My Random Musings | Peaches Prattlings

{July 17, 2013} Grody!

If you get wigged out easily, please don’t continue, I’m kind of venting here.

So, this week I’ve had the “grodiest” experience at a Hilton property.

I checked into a Doubletree Hotel, everything started out fine, or s I thought. There was a hair on one of the towels in the bathroom, ick, but ok, it happens.

Yesterday when I got back to the room after work, there was GUM on the peephole on the door! There are kids all love the hotel, so I am sure it was one of them, I called down to the front desks and they sent someone to take care of it.

Listen, I’m not normally a squeamish person, but I’m at a hotel, a high dollar one at that and there is a certain level of expectation.

But wait, it gets better… I came back to the room tonight, pulled back the covers to get into bed and found a very very very long black hair (and a few smaller ones, definitely from the head) in the bed, for those f you who don’t know me, I have very short red hair. ICK!

I called down to the front desk to let them know what happened, they were very apologetic and wee going to send someone to clean it up, I told them they didn’t need to, I just wanted to let them know.

Bottom line, this was, well, ick! I know it’s not reflective of all hotels, let alone Hilton, I stay primarily in Hilton properties when I travel, and I know the level of quality I get, this was an isolated incident.

I just wanted to vent and say..ick, grody and ewe!

{July 13, 2013} Membership has its privileges

Today I was upgraded to first class and I loved it.

A few years ago, I was flying enough that I upgraded from just a skymiles passenger on Delta to Silver Medallion and not everyone was Silver, as it seems they are now and I was upgraded on almost every flight I took.

In three years, I think I flew coach about three times and I realized I went a fan! I didn’t want to sit in steerage! Ha ha . Well, when I lost my status a few years ago, I was back to steerage, sigh.

Since I’ve been Silver status again for a while, I am automatically added to the upgrade waiting list and today, when I was boarding, a new seat assignment popped up, 1A, wahoo!

So, there are a lot of advantages, one being more leg room, only two to a row and the customer service. I imagine when you’re paying those prices, you want a little extra. The flight attendants were very nice, and to be honest, I think these flight attendants were genuinely nice, they seemed that way when I get on the plane.

There is always a bottle of water waiting at your seat, along with a blanket and pillow. The flight attendants always ask if you want something else while you’re waiting to take off. Then when it’s time for food, for some reason, they were serving lunch on this flight.

There was a linen placemat (they called it a table cloth, since we had tables), then the food came it on a bamboo tray, real cutlery, wrapped in a cloth napkin, along with a salt and pepper shaker set. The food was very good, a Mediterranean salad with a side of grilled chicken, which I gave back, breadsticks and a giant oatmeal raisin cookie and if you wanted something else to drink, it came in a real glass.

There is something very nice about this level of service, it makes you want to fly and fly with them again. As we were landing, the flight attendant thanked each passenger individually for flying with them. This the of service is reminiscent of when people first started flying, they took pride in the way they looked for flying, you dressed, skirts for women, suits for men. There is something to be said for it, besides just nostalgic.

Not to worry dear friends, I promise not to get a big head about all this, it would be nice if it happens again or all the time, but if its only once in a while, it will be worth it, it feels good to be treated well, like you matter, but…

Why can’t this happen all the time? Why can’t we treat everyone like they’re someone all the time?

{July 12, 2013} I do not have carpel tunnel!

Today, I had my appointment for a nerve test on my left arm.

The nerve test was to see if I have carpel tunnel and if I need surgery. This was not my most fun experience, it wasn’t horrible, but it wasn’t something if volunteer for. Dr. R was very nice, he walked me through everything he was doing.

If you haven’t experienced this, they put sensors on your arm, then send some signals (wish i could remember exactly what they were called) to different parts of the arm to see what gets triggered. After the sensor and the shocks to different areas, then comes the acupuncture needles. The cool thing about the needles is that they are connected to a machine and the electromagnetic whatevers (I am so pathetic!) register sounds on the monitor, louder as I make different movements.

Half way through the first part, I don’t have carpel tunnel, great! Then after the second part, I don’t have cubital tunnel, great!

Wahoo…I don’t have carpel tunnel or cubital tunnel, awesome! So what do I have?

I have a pain in the neck! What? The problems are stemming from my neck and pectorals! Huh? He pressed down on my neck and pecs and said it was tight and when I talk to the referring physician, it would probably be helped with physical therapy. Wow.

So, no carpel or cubital, I have a pain in the neck, ha ha. (See, GES, it wasn’t actually you, so I guess I have to take back all those things I said about my baby sister!)

