What I love! | Peaches Prattlings

{February 21, 2014} A Job!

Here it is, as promised!

A job! A job! I got a job! Can you tell I’m excited? Well, I am! I will tell you about being unemployed some other time, I just want to tell you about this new adventure in my life.

I was applying for a lot of jobs over the last few months and to be honest, I don’t remember all the ones I applied to, I have some records, but not all. I was contacted by a recruiter for a training position, specializing in Epic, multiple modules.

Epic is an amazing company, when I was with Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta, training Epic: ASAP, I looked the company up and realized I was hooked! The campus, the philanthropy, the mission, the ideology, the naming convention, I wanted it all! Out of all the software applications I have trained on, Epic captured my attention more than any other. One of my goals in life is to go to Madison, WI and tour the campus and all it has to offer. Ok, enough of an Epic commerical.

I spoke with the recruiter and she told me about the position and I was hooked! Everything about it was what I was looking for…Training, on a software application I know and appreciate, travel, which I’ve been wanting to get back to for a while, waht could be better? After I spoke with her, she set up a phone interview with a trainer/manager for the company. After I had my next phone interview, I spoke with the recruiter again and asked if I was available to fly to Chicago for an interview. As it happens I was.

I have never been flown anywhere for an interview, it was exciting, off to buy a suit! I had to get a suit, for the company and the other things I had worn to past interviews, if you don’t get the job, then you don’t wear that again for another interview! I was actually on the phone with JASC while I was looking!

This all happened in a blur! I flew out to Chicago on Sunday, December 15th, had my interview with two people on the 16th, two very different people, giving me a lot of insight into the project and the company. I went home Monday and sat biting my nails waiting! I was told in my first phone interview that if it goes well, they would bring me back in January for a second interview.

I got an email on Tuesday that it was a go and they wanted to move on, whew! Did I have some time to talk? Ok, so even if I didn’t get the job, I had a second interview, so it was a start! Let me tell you, I finally took a breath and almost started crying, I have no idea why, but I was exctied!

Then i sat and waited for her to call. When she did, we had pleasantries, then she asked me what I thought about the interviews, I gave her my feedback and when I was done, she told me that the partners got together and they wanted to move forward, excuse me? They wanted to make me an offer! WAHOO! A job that I really wanted, benefits, pension!

February 10th couldn’t come fast enough! And some of the friends who knew kept asking how the new job was, I kept saying, I’ll tell you in February! And I know I’ve been alluding to a job for a while, but I wasn’t ready to talk about it, I wanted to start before i said anything.

Here it is! I am a Project Associate with DELOITTE! Yes, I said Deloitte! http://www.deloitte.com/view/en_US/us/index.htm. This is a fantastic company to be a part of, and I’m not just saying that because they hired me! I am a software trainer, training on Epic, specifically the Willow module and I will be in Michigan, traveling back and forth for the length of this project, approximately six months.

I have it all! A great new job for a great company, training on something I really like and enjoy, training, which I love, traveling and have a great group of people to work with and, oh yeah, they pay me! Ding ding, we have a winner!

So, that is my news and for those of you who have been in the know, thank you for all of your love and support through this and for those of you wondering, now you know and thanks for the good vibes!

I’m off to finish packing so I can head out tomorrow, another adventure awaits!

{February 19, 2014} First outing with new co-workers

Tonight, I had my first official social outing with new co-workers and I want to tell you about it.

First, I have been wanting to tell you something, but things keep coming up and my post tomorrow should be about this, but…I GOT A JOB!!! I GOT A JOB!!! I GOT A JOB!!! ok, there you got, it’s out and I’m sorry if I hurt your eardrums, but I’m a little excited. Soon, promise!

So, my job has been in Michigan for the next few months, traveling back and forth to Denver and points in between. There are 27 of us in this particular group, there is another group from the company and another group coming in, we are going to be about 100 strong! Get this, in my particular group, the dynamic is interesting, there are 4 guys and 23 gals, go figure! Girl power!

We have been going 90 to nothin’ as the saying goes, working on all sorts of stuff for both organizations and after Monday, we were separated into our particular tracks that we are going to be associated with and aren’t all going to see each other on a daily basis.

Two people had the great idea of getting together for a happy hour/get together/relax/blow off steam gathering tonight and it worked out perfectly! It wasn’t official or planned early enough, but we still had a really good group and guess what…ALL CHICKS! So, it was kind of a Girls Night Out! We had a good meal, good drinks [I had coca cola with cherries!], GREAT cookies, good conversation and A LOT of laughter!!!

