in Atlanta, and from that year on, I did the 15k. Why? Becuase there was a medal! I did mention I do these for the swag, right?! The Hot Chocolate really has the best sweatshirts.

You also might be asking why I keep doing it in Atlanta since I’ve moved a bit, well…here’s the swag thing again…they came out with a legacy series, you get something extra at your 3, 5, and 15 year mark. In the beginning, you could do the race anywhere, then…they changed the rules and you could only be a legacy if you did the race in the same city year after year, well, they finally amended that, but…I love doing the race where I started and it was inaugural! Besides, I have friends and family to visit here, it’s a win-win!

This year, I decided that since I’m at 13 years, I’m going to give it 2 more years, get my 15 year legacy swag and call it quits on the Hot Chocolate run. Let’s see if I hold me to that! I’ll keep you posted!.

The race is always at the end of January or beginning of February, and here we are February 4th…The race starts at Centennial Olympic Park, downtown Atlanta, the start is at 730a and you need to get down there by 645am, who sets these hours?! And it’s always freezing! And we pay for this? What? I got down there about 630a, parked, and eventually got out of the car, it was inevitable, I was going to have to at some point, right?!

Best part…rain held off until later this afternoon! Bad part…lots and lots of wind! I had my hat and gloves on, wind dies down, take them off, wind picks up, put them back on, and on and on and on, for the entire run!

Just before 730a, we are lined up in our respective corrals waiting to go, someone sings the national anthem, and then we’re off. I ran the first mile, walked the rest, with a jog/run here and there and definitely over the finish line. It’s funny, as you know I don’t post any pics of myself or anyone else that you can truly see our faces, but the pics they got of me, as I was crossing the finish line, cracked me up!

The course is decent, I was with everyone for the start, dwindled down as we went, since I wasn’t running the whole thing, huffing and puffing with my new friends as we climbed hills, who knew Atlanta was so hilly?! I did, and every time I do this stupid thing! ha ha. The worst, well, the worst part of a run, according to everyone, is that last one or two tenths of a mile because you know you’re almost there! You’re sooooo close. This one…why does the last tenth of a mile have to be UPHILL? It wasn’t a huge hill, it was a steady incline, but you could see it as you’re going up it. At that point I’m the little engine that could…I think I can, I think I can, I think I can!

With this distance, especially if you’re not a runner, or you’re encouraging other folks, you just did a mile, eight to go! They have mile markers out there and then when you get to 3.1 miles, there is a 5k sign, and you’re like…I just walked to my neighborhood, or I just walked to the grocery store and back. Then there’s the 6 mile marker and then the 10k, awesome! Only 3 miles to go! Then you’re down to 2 miles, then you see the 8 mile marker and you’re like, I can’t quit now, I’m almost there!

I have three goals when I do a run, I’ve shared these before: 1. Start. 2. Finish. 3. Have someone behind me. I think those are pretty good goals! There was a point, I was at the back with two other women, we were encouraging each other, pushing each other on, then we caught up to other people, and then somewhere around mile 8, I was pushing ahead of them, I must have found my second win because by the time I was rounding that last corner, there were a lot of people behind me. I ran over the finish, cheered and people were cheering for me, it felt amazing! I did it, another one down!

I got my medal, I told you I do this for the swag! ha ha and then I stopped that pace and all of a sudden, my body said a big WTF, now…I have a race shirt that says WTF on the front and Where’s the Finish? on the back, this was not it, I knew where the finsih was, I just crossed it, ha ha. This was, the adrenaline that you just experienced has left your body and you know what you just put it through for 9.1 miles!

I got my medal and hobbled over to the finisher’s tent to get my finisher’s cup. This is a cup filled with lots of goodies, a hot chocolate in the middle, dipping chocolate, and things to dip in the chocolate. As some of you know, I don’t like chocolate, so I got mine with out any chocolate, poor guy who gave me my mug said he didn’t like it, and he was in the tent giving out the stuff, it smelled so chocolatey! Poor guy! I also gave away a few of the things to some kids near me, the marshmallow and the Rice Krispie treat, not my thing. I enjoyed the banana, pretzels, and trail mix, and my bottle of water, y u m!

I ate as I walked to my car, high fived finishers, congratulated others, and sat in my car with the but warmers on for a bit, ooh, that felt good! All in all I am very glad I did it, despite what my body says! I saw 2:39 when I crossed the finish, my time, that they emailed 2:33, I think that’s pretty respectable time for walking, with a little run thrown in, 9.1 miles!

