Friends | Peaches Prattlings

{May 27, 2021} Our first overnight visitors!!!

We have our first overnight visitors and I am over the moon! It’s…wait for it…wait for it…SDL and Miss A!!! Ok, now you know and you knew how I felt as soon as I said it!

We had a visitor last year, our first! DLP was in St Louis for a family event and came to see us, we went out to breakfast, then she came back and saw our house, but sadly, had to go after a few hours. Today, SDL and Miss A arrived for a long holiday weekend visit!

They left Atlanta Wednesday afternoon, after school and an appointment and they were off! It is about an 8.5 hour drive if…you make no stops! Well, for me, when I drove to Atlanta was about 9.5 hours, I factored in at least four 15 minute breaks for gas, food, and bio breaks. For them, it takes a little longer, so they cut the trip in half, keeping me posted along the way.

I worked most of the day, they got here about 4pm, just in time to take the dogs for a walk, in the rain…where did that come from? Seriously?! When I checked the weather a few days ago, it was going to be warm and sunny with very little chance of rain and now…more chances of rain for the weekend. Ah well. They were here! Hugs, hugs, hugs, and more hugs! A tour of the house, where are they staying, all that good stuff, then it was time for a walk. Well, Miss A, SDL, Ruby, Bee, and I started on a walk, water came from the sky, they went home and the pups and I continued on our walk.

We got home and PSM was just about finished with work so…instead of sitting too long, SDL said if she sat too long she was done! It was a long two days! We headed out to the food Miss A, SDL, and I always do when I visit them, Mexican! We went to El Maguey, where PSM and I went to celebrate Cinco de mayo. It was great! We talked, ate, laughed, caught up, reminisced, laughed, talked, ate, you know, wash, rinse, repeat. It was like no time had passed, just as it always is when we get together!

After dinner, we headed home, it was time for a bath, cuddle, running around like crazy people, then off to bed. I’m just a happy Auntie G! I love family visits! We have so many options for the weekend, let’s see what we can get in to, I’ll keep you posted!

{May 25, 2021} Two years? Where did the time go?

Two years ago today, well, May 25, 2019, not Wednesday, I married my best friend. I know, crazy, right?! I didn’t get to tell you about it then, so let me tell you about it now!

It was an amazing weekend! Yes, I said weekend. We did a destination wedding of sorts! I was trying to figure out what to do, we were still living in Hawai’i and we knew…if we wanted people to come, don’t have it in Hawai’i! I had a few ideas…I wanted to get married on the beach, no go. I looked at a steamboat, I even looked into a steam train, after watching Murder on the Orient Express! I looked at a lot of things, including what we ended up doing, which I think was the best idea yet, inspired by a suggestion from CWB!

We had it at a camp in the Berkshires, the mountains in Massachusetts. It was where my sister and I did weekends with our youth group, she went to camp there, then became a counselor, rising in the ranks, and now my nieces go there for sleep away camp, you can imagine the family connection!

It was Memorial Day Weekend 2019 and it was a grand affair! Seriously, it was laid back, campy [see what I did there!], and so much fun! We had the camp from Friday through Monday! My sister and I drove up Thursday night to get some things set up and everyone started arriving on Friday afternoon. I had so much help, both physically and emotionally and idea-ly! [with ideas!] I wanted the weekend to be exactly what it was, laid back, campy, and fun! I loved the process and getting all the little touches in there!

We had welcome bags, supplied by my enormous collection of reusable shopping bags, my endless supply of hotel toiletries, what I didn’t give to the shelters! I made personalized door signs where people were sleeping, personalized luggage tags with camp signs. We had mason jars with our names and wedding date for adults and kids. Farmhouse tables, jelly and jam jars with sand and candles, I hammered out our initials and hearts in tin cans to light the tables, we had Edison bulbs to light the dining hall. Signs on the bathrooms with pictures of us as kids.

Friday, my sister was wonderful…after we finished whatever we had to do in the morning, she took me for a fabulous mani-pedi, ahhhh, then people started arriving, so amazing how many people were able to make it! That night there was a cookout with a canoe full of beer, exactly what I wanted and got! Yes, the girl who doesn’t drink wanted a canoe full of beer! We had bon fires and s’mores. It was a chance to say hello, spend time together getting silly, having fun!

Saturday morning, there was a one-mile fun run with donuts at the half mile marker! A golf cart was ours for the weekend, how many of the kids do you think had a blast riding in that?! Saturday afternoon was chill out and do your own thing and people did, so much to do in the Berkshires! For me…I had to write my vows, finish painting our Converse for the evening, and get my sash ready, nothing much!