We went to a Max & Erma’s, less than a mile from the hotel, so I walked. The walk wasn’t bad, my choice of footware wasn’t the smartest! Since there is still a lot of snow and ice, sneakers may not have been the best idea, but I made it safely and had mostly dry feet. Guess what I saw when I walked in! They all shouted, turn around a look! It was a University of Michigan MONOPOLY Board! I was home!

So much fun was had! KNOB was the one who texted me initially and got the ball rolling, I texted KS and AAS. When I got there, KNOB, KS, MS, EU, TS, TS, VR, RM were all there getting their happy hour on! I was only a few minutes behind. AAS was the last to arrive and said the funniest thing! She knew we wouldn’t talk about her if she was there! Is that a riot! We definitely laughed out loud!

We talked about our day, what we learned, our thoughts about the things we had learned and what was to come. We talked about our experiences in the field, our experiences with the modules we are going to be teaching, funny stories being road warriors, doing 5ks, traveling, so many things, and honestly, the only thing we said about the people that weren’t there was who was missing! We seem to be a very agreeable group! I am happy and lucky to be a part of this group!

At the end of the evening, we decided that Wednesday nights would be our get-togethers and we would pick a different place each week to go to, giving those of us not from the area a way to experience new places, maybe I can get a group together to do a 5k! The nice thing about getting together now is that in about 7 weeks, our schedules are going to be totally different and scattered that there may not be many opportunities to get together on a regular basis or much at all, well with the entire group.

All in all, a great time and I’m looking forward to the next event and getting to know these people even better!

{February 18, 2014} A sad day for Sweetums

It’s a very sad day today.

I just found out that John Henson, son of Jim Henson, who I hold near and dear to my heart as the creator of The Muppets, passed away on Friday after a sudden and massive heart attack. I still remember when his father died in 1990, incredibly sad. John Henson was only 48 years old.

John Henson’s claim to fame is voicing the lovable big, goofy and guilable Sweetums. For those of you not “in the know”, “Sweetums is a large, hairy ogre who towers above his human and Muppet co-stars. His bulldog-like lower jaw, thick eyebrows, shabby brown shirt, and threatening expression belie his more or less genial nature”.
http://muppet.wikia.com/wiki/Sweetums

a href=”https://peachesprattlings.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/140215215651-john-henson-sweetums-story-top.jpg”>

You can see Sweetums in episodes of the Muppet Show and all the movies and then some. If you remember The Muppet Movie, after we’re introduced to him, we see him running down the road chasing Fozzie, Kermit, Miss Piggy and Gonzo [well, he’s on] in the Studabaker. I happened to find the ENTIRE original Muppet Movie on You Tube, watch it! But…the scene I am talking about is 48 minutes into the movie. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MOHVSi65bPk

Now, one of my all time favorite movies is the Frog Prince, staring Kermit and his nephew Robin and Sweetums works for the Witch and in classic Muppet fashion, sings and dances! Here’s a scene from that movie, singing of course!

When Jim Henson passed away, I didn’t know what was going to happen and then Brian Henson took over and his first movie was Muppet Christmas Carol and it was great, I wonder who is going to take over this awesome task! He will be missed.

http://www.cnn.com/2014/02/15/showbiz/john-henson-dies/index.html

{February 17, 2014} I am a hotel snob

There, I said it! Whew, it’s out in the open!

They say the first step is to admit you have a problem! ha ha

Years ago, it didn’t matter where I stayed, up to a point. Best Western was my hotel of choice at one point, it was reasonable, the rooms were clean, breakfast was free and I was only sleeping there, right? Right. Then I started traveling for work and I had to make a choice, well, didn’t have to, but you kind of need to stick with one to get the real benefits.

I have stayed at Marriotts, even have points there, SPG, Holiday Inn, you name it, I have points, but I decided that Hilton Hotels was the way to go for me. BG says he won’t stay at Hilton, he doesn’t want to give Paris Hilton any more money! Ha! He decided that Marriott is his hotel of choice and more power to him. I’ve stayed at a few Marriotts over the last few years and when I’ve stayed on the Concierge level, it’s very nice, but my last stay at a Marriott wasn’t the best, especailly since I’ve become spoiled by Hilton!

When I was on the road a few years ago, sometimes there weren’t any other options than Motel 6 or Days Inn or a few others and they were fine, a place to sleep, internet connection, but not my first choice.

There is something I really like about the level of service I get from Hilton properties. I am Gold Level, working towards Diamond this year and I know I’ll make it. I always have free wifi, free breakfast at most locations that don’t offer free breakfast, when I check in, two bottles of water, sometimes cookies or a snack waiting for me when I get to the room. There is a standard that they hold themselves to and strive to meet that level and standard at each hotel for each guest.