Another year, another Hot Chocolate 15k done. I’m proud of myself, I just checked my time from last year and I was 5 minutes faster! Go me! ha ha. Now I’m going to check all the years and see what I did!

So, my friends, another race done, I think this may have inspired me to get back into it, and who knows…I may tell you about a race I actually ran! Oh my word! Or even got to where I enjoyed running! I know, I know, don’t get ahead of myself!

Nighty night and sweet dreams!

{February 2, 2024} It’s February 2nd…that means it’s Groundhog Day!

I didn’t even realize it today! I know it’s always Feb 2nd and I knew it was Feb 2nd, but it didn’t click until someone posted Happy Groundhog Day on a team chat at the same time I was looking at Yahoo. Oh wow! What did Phil see?

Who’s Phil you ask? Why, only Punxatawny Phil, the groundhog who…if he sees his shadow means we will have six more weeks of Winter, but…if he doesn’t see a shadow, we will have an early Spring. And what did Phil see today? Not his shadow! Early Spring for all! Where does it come from? It derives from a Pennsylvania Dutch superstition.

And what didn’t I realize?! Punxatawny is a city in PA! I just looked, it’s about 3.5 hours from where we are, what does that mean? I SO want to go one year to see the groundhog do his thing, participate in the festivities, experience something new, and see what it’s all about!

I think I’ve told you this already, but…a few years ago I was on a project in Illinois and I happened to be in the city of Woodstock, Illinois and it turns out that’s where the filmed the movie Groundhog Day! It was so cool to see the town after having watched the movie! The premise: A narcissistic, self-centered weatherman finds himself in a time loop on Groundhog Day.

Where does the Groundhog Day Loop concept originate? There’s a 1973 short story called “12:01 P.M.,” by Richard A. Lupoff, in which a man relives the same hour over and over. Language will do what it does; it doesn’t really matter that it goes by “the Groundhog Day loop” as a shorthand; that’s reasonable and sensible, since it’s familiar.

Basically, in the movie, Bill Murray, who plays Phil Connors, the narcissitic weatherman, gets stuck in the Groundhog Day Loop, reliving the same day over and over until he makes it right, basically becomes a human being, at least that’s my opinion. One of the big questions of the movie, is how long did his character actually stay in the loop?

What I found online: Well, there are 38 days actually shown on screen, as well as 414 days mentioned in the film and a huge 11,931 days which Phil spends learning a host of new talents and interests – based on the theory that it takes 10,000 hours to become an expert in any given subject. He learns to play the piano, speak french, memorizes poetry, that one was to impress a girl! learns to carve ice sculptures, among other things. And in that time, he does become a human being, again, my opinion. But…along the way, at least in the beginning, he does some really stupid shite, because he knows he can get away with it, but after a while, that looses its appeal…

The movie is rounded out by a great cast! Harold Ramis is a writer, the director, and plays a doctor in the movie, Andie McDowell is his tv producer and also become his love interest, has one of my favorite lines towards the end of the movie “You said stay, so I stayed”. Chris Elliott plays the cameraman, Stephen Tobolowsky, a great character actor, plays Ned Ryerson, who he went to high school with and had some of the best lines in the movie: Watch out for that first step…it’s a douzy! and Am I right, or am I right, or am I right?

Billy Murray’s brother Bryan Doyle Murray, who is in a lot of his movies, plays the mayor, and gets to deliver the news: Shadow or no shadow? He gets to deliver the line “Seer of Seers, Sage of Sages, Prognosticator of Prognosticators, and Weather-Prophet Extraordinary”. Angela Paton, you know her when you see her, was Mrs Lancaster, the proprieter of the hotel Phil stays at, and Rick Overton is Ralph, one of the town goofball drunks.

Does Phil feel lucky? Well, today he did! And so were we all! Thanks Punxatawny Phil! Motorcycle weather is coming soon!

{February 1, 2024} St Thomas Day 5: Oops, I forgot a few things!

Apologies, apparently when I made albums on my phone, I got dates wrong, I knew we did more on day 5! Let me tell you about the rest of the day!

It’s December 26th, we were up before dawn, go figure, not a new occurance on this trip for some reason, but it afforded us the opportunity to see some amazing sunrises and today was no different! We decided to go down to the beach to watch the sunrise.

