What I love! | Peaches Prattlings

{December 8, 2013} Lazy day movie marathons

Don’t you just love lazy days? Don’t you just love a good movie marathon?

Today was one of those days, we got up, got some shopping done, I don’t think either of us thought we were actually going to buy out the grocery store, but that’s what it felt like, headed home and it was lunch, lazing on the couch and movies, then dinner and more movies.

For Chanukah, DCM gave me a bunch of movies, you know how much I love movies and the ones he gave me except for one all come with a DVD, Blue Ray and virtual copy, so let’s just say my iPad movie collection runneth over and when I get my 400 disc DVD player here to Colorado, I may very well be out of room!

What did we watch you ask? Well, we started off with one neither of us had seen, Smurfs 2, loved it! I’ll have to do a separate write up. Next was Turbo, cute the second time and DCM hadn’t seen it yet, I do know that I apparently was a little tired because I dozed off somewhere in the middle, but I own it, so I can do that!

Next was Star Trek: Into Darkness, still wow! And I have to tell you, I have Star Trek (2009) which I have watched a lot lately traveling and I still love it and get chills, this one too, Kahn is still a bad arse!

Lastly was Men in Black III, still fun and touching and I had forgotten that Alice Eve was in this movie as Agent O and we had just watched her in Star Trek, both movies modern and having a 60s flair, hmm…

One of the things I love about watching DVDs is that you get the extras, such as behind the scenes, the making of, bloopers, deleted scenes, things that give you a better insight into how things happen, why they happen and how did they do that. I love blooper reels, especially in animated or Muppet movies, there is something even funnier with that.

So, all in all a good day, relaxing and enjoyable. What’s on for tomorrow?

{December 7, 2013} Homefront

This movie was jacked up! There you have it.

This was Jason Statham’s latest action packed movie. The screenplay was written by Sylvester Stallone, adapted from a novel by Chuck Logan. Originally, Stallone was set to play the title role, but he had so many projects going for this year, the part went to Jason Statham not that I’m complaining. As you’re watching, you can see where this could have been a good vehicle for Stallone.

The story is about a former DEA agent living in Louisiana with his young daughter who crosses paths with a local bad dude/meth maker/distributor and as this is a Jason Statham movie, you can guess what happens next. Yup, you guessed it, violence, explosions, gunplay, protecting kids, smoldering looks, sorry, I digressed. (Sorry Statham droolers, he kept his shirt on the entire movie, oh well, can’t have everything!)

There was quite a cast in this movie. James Franco played Gator, the head bad dude in town, he was the meth maker/distributor and he was a really evil guy. Winona Ryder played his druggie on again/off again girlfriend and former “old lady” for a biker gang. Kate Bosworth plays Gator’s oh so charming addict sister. Clancy Brown plays the ‘look the other way’ sherif.

Things were going so well when they moved to this quaint little town, yeah right. Pretty much it all started with the sisters kid picking on Jason Statham’s daughter, she defends herself and the methed out sister wants Gator to do something about it, big mistake, right? Right!

There was good action in the movie, the bad part was that a lot of it took place at night, a lot harder to see the moves and blows, you could hear them though. And I have to say I really liked Izabela Vidovic, who played the daughter, Maddy, she had some moves, a good right hook and thinks on her feet. There were also some wonderfully clever concoctions and wiring, etc, very Statham/Macguyver, as he is apt to do in his movies.

Moral of the story, let people be, don’t mess with them and they won’t have to mess with you and, oh yeah…if Jason Statham has a kid in a movie or is assigned to protect a kid in a movie, then watch out and all I have to say is…don’t these bad guys ever learn?

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2312718/?ref_=nv_sr_1

{December 5, 2013} Let’s Talk About Chanukah

We’ve talked about not finding Chanukah things for decorating, we’ve talked about the menorah app on my iPad, what we haven’t talked about is Chanukah.

Chanukah is the Jewish holiday known as “The a Festival Of Lights”. There is a lot of symbolism to the holiday and I would like to share it with you.

The story of Chanukah (some people spell it Hanukkah, you may be one of those and wonder why I spelled it differently, that’s just the way I learned to spell it as a kid and it stuck)

When the temple was destroyed and the Jews went in to rebuild they found enough oil to light the lamps for only one night and the oil lasted eight, that is why we celebrate for eight nights and we call it the “Festival of Light”. So, each night we light one candle progressively so that by the eighth night, we light all eight. We never light the candles directly, we light a shamas which we use to light the other candles after we say the prayer. Sometimes one person will say the blessing, sometimes the entire family and each person will light a candle each night.

