My Random Musings | Peaches Prattlings

{January 30, 2018} Three years! Happy Anniversary honey!

Who knew that January 30, 2015 was a day that would change my life forever! Here we are three years later, wow!

We emailed for a week and then went out on our first date, go figure! We didn’t talk over the phone, just email and the emails were great! Back and forth, getting longer and longer and more clever, I knew I was in for an interesting ride, no matter what the outcome!

We agreed on an Irish pub, I had just gotten back a few months earlier from Ireland, so you know where my head was! He picked me up on the very snow covered street of my sister’s house, that was the year that no one flew or went to work for about five Mondays in a row, Mother Nature was having quite the year!

We went to the pub, had a great time talking, laughing, getting to know each other, even closed the place down. We talked in the car on the way back to GES’, then a little more inside, everyone was very much asleep.

We had two more dates over the following weekends, one was a bad mystery dinner theater at my sister’s synagogue, the next…you ready for this?! He took me skiing for the weekend! Now, that’s how you do a third date! It was Valentine’s Day weekend, so there roses, how do you think the other fellas fared with their honeys?!

By then, we knew, yup, I was for him and he was for me and we were gonna be happily stuck with each other and neither of us have regretted a moment of it since!

We’ve had quite the adventure! In our first year together, he went with my family to the Bahamas after only a few months of dating! Then we went to Nova Scotia over the summer, there were ski weekends, beach weekends, Boston weekends, then our third and biggest international trip, twenty one days, 24/7 in Europe together. Do you remember? Portugal, Spain, France, Hungary, not too shabby!

Then, a move to Hawaii, talk about an adventure! Surprising him for our first anniversary! I’ll never forget the look on his face, oh, how wonderful! And there began my weekend travels to Hawaii, it’s not for the faint of heart my friends!

We’ve had great adventures together, explored new territories, for us, tried new things, enjoyed the old ones, seen each other through ups and downs, surgeries and recoveries, craziness, distance, frustration, joy, compromises, defeats, triumphs. Each moment, each experience, each year has brought us closer, and I wouldn’t trade it for the world and I’m going to speak confidently about PSM, neither would he!

Happy three years together, my love, here’s to the next thirty!

Day 25

{January 24, 2018} Do we know each other that well?

Please don’t call me hon… I’m sure I’ve talked to you about this before, but this morning…yeah, just happened again. And I didn’t feel any better about it. Let me preface that I lived in the south for about 20 years and it is common for southern women to call each other hon and darlin’ especially in a retail setting and I got used to it. It was more in the retail clothing stores and restaurants, not so much fast food. Now, where I do expect it, is if someone has been in that establishment before and builds a rapport with the staff or one particular person, I get it, hon, sweetie, darlin’. I know I have been in places like that and envied that connection and I had it myself in a few places, hey, I get hugs from the staff at the Waldorf Astoria in Chicago, I’m sure some people look at that with a head cocked. The place I did not expect it was at the Dunkin’ Donuts this morning that I have never been to in a city I have never been to by a person I have never met who was apparently trying to speak above the din that was non-existent. Think it just rubbed me the wrong way? Yup. I’m sure the people who go there regularly enjoy it, but let me go at least one more time before we get that familiar. Day 19

{January 24, 2018} I love my friends and family

I was just thinking tonight how much I love my friends and family and I got this in my fortune cookie.

“You will always have good luck in your personal affairs.” Could you have a better fortune? I wasn’t joshing when I said I was thinking tonight how much I not only love, but like my family and friends and you know you’re included in that group!

I am so very lucky to have the people in my life that I do. The people in my life enrich it in so many ways. Tonight I talked to ST for about an hour and a half, we had the opportunity because…I was supposed to talk to CWB, but something came up, so it was me and ST on the phone. And the other day, LGR, that was fabulous.

My friends and family accept me for who and what I am, which, admittedly, at times can be a bit coo-coo for cocoa puffs, one of my favorite sayings. I get enthusiastic about things, people and activities I love, sometimes it can be a bit overwhelming to people who don’t know me, but the people who do know me, they are sometimes tickled, sometimes annoyed, sometimes exasperated and some times…yup, that’s who she is. And for that, I thank them!