We had a cocktail hour, PSM and I were flitting around greeting people and eating some amazing food! The tables all had wild flowers in bottles that I got at the KoHana Rum Distillery, they look like square perfume bottles and it was perfect! People even took them home, wah to the hoo! Oh, along with the jam and jelly jars, and the mason jars, exactly as I hoped they would!

The food at the cocktail hour was amazing, I know I said that! We had a lot of fun picking the menu together! I was at the cocktail hour exactly one hour, I had to change dresses! Oh! We had a bluegrass band! The Brooklyn Bluegrass Collective! We decided that if we were going to have a live band, instead of a DJ, it would be bluegrass and it was! We only had a few song requests, the rest was up to them! I fell in love with them the first time I heard them! After the cocktail hour, there was a musical stroll to the dock! Can you believe it! Bluegrass stroll! That gave me time to get changed!

I raced around and got my rockabilly wedding dress on, that I got on Amazon! with the blue crinoline underneath, had to be blue, PSM wore a formal blue Hawai’ian shirt! He had also asked for a Ti Leaf Lei which I got in at Watanabe Floral in Honolulu and brought it to Massachusetts! That was probably the best surprise I had for him that whole weekend!

I went to the top of the stairs and waited while I watched PSM dance down the steps and aisle to the chuppah to Safety Dance BLUEGRASS STYLE! I was so excited an overjoyed watching that!!! Then I came down the stairs, met my dad and we danced to 500 Miles BLUEGRASS STYLE! He danced me to PSM waiting at the chuppah!

The ceremony was fun, silly, lovely, loving, we had friends and family, come on, they’re all family! Some of it was in Hebrew, but I made sure to have sheets that had the English translation so everyone was able to participate! MGS was our flower girl and ring bearer! I actually had a few of our favorite kids helping…we threw bio-degradable flower petals, programs with all the details and songs. Our rabbi was great, he had so much fun, and our crowd, well, you know me, so you can imagine how they were! After the ceremony, we had a Havdalah ceremony, which signals the end of the Sabbath and ushers in a new week. EJS and LaLa helped with that, so glad!

We decided to have everyone be a part of our ketubah signing, this is the Jewish marriage contract. My dad read it out to the group, CBW and JM, our sister-in-law were our witnesses. Another touching part of the ceremony was the Sheva Brachot, or seven blessings. Instead of having the rabbi read them, we asked friends and family to take part, some read the prayer as it was and some wrote their own interpretation. I cannot tell you how much laughter and love there was on that dock that evening, I’m smiling and tearing up just talking about it!

Before everyone took a musical stroll to the reception, we took a giant wedding photo, it was fabulous! Then there were some family photos and we were off!

The reception, more bluegrass music, dancing, food, and fun! It was such a warm atmosphere, I cannot even tell you! There was brisket, other meats, veggies, salad, vegan, gluten free! You know I checked all the boxes! Oh, did I forget…breakfast every morning! For dessert, we didn’t a wedding cake, so…I asked people to bring a dessert, we had a pot-luck dessert! It was one of the most beautiful things I have ever seen! A huge table with all these different desserts, I don’t think there was a repeat in the bunch! Some were home made, some were store bought, who cares! It was amazing and guess what we had on Sunday evening…leftover dessert!

The party went on for a good long while, Uncle A did the blessing over the challah and the wine, the speeches were made, my dad, PSM’s best men, his brother SM and best friend, KN. My only disappointment of the entire weekend…. my sister didn’t get to make her matron of honor speech and she is a gives great speech! We danced, ate, chatted, laughed, had an amazing time! Eventually the party broke up, but…

The next day was Sunday and only a few people left! We had breakfast, some people went for a hike, some people hung out, some people went into town. We had arts and crafts for the kids, later ACS ran a Pitch tournament, pizza, more beer in the canoe and another bonfire with s’mores, what more could you want?!

Sunday came, breakfast, and then it was time to say our goodbyes. As people left, we stripped the beds, made the camp the same as we found it and we were on our way.

To say it was an amazing weekend would be an understatement! People talked about it for a long time! We even talked about getting together the next year during Memorial Day Weekend, just to spend time together, that’s how much fun it was! Covid said no, but…who knows what next year holds.

I’m smiling thinking about what an amazing weekend it was, fabulous ceremony, friends, family, love, love, love, and as I started this post…May 25, 2019, I married my best friend. What more could you ask for?!

{April 25, 2021} Another pre-ride, a thing of beauty!

Today started early, about 620am, which is unfortunate for a Sunday, but a necessary evil.