There are things that are special to the holiday, such as certain foods; we eat things fried in oil, such as potato latkes or pancakes, there are jam filled donuts which are fried in oil.

We play games as in the dreidel game, you might know the song “Oh Dreidle, Dreidle, Dreidle, I made you out of clay and when you’re dry and ready, oh dreidel I shall play!” A dreidel is a type of top with four sides, each with a letter that indicates what to do in the game. Everyone starts off with some chocolate coins, or gelt, could play with peanuts or other candy, it’s all in good fun and depending on what the dreidel lands on, you put some in, get half, all or none. The letters spell out “Nes Gadol Haya Sham” which means “A great miracle happened here”.

From Wikipedia “The dreidel is believed to commemorate a game devised by the Jews to camouflage the fact that they were studying Torah, which was outlawed by Greeks. The Jews would gather in caves to study, posting a lookout to alert the group to the presence of Greek soldiers. If soldiers were spotted, the Jews would hide their scrolls and spin tops, so the Greeks thought they were gambling, not learning.”

Everything we do is a lesson to be learned and remembered.

I remember growing up and some of my friends being jealous because we got presents for eight nights, this is true, but it wasn’t something extravagant or huge or we got better presents, it was just that our presents were given and received over eight nights, they may have gotten the same amount, just all at once.

In my family we got smaller things and then we got one big present as a family, one year it was a Commodore 64, now I’m totally dating myself! And every year we went to see the Nutcracker Ballet at the City Company at Lincoln Center. My mom made the best potato latkes and my grandmother made the best applesauce.

We celebrated as a family, most times just the four of us, but others we had the opportunity and loved to share the experience with friends and family.

I have an amazing collection of menorahs and one day I will find the photos of all of them or I will just have to take new ones, but I do have to point out that most people don’t have a huge collection of menorahs, I have been lucky that people have been wonderful enough to give them to me as gifts, I bought a few, but the majority of my collection has come from friend and family.

I want to tell you that the most special menorah to me is the one that a dear friend of the family made. There is a black and white photo of it at my dad’s house, that my mom took that says it all for me. This is the menorah that my dad lights every year and I have attached a photo.

Thank you for letting me share this wonderful celebration with you.

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

{December 2, 2013} Some days I really love my iPad!

As you know, Chanukah started last week and we celebrated in Atlanta, that you may not have known.

I don’t know if I’ve told you about my menorah collection, maybe I will tomorrow, but tonight, I want to talk about my iPad, sort of. So, the bulk of my collection is in the storage unit and we didn’t go to get one before we left and I didn’t bring any home with us.

We got in after sundown and most of the stores are closed by six on Sundays, I can usually find something at Bed, Bath and Beyond, so I did what any smart, techno-savvy girl would do in this situation, I went to the App Store on my iPad and searched for a menorah!

And boy did I find a lot! There are different types, shapes, colors, backgrounds, options like prayers, songs, games and the one I downloaded even had a regular burn or fast burn! You even had to move the shamash (full explanation tomorrow!) to light the other candles!

So…tonight being the fifth night, I share with you the miracle of lights (and Apple!).

{November 30, 2013} Our Pets…oh how we love and name them!

We love our pets, they are our family, our children or furry children as we like to call them.

It’s always interesting to hear what people name their pets and why. Some people give their pets “human or people” names and some give them made up word names, some named after sports teams, some named for a favorite food. SDL has two cats, Boogie and Jack, CKM has a sweet puppy named Sasha, BJS has one cat named Oscar and another called Queenie. DCM had a dog named Lykin [sp?], SR has a furry child named Spencer. LK had a precious black lab named Jazz, think she was a dancer? Now, they have Divit, Twinkie and [jiminy crickets i can’t remember, I’m sorry!] LD has a white fluffy cat named Bella and KS has a ragdoll named Molly, love that name!

If I listed everyone and their pets, we’d be here all day! I’ve had some doozies, as a kid growing up, we had cats, cats and more cats, only had boy cats and when I was on my own, all girls, or so I thought! We had Rocky Raccoon, he had a mask around his eyes and rings on his tail, then there was Rocky II or…Rocky Baby Bubie, as I affectionately called him, next came Rocky III, do you sense a theme? He was GES’ personal baby and plaything. When I was in high school, Newgat [New Cat, sort of] joined the family, he was part Maine Coon and grew and grew and grew!