You’ve probably noticed a bit in the way I write, it’s exactly the way I talk. My friends and family have said they hear my voice when they read my posts, I think that’s peachy keene!

So, as I sign off, thank you friends and family. You made my fortune come true and I hope it stays true! “You will always have good luck in your personal affairs.” I wish nothing less for you!

Day 18

{January 22, 2018} Let’s get cultured and then kill brain cells!

Order of the day? Ended up Museum, lunch, movie, tv.

So…rouse ourselves about 9am, breakfast, then drive into Manhattan to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, or The Met, for those of you ‘in the know’. There was a David Hockney exhibit and we both like Hockney.

Now, if you’re familiar with David Hockney, it’s most likely paintings of swimming pools, which he is most known for. This exhibit was pools and more, earlier work, later work, portraits, compositions, famous people, wild brush strokes and one or two pieces we looked at with our heads cocked and said ‘Huh?”. The pieces did exactly what art should do, evoke emotion or response, even if the response is one of confusion.

There were some pieces I liked and some that I really didn’t and that’s the beauty of it, I don’t have to! There were some portraits of famous people, like Andy Warhol and Van Gogh and then there was this watercolor of someone named Celeste, dad and I were both drawn to it and I wonder if I was because she reminded me of my mom. Check out the piece that depicts a road, it was actually photographs that he pieced together like a collage of different roads in California. I thought it was fabulous!

Then it was on to the Michelangelo exhibit, much darker, lighting wise than the other exhibits. It was sculpture, paintings, drawings and sketches, oh my! The hard part was there were so very many people, you really couldn’t get that close to any of them and with my lack of stature, it was hard to see some pieces at all!

We looked at some of the impressionists, Rodain, Monet, Manet, Pissaro, Cezanne, Matisse, so wonderful! Unknown artists, known artists, a joy! I love going to the museum with my dad, not only does he have a wealth of knowledge of art, he has a passion for it! There were advantages to going to the museum with both of my parents. With mom, she was very knowledgeable as well and we liked a lot of the same painters, ones that dad doesn’t care for, but she wanted to read every single placard!

With dad, he and I love a lot of the same pieces and we have an affinity for the modern, a way of viewing that might not gel with some people. And…he doesn’t want to read every placard, so we could see more of the museum in less time! He was great when I was in high school and had art projects, he and I would go into the city and go to the different museums together to help me get what I needed.

Next it was, you got it, modern! Picasso, Leger, O’Keeffe, Chagall, Rockwell, Davis, Miro, just makes me happy. Some of it is bizarre, but some of it, pure genius, fun, frivolous! Sometimes I look and wonder how it would be possible, not to be happy looking at this much wonder!

When we were done, we had a hunger! So back to Staten Island to a Turkish restaurant we both like for appetizers that fill you up! Babaganoush, hummus, stuffed grape leaves, lentil soup, shepard’s salad, couscous, all delicious! We were stuffed, just like the grape leaves! A little grocery shopping and then back to the house, but then turned around and went out again, I decided I wanted some new boots and away we went!

Back home, it was time for a movie. Blade Runner 2049. Um…yeah. The popcorn was good and we got to see Harrison Ford. Yeah, the popcorn and Harrison Ford.

Then we needed something fun, so we watched another episode of Brokenwood, which was really good and so was the Ben & Jerry’s non-dairy Caramel Almond Brittle. O M G!! Yes, it is that good!

When the episode was over, it was time to talk to you and then crash, my alarm is going off at 4am, back to Illinois!

I hope your weekend was as fabulous as mine!

{January 19, 2018} A wonderful surprise

Tonight, while I’m at the airport waiting to go to NYC for the weekend, I got a text.

This text was from one of my oldest and dearest friends with a scheduling question. I thought it was a little odd, wonderful, but odd, since it’s been a few months since we’ve talked and we don’t text or talk as often as we would like.

I had my suspicion and I was hoping I was right so…we connected and got to talk for about 30/40 minutes before my flight and yup, I was right, she’s expecting sweet angel number two! I cannot believe it! I’m so thrilled for her and the entire family!

I love that she called and told me herself instead of hearing about it somewhere else, so very special. This wonderful friend is so much more than that, she’s family, a sister. She was one of the first friends I made in Atlanta and it doesn’t matter how often or not that we speak, it’s like it was just last week or yesterday, no time passes.