It still comes from being on the computer all day. I’m happy to hear that I don’t have carpel tunnel, therefore no surgery to correct that issue.

Hopefully the road to recovery is simple for my arm, because it hurts! And I am starting to get the same sensations in my right arm, uh oh.

{July 11, 2013} The pool was…open!

Yeah! The pool was open!

I decided it was time to get off my arse and get back to running/walking, so yesterday, I set the alarm for 6am, I walked the path across from the apartment, found out its half a mile to the end, so I did back and forth twice and did two miles. It felt good to get moving again.

The goal…two miles to start, add a third if I have time (in the morning), then start running it and be able to run the full three miles by December, I think that’s reasonable. There are a lot of walking paths around, but this is perfect for the start of my day, since I have to start work at 7am.

On my walk, I met Muskoka, a very cute six month old golden and her dad, John. I think I’ll be seeing them every morning, since they are in puppy training mode. I am meeting more and more dogs on my daily outings, it’s fun and then I get to meet a new neighbor, they’re usually attached.

Another reason I wanted to get up so early to work out, is so that I don’t feel as guilty when I go to the pool at 3:00 after work! Before when I didn’t go walking after work, I felt bad, not anymore! Yes I know I could go walking/running after work, but it’s a lot hotter at 3 than 6!

I did check after my walk and the chains were gone! The chemicals did their trick! I suited up, fit perfectly after fixing the straps, loaded the bag, applied sunscreen and off I went! There were two other people at the pool when I got there and two more showed up after. I ended up striking up a conversation with Holly and Christina, both very and live in the next building, we talked about Boulder, restaurants, shopping, skiing and college, yup, that about covered it! I made two friends!

So, the method to my madness paid off and I got to go to the pool and relax and enjoy myself, what could be better?

nice and

{July 9, 2013} It’s so cool…

It really is cool when someone asks me a question about something they read in my blog post the night before. Sometimes it throws me for a moment, quickly recovering and then responding.

I have been told reading my blog is like having me sitting across from you, which is awesome, but when someone comments about something I posted the night before, it’s still cool and I’m still tickled every time. I hope I never lose that feeling, I don’t think I could!

Today, when I talked to my dad, he said, “sorry about the pool”, it took me a second, then I realized, oh yeah! My post from last night! How cool is that, my dad reads my blog!

Other times I’m thrown because I think I might be telling a new story to someone and “oh yeah, I read that in your blog”! Wow!

I know I’ve said it before, but I thank you, honest and truly, I really do thank you for not only reading and commenting, but taking the time to want to read it, maybe it’s because we know each other, we’re friends or family, maybe you found it searching WordPress. Whatever your reason, I am honored that you look for my post each night/morning to see what I rambled on (like now) about last night.

So..thank you!

{July 8, 2013} People…really?

Today, after working 9 hours, I decided I would like to go to the pool. Lay out, relax a little, lounge in the pool,maybe do some laps, test out my new bathing suit.

I get suited up, spray on the sun block, 30 thank you, put my chair cover, towel, book and sunglasses in my bag, baseball cap on, grab the keys and out I go. It’s such a long walk, all 100 yards after I get downstairs…

I can see one person at the pool through the fence, I get to the gate and there is a big chain around the gate “Pool Closed”, what? I go around to the other gate, thinking maybe someone forgot to unchain the first one, nope, big chain and pool closed sign. I saw someone in there, how did they get in?

I went into the front office to ask what was going on and apparently there have been issues..human issues. People drinking in the pool, even the tiniest bit of alcohol can do damage, it takes a lot of chemicals to clean that up, then there was the person who let their dog into the pool, come on people, really?

So now, it’s going to be a few days while the chemicals do their magic and we can get into the pool again. Pook.

The woman I talked to was very nice and apologetic, I could still sit in there and soak up some rays, thanks, but I prefer to have a place to cool off once I get too hot. I asked if there was a notice that went out, she said there hadn’t been, they could only send a few emails per month, based on the service they were using for mass emails, ok…well, later this evening, we got an email about it, part of our weekly “community email”. Would have been nice to receive it a little earlier.

Oh well, back to the apartment I went and used my time wisely. I fixed my bathing suit, I sewed the straps to the back, so it was now a tank instead of a tie at the neck, which make me feel like I’m being choked.

Sometimes, people confuse, irritate and sadden me. C’mon people, use that thing between your ears and some common sense most of us have…didn’t you learn anything from kindergarten? One person can spoil it for the rest of us!