We didn’t make it very long and realized why there weren’t other people on the beach at that time…the no-see-ums, biting little suckers! We have bites all over our legs from these things! UGH! They bite when the sun’s not out, hence sunrise, sunset, and if you have one on you, apparently you bring it with you, gee thanks! Anyway…we enjoyed the sunrise as long as we could and headed back to the room for breakfast and to get ready for the day, if you recall, we have a snorkel trip at 1p, but we’re not going to let the morning go to waste!

Back to Charlotte Amalie, park and make our way to the Hebrew Congregation of St Thomas, we tried to get there on Christmas, no go, they were closed like everyone else! I had been to the synagogue years ago on a cruise, unfortunately, I don’t really remember it, the one thing I do remember, the floor is covered in sand, isn’t that grand!?

It’s a beautiful synagogue, and there was a bat mitzvah that was going to happen that morning, we asked if it was alright if we still came in and they were gracious enough to allow us in, we could even stay for the mitzvah if we wanted to, very generous. We wished the bat mitzvah girl and her family much nachas, which is joy, and pride in someone’s accomplishments, she was excited and nervous. Becoming a bat mitzvah, or “daughter of the commandments,” signifies that a young woman has attained legal adulthood under Jewish law. A bat mitzvah is based on the centuries-old ritual of bar mitzvah, or “son of the commandments,” the ceremony for 13-year-old boys. I still remember my bat mitzvah date, November 4, 1984. Not sure if it’s something anyone forgets.

The synagogue was founded in 1796 and has a long and rich history. We toured the chapel, the tributes, the history and then joined the synagogue to support and keep them going, as honorary members, that was something I could support. Look at us, we joined a synagogue!

We left as the family was pouring in from all over the world, what a wonderful time in a young person’s life and what a joy for their family.

When we left we headed back to the car to cross something else off our list of things to do in St Thomas. We went to the Skyride to Paradise Point. It was a must see, we looked at the line and thought, ugh, they’re charging what to go up? Wait, we have a vehicle and we can drive up! Sold! Paradise Point is definitely worth seeing, the view is amazing! On a clear day, you can see St Croix and Puerto Rico! At the rate we were not having luck getting to St Croix, this view and from the snorkel trips are as close as we’re getting on this trip!

It was a windy ride up, but very much worth it! We walked around, PSM had a painkiller, signature drink of St Thomas apparently! I didn’t care for it, but you probably already knew that! One thing we found that we really grooved with was My Brother’s Workshop, an organization ‘Providing hope, faith, and purpose to at-risk and high-risk young people in U.S Virgin Islands.’ Everything in the shop was made by someone from My Brother’s Workshop, we bought a few things because we love to support organizations like that. And we get a wonderful memory from our trip, wonderful.

We checked our watches and knew we needed to get back to Ocean Surfari in Red Hook for our Do It All Snorkel trip! We got there, got our tickets and then went down to the dock and grabbed a bite at Tarpon’s Table. We enjoyed view, being on the dock and the tarpon in abundance. Ya gotta love creative bathroom signs!

And now…you’re caught up, I shared everything we did until we went on the snorkel trip. Was that enough? We definitely don’t let moss grow under our feet!

And now, I bid you adieu. Night!

{January 31, 2024} St Thomas Day 5: Do it all Snorkel

Sounds like a fine offer, ok we will! Let’s Do It…All! Snorkel!

The days started beautifully with a beautiful sunrise, not setting an alarm, yeah, I’d say beautiful! We had our next snorkel trip booked for 1pm, so we decided to head down to Charlotte Amalie first thing, to see what we could see and we saw!

We were looking for a place for breakfast, specifically at the moment, some decaf coffee for PSM, someone recommended the Parley Cafe and when we found it, we were very glad we did! It was cozy, bright, tropical, everything it should be, and…smelling y u m! We got tea and coffee and two home made pastries, oh yeah!

I texted my dad and my sister, who were in London at the time, what are the odds, I’m on an island in the Caribbean and in the cafe I walked in to, Paddington Bear is on the tv and they’re in London, maybe close to Paddington station!

After a light breakfast, we walked around Charlotte Amalie, a few more people, still not crowded, but the shops were open, the nice thing, not crazy busy since there weren’t any cruise ships in this morning. As with all our trips, we always look for a motorcycle dealership to get a t-shirt. The Harley Davidson dealership, which was a store, was closed, but their merchandise was being sold right around the corner, of course we had to go!

We picked up a shirt or two, I got a magnet and a sticker, and we both got water bottles and some stickers for the bottles so we could bring water with us wherever we went. We have a serious metal water bottle collection, but….we buy them where we travel, it’s a great memento of our trip and they usually have the logo of where we’ve been. I’ll show you our collection some time! Oh brother! We walked around, enjoyed the sights and sounds and then headed back towards Red Hook, we had a boat to catch!

