What I love! | Peaches Prattlings

{March 22, 2014} And so it begins…Happy Happy Birthday EJS!

I told you there would be more to talk about starting today!

The day started off too early, for the day, not for the lovin! I must have been expecting it, because as soon as I heard the little feet hit the top of the stairs of the basement, I smiled.

They got to the bed and EJS gently touched my arm and said, very softly, I might add, “Auntie J, it’s time to get up”. I said “Is that the birthday girl?” She jumped on the bed, hugged me and I covered her with kisses. MGS tried her best to get on the bed by herself [side note, it’s a blow up mattress on top of a pull out couch, the top of the bed came up to her neck!] so I grabbed her aned pulled her onto the bed, got my hugs and covered her with kisses!

We all stayed under the covers for a bit, then EJS left and MGS played for a while and then headed upstairs, I guess it was time to get up. I went upstairs for a quick shower and checked out EJS’ room, her daddy had decorated it with all sorts of shiny ballons including a giant 7! Can you believe it?!

For her birthday, EJS wanted to go to Starbucks for breakfast and away we went, with enough time for treats and then back home in time for the school bus. After she left for school, we had about 40 minutes before we had to be at her school as well. We were going to see her first grade class recite poetry! An elementary school poetry slam, so to speak!

We were greated by two classmates and escorted to her classroom, where we were treated to a lesson about poetry, then they recited two poems together, a song, then EJS read two poems that she wrote, one called ” I come from” all about family and what she likes to go and see and places she likes and movie, you name it, she wrote about it. The second poem was call “Cars”, it was short and sweet, just like her.

After all the kids read their poems, some one and others two, then they sang two songs, it was fantastic! I took some videos and some photos, boy does EJS look like her mommy! We had a great time, so proud of our poet!

Then it was home to get some work done, I ran some errands and then dad and LaLa got here and eventually, we went to pick up EJS from aftercare and we headed to meet ACS and MGS, along with ACS’ “big brother” S and his wife B at EJS’ restaurant of choice, The Cheesecake Factory. Luckily the company was terrific, because the service was awful! I did my thing and told the waiter that it was EJS’ birthday and of course, when we ordered dessert, it came out with a candle and serenade, she loved it.

After dinner, we walked a little, headed home and it was time to open presents. An Easy Bake Oven from Auntie J, books and clothes from LaLa, books, games and puzzlers from Papa, tomorrow we are going to American Girl after her party for Papa’s next gift! And last but not least, for tonight anyway, Frozen from mommy and daddy! BIG hit! MGS had some treats of her own, games, puzzles and books, a great night all around!

Then it was story time, new books for night night and lights out, well, for the girls.

The grown ups went downstairs, dad and LaLa bade us good night, I made some brownies for the party tomorrow and GES and ACS chilled for a bit, then said goodnight.

Told you it was going to be a jam packed day! Gotta get some sleep because tomorrow is packed: Birthday party, more shopping, birthday brunch for dinner with all the March birthdays in the family and extended family, it’s going to be another crazy day!

Sweet dreams and Happiest of Happy Birthdays to my wonderful, smart, caring, funny, sweet SEVEN year old niece, EJS. I love you!

{March 20, 2014} writer’s block…or maybe I’m just tired

What to talk about?

It’s 1:15am, I got to Boston a few hours ago, GES picked me up, we were able to catch up just the two of us for the ride home, it was great. I saw ACS when we got to the house, we caught up a little, eventually, they went up to get some sleep, I did a little laundry and here I am sitting talking with you. I have a lot to say, but I can’t think of one thing to talk about.

You should see the way they decorated EJS’ room for her birthday tomorrow, well, today! She’s going to be so very excited when she wakes up in a few hours!

I’ll have much more to tell you over the weekend! There’s a poetry reading, birthday dinner, birthday brunch, going into the office and then back to Michigan on Sunday, whirlwind! Of course, maybe with some Muppets Most Wanted thrown in…I can’t wait to be woken up by my two favorite wee tots in a few hours! Gotta get some sleep!

Good night!

{March 18, 2014} The Muppets are coming! I am such a child!

March 21st is a great day, this year for two reasons.