I’ve also had a time or two where something was wrong, and when hasn’t that happened and they corrected the issue immediately, that’s what matters to me. I was reading something that compared Hilton to Walt Disney World, that level of white glove service, well, they have me hooked.

When I need something, they do what they can to accomodate me, I always have a handwritten note in my room welcoming me to the hotel by a manager, little things that make me feel welcome. One time I stayed at a Doubletree hotel and as you may know, they are famous for their warm chocolate chip cookie at check-in [you can even buy a cannister], I asked when were they going to offer other cookies at check-in, they asked what my favorite cooke was, white-chocolate-macadamia-nut. I went to dinner that evening at CWB’s house, wonderful evening with her daughter, SB and husband, DB, and when I got back to my room, on the desk was a tray with two glasses of milk [with saran wrap on them] and a plate of 4 white-chocolate-chunk-macadamia-nut cookies [saran wrapped] and a hand written note with a flower on the front drawn with fruit/colored markers. How nice was that?

I know that Hilton properties are not inexpensive and definitely easier when traveling on business to have someone else pay, but I’ve earned points and sometimes I can find one for less than $80/nite and to me, it’s worth it. In addition, you can find a Hilton Hotel almost anywhere!

The beds are so incredibly comfortable and the pillows, you sink into them and if it wasn’t for the alarm, I’d sleep and sleep and sleep! And if you get to spend the night at a Homewood Suites, even better, they have full kitchens [full sized refridgerator, sink, dishwasher, oven, range, microwave] sometimes a separate bedroom with a cieling fan, living room, it’s your home away from home, even serving breakfast, happy hour and dinner, how can you beat that?

So, there you have it, I am a hotel snob and I’m ok with it! I am going say goodnight, get under the covers and snuggle into my very comfy bed and drift off to sleep! Sweet dreams!

http://hhonors3.hilton.com/en/index.html

{February 15, 2014} Early call, breakfast, skiing, movies

Last night we were beat, and I mistakenly thought I was going to sleep in. Ha ha on me.

Someone called at 8am on a Saturday because they thought I was still in the eastern time zone, so it would have been 10am, reasonable, but it’s still Saturday! That’s ok, we caught up and then it was time for breakfast.

DCM slaved over some egos with butter and Mrs Butterworth, yum! We got dressed and headed out the door, I was heading to Breckenridge to ski, he was heading to Błackhawk to get his game on. Unfortunately, it started snowing when he got half way there, so he came home.

I continued on too Breckenridge, after ensuring that he was ok with us spending part of the day apart, now that he wasn’t going to Błackhawk, since we haven’t seen each other and I’m heading out of town for two weeks, all good.

I made it to Breckenridge and found a place to park, not an easy feat, the place was packed! I found free packing on a side street, geared up (.it’s getting easier by the way) and headed towards Main Street. The great thing about Breck, apparently that’s what those in the know call it, so I’m calling it Breck! is that they have a great infrastructure for getting people around.

They have free shuttles to take you from side to side, section to section, lift to lift, wherever you want to go. This one dropped me off at the gondola parking lot, I hopped on the gondola, went to the top, where there is a lodge, restaurant, rentals, hotel and lift.

I’m hoping one time we will stay at a stay and ski, that’s where you walk out of your room or condo right to the lift! Wow!

I got on the lift, this was a chair lift, seating six and if you’re a single, just hop on with other people. It’s nice, people ask you to join them and you meet the most interesting people on a chair lift and gondola.

As we are heading up to the top, it starts snowing, it’s crazy, snowing sideways, very windy! When we get to the top, there are times with very low visibility, it was crazy!

There are different peaks, catering to all levels of ability. Today, I did blue squares, which are for medium experience level. It was awesome! The powder was soft, no ice and easy to maneuver, it brought back so many memories when I skied when I was a kid.

I need a Go-Pro camera!

I was even feeling better and more confident, that helped. I did the first run and headed right back up for the next run, after two or three, I decided I needed some sustanance, I headed to Sevens to Go, got my food and sat outside while it snowed, it was great! I enjoyed a smashed potato bowl! It was mashed potatoes with vegetable stew on top, yum!

After I finished, I did a few more runs and then I was done, it was snowing harder, my knees were talking to me and I headed to the gondola down to the parking lot, hopped on the shuttle and headed to my car, who, by the way, doesn’t like this weather! She needs a bath!

Just so you know…I’m definitely going back to Breck! Who’s coming with me?

When i got home, we headed out to pick a few things up and then back home to watch two movies, “White House Down” and “Escape Plan”, reviews coming soon.

http://www.breckenridge.com

{February 14, 2014} Happy Valentine’s Day

It’s Valentine’s Day! It means a lot of different things to a lot of different people.

