What I love! | Peaches Prattlings

{October 5, 2014} A 5k and my family was there!

Today I did my first 5k in almost 2 months and I had a cheering section!

Normally, when I do a 5k, 10k or 1/2 marathon, I am usually on my own, arriving and crossing the finish line. Now, don’t get me wrong, there have been a few races that I have done with people and as you know DCM used to take me and be there when I crossed the finish line.

Today, I had an extra special treat! ACS dropped me off at DeFazio Park at the packet pick up for the Walk for Walker 5k, http://www.walkforwalker.org/. The 5k started a few minutes after 10 and we were off, there was a 5k runners group and a 1 mile walker group.

For the first time, for most of the race, I was actually last, which was perfectly fine, because I was doing it, I didn’t care. The funny part was there was a police officer following to keep traffic back, so here i was going really slow and the officer had to drive that slowly! Even better, there were three that did hand offs, so for the first time in my life, I was followed by three police officers and I wasn’t even in trouble!

As I came around a bend about 1.5 miles in, there was my family! GES, ACS, EJS and MGS! My very own personal cheering section and it was the best feeling and sound ever! I kept running, then I heard them honking the horn and shouting as they went by to the finish!

I continued on running and then came around at the 3 mile mark, only needing to finish the .11 to the finish line, there were GES and EJS cheering me on to the finish! I crossed the finish line, got my bottle of water and waited for them to catch up so we could get the rest of the cheering section together.

Bottom line, it was so very cool to have my own cheering section there to support me during my run! I know what other runners, like my brother-in-law, ACS, or AK, feels when he does a half or full marathon and the entire family is there to cheer them on. It is fantastic!!!

Positivity Challenge – Day # 19
1 – I am thankful to have finished my first 5k in almost 2 months in 42:29, I am quite pleased with my time [for not having trained!]
2 – I am SO THANKFUL my family was there to cheer me in the middle of the course and at the end, that was awesome!!!
3 – I am thankful that I do not have to wear big poufy early 1900s dresses with teeny hats that tie under my chin

{October 4, 2014} Services, cooking, break the fast, lots of people

Yesterday, I told you what Yom Kippur, The Day of Atonement, is about and today, we observed.

As I mentioned, we fast for 24 hours, sundown to sundown, some people don’t and it’s not mandatory, but requested. Kids don’t have to fast until they become bar or bat mitzvah age, then they are adults and kind of expected, but it is a personal choice that you make for yourself.

Today we got up and went to children’s services at a different location. The services are a little shorter and more kid friendly, lots of singing, but with a more modern, folk-songy twist, which I like. The sermon that the rabbi gives was great and geared towards kids and parents alike. The services lasted about 1.5 hours, then we went back to the house to start cooking for all the people coming to break the fast, and let me tell you, it’s not easy to cook when you’re hungry!

There were about 40 people coming, kids and adults and we had to feed them all! Everyone brought something to share, but we provided the bagels, lox, cream cheese, as well as egg salad, tuna fish, challah hummus, salad, juice and coffee and monkey bread for dessert. Then people brought a few different koogle, blintz souffle, fruit salad, cheesecake, pumpkin bread, cookies, bars, you name it, we had it!

We started cooking about 12, set up around 3 and then people started arriving about 5 and we dug in about 5:30 and the feast was on! Everyone was so very hungry and it was wonderful to be able to break the fast with so many wonderful people of all ages! The last person left about 8:30 and we were pooped! It was bath, books, bed. Guess who fell asleep after reading to EMS while laying there with her!

Got up, kissed MGS, then went downstairs to hang with GES on the couch for a minute and fell asleep there, now here I am writing to you! It has been a very long day and I need some sleep, I have a 5k in the morning!

Again, I wish you a happy, healthy and sweet year. L’Shana Tova!

Positivity Challenge – Day #18
1 – I am grateful to get to be around wonderful friends and family to break the fast today.
2 – I am grateful that I may have found someone to take the piano i have to get out of my house!
3 – I am thankful that my sister, GES, and I get along so well and make amazing things happen together

{October 3, 2014} May you have an easy fast

Tonight was the beginning of Yom Kippur or The Day of Atonement.