First…my most wonderfullest niece, EJS, turns SEVEN!!! OH MY GAWD! And…I’m going to be there to celebrate with her! I made her a promise, I would always be there, either on her birthday or for her party and I am keeping my promise! Friday birthday, Saturday, party! [I may repeat myself when I talk about this wonderful event again! sorry!]

Second…the inspriation for this post…THE “MUPPETS MOST WANTED” Movie is coming out on FRIDAY!!! I am such a child! I know that and I’m ok with it! I have loved the Muppets since I was a kid and was first introduced to Sesame Street and then when The Muppet Show premiered in 1976, http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0074028/?ref_=nv_sr_1, I was hooked. I own the first three seasons of The Muppet Show, [that’s all that’s out on DVD as of now], all the movies, some that you may never have heard of.

There is something special and magical about The Muppets, not just that they make me feel like a kid, which is AWESOME! [must be read in that kid-excitement voice!] but I smile when I hear a muppet voice, song, see a video, you name it, there is just something comforting about the Muppets. Maybe it’s the memories they envoke, the good thoughts and times, the traditions.

One tradition was the night before Thanksgiving we would watch The Muppet Movie and the The Wizard of Oz, go to bed and my dad, sister and I would get up way too early to go to the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. That memory alone makes me smile.

I can remember specific scenes in Sesame Street that made me smile, or the guest stars on the Muppet Show, I had some of my first introductions to stars there! I can still see Alice Cooper walking down the dungeon stairs, Carol Burnette dressed like a giant vegetable singing, Dr Teeth and the Electric Mayhem Orchestra, John Denver, Beverly Sills, I could go on and on and on! And the guest stars in the movies! Steve Martin, Bernadette Peters, Whoopie Goldberg, Dom DeLouise, Gregory Hines…the list goes on and on, its almost like a game, can you name all the stars? Sometimes it’s great to look back and see stars that are no longer with us and how they reached out to a younger generation.

How about the famous people who are immortalized by being portrayed as a muppet? Vincent Price, Pat Sajack, The Andrews Sisters, that list goes on and on!

They started premiering movies in 1979 every few years through 1984, then a jump to 1992 through 1999, then eleven years until the next movie. TOO long!
The Muppet Movie June 22, 1979
The Great Muppet Caper June 26, 1981
The Muppets Take Manhattan July 13, 1984
The Muppet Christmas Carol December 11, 1992
Muppet Treasure Island February 16, 1996
Muppets from Space July 14, 1999
The Muppets November 23, 2011
Muppets Most Wanted March 21, 2014

I can sit and watch the movies over and over again, I know you’re shocked, but I love them. I am a big kid and i will go see these movies by myself, why not? I’m a great date! I’m looking for a midnight show on Thursday in Boston! You know I’ll be there front row!

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2281587/?ref_=nv_sr_1

{March 13, 2014} Copacabana

What a movie!

How can you go wrong with Groucho Marx and Carmen Miranda? There is a great supporting cast including Steve Cochran and the crooner Andy Russell. Groucho Marx plays Lionel Q Deveraux, a failed vaudville star/agent who switches to agent for his long time girlfriend/fiance Carmen Navarro. He gets her an audition at the Copacobana club as Carmen, a fun, lively brunette with a fruit basket on her head and then throws in a double bill getting her to audtion as Mademoiselle Fifi, a long legged blond with a veil covering her face.

If you know anything about Groucho Marx and/or Carmen Miranda, then you know there can only be silliness, pratfalls and hilarity. Just picture it, Carmen Miranda as a brunette, then running around to get upstairs to perform as a blond! Think she gets a little confused and winded? Groucho Marx is, well, Groucho Marx! ever on point and funny with his trademark moustache and cigar.

Check out some videos.
In the first one, as Carmen Navarro, you will even see Steve Cochran, Groucho Marx and Andy Russell!
Carmen Navarro http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wFOogEdoQwo

Here is a video of Mlle singing:
Mlle Fifi http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ht0Hqc4E184

I would love to add this and other Carmen Miranda movies to my collection, she was something! Groucho Marx too!