We had a motorcycle ride planned and we had to meet the guys at 930am, we had quite a ride ahead of us. I didn’t intend to get up quite so early but someone invaded my dream and I wanted them out. No, not the wasband, someone else, but I knew I was dreaming and decided if they were not leaving, I was. Go me!

I got up, started piddling around, I knew we had to get up soon to walk the dogs, give them breakfast, and chill with them for a few before we had to put them back in the crate for the day. I will tell you, I am going to see if I can get JS, who stayed with them last weekend, to come and let them out, take them for a walk, maybe hang with them for a bit, when we have these long rides. We were gone about 10 hours today, which is a normal work day, if we went into the office. Not fair to the pups, but they were fine! Here’s hoping! I will need to do the same for the week of the annual motorcycle ride in New Hampshire, but more about then when it happens.

It was supposed to be much warmer than that other ride we took a few weeks ago. Our ride captain said he put in a special request for very little wind, thank you! We got dressed, put on our riding gear and headed out about 9am. We met three of the guys, our ride captain’s wife was going to join us later down the road.

I don’t know if you remember me telling you what a pre-ride is. It is a ride to test the route for an official group ride. This tests the route, for all levels of rider, the distance, and how it will be with a larger group. I think we’re supposed to have about 30-35 bikes next week, that means about 40, maybe 50 people on the ride, since there are some people who are paired up on their bikes. It’s much easier, as you might imagine, with less people, but it will definitely be fun. There are lots of logistics, like stop lights and stop signs. You want to try to ride as if you’re ‘one vehicle’, someone blocks traffic, if possible, you stay on the highway together, on the streets, signals, newer riders in the back, and you always ride in a group for the slowest rider, that way people stay together, as much as they can.

The ride we did today was great, it was about a 3 hour ride, and it’s three hours because we are taking back roads, very little highway. We also stop about every hour, which can be 100 miles, and we stop at gas stations, that allows bikes with smaller tanks, like mine to fill up. I fill up no matter what, since you never know if you will run out before the next stop. It’s also a great opportunity to stretch your legs, have a bio break, and catch up with folks for a few minutes, before the next stretch.

We are heading to, pun intended, now that I write this! Head Motor Company in Columbia, MO, the home of the University of Missouri or Mizzou, as it is affectionally referred to. We are heading there to meet the Kansas City Chapter of the IMRG, Indian Motorcycle Riders Group. While there, Head Motor Company is hosting a BBQ, there might be music, not sure, we will see some new rides, maybe get some new swag, who knows. It’s going to be a good time!

After we got to Head Motor Company, which happened to be closed on Sunday, most Indian Dealerships are, we headed out in search of food. We went to Flat Branch Pub & Brewing, and since I was able to find it on my GPS, after our ride captain got us back to the highway, I took over and led us there. Unfortunately, there was a 40 minute wait, we walked over to the Broadway Diner, which happened to be close, but…right across the street, the Shiloh Bar & Grill with plenty of seating, no wait, food, and alcohol! That last one I don’t care about, but everyone who did was happy.

We grabbed a table, ordered drinks and food, talked about the ride from St Louis, what did people think of it, opinions about next week’s ride, bikes, of course, future trips, raffles, kids, and everyone’s dogs, go figure. There were only 6 of us, so it was nice to sit and chat, and be heard, definitely more intimate than what’s going to happen next weekend!

After food and drink, we headed back to the bikes, rode a short way, stopped for gas, always stop for gas at the start of the ride and the start of the ride home, even though you’ve stopped along the way. Drove an hour, got gas, chatted, shook the legs, drove on. We did this until everyone started going their own way and then it was just PSM and I and we were out like a shot!

Back home the pups were very happy to see us, I would be too, after 10 hours! Walked, fed, loved on, zzzzzzz, that was funny! It’s tough sleeping all day, getting excited for 20 minutes, walk, eat, get loved on…zzzzz

What…a…day! What…a…weekend! Wow! Tomorrow is Monday, it’s a new day and a new week, what adventures does it have in store for us? I know it starts with 6am hot yoga, gotta go!

{March 30, 2021} The Court Jester

The Court Jester is one of my all time favorite movies. I know, I know, I’ve said that before, but if you have spent any time with me and my family, especially when I was younger, it was Danny Kaye all the way.

I truly have been a Danny Kaye fan most of my life and one day I’ll tell you all about the other movies of his I love, like The Secret Life of Walter Mitty, yes, before Ben Stiller‘s version, White Christmas with Bing Crosby, A Song is Born, the list goes on. But…today, I’m going to tell you about a movie that myself, my dad, my sister, and my mom all loved. When we were kids, we spent our summers in Mastic Beach, NY, which is on the South Shore of Long Island. We had a VCR, for those of you under 45…ha ha, that’s a video cassette recorder, you would put the cassette tape in, watch it and then have to rewind it before you took it back! and we would bicycle or drive to the library and get movies out.