Then, when I had my own place, I inherited Gabby (that was the name she had), from a friend, she was a black cat, looked like a persian and she was my baby. I thought she needed a friend, so I got Jymy, boy was I wrong! When Gabby was gone, I got a set of sisters, I wanted to name them something clever and Peanut and Butter stuck! Along the way there was Biscuit, who I thought was a sweet little girl, then after I gave her away..something came up that made us realize we were wrong!

I’ve had a bunny named Money Penny, love James Bond I do! I also had a few rats as pets, yes, pets I said! There was Gwendolyn, I was working for the renaissance festival, so I was all ‘renaissancey’ and then there was Priscilla, I was a huge fan of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert, she had a sandy hood and tail. Then I had Ginny, she was sweet.

Isn’t it crazy what we name our “kids”? They all mean something to us, even though others may not be able to figure it out.

Want to share yours?

{November 28, 2013} I am thankful

Today is Thanksgiving and as is tradition, we tell what we are thankful for, I want to share.

I am thankful for the basics, I have a roof over my head, two in fact; one with the man I love in Colorado, and the other in the city I left behind to host the people I love on a day like today.

I am thankful for the two furry kids I have, giving me unconditional love whether I want it or not.

I am thankful I know some amazing people who want to share this holiday with me and I am so thankful they can all cook!

I am thankful for my friends who have become family and welcome me with open arms when I “come home” and want to see me every chance they get and rearrange their schedules to do that.

I am thankful for friends who think enough of me to send text to say hello, wish me well, send me a Thanksgiving text, a joke or a smile.

I am thankful for friends who feel strongly enough about our friendship to confide in me when they are in need and trust me enough to know that I would never betray that trust. I am also thankful that I have friends I can confide in and rely on that I know would never betray that trust.

I am thankful that I have touched some people in such a way that even though we don’t talk or text very often or at all, they will reach out at random times to say hello and how are you.

I am thankful that I have people in my life I can be myself around and as silly as I want to be.

I am thankful that I have made friends in Colorado that want to spend time with me and think I’m the bees knees!

I am thankful that there are so many of you out there reading my blog, that I know I am not writing this just for me and you like it, you really like it! I am thankful that so many of you will comment and give me virtual hugs and advice and opinions.

I am thankful I have the freedom to write whatever I choose and I am thankful that you have the freedom and right to like, dislike or ignore anything I have to say.

I am thankful for the men and women serving in the armed forces helping to give me the freedom to be able to write what I please.

I am thankful I find something to blog about every day!

I am thankful so many of my friends have given me the opportunity to be an aunt to their amazing children who I love so much.

I am thankful for two wonderful daughters to DCM who welcomed me to their lives and allowed me to be a grandmother to their spectacular children who I have fallen in love with.

I am thankful all those parents let me get/make their children’s Halloween costumes, they can’t even imagine what it means to me!

I am thankful for DCM, who gave me an amazing excuse to move to a new state and explore new things, make changes, laugh at the same jokes, love the same movies, cook together and be silly together.

I am thankful to my extended family in Boston and the northeast; my brother-in-law who is a fantastic father to my nieces, someone I can joke with and cut up and let’s me slam on him and is learning to return a slam or two, someone who will pretend to keep up with me during a 5k when he’s used to running 8-9 miles for fun. His brother and sister-in-law who are great and fun to be around and are excited when I am there. For the neighbors who call me Auntie J and all the friends that are excited to see me when I visit and have gotten their kids to call me Auntie J. For LaLa who has been a great grandmother to my nieces who loves them very much and makes them feel special.

I am thankful to have a father who is kind and generous and courteous and funny and giving and smart and wise and lets me be me and is there for me when I need him and even when I don’t think I do. I am thankful that at 42, I am still “Daddy’s Little Girl” and thankful that I know I always will be. I am even more thankful that as I’ve gotten older, I’ve gained more than a dad, I’ve gained a valued and treasured friend.

I am thankful for a sister who is everything to me, the ying to my yang, the macaroni to my cheese (and if I go on, I will make us nauseous!). For giving me two of the most beautiful, intelligent, sweet, silly, goofy, special nieces in the entire world, yes I am biased. I have become such a proud big sister, you can’t even imagine. And yes, I am the big sister and I will always be the big sister, and I am thankful there are times that as big and mature and successful she gets, she still needs her big sister to pave the way, knock something down, hold and hug her and tell her everything will be ok and it will.

Lastly, I am plain ole thankful that you allowed me to share what I am thankful for with you, so…Thank You.