Our lives intersected and separated and intersected and separated, she was so there for me when things went down with the wasband and she was one of the first people I wanted to tell about PSM, reconnecting with my kids, so many things we’ve shared throughout our lives.

My one regret, during our separated times, I didn’t get to be as big a part of her daughter’s life as I wanted to when she was little, I was going through things and that is very much on me. I hope that I can do better with her and her baby sister to be.

Mazel tov to my wonderful, sweet, caring, fabulous friend. I am so thrilled for you and love you so very much!

Day 14

{January 15, 2018} We’re fine in Hawaii, thank you for checking on us!

I probably should have blogged about this yesterday, but I was too excited to tell you about my day on the slopes!

I didn’t know what had happened back home until I got a text from ST telling me he posted something to my Facebook wall that was scary funny and could I imagine waking to something like that. I had no idea what he was talking about so I looked at my Facebook wall and there it was!

If you don’t know what happened, an emergency alert message went out to everyone with an 808 area code “Ballistic Missile threat inbound to Hawaii, seek immediate shelter. This is not a drill.” This was a little after 8am Saturday morning. Think some people were a little shocked? Scared? Panicked? Just to name a few.

About 38 minutes later, the retraction came out, it was a false alarm. More and more has come out about what happened. Apparently, it was a slip of the finger. During shift change, there are certain buttons that have to be pushed and this button was pushed by mistake. Uh oh.

There were news reports, briefings, discussions, talks, stories. Oh my! It was a mistake and the person who made the mistake wasn’t fired, this person was reassigned. And now, they are re-evaluating processes and procedures. Oh, I heard there now have to be two people to push the buttons!

I was touched, I can’t tell you how many people reached out to see how we were doing in Hawaii with what happened. Thank you everyone, we’re ok. PSM didn’t flinch, he knew it was a mistake and if you think about it, as some folks said “if this is the end, I’m going to enjoy the last few moments” and watched the sun, ocean, just enjoyed the paradise they were in.

Someone on the chairlift today said there was probably going to be a baby boom in September!

Bottom line, thank you to everyone who reached out and everyone I’ve met that asked me how things were going and how PSM was back home. This was a scare and now, the government is working on ways to right the wrong and move forward.

Day 9

{January 11, 2018} Happy Birthday ACS!!!

January 10, 1971 was a good day. My brother-in-law was born, that’s a pretty good day, don’t ya think?!

Well, 1971 was a good year, right!? One guess who was also born in 1971! Well, there goes the secret of my age, ha ha! Yup, 1971, a good year. It’s crazy, we’re the same age for about 3 months, but for the other 9, he’s a year older.

I always call ACS my little brother, right now, he’s my older little brother, but I call him my little brother because he’s married to my little sister, that makes sense, right? In my mind it does!

I remember the first time I met him, he was quiet and nice, and if you know me, I reserved my opinion until I got to know him, he was, after all, dating my baby sister and I am a tad bit protective of her, was he good enough? Would he live up to my expectations? My hopes for my sister?

One thing I didn’t know until my sister started dating and then married ACS is that, and this shows my true lack of sports knowledge, there was was a rivalry between New York and Boston teams, specifically NY Yankees and Boston Red Sox and don’t get me started on the Giants/Patriots! [And now it’s doubled because of PSM! Oh brother!] Before they started dating, I was oblivious and happy, now, I have to step up and have some fun emphasizing the rivalry. He really is a big Boston fan and I appreciate that, I’ve been big and given him a few things that had Patriots logos, see, I can do that! My favorite was when EJS was born, dad and I got a bunch of NY Yankees baby stuff for her, it was awesome!

Since they got married, I’ve gotten to know him better. He’s a great husband, loves my sister and it shows in his words and actions, which, as you know actions speak louder than words. He’s stuck with her through a lot that has happened to them and I admire that.

He’s been an amazing dad to my two nieces, EJS and MGS, you might have heard me talk about them before…He is more than just a father, he’s their daddy and they are daddy’s girls, even though they might not think it. He loves them to ribbons and what more could I want. He coaches them in soccer, goes to all their events, throws great birthday parties with my sister and doesn’t shirk any family responsibilities and he likes to have fun with them.