Two movies that my sister and I absolutely adored were Walt Disney’s Cinderella [1950] and The Court Jester [1955] with Danny Kaye, Glynis Johns, Basil Rathbone, Angela Lansbury. Some of you will know who all of these people are, but I’ll give you other references if that helps. I told you about Danny Kaye, but…you might not remember that he played Dr Burns, the dentist on The Cosby Show. Glynis Johns was also the mother, Mrs Banks in Mary Poppins and the grandmother in While You Were Sleeping, she used to come into the deli I worked in, in the Hamptons! Basil Rathbone was most famous as Sir Guy of Gisborne in The Adventures of Robin Hood with Errol Flynn and personally, I think he was one of the best Sherlock Holmes. Lastly, there was Angela Lansbury, Miss Price in Bedknobs and Broomsticks, Mrs Potts in Beauty and the Beast, and probably most known as Jessica Fletcher on Murder, She Wrote. Ok, now you’re caught up on some of the bigger names in the movie.

The tagline in IMBD: A hapless carnival performer masquerades as the court jester as part of a plot against an evil ruler who has overthrown the rightful King. That pretty much says it all. It’s an action/adventure story, with a little swash buckler thrown in, romance, intrigue, all wrapped up in a musical. What more could you want?!

Danny Kaye plays Hubert Hawkins, he’s part of The Black Fox’s band of merry men, gives you a Robin Hood type of vibe. His role is to entertain the merry men, but he wants more, he wants to be out there, on the front lines, fighting, but The Black Fox feels he is best suited where he is. King Roderick I is on the throne, but not by birthright and he is constantly looking over his shoulder because there is a rumor that the royal baby was missed, the rightful heir to the throne and he can’t have that!

His righthand man is the evil Sir Ravenhurst, who does the kings bidding. Basil Rathbone can play a mean one, he can. Little known fact, he is best known for his fencing skills as the greatest swordsman in Hollywood history, what do you think about them apples! He really was great, it was a treat to watch his skills with a blade! What he did made Danny Kaye look good in their scenes.

Something happens at The Black Fox’s camp and Hawkins has to go with the Maid Jean, Glynis Johns, who happens to be The Black Fox’s Captain, to deliver the royal baby to the castle and take the throne back for the royal baby. Along the way, they meet Giacamo, King of Jesters and Jester to the King, and Hawkins takes his place when he gets to the palace, perfect cover!

Throughout the movie there is laughter, silliness, sword fighting, poison, intrigue, romance, spells, threats, singing, dancing, and to top it all off, a baby with a royal birthmark. What more could you want?!

The songs are clever and fun, with Danny Kaye, you know there has to be hillarity, some of the best scenes are where he is being a total goofball. The best scenes also have the most tongue tying lines! “The pellet with the poison’s in the flagon with the dragon; the vessel with the pestle has the brew that is true.”

Here’s a quote from IMDB about that line: Danny Kaye’s daughter, Dena Kaye, said for the rest of his life, when people recognized Danny in a restaurant, they would walk up and spout the entire “brew that is true” speech.

I mentioned romance, right? Hawkins is awkward around women, and when he appears at the castle, Princess Gwendolyn’s handmaid, Griselda, who is also a witch, puts a spell on Hawkins to romance the princess to save her own neck! She makes him braver than he ever was!

The reason I’m telling you all about this movie and these memories is I has it on as background while I was working today. There are certain movies and tv shows that I have seen so many times, I don’t have to actually pay attention to them, I can have them on in the background and still get work done. I might sing along, maybe to The Maladjusted Jester, or Life Could Not Better Be, or any of the songs he sings. When GES and I watched this movie, the same thing with Cinderella, we would watch it, rewind it, then watch it again, rewind, watch, repeat. We don’t have to say much more than one of the lines and we’re off and running, quoting lines and laughing with each other.

Today, while I was watching it, I actually recorded the Pellet with the Poison scene and sent it to my dad and sister, sent good vibes into the universe and got them right back.

My hope is that any one of the clips I posted has maybe piqued your interest just a bit, maybe you’re curious to explore the world of Danny Kaye, even try to find The Court Jester and check out all the merriment. Even if you just watch the clips, maybe look for additional clips and laugh, I’m good with that!

Get it. Got it. Good. Yes friends, if you’ve ever heard me say that…now you know where I got it!