{July 8, 2013} Kids, Fellini’s, Vermeer, Goodbye

Today started leisurely, got up, watched a movie (it was way to early for both of us to be up) while I cross stitched, Safe..Jason Statham! Then DCM got up, we finished watching the movie, then got ready to greet the day, lots to do.

After we showered, packed and made sure we had everything, we headed out. We were meeting DCM’s middle daughter, AT and her boyfriend at Fellini’s on Ponce. It’s been a while scene we’d been there together, a tradition that I started a long time ago, whenever I would come back to Atlanta, I would stop at Fellini’s on the way home from the airport. I introduced DCM to this tradition and it’s stuck, well, since we seem to get in about 10:30 pm, it’s a little late by the time we would get to Fellini’s, so this time, on the way out. In addition, AT had never been there and it’s always nice to introduce people to things you like.

After we parted company DCM headed to the airport and I headed to The High Museum of Art to meet CKM for the “Girl with the Pearl Earring” exhibit. I had been looking forward to the exhibit and if you brought your Peachtree Roadrace bib, you got in free, sounds perfect.

The exhibit was nice, different Dutch Paintings from the Mauritius, which I enjoy, a lot of landscapes, still life’s and then we got into the self portraits and tronies, the face. One of the things I like about the Dutch paintings is the clean lines, sometimes, so clean, it looks like a photograph, as opposed to the impressionists, with great flourish and flair in their brush strokes. One thing I was disappointed with was that that there was only one piece, or very few if I am mistaken, by Vermeer, and The Girl With The Pearl Earring was the very last piece, on a wall to herself, behind glass, kind of like seeing the Mons Lisa the Louvre, except this was much easier to get close to!

It’s always nice to go to a museum with someone to get their perspective, see how they view differs prices and how their views differ from yours.

The exhibit is there until September 29th.
http://www.high.org/Girl-With-A-Pearl-Earring.aspx

Then it was off to the airport, drop off the car, get through security, hop on a plane, not sure what happened, when we booked we were sitting together…get off the plane, get on the shuttle, get in the truck, eventually get home, check the mail, check on the cats, unwind, blog, go to bed.

Good night!

{July 3, 2013} I’m still awake? Are we there yet?

What a day! You may want to sit down, I don’t want you to get worn out!

I got into Atlanta last night about 10:15, got a rental car (remember when I said it wold be surreal, every time I come back to Atlanta, will need to rent a car, yeah, still weird), drove to my house, it’s still here, ha ha. It is a little weird to be in it and it is so barren, very nice and clean, but very little of my personality, oh well, such is the life of a house on the market.

Right before the alarm went off at 7, I had the worst dream! I got pulled over for texting and I wasn’t even texting! I think I was looking at a map, but definitely not texting and I couldn’t wake up! I am on the fence about whether I knew it was a dream, just know that I was not happy!

Snoozed enough, grrr…that I had just enough time for a quick shower and out the door. I forgot its been raining in Atlanta A LOT lately and we are in flash flood warnings until Friday, what? It rains in Colorado for about 3 minutes, then it’s over! So, off I went, hoping the traffic wouldn’t be too bad, no school in session!

Had my annual visit today, that’s the doctor for girl parts, love seeing Dr. B, she cracks me up, we laugh a lot and she told me she likes me because I’m real, well, thank you. She also told me she’s closing up shop, so now I need to find a new doctor, I guess I’m looking in Colorado.

Off to find something to eat, went to Moe’s (“Welcome to Moe’s!”) I sent a picture to DCM with the caption…jealous? The closest Moe’s in Colorado is about 4 hours away, guess we’ll be having it when we’re in Atlanta. Connected to their WiFi and got some work done; the good and bad thing about having a black berry or at least being able to get work emails on your phone..you can still work, no matter what..see, good and bad.

A few hours later, went to meet CKM at MARTA to head to the Georgia World Congress Center for the Peachtree Roadrace Expo to pick up our bibs and check out the expo. This is the first year we didn’t volunteer at the expo, we’re volunteering tomorrow (tell you more in a minute). After we got our numbers, we walked the expo, doing a little shopping and looking. The thing about the expo is they have all different vendors from running shoes, to shirts, skirts, sport drinks, snacks to things to help you heal and registering for the next race.

Since things are so discounted, at least the pricing they have indicates mark downs…I buy a few things I might need and others I want. I used to get my running shoes there deeply discounted, not today. I got a few shirts, a pair of running pants and information about some races I’m interested in. It turns it that they are bringing the Monster Dash to Denver! I was hoping to register, get my jacket, SOCKS and BAG, but I will have to wait until they post it online. JCT, guess what!!! They are only doing a 5k and 10k this year in Atlanta, you get the jacket no matter which run you do! And it’s smokin! http://www.monsterdash.org/

I did, however, register for a Disney 5k much cheaper than the others! I see a girls weekend in my future! Who’s with me? (It’s in February 2014). Guess what the bonus was for registering at the expo..I’ll let you figure it out!