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0039277/?ref_=fn_al_tt_2

{March 12, 2014} A response to a comment

A friend from high school, MDC, read my post last night and had a few things to say about it.

First thing I would like to say is bravo for telling me what you thought of my post, honest and open. I loved it! And I agreed with some things and disagreed with other things.

She felt that my post was more about body image than running and a commentary on the article I referenced. I suppose that could be considered true and not true. I know, confusing.

I’d like to address a few points. She thought I wanted to be a wickedly skinny minnie [size 3] or at least, that’s the size she mentioned more than once. I can assure her and you that first, I have no desire to be a size 3 nor would I ever get to that size, I don’t think that would be healthy for me. I’m a 12, got there about 5 years ago and I like being a 12, but I would prefer to be a more fit 12, like I was when I first got to this size. [I remember the day I was able to pull my jeans on and off without unbuttoning, what?] If I even got to a 10, more power to me, but I’m happy with my number.
I want to be healthier and feel better in my skin, that’s really all.

She said that society has helped in screwing up our self images as women and she’s absolutely 100% correct! Not everyone is meant to be thin, genetics play a big part in how you grow and develop.

You can be fit and not be a size 3 and you’re right, but you can also be a size 3 and be unhealthy. The last “acceptable” discrimination is making women of average weight or being curvy and/or voluptuous as disgusting or unsexy. I both agree and don’t agree. I agree that there is a lot of discrimination against average weight or voluptuous women, but on the other hand, there are some great strides being made in the world of modeling, Emme, the “first” plus sized model, more and more spokespeople, well, spokeswomen, are coming out encouraging that we should love ourselves as we are.

She said if I am athletic, I should focus on that, I wish I could say I was athletic! ha ha! I’m working on it! Or, focusing on it! I promise that I don’t feel inadequate because I’m not 90 pounds, I hope I never get to 90 pounds! People will really start to worry about me!

I loved her last directive: I admire your aspiration/ dedication as a runner…..That’s all! You rock and run with pride!!! I say to that “Yes ma’am!”

Again, MDC, I say thank you, first, for reading my blog, I am more flattered and honored by that than anything! Second, thank you for your honesty and openess with your opinion and feelings. Don’t stop!

{March 9, 2014} Who knew skiing with a cold could feel good!

Today I knew I was going skiing, all depending on the weather and the weather was good, so away I went!

We got up, had breakfast and I took off, I wanted to get a head start on my day and DCM was heading to Błackhawk for a poker tournament a little later. Apparently I had been spoiled in my other trips, this one took almost two hours! There was one spot with some slow down, of course, no reason for it!

I decided to go to Keystone, it was do crowded, that I had to go to another lot and get shuttled to the gondola. I had taken DayQuil when I had gotten up and then when I got to the mountain and up I went, hoping for the best and it was awesome!

Being out in the cold and having the wind go through me was fantastic! I didn’t sniffle, my nose only ran twice, it was terrific! I did six times top to bottom, some times going half ways down and taking the chair lift back up. I took trails I had never taken before and realized why I hadn’t before and won’t again!

I encountered a lot of nice people, on the chair lifts, when I wiped out several people stopped, I gave them the thumbs up, one of the emergency guys helped me get my skis out of the very deep powder! I even met a field mouse, what are the odds? I saw something moving across the mountain, realized it was alive! I hope it he made it to the other side.

After a few hours, I was ready to head for home. I stopped at one of the stores having a sale, got a hoody and a new ski jacket, orange this time with lots of zippered pockets and some inside pockets! Both half off, how could I say no?

I was still feeling great, nose clear and then as soon as I got back in the car and started driving…stuffed nose and sniffles, boo hiss! Here I am, back at home, NyQuil taken and laying in bed,hoping for the best. I need to get back on the mountain!

{March 4, 2014} LB is three!

Can you believe it? I can’t!

I remember the day I first met her, it was at her first birthday party, what a cutie! I had known about her before she was here, when DCM first told me that her mommy was expecting. We had been dating a few months when she was born and I hadn’t met his kids just yet. I had been wanting to meet LB for a long time and I still remember the day that he gave me an envelope and when I opened it, it was an invitation to her first birthday party! Really? Oh boy! I couldn’t wait!