{March 28, 2021} Start with a Ride…End with a Seder

Sounds like the perfect Sunday to me, right?! It’s the second night of Passover, but the seder isn’t until the evening, so we planned a motorcycle ride with some of the guys from our group and another group.

It was supposed to get warm, up to about 57 today, sounds good. I layered up, had my Cuddl Duds on under my jeans, high-top sneaker knee socks, a long sleeve Indian Motorcycle shirt, my Looney Bin zip up sweatshirt, it’s not a thick sweatshirt, but it fits under my Indian Motorcycle Jacket. I wore leather gloves and covered my face with the neck gaiter I got at the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam. You’d think I was warm enough! Think again! O M G!

The wind, which was not supposed to come in, came in, and oh my word, it was frrreeezzzing! My legs, arms, and chest were fine. My feet and hands…let’s just say when I got off the bike at our first stop, I had trouble walking my feet were so cold and I stayed in the bathroom a few extra minutes, under the warm air dryer! PSM had even given me glove liners, didn’t help after the first 20 minutes!

We had met two of the guys at the usual starting point, then we rode into Illinois, it was about a 25 minute ride, met the rest of the folks that were riding, everyone one geared up, leather chaps, heavy winter coats, face coverings, the works. Mother Nature was trying to beat the tar out of us! She was succeeding. We left from the parking lot and rode to Grafton, only about a 30 minute ride from where we were.

At that point, after I came back from the hand dryer, which I considered taking with me! PSM and I decided we couldn’t keep going with them, they had about another 60 or 70 mile ride. On any other day, I would have been with them, I just couldn’t do it. I was also feeling the weight or in this case, the lack there of, of my bike. It’s a heavy bike, it weighs just under 600 pounds, but what this wind was doing, I was fighting some times to keep her straight, I was never in danger of falling, it just took a little more to keep her upright.

So…we bid everyone a fond farewell and headed back into town in search of breakfast. I will tell you, PSM was texting with one of the guys, they all felt like they had gotten the you-know-what beaten out of them! I think we made the right decision. Before I do another ride like that, much warmer gear!

We rode into Grafton, IL and looked for a place to eat. Google Maps listed a place that said “Great Weekend Breakfast”, perfect! We parked and went in. Guess what they didn’t have. Really? We looked for a few options and settled on the Alton Village Inn Pancake House, sorry, I could only find their menu online, the other links wouldn’t help you if you were interested! It was warm! They had hot tea and decaf coffee, we were happy! The service was pretty good and we were feasting on a veggie omelet and hash browns in no time. Ahhhh.

Eventually, begrudgingly, ha ha, we got back on the bikes and headed home. After getting the pups out of the crate, I headed in one direction…the hottest, steamiest, hottest, did I mention hottest? shower I could take! I took a few extra minutes in there, it was hot and steamy! And I finally started to get feelings back into my extremities again. Warm clothing on, we did stuff around the house and relaxed and eventually, it was time for second night seder with PSM’s family.

I was also able to sneak in a Zoom hello with my family, that was dad, LaLa, my sister, GES, my b-i-l ACS, and my nieces, EJS, and MGS. They were also zooming with extended family friend, I haven’t seen them all in a while, it was great! This was while we were on a break from PSM’s family. Tonight went a lot quicker than last night, less people so less technical difficulties, still a lot of fun, stories, laughter, and love, and food, always food. We went through the exodus out of Egypt, drank our four cups of wine, but…BTK, who wrote up the virtual haggadah added two extra blessings over the wine for PSM and I, hmmm…broke matzah, brought it together again, let in Elijah, and were blessed, what more could you want?!

We started with a ride and ended with a seder, life is good!

{March 27, 2021} Chag Sameach [Happy Holiday]

Tonight is the first night of Passover or Pesach in Hebrew. The story of Passover is the Jews exodus out of Egypt in the time of Pharoh. There are great stories associated with Passover, the exodus, Moses, Pharoh [they weren’t all bad!] and I’m sure we’ve talked about them in the past, check this one out A zissen pesach [I actually titled this post A zissen pesach, imagine my surprise when I found my past post A zissen pesach! Here’s another A Happy Passover. The links I added can give you lots of insight! into the holiday, but that’s not what I want to talk about tonight.

Passover is actually one of my favorite holidays, in case you didn’t know! I’ve loved it since I was a kid, mostly because it’s the time my family gets together and spends time with each other, shares stories, food, friendship, camaraderie, and love. What more could you want?! We started at my grandmother’s house in Brooklyn, NY, then moved it to Staten Island, NY, where I grew up, then my sister’s house in Boston, MA. When I met PSM, we did the divide and conquer, First Night Seder with my family, second night seder with his family, win-win!