The shirts I get are always funny, I’ve posted pics for you to see. I love the zombie one, I’m wearing that tomorrow, but there is one that CKM shouted, “you HAVE to get this one!” You’ll know it when you see it! I also finally got a magnet for my car and a sticker for DCM! I got him a funny shirt as well.

We saw everything, tasted everything, got swag, goodies, snacks and our annual picture taken, like we’re running the race! We even filled in “Why I Run” bibs from VW Runners Unite, can you guess which was mine and which was CKM’s! We were beat! This was the first time we got to chill out while and take our time, it was nice.

Since our plans got rained out, an impromptu dinner came about, we met TS and her daughter KS at an Irish pub. Always great to see them, but as KS is in college, a rare treat for me! We ate good food, I carbo-loaded as is customary before a race, of course if I was actually running, it would have meant more than just pasta for dinner! We caught up, laughed, joked and had a great time and then realized what time it was!

This year, CKM and I volunteered to work with/help the elite runners, the runners that are invited to participate in the Peachtree. We are excited for the new challenge, besides the tshirt it comes with! But…this assignment starts at 5:30AM, what? We volunteered to sign up for this? Apparently we did! I think it will be a lot of fun and if we are really really lucky, maybe we can go earlier than our assigned start times, fingers crossed on that one!

So…DCM just landed a while ago and is on his way to see his daughter, DCM, who turned SIXTEEN today! A very very very happy birthday to her! I am looking forward to seeing her while we are here! I know she’s going to be so excited about her presents! I can’t tell you what they are, she might be reading this right now, but I can tell you, she’s gong to be stoked!

So, here I sit, it’s 11:32pm, I have to be up again in about four hours! What am I still doing awake? I just reiterated the title of this post! And my next question…are we there yet? Yes, friends, we have come to the end of this post..in conclusion, we are there, but I’m still awake! About to change that! Good night!

{July 3, 2013} Your thoughts

Every day, you come to visit me, my dear friends, to see/”hear” what I have to say on whatever happens to pop into my head..lucky you! I mean, lucky me! (THAT I do mean!)

These are my random musings, based on something that might have happened, something I saw, a movie I watched, a book I read, anything. There are some days I have absolutely no idea what to talk about, sometimes even up to the moment I start typing. And sometimes that’s a good thing and sometime not…

Over the last few days, I started to wonder… (and here is a nod to my favorite high school history teacher, Mr P (wish I could spell his name out) but anyone I went to high school with will know who I’m talking about) … I said to myself, “Self” do you think people sometimes read your blog looking to see if you’ll talk about things that pop into their heads, things that that are interesting to them?

So, my dear friends, are there things you would like to know my opinion on, my musings on a subject that you hold near and dear? (I believe you have figured out that there really aren’t too many topics I won’t talk about!) Please let me know, add it to the comments on the blog page, on my Facebook page or Twitter post (that just makes think of John Malkovich in the last Transformers movie) or even a private message if you don’t want to go public, you know I won’t use your real name! and you might just inspire me, who knows…you could have an entire post that was your doing, your inspiration!

Not to worry, I haven’t run out of things to talk about, as evidence that I am blogging about wondering what you might be thinking about! And we still have over half a year for this daily blog and I know I will continue after January 6, 2014!

So, you tell me, dear readers…what are your thoughts? Who knows…you may or may not be surprised by what I have to say!

{July 1, 2013} Emotions

What triggers emotions?

I could go into a long diatribe about all emotions and what triggers them, how we react, but I’m not going to do that to you again! (Ok, this seems contradictory, but bear with me)

The reason I thought about it is that I watched Moonstruck tonight and every time I watch it, I have the same reactions, but the biggest one that always gets me is when they go to The Metropolitan Opera to see a production of La Boheme.

I know this opera, it’s one of my favorites, my parents took me when I was a kid and we did the production in college, I’ve listened to it on my own (never got into Rent) and seen it multiple times, on the stage and on the big screen.

The scene they show in Moonstruck is one of the saddest in the opera, second only to the scene at the end, when Mimi dies. The scene I am referring to is so sad that every time I hear that aria or see it, I start tearing up and I know me, I am prepared, but not prepared when it comes around, if that makes sense.

Maybe another time I’ll talk about other triggers, just wanted to share this one. What’s yours?

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What was I thinking?