Valentine’s Day has its origins hundreds of years ago, there are so many stories and traditions. Since the 19th century, we have been sending notes and then cards and then chocolates and gifts. Some people think the bigger the better, others feel it’s the thought that counts, that doesn’t mean to say that means nothing, it just means what’s important to that person.

Flowers are a big deal, roses more specifically, here is the meaning of the colors, http://www.rkdn.org/roses/colors.asp. Isn’t it incredible, roses are not an inexpensive flower, but get incredibly more expensive as we get closer to Valentine’s Day, it’s a sellers market. Don’t get me wrong, I love roses, brown, orange, white, yellow, they make me happy, but my favorite flower? Sunflowers, how can you not smile when you look at a sunflower? Daisies, they can make you sigh.

Some people feel that jewelry is the way to go, and hey, I’m a girl, I like the sparkle, shiny and bling! I’ve received some sweet and wonderful jewelery, and I love it, I’ve received teddy bears and bubble baths, all making me happy, but…Let me tell you something…being a techno junkie dating a techno junkie is awesome! I’m not going to tell you what I got, I don’t want to seem like a braggart, but if my friends ask, I will tell them. The best part…I was TOTALLY surprised, which is not easy for DCM to do! It wasn’t the “normal Valentine’s Day gift” but then again, I’m not a normal girl and he’s not a normal boy and when I saw what it was, I almost passed out! I’m way happy! Thank you DCM!

I think he thought my gift for him was “sweet”, lots of different items with notes on them telling him how I feel.

I also get the most wonderful and thoughtful gifts from my dad, he has a way of finding things he knows I will like! This year it is a “Sketch-A-Day” book! He had sent me “Wreck this Journal” which I am still working on! Thank you daddy! I hope you like what I sent!

For some, Valentine’s Day is a challenge, what to do? We just started dating, do I get him/her a gift? Do I just get flowers? Do I go crazy to show how I feel or hold off so s/he doesn’t think I’m stalking or a nut? Things are not going so well, do I break it off before Valentine’s Day? Do I wait and get something for him/her so it’s not awkward? If I wait, how long do I wait? The pressure!

For others, it’s a day of haters. Maybe you just broke up with someone, and hate everyone, maybe you’re single and feel it’s just another chance for industry to make money. Maybe you go to a black heart dance/party. Maybe you have a party for one, or take yourself on a date, the possibilities are endless!

For others, its a time to spend with family and/or friends, celebrating the time you have together, enjoying each other. For some, it’s a day to get married, easy date to remember! it’s a day filled with love, so why not? and when it is on a weekend, even better! maybe it’s a day to get engaged, same reasons!

For one special and dear friend and her daughter, it’s Gotcha Day! This refers to the day that the adoption is finalized, it’s official, parent and child. From the book, The Joy of Family Rituals, “It is designed to show your adopted child how much you wanted him and that every year you continue to cherish him.” – See more at: http://www.adoptivefamilies.com/articles.php?aid=127#sthash.Qefx10Gy.dpuf

Of course, i am talking about SDL and the pickle, Miss A!!! Wow were all our lives changed when she brought Miss A home. What a sweet tribute on FaceBook today! A fantastic picture of her smiling and laughing and a wonderful message from her mommy. It was three years ago today that SDL walked out of the orphanage a mommy and Miss A, her daughter, officially. I got to pick them up from the airport, with her parents, when they came home, the family was complete.
http://www.adoptivefamilies.com/articles.php?aid=127

So…however you celebrate Feburary 14th, Valentine’s Day, I hope it’s what you wanted and hoped for and enjoyed.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Valentine’s_Day

{February 14, 2014} Frozen

Tonight we watched Frozen, it was interesting.

Question…in most Disney animated movies, why do the parent[s] have to die or be dead already? There seems to always be only one parent, why is that? That being said, moving on.

As I had heard from a few people and I agree, it was a little darker; the parents die, there is a curse on the daughter, the other daughter gets injured by her sister, there’s a prince and a villain. There are also funny animals, a reindeer named Sven, a silly snowman named Olaf, and a horse that looked a lot like Maximillian from Tangled, but we knew he wasn’t, also a glimpse of Rapunzel and Eugene as well!

In pure Disney style, there was still a happy ending, which is good, it gets very stressful! It was a muscial through and through, the moment the main character started singing, I said, this will be on Broadway! It’s gotten such a following, rave reviews there are even sing-a-longs at the movie theater.

It’s hard to say who the best character was…Olaf, Sven…maybe Anna or Chirstoph, interesting that the non-humans could steal the show, huh? Overall, they were definitely needed for some tension relief.