Even though our families and some of the traditions are different, the basics are the same. Similar seder meal, same prayers, maybe not said or sung the same way, but the same, and rules, rules for what we eat and how we eat it, some of the foods are the same because they are part of the story and seder, the haggadahs, the prayer books, might not be the same, but you could almost interchange them. But the one thing that is the same, the laughter that happens, no matter what.

Some great things came up today. First…my dad texted and asked where we should stop for pizza before the seder. This made my sister and I laugh. The tradition was…when we had seder at my grandmother’s house, my mom would spend the night before in Brooklyn with my grandmother prepping and cooking for the seder. The afternoon of Passover, my dad, sister, and I would drive into Brooklyn to my grandmother’s house, but first, we would stop for a slice of pizza. Even when we moved Passover to Staten Island, then Boston, we still had pizza as the ‘last meal’. I say last meal because it’s the last time we would have leavened bread, bread that rises, is made with wheat. Starting with the seder, we eat unleavened bread or matzoh.

I texted with a few Jewish friends today and one of my friends, one of my oldest friends from high school, CGS told me that she had been thinking about seders at my grandmother’s house, which made me smile, especially when she told me they were her first seders. As soon as she and I became friends, she was instantly a part of my family, and I became part of hers. She remembers how much fun and silly it was at my grandmothers and the best…she said she was thinking about my dad and the reclining chair!

The tradition stems from wealthy people in olden times reclining in their chairs when they ate meals. Not exactly the most comfortable thing today, but…it’s a tradition. Now…some people would use a pillow to recline, the thing that CGS reminded me of was the chair at the head of the table at my grandmother’s, it was actually broken and when it came time to talk about reclining, my dad would take the back off the chair and literally recline! That really was one of my favorites, and what a memory to share with friends! Thanks for that.

There were other traditions that we shared, and I could go on, but this post would go on for days. Tonight begins the Feast of Passover and I wish you a Zissen Pesach.

{March 24, 2021} Impromptu backyard bbq…nice!

I told you we really like our neighbors, well, most of them anyway. Tonight was no exception. We got a text from next door about 5:40p inviting us next door for some food and drink and to enjoy the weather! How could we say no?!

We got the text “Hey everyone (orthogonal neighbors of ours), we’re grilling a bunch of food and enjoying being out on the patio for the nex thour to 90 minutes. Feel free to come over and enjoy some food and drinks if you’re feeling up for it 🙂

First…I have no idea what orthogonal meant! I did ask when we were over there! I didn’t have time to look it up, we had just finished work, we were feeding the dogs, grabbed two chairs and headed over. It basically meant the neighbors on either side of them and to the back. Hey, that’s a $10 word! It took me a minute just to pronounce it!

It was a feast! There were veggie kebobs, yahoo! Grilled chicken, shrimp, hot dogs, corn, potatos, and pineapple. I was a happy camper! The corn was fabulous, the pineapple terrific, grilling it took some of the citrus bite out of it, the potatos were perfect, and the kebabs, y u m!

We sat, ate, drank, chatted, sat, ate, drank, chatted, kind of a wash, rinse, repeat, but it was the best kind. Our hosts, have two girls, the youngest is adorable, has four teeth and she is using them! She hasn’t been on solid foods long, but she was loving everything she tried, chicken, potato, corn, peppers, you couldn’t stop her! Her big sister is a trip, bright, curious about everything, and so sweet, and…has her daddy wrapped around her little finger, it’s so precious to watch. M&KR are our neighbors, K’s dad JS was there as well, always great to see him. The neighbors on the other side of M&KR were there with their new baby A, so stinkin’ cute and loves when dad carries him around like a football, didn’t like it when he changed positions.

It really was nice to be outside, the weather was perfect tonight, most of today, actually, but really enjoying the time outside tonight. We talked lawns, grilling, home repair, Spring, families, movies, tv, blogging. MR had started a blog and stopped, she’s thinking about going back to it, I hope she does, I look forward to reading it if she does.

And true to the text, about an hour after we got there, it was time to head home, they had wee tots to get into bed. All in all, a joy, just what we have wanted when we move somewhere, looking forward to many more nights like these. It seems the fog is lifting.

{March 20, 2021} Waiting…Waiting…Waiting…Now GO!

The day started like any other Saturday, up too early to go to yoga, par for the course, but then…it stalled, but turned out alright, what more could you want?!

We went to hot yoga, it was good, I think, to go back, I hadn’t been in almost two weeks due to busting my ankle, all good now, promise! It was my second class and just a twinge here and there and I modified what I was doing, I was careful. After yoga, headed home and while we were relaxing and waiting for the weather to warm up, we were going for a motorcycle ride…I told you, if it’s above 45, we’re on the bikes! Or the top is down on the car!