This is the most holy day of the year for Jews, part of “The High Holy Days” beginning with Rosh Hashanah, The Jewish New Year. For Yom Kippur, The Day of Atonement, we ask g-d to forgive our sins and we ask our friends and loved ones to forgive us for any transgressions we may have had against them.

For a period of 24 hours, we fast, no food or water, so that we may concentrate on our studies and prayers to ask g-d for forgiveness and to inscribe us in The Book of Life. For Rosh Hashanah, we say “May you have a healthy, happy and sweet year’, for Yom Kippur we wish everyone to “Have an easy fast”.

So, my friends, as i sit here writing to you, If I have wronged you in any way in this past year, I apologize and ask for forgiveness.

For my friends who are fasting, I say to you “Happy New Year and may you have an easy fast”

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yom_Kippur

Positivity Challenge – Day #17
1 – I am thankful that I got to sleep until 8:30am this morning, waking before the alarm!
2 – I am thankful to have made it through another year
3 – I am thankful that my cats want to snuggle with me every night!

{October 1, 2014} Happy Birthday to Me!

Today I turned 43! Yup, you heard it! A woman admitting her age!

It was a work day, a good day, some birthday wishes, great phone calls and I lost count of the well wishes on FaceBook! Thank you to everyone who made me feel amazing by wishing me a Happy Birthday!

There were also phone calls, text messages and birthday singing to me by my dad and GES and ACS.

All I can say is Thank you Thank you Thank you!!

I got a beautiful sterling ring from GES and family, a sweet Very Bradley wallet from LaLa and some great cards from dad and my sister, brother-in-law and my nieces and dad, so much fun! Get ready to laugh!

I had a great lunch with

All in all, a great birthday!!

Positivity Challenge – Day #14
1- I am SO VERY THANKFUL to be so lucky to have been wished a happy birthday by so many people, I am SO SO SO THANKFUL to have you all in my life and care enough about me to say Happy Birthday!
2 – I am thankful for the great gifts I got for my birthday from my family!
3 – I am thankful I am here to say thank you to everyone!!!

{September 30, 2014} Back to work!

It’s time to get back to work, so here I am back in Louisville! For part of the week anyway.

The day started way too early, 5:45am, up by 6:10, showered and out the door by 6:30am. I decided to take Annie, the Beetlebug to the airport instead of a taxi or Uber and I got to put on my aggressive face when the fine drivers in Boston wanted to cut me off! Finally made it to the airport, parked and waited patiently for the shuttle.

At the airport, drop off my bag, head through security, love TSA Pre-check! On to my gate for my flight to Atlanta. I stopped at a restaurant to get some breakfast, decided to get some breakfast and I proceeded to see the woman use the same spatula to mix the and cook the food as she did to mix the other ingredients. ick.

I grabbed my breakfast and headed to the gate area, waited a few minutes, then boarded the plane. The first flight was uneventful, I had an aisle seat next to a very quiet Indian couple. Arrived in Atlanta with a few moments to spare getting to my connecting flight, only about 30, what guarantee was there that my luggage would make it with such a tight connection. Rest assured, it made it! I got to the plane, after I stopped for a snack of Nutter Butters and a bottle of water. It’s been so long since I have had Nutter Butters! Boarded the flight, no one sitting in the middle seat, wahoo, although you couldn’t move the arm rests, oh well, no one in the middle, wahoo.

Plane lands, check my voice mail…when are you going to be here? Soon! I get the car, meet PM and we head to the office, get there about 2pm, lots of things to do, go here, pick up that, look for this, back to the office to work until about 7pm, drop everyone off at their respective hotels, park, check in, change, head out to meet PM for dinner.

Then I got to talk to JCT and TS, I am happy. Now, I am writing to you, dear frineds!

Positivity Challenge – Day #13
1 – I am thankful that I made the connection between my two flights coming back to Louisville.
2 – I am thankful to be able to laugh with my friends
3 – I am thankful for the amazing air conditioning in my rental car!

{September 28, 2014} What a day!

Have you heard the expression “I need a vacation from my vacation?”

I need to go back to work to get some rest! This has been an amazing weekend and today did not disappoint!

The day started out way too early, as always, ok, not before the sun, fbut it was Sunday and before 10am is too early! About 7:45, I was prying my eyes open, but laying there in hopes they would stay glued shut, no such luck, so upstairs I went, to greet the day and the family. Then cleanup around the house, straighten things and put the toys away, that sort of thing.