To his friends and family, he’s goofy, fun, caring and involved. Some of his friends, he’s had since childhood. I always tease him when we go out near where they live that we can’t walk five feet without running into someone he knows and it’s usually someone from camp. It’s a true testament to his character.

So, there you have it, my brother-in-law, ACS, that’s him. Happy 47th birthday, I hope it’s a great one and here’s to the next 47!

Happy birthday little brother!

{January 6, 2018} It’s our blogiversary! Happy FIVE years!

It is January 6, 2018, what? We’ve been friends now for five years!

It was January 6, 2012 that I decided to take my once in a while blog ‘on the road’ so to speak. I decided that I was going to blog every day and my friends, to date, I did almost that! I admit, the first three years, I was really spot on and then year four I started to miss a few days and this last year, it was spotty, I do apologize. I can only hope I entertained and amused!

Did you know I have published and you have read 1,770 posts to date, wow!

I have to tell I really do love it, even if I don’t get around to writing some nights, I still love it so much! I love sharing my life with you, not just my life, but my friends, family, babies, nieces, grandbabies, oh my, to watch them grow and share that with you!

You have stuck with me through thick and thin on this site, we’ve added new friends and family, you’ve laughed with me, supported me, gotten mad for me, jumped for joy, gotten excited and just walked through this with me hand in hand and I have only one thing to say. Thank you! Oh my yes, thank you!

January 6th is one of my new favorite days, it marks a milestone for me each year and I have no plans to stop and I hope you’ll stay with my on this journey!

Happy 5th blogiversary friends and family! Here’s to the next five!

{January 5, 2018} Hilton pulled it out again!

I don’t know if you know, but it’s a little cold around the country!

Where my dad is on Staten Island, it’s currently 19 degrees, Atlanta, where SDL and Miss A just landed today is 19 as well! Chicago is 5 degrees and where I am in Orland Park, Illinois, it is a big fat ZERO! Temperatures should have some numbers!!!

I got to my hotel yesterday morning and the heater was not heating, it was blowing cold, so I switched rooms. I set the temperature to about 85! Perfect! Tonight when I got back to the hotel, it was 1 degree out and the room was nice and toasty. But, alas, alack…brrrr both the living room and bedroom started blowing cold air, no!!!

I called down to the front desk and they told me how to fix it, using the fuse box and that worked on the living room, but the bedroom is still cold and instead of moving to another room, I thought I would sleep on the sofa.

The front desk called and offered to bring me a space heater and they did! And now, it’s toasting up the bedroom and I’ll be heading back in there in a minute. Go Hilton!

Sending you warm thoughts tonight!

{December 28, 2017} Turtles and the Shaved Ice

The nice thing about vacation…no schedule, you go when you feel like it.

We roused ourselves and eventually headed out towards the North Shore and Turtle Bay. We passed everyone else looking for the turtles and ended up at Turtle Bay Resort at Roy’s for some lunch, a little sand, sun and water time. You really should see Miss A’s face when the water rushes over her feet!

PSM met us at Roy’s, he even left work early, sweet! Then, we headed out again down towards Haliewa, pronounced Hal-i-eva, in Hawaiian, w is a v sound. We stopped at Laniakea Beach with everyone else looking for sea turtles. Apparently, the turtles don’t know that we are all looking for them and don’t seem to care! Every time PSM and I did see a turtle, it was by chance, so…maybe we’ll get the chance again! Ha ha

But, while we were there, the waves, smells, feeling of the ocean was heavenly and worth the stop!

Then…on to the town of Haleiwa for some shaved ice. The line was crazy but moved pretty quickly. There are so many choices! You can pick at least 3 flavors, more flavors cost extra. Then you choose if you want beans, sweetened condensed milk, ouse cream and more! There is serious science to this process! A small is $3 and a large $3.50, a bargain! Especially for Hawaii!

PSM and I looked at each other when SDL ordered one for herself and one for Miss A! But if you know Miss A, she’s a champ!

Then back to the house to chill and pack, tomorrow is another adventure… to another island! The alarm is going to come way too early, but so worth it!

Sweet dreams! [Literally!]

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