The moral of the story? Love conquers all. yeah, that’s about right!

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2294629/?ref_=nv_sr_1

{February 12, 2014} Random thoughts for a Thursday

Here’s the problem with my statement or blog title..I know it’s Wednesday!

I thought of the title, wrote it and thought, duh…but I was committed, so follow through! Today was another day of orientation, this time about the actual project, not just orientation about the company I am working for. And there were some random thoughts and things that happened.

One of the women I work with has the initials of KB, sound familiar, at least it wasn’t KAB! That would confuse everyone! I asked her what her initials were and she said she has a few nicknames that she goes by, nothing clicked, so I asked for her middle initial, N, so I put it together KNB and I called out KNOB! I said I’m going to call you KNOB! She LOVED it! So, one of my new friends is KNOB! Just say it, you’ll laugh!

Then…there were a few of us left at the hotel, KS and I went to dinner in the hotel bar, after a while, we saw MS, I like that, she’s a MS! and she joined us, we were catching up on our day, talking about books, authors, movies, college mascots, the weather, fur coats, then we started talking about fur coats and what girl didn’t have a rabbit coat when they were about ten, this was the late ’70s/early ’80s. Then we talked about fake fur and I said ooh, “a fabbit” coat [faux rabbit!] that cracked us up and MS said I should blog about it, so here you go!

I had more random thoughts pop in my head, but I’m done for now. What sort of random thoughts have you had…that made you laugh a lot?

{February 11, 2014} I had dinner in Canada, what did you do today?

Sorry, I laughed out loud when I wrote that! Let me explain…

I am in Detroit for orientation [details coming soon] and as I mentioned the other day, we are across the river from Windsor, Ontario. There were a few of us who joked about going to Canada for dinner, so tonight, when we were done with our session, one of the women, KS and I decided we were going to go to Canada and go to dinner. We were hungry, so off to the rooms to drop our stuff, freshen up and head out.

I called my dad and he asked what I was doing for dinner, I told him and he laughed, along with me. When I talked to TT, I told her and it was her old stomping ground, too fun! You know…the drinking age is 19 in Canada.

We got the car, found the tunnel, paid the toll to get into Canada, showed our passports at the border, apparently my answering the guard in french, when she said hello and asked a question in french was wrong, ok. We found the restaurant, supposedly in Little Italy, didn’t look like any Little Italy I know, a few italian restaurants and that was about it. We went in and joined the other six diners.

The food was decent, the service was terrific and the company very enjoyable. We laughed, got to know each other, we’ve only known each other for two days, but have become fast friends. After dinner, we drove back into the US, to the hotel, laughing all the way and up to our rooms, we’re next door to each other, agreed on a time to meet in the morning to go downstairs and said goodnight.

I’m still chuckling, working in the US, dinner in another country, home to sleep in the US. Tee hee hee.

Good night!

{February 11, 2014} Penelope

The other day, I finally watched Penelope, starring Christina Ricci.

The description on imdb.com “A modern romantic tale about a young aristocratic heiress born under a curse that can only be broken when she finds true love with “one who will love her faithfully.”

I remember seeing the trailers when it came out in 2006 and I wanted to see it, but it wasn’t in the theater very long, but it’s on Netflix, so yeah for me!

When I saw the trailer, I thought it looked cute and after watching it, I was right! I have enjoyed Christina Ricci from the time she was a little girl inrmaids, then of course in Addams Family, looking forward to watching her as Lizzie Borden!

She plays a girl who is the great, great, great, great…granddaughter of a man who had a curse put on the family, she was born with a pig nose. Her parents, Richard Grant and Chatherin O’Hara, well, her father just dotes on her and her mother tries her best to find a husband for her daughter, who could break the curse.

Peter Dinklage plays a reporter that has been trying to get a photo of Penelope and expose the family, James Avory plays one of the suitors selected to meet and potentially marry Penelope. The suitors are all required to sign a gag order about meeting Penelope.

Penelope is clever and smart and sweet and loving and just wants to be loved, break the curse and please her parents.

The one person she is drawn to more than anyone and is drawn to her pulls away because he realizes that he is not someone who could break the curse or give her what she needs, but he’s the only one who doesn’t see her deformity, he sees her, really sees her.

In the end, she takes a chance, takes a step outside and discovers a whole new undiscovered world. Along the way, she meets a lot of different people, Reece Witherspoon being one of them, befriends her, who accepts her for who she is, and helps her discover who she really is and can be.

It’s a charming movie with a great message. Learn to love and like yourself. Besides, if you don’t love yourself, how can anyone else?

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0472160/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1

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