So…we’re sitting there waiting for the weather to warm up, we started watching The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, starring Anthony Mackie as The Falcon, and Sebastian Stan as the Winter Soldier on Disney+, a new offering from the MCU/Marvel Cinematic Universe: Phase 4, which also include WandaVision, if you’re in the know. We’ll get to those later, I digress.

As we’re watching and getting into it, we hear and feel the boom, the dogs jumped a little, and at the same moment, total power out. We looked at each other and had the same thought…Squirrel Sacrifice or Squirrel Suicide, this is a common occurance, not only in our neighborhood, but across the country…these would be electrical distruptions caused by squirrel. This is a quote from September 2020: “The American Public Power Association says squirrels are No. 2 this year on its “Top Causes of Power Outages.” … According to the American Public Power Association, there were about 3,456 squirrel-related power outages that cut off the electricity of more than 193,873 customers in 2016.”

I honestly had no idea this was a major thing here in Missouri, but it seems to be, especially in our neighborhood. We met a neighbor when we first started taking walks through the neighborhood who told us that squirrels are a serious nusience in the neighborhood. Apparently, they like to get into the undercarriage of vehicles left outside of houses and unfortunately, into the transformer boxes. They are rampant here, torturing our dogs, and every dog in the neighborhood, but that part I don’t think is unusual. Last year, the power went out and we were talking to another neighbor who told us that they can get into the transformer cages and…

I checked with our nextdoor neighbor, same situation. I called the power company, they put in a ticket and assured me they would try to get someone out here within an hour, ok. So…we needed something to do, it was still early and too chilly for a ride.

Let’s call and combine our cell phone bills. We both have accounts with T-Mobile, we’re a family, why not a family plan. We had gone into a store and they told us they couldn’t do it in store, we would have to call, seems simple, right? Where’s the head banging emoji? After finally getting a person on the line…we talked to her for a while and the plan changed at least once, me going to PSMs account, then PSM going to my account. After talking to her for a while…we were transfered to another person…finally…and that took another forever.

The entire process, with no power and combining the phone lines took about two and a half hours. Ugh…so…waiting…waiting…waiting…now we’re free! Let’s go! It was about 1pm, so we didn’t want to be away from home for too long since the pooches need a walk and dinner some time, ha ha. We usually take them out about 5p, a little later is ok.

We headed out toward Washington, MO. We’ve been there before, on a ride with two of PSM’s co-workers, to Sugarfire Smokehouse, not my choice, of course, but killer cornbread! OMG! Anyhall, as my grandmother would say…we went to Washington, MO and PSM mapped a fun route that wouldn’t take us on the highway too much, which we both enjoyed, it took us about an hour, which was a good length of time, only because it was ch…ch…chilly, we needed to warm up.

We parked and found a place, right across the street with a great balcony called John G’s Bier Deck, which offered a great view of the Missouri River, score! We walked up the many, many, many steps, this city is on a hill, walked in and instantly warmed to the atmosphere. There were a lot of signs telling customers ‘Do not feed the dogs’, ok. One even above the very loveable looking golden shepard. Across from the bar was an area with tables, a fire pit, and blankets, and an audio set up, looked like for live music.

Outside, we walked down to the deck, half covered and half sitting in the sun, which was perfect, because it was still a bit chilly. We ordered some food and drinks and enjoyed soaking up the rays, trying to block out other coversations, watching the current move quickly, admiring some of the muscle cars and trucks go by and occassionaly, a cargo train would go by. This was the way to spend a Saturday afternoon.

After a bit, we walked down the street to see what it looked like, went into another bar for a drink and then it was time to head home. It took about an hour and a half, the sun finally started to warm things up, sort of, but it was a great ride. PSM, being our Ride Captain, he tries to find us routes that avoid the highways, which is nice, makes for a longer ride, and we get to see things we might not have seen before and…some of the roads, great curvy, leading to long stretches, sometimes the curvy ones are down tree lined roads, gorgeous!

We got home, took care of the pups and hung out. After the hiccup in the mid-morning, it turned out to be a really nice day. Can’t wait for our ride tomorrow!

{March 12, 2021} Spoiler Alert! Kermit the Frog?!

Sorry, I know I just blurted that out, but I couldn’t help myself! If you watch The Masked Singer and you haven’t seen the fist episode yet, sorry! I’m just still in shock!