The day of the party, I met LB AND the family I hadn’t met yet, Oh boy! It was great, they all made me fell incredibly welcome and I appreciated that so much. LB wasn’t sure about me, but you could tell she loved her grandpa and oh boy, the moment she was born DCM was done!

Since meeting her, we’ve spent time together, playing, dinners even some one on one time with just DCM and I in Las Vegas, so much fun and what a ball of energy! Facetime has been great for us to see and chat with her, sometimes when I was still in Georgia, DCM would Facetime with me and I’d see LB. I had this tissue box with Cookie Monster, Elmo, Ernie and Big Bird, I can do all the voices, so I did and then after a few times, as soon as DCM would get on FaceTime, her first question “Elmo?” uh oh, better get it!

Eventually, now when she gets on Facetime, if I’m not there, “Where’s JJ?” how much do I love that? We love Facetiming with LB, she’s all over the place, reading to us, playing games, informing us of things we might not have known, ratting out her parents, that’s always fun. She is a card!

Happiest of happy birthdays to a great little three year old who has let me into her life and her heart, of course she has invaded my heart and given me the new role of a grandma, which I am la la la loving! Here’s to another year of living, learning and loving! You’re awesome!

{March 3, 2014} Flyin’ High Now

I know as soon as you read the title, you heard the song in your head and you started singing like I did.

I was flipping channles and there was Sylvester Stallone and Burgess Meredith, of course i was mezmorized and had to watch for a few minutes, next thing I know, it’s that scene…he comes out of the house and starts running, then he’s running through town, through neighborhoods, waving at people he knows and who know him.

The next thing we see is kid after group of kids running with him through Philadelphia until he reaches those iconic 72 steps he runs up in front of the Philadelphia Museum of Art http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rocky_Steps.

I think for the entire scene, i was riveted, I couldn’t turn or look away, I couldn’t change the channel, I just had to watch and you know what, I was smiling the entire time. It brought back so many great memories from childhood and these movies. DCM and I were just talking about the Rocky series over the weekend, so seeing this clip made me smile for so many reasons.

Here’s the clip, enjoy.

{March 2, 2014} Thwarted by the snow…darn it!

“I can’t go skiing because of the snow”. Huh?

Yes, I uttered this sentence today and didn’t it sound silly? Yes, it did!

I had intended to go to Breckenridge or Keystone to go skiing today while DCM went to Błackhawk to play in a Texas Hold ‘Em tournament. Well…Mother Nature had other plans for us, and that was ok, when I got up. I looked outside and there was a pleasant blanket of snow on the ground and it was coming down steadily, not looking to stop any time soon.

Since the weather was like that, DCM decided to take his truck to the shop for some work instead of heading to Błackhawk. I thought two things…one, if he wasn’t going, I would stay to spend the day with him and toe, even thought Annie got us up to the mountains all those other times, it wasn’t actively snowing when I went and while she’s a trooper, she’s not a truck with four wheel drive, so a day with my beau was on the menu.

We got up leisurely, took the truck in, headed out for breakfast, did some shopping then headed to the apartment to settle in and relax. We caught up on some shows we had missed, lazed on the sofa and enjoyed each other’s company. That sounds pretty good to me.

Tomorrow, I head back out to Michigan for another week, so I am enjoying each moment we get to spend together.

See you tomorrow!

{March 1, 2014} Happy to be home

It’s cold in Michigan, that’s all I have to say!

When I left Michigan, it was -12, yes, I said negative twelve! It had warmed up though! The schools were not closing because it was above negative twenty! What? Let’s just say, it’s really, really cold!

It’s crazy, it was -12 when I left Michigan and when I got to Colorado, it was fifty! No jacket on, I shed the two extra layers I had on, dropped the top, cranked the seat warmers and headed home, it was wonderful.

It cooled down considerably as the evening wore on, but that’s to be expected. Not sure what tomorrow holds, actually it’s supposed to snow, but we’ll see. I just know it’s warmer than Michigan! But don’t be too jealous, heading back in two days.

Of course, seeing DCM was the icing on the cake, that warmed my heart and I am settled in for the night, happy to be home.

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