Just before 11, we dropped EJS off at Sunday School and headed to J&A’s house for brunch. There we saw their daughter P, who called me Auntie J for the first time! She and MGS are the best of friends. Eventually, their son S was there for a few minutes and a bite to eat. He and EJS are the same age and a perfect fit as friends! ACS’s brother, JS and his wife AS were there as well as other friends who had all gone to camp with my brother-in-law, it was a great time, lots of fun and great conversation and I found a fellow sci-fi geek, truth be told, he might be a bigger one than me! He had himself cast in carbonate! GEEK CITY! I loved it!

After brunch, we left to pick up EJS from Sunday School, order bagels for next week and head home for a minute and a half. Then it was change into bathing suits, swim lessons! Both girls asked me to watch their lesson and to swim with them while the other had a lesson, I love when they fight over me! Swimming was fun, so great to watch them excel and get better! EJS has amazing form! I can’t wait for our next vacation to swim with them!

Then it was home for another minute and a half and then off to dinner. It was great that I was here this weekend so we could celebrate my birthday together as I will be in Louisville on my birthday. We went to a great Italian restaurant called Paparazzi and had great food, great conversation and fun! I got some beautiful presents, a charming ring from my sister’s family, it’s called the Little Black Ring, from Silpada, kind of like the little black dress every woman should have in her closet! I got a generous gift from my dad and a cute Vera Bradley wallet from LaLa. I will post pictures on my birthday [I haven’t taken any yet!] and I loved the cards I got from the family! Thank you!

Home again, home again, jiggity jig! [No roasting of fat pigs!]. PJs, games, books and bed. The wee tots are snuggled in their beds and now everyone else is, except for you and me. Even Jymy is snoring on the bed next to me!

Off to sleep I am…gotta get up in a few hours and head to the airport, back to Louisville I go!

Goodnight!

Positivity Challenge – Day #12
1 – I am thankful I was able to see my nieces at their swim lessons and beam at how much better they are getting!
2 – I am thankful to be close with my sister’s family’s friends and Auntie J to all their kids!
3 – I am so very thankful I got to spend my birthday dinner with my family tonight!!! Thank you!!!

{September 26, 2014} Some one else’s day

I was going to tell you all about my day, but I want to talk about someone else’s experience.

When I log into WordPress.com there is a news feed of blogs that I follow and I check them out, read other posts to see what people are thinking and writing about and the first one that came up was NuckolBall, written by my college buddy, Mike Nukols, you remember, the guy who created the app “101 Kick Ass Things for Dads to Do with Their Kids”. Well, Mike writes a blog called NuckolBall, the tagline is “Raising my boys to be baseball fans whether they like it or not”.

Tonight’s post was entitled “Goodbye, Mr Jeter”, about taking his son, Jack, to Jeter’s farewell game at Yankee Stadium. There are news stories all over about Derek Jeter retiring, his last home game, his last game, you name it, there are stories and tributes all over the place.

But the one that stood out was Mike and his recounting of going to the final Derek Jeter game at Yankee Stadium with his son Jack and what he went through to get there, what it’s like going to the game with his favorite person to go to a baseball game with.

Anyone who knows me, knows that I am not a baseball fan, but I do enjoy going to a game, the people watching, feeling the energy of the crowd, get a pretzel and soda, that is the life. But to read Mike describe the game itself and seeing it with his son, I was moved to tears and the emotions that welled up inside of me was incredible, I even surprised myself. It was descriptive and charming and spoke volumes about the love this man has for his child.

I wanted to watch a game with them. Thank you Mike.

Goodbye, Mr. Jeter

Positivity Challenge – Day #10
1 – I am thankful that all was well with Peanut at the vet today
2 – I am thankful to have an appointment next week to get her fixed
3 – I am grateful to have amazingly talented friends

{September 17, 2014} Watching movies with little kids

This is quite the experience.

Today, MGS wasn’t feeling well, so she stayed home from school and one of the movies we watched How To Train Your Dragon 2. She had seen the movie in the theater with her dad and sister when it came out, but of course, there were still questions and I answered.