If you don’t watch The Masked Singer [IMDB listing], then you’re good! If you don’t watch it, the premise is A singing competition guessing game based on Korean format King of Mask Singer. 12 celebrity performers wear costumes to conceal identities. One singer is eliminated each week and unmasked. Small hints are given for the viewer guess along. There are four judges, but it’s the audience, and the judges who vote, not just the judges, and at the end of the show, whoever gets the least amount of votes goes home. Now you know the way you win or lose. Let’s get to the rest of it.

There are 12 famous people who are in the costumes, and these costumes were nominated and won an emmy! These costumes really are something! Look at it this way, you can’t see the singer, so you need something to look at! Here is a list of all 5 seasons of costumes! There have been some great ones and some goofy ones, but all of them have been impressive. I want to say we tried to watch The Masked Dancer and one episode was enough for us, you won’t hear me talk about it again!

In each costume are celebreties that include singers, dancers, actors, politians, athletes. These performers include stage and screen, paid atheletes and olympians, you honestly never can tell! There are four judges, Jenny McCarthy, Ken Jeong, Nicole Scherzinger, and Robin Thicke, and host, Nick Cannon. Niecy Nash is hosting the first few shows of the season, I looked it up, Nick Cannon had Covid at the time they started taping. She was fun, gave Ken Jeong the same crap Nick Cannon does! The winner of The Masked Singer is going for The Golden Mask trophy, the judges are going for bragging rights and now, The Golden Ear trophy. Each week, four singers go up against each other, before they go on, they give the audience and panel clues to their identity. When they first come out, the judges have to make a first guess and it goes into a vault, to be taken out at the end of the season and the judge with the most correct guesses, wins. Some of the clues are easy, some are tough. It’s funny to watch the judges try to guess, Ken Jeong is the goofiest of them all. The silliest part…they ALL say this is the best opening ever! And it’s always the toughest to watch someone go…

The thing we like about the show is you honestly don’t know who is in the costume and they really are doing for the love of doing it! Sometimes you can’t believe how long someone has lasted and you’re shocked at some of the ones who go home early! It really is a fun show and what we love…we watch it on Hulu, so if we want to just binge an entire season…there it is, even better…I paid for no commercials! I told you, I have no patience!

Ok, back to the first episode. This season, so far, there are Russian Dolls, Porcupine, or Robopine has he wanted to be called, you’ll see…Seashell, Raccoon, and Snail. I thought Racoon would go first, but Snail [this was the Snail singing the song] it was. He sang You Make My Dreams Come True by Hall and Oates, I thought he did pretty well. Actually, when he started singing, I actually, for a moment, thought it sounded like Barack Obama! Why not?! But it wasn’t. It was actually… Kermit the Frog! O M G! If I remember correctly, the tag line was a TV Legend, movie star, producer, singer, actor, entertainer. And wow, is he ever! If you know me, you know I am a HUGE Muppet fan, not just Kermit the Frog, as evident by my Muppets Monopoly [2 different versions], Muppets Chess set, Muppet Show and Muppet Movie collection, GIANT stuffed Kermit the Frog and Kermit the Frog cookie jar, and my other Muppet stuff, I’ll show you those some other time.

Kermit the Frog was the first eliminated singer, watch the reveal, also the first puppet/Muppet to participate in The Masked Singer. We were floored. If this doesn’t tell you what a big kid I am, we need to talk! Bottom line, we really enjoy The Masked Singer, not a lot of reality shows we watch together, but this one is fun and fun to guess and get shocked at!

And…sorry for the spoiler alert…I wonder who’s next! I won’t do that to you again, promise!

{March 9, 2021} Happy [belated] International Women’s Day!

My plan yesterday was to celebrate women and talk about International Women’s Day and Mother Nature and my allergies said, yeah…no. Sorry…

From Wikipedia: International Women’s Day (IWD) is a global holiday celebrated annually on March 8 to commemorate the cultural, political, and socioeconomic achievements of women. It is also a focal point in the women’s rights movement, bringing attention to issues such as gender equality, reproductive rights, and violence against women.

What I truly enjoyed was seeing all the fabulous posts online, LinkedIn [I’m sure there were quite a few on FaceBook, I’m just not there very much, sorry], and so many places just celebrating women. With everything going on in the world, it’s comforting and empowering to see us lifting us each up in positive ways, isn’t that what we need more of?

This year’s [2021] theme: Choose to Challenge! Change comes from challenge, “A challenged world is an alert world”. Wow, how powerful is that?! It makes me proud to be a woman!

Can we keep this up? Not just today, but everyday. For my friends, family, nieces, daughters, granddaughters, seestah-friends, I wish only this and so much more for us. Let’s keep lifting each other up. I wish you love, strength, and peace.

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What was I thinking?