We made our way to Red Hook to Ocean Surfari where we booked the Do it all Snorkel trip! We checked in, got our tickets, and waited for the go-ahead to head to the boat. And now it’s time! We got down to the dock, relinquished our shoes, handed in our tickets, and boarded the boat, the Reef Safari. We got the lowdown from the captain and first mates and we were off! They offered water, soft drinks, juice, no alcohol until we did our first snorkel, so they could tell what type of swimmers we were like and if we were different after a drink! ha ha. They had these cool cups that turned blue if the drink was cold! yes, we took a few, they said we could!

We headed over to Cruz Bay on St John pick some folks up, Ocean Surfari has locations on both islands, then it was off to our first stop. We geared up and got ready to jump in the water. It’s funny, you never know what the temperature of the water is going to be when you jump in, even if you were just in the water earlier, or know that the water is perfect where you are. But nothing to fear, jumped in and ahhhhh… the water was perfect temperature, it was clear in some places, cloudy in others, but just being in the water is enough for me!

I love my GoPro, but I don’t know if I get the most out of it! [I have a GoPro saga for you in another post!]. But I’m so happy not to have to deal with or worry about using my phone under water, no matter how waterproof my waterproof case is!

Back on the boat, off to the next location. We get about 45 minutes to an hour in the water in each place, not too shabby! PSM and I swim together, separate, come back together, swim, point things out to each other, just explore and love being in the water! There weren’t a lot of fish, it was mostly coral, but the coral was stunning, I’m just happy being around Mother Nature and Trident, what more can I say!

Back on the boat, the rum punch and painkillers were flowing as we headed back towards St John, but first…lunch at Pizza Pi VI in Christmas Cove of Great St. James. This was a floating pizza restaurant and it was great! You can see they have seating tied off the boat and we were stopped and the pizza was delivered to the boat! We had plain cheese and pepperoni and the pizza was pretty good! Yes, I ate it, when in Rome and all!

After lunch, we made our way back to St John to drop folks off, then back to St Thomas as the sun was setting, it was so beautiful, we had rain on one side and sunshine on the other, a very rare occurance indeed. The sun took her time setting and it was so worth it, the captain played music and told stories about the area.

One of the things I love about island life is the holidays, people light up their palm trees and boats, just imagine being on the water, after dark and people have their boats trimmed in different holiday lights, what could be better to put you in the holiday spirit?!

All in all, a great day, what more could you ask for? And now…I’m going to go to bed and dream about the ocean, pizza, coral, fish, boats. Mmmmm night!

{January 30, 2024} How do I come up with my blog post ideas?

That’s a great question! I have no idea…most of the time!

When I first started this blog it was a way to talk about things, cheap therapy I think I said, and then random things started popping into my head, and it became a blog about everything, something, and nothing all at the same time! And I’m ok with that!

When I say random and about something and nothing, I remember talking to you about bathrooms, well, specifically if there is only one stall or if it’s a room with a commode and a sink, and a place to dry your hands and store supplies, why do we have to have a separate men’s and women’s room? And my next point, I am thinking, why is it women’s vs ladies? I like when they have a gents and a gals, or a her and his, or something equally clever…come to think of it, I do take pictures of different bathroom signs when they are interesting, I need to do a post and just show those pics.

Oh my…do you see how this is happening? I stated talking about one thing and look at this lovely rabbit hole or bunny trail I have gone down. And that, my friends is how it works, or doesn’t, depending on your opinion!

Some days, I will tell you all about my day, like on the weekends, I tell you where we went, what we did, where we ate, when we travel, I tell you about that, where we went, what we did, where and what we ate, wait, that sounds like a regular weekend! So does that make a vacation just a long, I mean really long weekend? Hmmm… During the week, well, a work week anyway, sometimes I might tell you about my day or some random thought, a movie or book review, or about a past trip. Or if I happen to talk to someone, boom, another thought. I actually have a list of things I want to talk about, just piling up…a thought comes to me and I write it down and then pull it out of the air when I need inspiration or I just don’t know what else to say! But come on…when have you ever known me to not know what to say? Muwahaha.

And here I am rambling about where I get my ideas and I can’t stop, so I’m going to stop, ha ha. Do you have something you would like me to wax philosophical on? Let me know…see if it gets the little grey cells going! Thanks Hercule Poirot!

Happy thoughts all!