I hope you had a very special and happy Thanksgiving.

{November 27, 2013} My dollar store Thanksgiving!

It sounds so trashy, don’t it, but it ain’t! (Ouch, that hurt my ears just typing it!)

Since I moved, I don’t have anything for hosting 14 people, so I decided it would be paper plates and plastic utensils for everyone! Fair enough, right?

So I went to Party City and got some plastic utensils, about $2.90 per pack, and you know I needed one pack of knives, one pack of forks and one pack of spoons. Then I needed plates, a pack of 40 dinner plates for $3.47 and a pack of 40 salad/dessert plates for $3.47, I didn’t get cups there because I didn’t want 100 cups!

Then I went to Costco to pick up a turkey, great deal! $1.09 per pound, 19 pound bird, $17.00 with an instant rebate, I am rockin! Then I found these really nice white plastic plates with a silver band, they look real and they were $8.90 for the pack (16 each) and I bought the fake silver utensils for $8.00, I spent $16 when I would have spend three times as much for the same thing at Party City. I had seen these plates at D&Ds the night before and I thought it would be fun to look a little fancy. Mission accomplished.

I headed to the dollar store to see if they had a few things I needed and lo and behold, I had the answer! I found some nice square paper dinner plates, salad plates, clear plastic utensils, cups, napkins, I bought two sets of each, spent $7! How cool am I? Guess what went back to Costco and Party City! You bet, that was about $25 back in my pocket! I feel like a Rockerfella!

I then bought the aluminum pans I needed, measuring cups, spoons, etc, a cutting board! all Betty Crocker! some serving spoons and even a stainless steel knife/fork set for carving the turkey! I spent a total of about $42 (that included some canned veggies and some spices I needed, I forgot to add to the picture) and I was set!

Don’t knock the Dollar Store until you try it!

Happy Thanksgiving to one and all!

{November 24, 2013} Undercover Boss

I think I’ve told you, I’m not a reality show junkie, but there are a even we that I like and I found one that I liked and now it’s on Netflix! Undercover Boss.

The premise of the show is an upper level executive, generally a C-level executive goes “undercover in their own company”, trading in their ‘uptown living’ for a uniform and getting their hands dirty. Companies have included Subway, NASCARZ, Hooters, MGM Grand, NCL Cruise Lines, Direct TV.

The guise is employees think that there is a reality show, following two people who are vying for the same job. The candidate has changed their appearance and gets assigned to four different jobs to find out how people do their jobs. Some of the jobs seem simple, but turn out not to be and they find out their not as able as they think they are; the jobs range from deliveries, demolition, cleaning toilets, window washing, hot dog sales to satellite dish installation on a roof, the list goes on.

It seems like a lot of the people the candidate gets set up with has some sort of hardship, how they have been down and had struggles and brought themselves up. The biggest thing that you notice and the candidate notices is the attitude of the employees, how hard they work and how they don’t let things get to them, when life gives them lemons, they definitely make lemonade.

All these experiences help the executive get a new appreciation for their employees and their companies. Turns out that some executives can’t do some of the jobs, imagine that! Hey, the CEO of Subway Sandwiches had never worked in a sandwich shop, never made a sandwich, the CEO from Johnny Rockets was training on the grill, couldn’t even cook for himself! The CEO for a corporate cleaning company had never cleaned a toilet! (His wife was hoping he’d pick up a few tricks, he didn’t even pick up after himself!)

That same CEO from Johnny Rockets who said that he wanted to put into place an initiative that every new executive has to go down to the front lines and do those jobs before during their first week on the job, so they have the knowledge to make decisions instead of just making decisions blindly.

When I worked for OK Cafe in Atlanta, http://www.okcafe.com, for the first two weeks on the job, I trained at every single job before I got on the floor to wait tables; hosting cashier, runner, prep, baker, everything and I think that anyone who gets a job, especially at an executive level, just like the CEO at Johnny Rockets, should train so they understand every aspect of the company.

Working with the employees, they see the good, the bad and the ugly. They get the low down from employees even when they have issues with the company, but stick it out because they love what they do.

One of the nice things about the show is that after the week undercover, they bring the employees they were working with in the field, to the office, they think they’re going to vote on who to select for the job. They do things for those employees to help them out, whether it’s a raise, new job, maybe a mentoring program with the executive, training programs to move within the company, donation to a charity in their name, eduction, help with their families, to date, they have given over one million dollars to their employees. Bring tissues!