There are always questions in the theater or at home. “Is this the scary part?” “Why is he doing that?” “Is he the good guy or bad guy?” and the list goes on. Sometimes there are more intense questions that make you think about what you’re going to say before you say it, you can’t just blurt anything out because, as you know, that sometimes leads to more questions.

Then there is that moment that they are sitting next to you and put their head on your shoulder or little hand on your leg that is right there next to them, is there a feeling any better? Not a chance!

ps…One nice thing about watching movies at home with kids…if there is a potty break, you can pause the movie!

Positivity Challenge – Day #3

1 – I am grateful to have a good job
2 – I am grateful that good job allows me to travel
3 – I am grateful I made my connecting flight

{September 16, 2014} Lunch with a friend

Today, as you may have guessed, I had lunch with a friend. A very dear friend.

I have known CC since we were in high school. We kept in touch for a while and then lost touch, as most people do and then through the invention of…da da da..you guessed it, FaceBook…we found each other and it’s been great ever since.

We stalk each other on FaceBook, just like everyone does and we have one big thing in common, our love of mud runs! He has done the Tough Mudder several times and I admire him so much for that! I love seeing his pictures and hearing tales of his adventures.

The great thing is that he lives in Massachusetts and works in Boston, so…every time I come to see my sister, I check to see if he is available for lunch and sometimes we connect and sometimes not, as the case always is.

Today, we were able to connect, wahoo! We met at a Pizzeria Uno near his office and spent lunch just catching up, he regaled me with stories of his travels for work and with his family and what the kids are doing, the sports they are playing, activities they are involved in, it’s great because I since I know their faces from FaceBook, I can picture them doing whatever it is.

The best part is that we are very good friends and don’t need to see each other or talk to each other all the time to have a connection. You know how that is, you have a friend you haven’t seen in a while, then get together and it’s like no time has passed.

We both travel for work and maybe one day our paths/schedules will overlap. If not, there is always Pizzeria Uno!

Have a great night. Don’t forget…day two is below

Positivity Day #2

1 – I am grateful for friends who want to spend time with me
2 – I am grateful that my sister and her family are taking such great care of my cats
3 – I am grateful I was able to get an appointment to have my cat seen so she can get snipped!

{September 15, 2014} Travel day

Today was a travel day…I was supposed to fly out about 6pm, based on my schedule as of last week and then this week, it changed, nothing on the books for me today, so earlier flight I took.

Good thing too because I got an email at 8pm from the travel agency who books our travel saying there was a disruption of service at the Atlanta airport, so I would have been even more delayed, no thanks!

The drawback to changing your flight at 1am…your seats stink. The good part, I got on two flights and I was gone! Works for me! I got to the hotel from work about 2am, packed and hit the hay. Down by 2:45, up by 8 and out the door by 8:30. Got downstairs and realized I forgot my phone, which had my ID, fun. Run back upstairs, then downstairs and head to the airport, luckily, the airport is only about 10 minutes from the hotel.

Drop off the car, drop off the luggage, head through TSA pre-check, yeah! Find some food, board the plan, sit in the exit row next to a guy who had to be at least 6′ 7″ tall, I felt for him, I really did. He had to duck the entire time he was walking off the plane, nice guy.

Get off the plane, go from Terminal C to Terminal A, find food, find my gate, get a seat, board the plane, 3rd row from the back of the plane, great…Someone is in my seat, he had the seat in front of that one, no worries, I’ll take it, it’s still a window. Eat half my sandwich, fall asleep for the majority of the flight, score! Finish my sandwich and watch two episodes of Kevin Smith’s Comic Book Men, http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2174367/?ref_=nm_flmg_prd_2.

Land, take a taxi to GES’ office, find her, hang out for a bit, head to the commuter rail to her house, say hello to the cats, put laundry in the washer, empty the cat box, call vet offices for an appointment, help make dinner. You tired yet?

Kids finally get home, lots of running, jumping into my arms, hugs and kisses, dinner, dessert, clean up, swap clothes to dryer, baths, stories, cat scare, night night kisses, cat cuddling, emails, chatting with a cousin, write my three things I’m grateful for for my challenge, write to you and bed.

Good night!

Positivity Challenge, as promised, Day 1:

I am grateful that I remembered to start this!
I am grateful for my fabulous family!
I am grateful that my cats are happy at my sister’s house!

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