{January 28, 2024} It’s Sunday, time to idle? Us? not a chance!

I think I told you I was thinking about skiing today, but Mother Nature had other ideas, gee thanks…

PSM had to go into work to meet some folks, so I figured since we would be gone/occupied for a few hours, I’d go and hit the slopes for a few, and then we’d meet somewhere new, you know, somewhere off my list!

Since we have four places left to go on our Lebanon Valley Java Journey, let’s get up early, take the dogs for a walk, go to a new place for brunch or at least a drink and a pastry, then he would go off to work, I’d go skiing, etc, but as you know, that didn’t happen! I got up, Bee decided when we got to the end of the driveway, she would not be joining us on our jaunt this morning, grrr…fine…back to the house, collar back on, PSM was still home getting some things prepped to go into work and Ruby and I went for a rainy walk.

We came back and then by the time we got out of the house, we didn’t have enough time to grab anything, so he went off, I went back into the house to take care of things, feed the dogs, laundry, talking to you, you know, stuff. When we was done, he called and then came to pick me up and we went into downtown Lebanon for our first stop at Timeless Cafe. The last time we went, or the first time we tried, it was not a successful venture. The restaurant was crowded and we waited, and waited, and waited for someone to at least look at us and say hello. At that point we were hungry and not interested in waiting so we went somewhere else.

This time, I am happy to say, was a much different and better experience. If it wasn’t on the Java Journey passport, because of that last experience, we might not have gone back. I’m glad we took another chance! Inside, it’s charming, quaint, welcoming, and timeless. Could be all the clocks on the walls set to different times, and the clock hands aren’t moving, so definitely timeless! I just remembered that the first time we went, that was the first time I saw the mugs for the Java Journey and I was intrigued!

I ordered a chai latte, of course, with oat milk, it was pretty good. PSM ordered their signature drink, it definitely wasn’t for him, I think I told you, he’s not a fancy, sweet, or inventive coffee kind of guy, and that’s ok. Someone else probably had it and loved it. I went to the counter and got him a straight up decaf with a little cream, the guy behind the counter didn’t charge me, even when I said I would pay. Score one more for the cafe. PSM was going to have one of their breakfast sandwiches, then a bagel with cream cheese called to him and he answered! They have breakfast sandwiches or wraps that start at 7 o’clock, 8 o’clock, through 12 o’clock, which is what I had: egg, provolone, spinache, and tomato, skip the mushrooms, all on spinache tortilla wrap! I took a chance with the provolone, it wasn’t the best idea, but it was tasty!

We sat, ate, enjoyed, and chatted with the women at the table next to us, they were having baked french toast made with croissants, oh my! We may have to go back! They were also on the Java Journey, we chatted about that, then we asked for some recommendations for things to do, see, eat. Anything that wasn’t on my list already went on it! Thank you ladies!

We tiptoed through the raindrops, got in the jeep and headed on the road, where to? Well, we need to go grocery shopping, soon, not right now. We motored down the road to Jonestown to go to Swatara Coffee, [not sure what happened but their site is under construction, the link is to Google Maps to find them.] another stamp on the passport. I wasn’t expecting to go to another one so soon, but hey, you only live once! Wait, isn’t that what YOLO means? Yes, I am that goofy geek! Thank you very much!

We were wondering why the main drag looked so familiar, did we look at a house out this way? Not sure, but we’ve been through here! We went to Swatara Coffee, it’s a little smaller than the other location in Annville, but it was equally charming. One thing I noticed is that a bunch of these coffee houses sell not only their wares, like t-shirts and hats, some have vendor areas set up, others, like Swatar Coffee, have a specific artist’s earrings for sale, hmm…

The other thing, I’m not used to drinking more than one chai latte in a day! I usually have one in the morning, then it would be a ‘regular’ cup of tea or two, maybe more, but just a teabag, water, and sugar. The days we go to multiple new coffee houses, I’m getting chai, I know, I could get something else, but I want to try their chai latte, so sue me! ha ha

PSM had ordered an egg sandwich, I was not that hungry, but I was thinking a pastry would be nice, and I got their chocolate chip cookie thing! I don’t like chocolate, which you may or may not know, but…I love the cookie part of the thing! It was a thick cookie, some sort of frosting, then cookie chunks on top, let’s just say… O M G! YAASSS! PSM got their french toast muffin, tasty! I enjoyed it at the other location, and now here!