The end of the episode has the entire company in for an all hands meeting where they talk about their experiences undercover and give the company a chuckle by showing clips of the boss trying to do those jobs! Some of them even got fired!

What you hope, after everything, is that the executive team takes what they learned and make changes with the company, all for the positive.

I think more companies need to do this, without the incentive of a TV show, but because it’s good for the company.

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

{November 23, 2013} Dr. Who

They say you never forget your first doctor…so true.

Did you see google today? It was a tribute to the Dr. Who series/franchise. There were all the doctors running back and forth and when you clicked on the doctors, you were taken to a game to play, serious fun for serious fans!

There have been countdowns and postings like crazy! And if you are a true fan, today was a huge day and no one should disturb you.

There are a few people I know who are ga-ga for the doctor and couldn’t wait! DCM’s youngest, DCM is one of those people, she la la la loves the good doctor, as does her mom, CG. How cool is this…she is such a big fan that for her birthday a few years ago, DCM, the younger, made her mom a clock with all of the doctors for the numbers…stellar, right?

As I mentioned, they say “You never forget your first doctor”. I am admittedly not a huge fan, but…I have to agree with that statement. (I have the socks to prove it!). I am a Dr. Who, Number Four fan, he was my first, sigh… Tom Baker, the fourth doctor, is, to date, the actor who has played the role the longest, seven seasons. I watched every episode I could from that time and one of my goals in life is to knit that scarf!

I don’t know why I never got into Dr. Who later in life, as I am a huge sci-fi nut and I loved the series as a kid, but I just haven’t. I listen to DCM (squared) talk about it, specifically David Tennant, who I loved in Harry Potter, among other things, he’s gotten her gifts with the doctor, I’ve posted things to her wall, but I just haven’t sat down to watch, maybe I need to.

Maybe it’s time I just “suck it up and deal”. It took me a while to get into a Star Trek TNG (The Next Generation, for those not in the know), OZ and NB sat with me while I got over my objections and then DR held my hand whenever Jean Luc Picard came on the screen sigh. After that, we spent every week together watching new episodes.

So…Who’s going to sit and hold my hand?

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

{November 16, 2013} Holiday Movies

Newsflash…Guilty pleasure…I love holiday movies.

Let’s face it, most of them are Christmas movies and I’m a sucker for them. Another admission, I have watched them during the year, even in the summer, you can find them online and a bunch are on Netflix. They start playing them beginning November, really? I know I love them, but what about starting them in December, or at least closer to Thanksgiving, wait, did I see them in October?

There seems to be a few different, but common themes…

Boy meets girl just by coincidence…Girl/boy hires boy/girl to pose as boyfriend/fiance to take home to to meet/fool the family into thinking they are in a relationship. As they spend time together, they realize they have feelings for each other. Is this the right person and were they with the wrong person? What should they do? Do they tell the family the truth?

Girl/boy is lost, doesn’t know what they want, they have been hurt, widow/ed, it’s another holiday alone and by chance they meet that someone and now they have a renewed faith in Christmas.

Boy/girl has lost faith in people, the holiday, etc and someone, a magical someone, is sent to set things right and through the miracle of the holidays and love from others, they find the love and renewed faith in people, the holidays and the world.

The two main characters find each other despicable and at odds with each other but by the end of the movies, they solve the worlds problems and…it’s love, sigh.

Some have big names and others, could be independent films. A lot of them are on the Lifetime network. Some of them are great, well written, well acted and fun and some are just plain awful, but what do we do? We watch them anyway. Guilty as charged!

I have a few favorites that I look for every year and sometimes in between.

The Christmas List, 1997, starring Mimi Rogers http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0136755/?ref_=nv_sr_1.
Borrowed Hearts, 1997 with Roma Downy and Eric McCormick http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0132893/?ref_=nm_knf_t2
Recently, A Christmas Kiss, 2011 http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1790621/?ref_=nv_sr_1
Love Actually, 2003, with, well, everybody! http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0314331/?ref_=nv_sr_
White Christmas, 1954, Danny Kaye, Bing Crosby, Rosemary Clooney, Vera-Ellen, need I say more? http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0047673/?ref_=nv_sr_2

I know there are more, but I can’t think of them off the top of my head! It’s ok, I know I’m a goofball, I’m ok with it!

Yes, I am a sucker for this genre of movies and I will watch them any time of the year, when I can find them, but right now, I guess I’m spoiled having cable again and a DVR, so guess what I’m doing? The cue is filling up!

Warm fuzzies for everyone!

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