We got there at just the right moment, there was one other person in there, so we got to chat with the girl working behind the counter for a while, we spoke about the Java Journey and she works at the other location and really wants to go to the Whirling Dervish and hasn’t, I showed her pics and really encouraged her to go, but their hours…not easy to get there!

Just as we got to our seats, the place started to fill up! It’s not a very big space, maybe 2 2-person tables, then 2 6-person tables that could be broken up, if needed. In the middle is the coffee bar area, in the back was a room with a few tables. Today the back room had a crochet circle happening, some people were new to it, others experienced, a group of folks crafting and helping each other out. What could be more loverly?!

We got our drinks, I got my chai with mac milk, or macadamia nut milk, I remembered they had it from the other location. Another yum drink! We will definitely be going back, not sure to which location, maybe both, why not?!

After enjoying, laughing, talking with other patrons, we headed out, back towards the house and as we were driving, I suddently realized why it was so familiar! We were right near where the dogs were boarded when we took our 3-week motorcycle trip over the summer! I know I haven’t told you about it yet, I will, it was AH MAZING! I love when things click!

We went to Grocery Outlet, they have a decent selection of vegan stuff for me, score! We were there to pick up salad fixings for the week and see if they had any other goodies! Their prices are really good! The thing about Grocery Outlets, they have the staples, but they don’t always have the same things each time you’re there, and when I talk about goodies, they had Christmas mugs left over with chocolate in them for $1 each! I bought what they had and next year, someone[s] is getting one of these mugs personalized! With fresh chocolate, of course! ha ha

After the grocery store, we were trying to figure out what to do next. It was a chilly, rainy, blech day, we didn’t want to be outside, but we weren’t quite ready to go home. In the same parking lot is Michael’s, the craft superstore, which can sometimes be like kryptonite! I realized I haven’t been in almost 2 months, so PSM pulled into a spot and I went in, just to look, ha ha! I ended up finding some Cricut supplies, normally $18-$20 for $5! You cannot beat it, so I bought a bunch! And I will be using it, some great colors and patterns! Oh, the Cricut, that’s a whole other post!

After I came out, we decided we still weren’t ready to go home and he wasn’t that jazzed about the first playoff game, so we went to one of our favorite activities…mani-pedi! And what that is, a manicure, for the hands, and a pedicure, for the feet! We like Lebanon Nail & Spa of PA, they’re very nice and they do a good job. And PSM’s favorite part…the massage chair, nap time!

Oh, the joy! The bubbles, the jets, the massage chair, the foot massage, oh my! The thing I love about going is to get my cuticles trimmed, my fingernails shaped, and looking cleaner. I’ll be honest, the polish never lasts more than a few days at the most, but my hands look so good! The pedicure, same procedure, luckily, the polish lasts a lot longer on the toes! Just makes me feel purdy!

They finished my nails, I was dry, it’s time to go home! We loaded up, headed home, let the pups out, played with them, and PSM settled in to watch some ‘fusball’. I did something else! I don’t remember! Then about 615p, he headed to the 7th Street Bar & Grill, a neighborhood place we like to go, good staff, good food, and a good local hang out, some of PSM’s co-workers go there and we seem to run into them every once in a while. He was headed there for the game and I hung out with the pups, finished my pho from last night, and worked on the IMRG Chapter 2024 Calendar, I think I told you…I am now the Calendar Queen!

Is that enough for one day? I think I’ve had enough, it’s been fabulous talking with you, but I need to decompress and settle in. Have a fabulous night! See ya’ tomorrow!

{January 27, 2024} Saturday…Hmmm…A new coffee shop, tattoo expo, and some yummy pho!

Moss does not grow on a rolling stone! And who doesn’t love the Rolling Stones?! ha ha!

We started the morning with a dog walk, well, first it was a snuggle with the dogs, I let them sleep with me last night, I couldn’t resist, they’re so cute and cuddly! After we got out of bed, it was a walk around the blocks, Bee decided she wasn’t going, so I left her at the house and Ruby and I walked around the blocks. It’s a little easier with just one, doesn’t happen very often. And we think that Ruby would walk for days if we let her!

After taking a walk, PSM rode his bike to Hernley’s Indian Motorcycle dealership, PSM needed to get something done to his 2020 Indian Challenger, it was brrrr cold, but he is determined to ride at least once per month and he did it in December, and now January, he’s set for the month! The pups and I jumped in the VW Beetle Convertible, dropped the top, yes we did! I had on a scarf, heavy sweatshirt, among other layers, gloves, and we were off to meet and pick up PSM at the dealership. The dogs, well, Ruby la la la loves going for rides in the car, Bee doesn’t want to be left behind! ha ha

After picking him up, we headed home, dropped the girls off and got them settled in their crate, music on, and off we go! First stop…Timber Creek Coffee, ready for another stamp on our Lebanon Valley Java Journey passports! PSM tried the signature drink, it was very sweet and had a gingerbread cookie on top! He enjoyed it, he loves gingerbread! I wish I could remember what the signature drink was. I’ll do a wrap up post on the entire journey and let you know what they all were! I had a chai with oat milk, it was very good, a place I would go back for a hot beverage! We got a cinnamon roll, a blueberry muffin, a coffee cake muffin, and a gingerbread cookie, the pastries were terrific! Win-win!

The atmosphere was clean, and by that I mean, not cluttered, but welcoming, and warm, not just because of the fireplace. It wasn’t too crowded, we got there just after and before a rush, perfect timing! They also had one of those train station signs that changes messages, it was really cool!

Now, let’s hit the road, we have a 2 hour drive into Philadelphia, or as I used to call it as a kid, and still do ‘Phildadelphia’, no idea why, but it stuck! Bertha, my GPS, did fine until we got to Philly, then she took us off the highway through some very sketchy neighborhood. I told PSM I just want to take him to all the best places! ha ha. When we got out of that area, it got better! We found the Philadelphia Convention Center, then a parking deck about a block away and walked to get in line with everyone else for the Villain Arts Philadelphia Tattoo Festival. The last tattoo expo we went to was in Hawai’i, it was time.

The place was packed! I mean packed! We walked up and down almost every aisle looking, marveling, wondering, considering. Each artist had a sign that was either ‘I have availability today’ or ‘I am booked today’. Some people make appointments in advance with a particular artist they like while they are in town for the expo. We were both looking to see if someone struck our fancy to get some new ink.

PSM has a particular idea, but needs some help making the vision come to life. I know what I want, I just need to find someone to do it. The only artist who’s work ‘spoke to me’ wasn’t doing any original work. All of the artists had samples of their work and some had only what they were going to do this weekend, that’s fair, disappointing if you want something special, but that’s why you make an appointment. PSM found an artist he was drawn to, he was definitely a Pacific Islander. He had availability and idea for PSM, come back about 5p. Sounds good.

We walked around a bit more, by now, it was about 330p and we were running out of steam! We had both been up pretty early and been walking around for a few hours, so…we went outside and went in search of food and found Pho Street on Arch Street. I can’t give you the website, when I click it, it goes to a gaming site, sorry! They had vegan pho for me, wa to the hoo! We ordered big bowls of pho, it so hit the spot! And we did not finish either bowl, can’t wait to have my leftovers tomorrow!

After eating, we headed back to the expo, PSM was going to talk to the artist and if they gelled on the idea, I would drive home to take care of the pups, then come back for him. Unfortunately for PSM they didn’t gel, the design was fabulous, but it was WAAAYYY bigger than he was looking for! We were both bummed, PSM because he has really wanted to finish this one tattoo, me because I was going to pay for it! But not too bummbed because we were both a little tired and thinking about driving 2 hours home and then 2 hours back to Philly, then 2 hours back home…well, you can imagine!

When I told the artist his work was fabulous, but not what PSM wanted he wished me a safe drive home and mahalo nui loa, thank you very much in Hawaiian. The literal translation of mahalo is “in breath” or “life essence.” It means to live in constant gratitude!!! LOVED it! I said a’ole pilikia and wished him well at the expo!

So…home we went. Dogs were happy we were home, there was joy and merriment, wagging tails, lots of kisses, was it for us or for the fact we were home and they were hungry? Who cares, they were happy and we were happy to be home!

Tomorrow, what’s in store? I was thinking about going skiing, but guess what Mother Nature thought, nope, I’m going to ‘rain on your parade’ literally! So… what to do? You know us, we’ll find something to do!

Happy Saturday Night! Zzzzzz

{January 26, 2024} It’s Friday Night…What to do? A new place and a Motorcycle Club? Sure, let’s do it!

Friday work day is done, now what? PSM called from work and said he’s going to pick me up and we’ll go out to a new place and maybe check out the local motorcycle club, sounds great!

He picked me up from work about about 6/630p and we went to the Gin Mill Restaurant & Tavern, finally! I say finally because we have tried to go on several occasions, but their hours aren’t great. They are open Monday-Saturday until 9p and on Sunday until 8p, not great if you’re out late or riding around and hungry later, and the kitchen closes about 30-45 minutes before the doors, no shade, just hard in the summer when you might want to go out later. But tonight, we got in there in plenty of time!

Did anyone have the fog we did here? It was cr-azy! You could barely see in front of your face! This is what it was like when I was walking the dogs, it was worse for PSM on his way to pick me up! It took him an extra 15 minutes to get home because he couldn’t see!

It’s a lot larger on the inside than it looks from the outside. Great atmosphere, huge bar, two sitting areas off of each side of the bar, not a lot of room to walk behind each side of the bar, but enough to get buy, one of those places where servers kind of have to raise the plates to get buy and not hit you. The place was pretty packed, PSM had been there one other time and it wasn’t this full, it definitely has a different feel when it’s full. There were people of all ages and families sharing a meal together, definitely a local type of place. The decor was fun, a lot of brewery and beer logo signs, things made out of beer/brewery labels, sitckers, and bottle caps, just what you want to see in a pub/local brewery.

I will say, if you’re not a meat eater, it won’t be easy for you, but if you’re going for drinks and a few apps or sides, you’ll be fine. PSM ordered a few mixed drinks, I had hot tea, always happy when a bar/pub has hot tea! It came out in a glass mug, my favorite! I had a Caeasar salad and a side of broccoli, and PSM had their Chinese Takeout Burger. Think…Chinese takeout on a bun with a side of fries, I know right?

We sat at the bar, as we do almost everywhere, which, as you know, we love. Chatted with the bartenders, one of the chefs, which was who convinced PSM to get the burger, from his description, and had a great time on our date night! What more could you want?!

Now…motorcycle club time! We were about 15 minutes from there, but it took a little longer to get there because of the fog! Ugh, should I be drinking London Fog tea? Should I be wearing a London Fog coat? Wow! We got there about 730p, the doors open at 7p, meeting is at 8p. The Lebanon Valley Motorcycle Club has their own clubhouse, very cool! We went to one door, no go, we went down around back where we saw other people heading and score! Just outside the door we met the president and treasurer of the group, the president opened the door, led us in and announced we were there, to a great big welcome, it was grand!

We walked towards the bar and met a lot of people, they have drinks, water, beer, soda, they have coffee cans for the money because they can’t exchange money by handing it to each other, so they put the money in the cans, love it! They have a pool table, currently out of commission, waiting on repairs, they have tables and chairs, places for people to sit and chat before the meeting begins.

There were people of all ages and with different types of bikes, this is a motorcycle club, all bikes welcome. It’s similar to the other groups we ride with, but the primary bike in those groups are Indians, because they are the Indian Motorcyle Riders Groups [IMRG], all riders are welcome, but to join you have to have an Indian Motorcycle, same with Harley Davidson groups, that’s fair. This one is ‘come one come all’, you just have to have a bike! At least I think so!

Several people asked who told us about it, I wish I could remember! I was at White’s Harley Davidson, the dealership near our house and someone told me about it, they knew who I was talking about. Apparently you have to be recommended to join, among other rules, they are serious. With our IMRG groups, you only need to pay your dues, for this club, you have to be recommended by a current member, you pay an application fee, then you’re on a 6-week probationary period where you have to attend at least 1/3 of the scheduled meetings/events, then after the 6-week period, the board either votes you in or not. I kind of like it, you need to attend events or meetings to show you’re interested, not just join and don’t do anything, every group has their rules, I’m ok with that!

We socialized with the group downstairs in the bar/pool room, turns out one couple lives on the street right behind us, how cool! then at 830p, we all went upstairs for the meeting. They are very official! We stood for the pledge of allegiance, then they asked if there were any visitors, we were, we stood up and introduced ourselves, then it was on to reading the last meeting’s minutes, then on to new business, including announcements and updates on how some members who were ill, a very caring group!

The couple we sat with, who are the ones who live near us, gave us the lowdown as everything was happening, as they made announcements, talked events, and happenings. There is a banquet next weekend, unfortunately we won’t be able to attend, but it was nice to be included right off the bat.

After the meeting we spoke with a few people, got more information about the group and joining,turned in our applications and money, got a calendar of events, it’s actually a pocket calendar with the events stamped in, love that! Their first ride is in April, so ready!

We headed home, it was a long day and we were done! Tomorrow…new adventure, I’ll tell you all about it tomorrow!
Night! Dreaming of being on the bike, when is the fog, rain, and snow going to stop! Vroom vroom!

Email Subscription

What was I thinking?