365-7 | Peaches Prattlings

{January 26, 2021} Naps are so underrated!

When you’re a kid, naps are part of your day, it starts when we’re babies, we go down for naptime, then we grow a little and we go down for naptime, I still have memories of being in kindergarten on my mat for naptime.

Then…as we grow, we fight naptime, afraid we might be missing something, we fight it, but we succumb. Then, we get a little older and napping is for babies, we don’t do it, we rest our eyes, we’re not napping. In college, we’re taking a break in between classes, but we’re not napping.

Then…as adults, we look at little kids and think…you don’t know how good you’ve got it! I would kill for a nap! There are cat naps, which are very short naps, longer naps, not sure what those are called! There are so many classifications of naps! Where to begin? Or end?! Have you ever taken a nap, woken up and not realized where you were, what day it was, who you were? Oh, those can be the best sometimes!

I remember growing up, when my family had a summer house on Long Island, we would go to the beach and I never slept as well as those naps in the sun on a beach blanket or towel on the sand. The sound of the ocean, the feel of the spray, the warmth of the sun on my back. Yes, I know it sounds like a movie or an advertisement, but that’s what it was like and I can tell you…I have never slept as fabulously deep and well as I did those summers, or since. We know I’m not a sleeper, but there are times the beach still manages to call out to me!

As we’ve talked about, I’m not a sleeper, I’m not even a napper really, but…there are times when my body just says “Hey!” and honestly, I don’t hear another word because I am unconscious! Today was one of those times. I was at my desk working on something and I realized I wasn’t focusing and I’m not 100% sure which end was up and I said to myself, ‘you need to lie down’ and I did. Well, not right there, I got up, walked the very long walk, about 10 feet, ha ha, to my bedroom, closed the door, got under the covers, and, as much as I would like to say I was asleep before my head hit the pillow, it took a few to get there, but when I did…I slept like the you know what. I woke up about 90 minutes later and I thought I had missed a whole day!

It took me a few minutes to realize where I was, so I sunk back into the bed and pulled the covers up over my head. Isn’t that the best feeling? When you sink into the bed? There’s nothing like it. Eventually, I picked up head up and tried to focus, this wasn’t one of those naps you wake up so refreshed that you could run a marathon, come on, who does that anyway! This was one of those naps that, honestly, I’m not sure if, at this particular moment, I have truly woken up from! I feel like I’m still a little groggy, and that was about four hours ago!

I think everything finally caught up with me…the lack of sleep last week, and lets face it, most of the time, altitude in Denver, skiing, the crazy long drive back from Colorado and only getting a few hours of sleep last night. That was some nap and…between you and me my friends, I’m thinking about sinking into the bed and going back to wherever I was! I don’t have far to go…I’m in my jammies, sitting cross legged in bed, under the covers with the ceiling fan doing it’s thing to help combat the flannel sheets I am enjoying right now.

When your body tells you something, like maybe you need a few zzzzzz’s, you should listen. And friends…that’s what I’m about to do, I’m going to listen to my body, my eyelids are getting heavy…you’re getting sleeppppppyyyyyyyyyyyy….

{January 26, 2021} Goodbye Colorado…Missouri…Um, I’m trying to get there!

I really am trying to get home! As much as I didn’t want to leave Colorado, I almost never do when I visit, I did want to get home to my family. Apparently Mother Nature thought it would be funny to make my 12+ hour drive a 14+ hour drive, not funny.

I actually slept later than I had all week, go figure! Every day that I had wanted to sleep past 7/7:30am, no dice, this morning, I got up at almost 8am! And…this is the day I wanted to leave a little earlier, maybe by 8am so I could take advantage of the daylight for driving. I didn’t set an alarm thinking I kept getting up early, but no dice. So…the plan was to leave between 8:30 and 9am, just like I had when I left St Louis for Denver.

I got on the road, no issue, then…apparently it had snowed, and snowed a lot, outside of Denver, the entire state of Colorado, then Kansas, and if you’ve ever made that drive, you know both states seem to go on fore…ever!!! There was snow on the ground, in the fields, it was white, white, white! There were some places I couldn’t see ahead of me or on either side of me, then it would clear, ahhh.

I filled up my gas tank and it was just slushy, but when I pulled into the first rest stop along the highway, not only did I inch my way up to the house, I actually had to put on my waterproof winter boots with the fur because the snow was at least 6 inches in some places and a foot in others. Pretty to look at, not fun to walk in, with Chucks on!

Some of the roads had snow and some ice on both lanes, other areas it was clear on one side, where the trucks had been driving over the road. I loved when cars or trucks would go by and slosh my car with wet, grey snow, thanks a lot! This was a drive that had to be made carefully for a lot of it. There were a lot of electronic warning signs up along the highway.

There were some areas that were absolutely beautiful and some areas, well…even snow couldn’t make it pretty!

I have to say, I’m glad I didn’t wash my car after skiing on Friday or even Sunday. I knew I would be driving and thought about getting her washed before I headed out this morning, really glad I didn’t. Almost every rest stop and gas station, I was getting the packed snow out of the wheel wells, washing the windshield and wiping as much of the ice from the car doors. Fun! Bottom line, she will be getting a bath this week in St Louis!

Now, you’ll love this…or maybe it’s just me. And that was pure sarcasm…At some point during the week, the driver’s side washer fluid nozzle seemed to stop working…the passenger side is fine, driver side, not so much. So…if I crane my head to the right, I can drive looking out the passenger side! HA HA! I did a lot of window washing, let me tell you! Then…somewhere around Topeka, KS, I turned on the wipers, they swished and the driver’s side wiper FLEW OFF! really?! I promptly found an Auto Zone and $70 later, I am now the proud owner of a pair of Rain-X Quantum Wiper Blades, huh? I don’t remember them being so expensive, but they are! And really expensive for something that only lasts about a year and a half! But…I really like the Rain-X brand, and they are on snug as a bug in a rug, so I am quite happy and when I got home…they are still on! HA HA

I was tired of the food I had been munching on for the week and decided to stop for some grub. There aren’t a lot of options for me, but I know I can get a sandwich at Subway, I have always liked their veggie patty, and then I started to want one. I stopped at no less than FIVE Subways along the road, the first…the toaster was out. I would have asked about the patty, but you have to cook it, so no dice. The next location had just closed, and they just started closing earlier the day before. The next two locations didn’t carry the patty and the last location, the girl behind the counter had no idea what I was talking about. Sigh…vegan ham and cheese it is! At least my stomach stopped grumbling!

Back on the road, munching on my sandwich and listening to a podcast or some comedy on Pandora radio, I didn’t get tired until about 11:30p, I had effectively been on the road about 12+ hours at that point and I had about another 2 hours to go. I was doing alright and didn’t start to get tired until about midnight and at that point, I was so close to home, I wasn’t getting a hotel. I did, however, stop at almost every rest stop and every few gas stations on the way!

Best part…pulling into my driveway, walking into the house, peaking in on the fur babies, who had noticed that I was home [I had to ignore the whining! SO hard!], putting on my pjs and crawling into bed, pulling up the covers and…zzzz…

{January 24, 2021} Hello Breck…What a Day!

Today was my last day of skiing and I decided on Breckenridge and I was not disappointed. To be honest, like Keystone, I have never been disappointed in skiing at Breckenridge.

It was 25 when I left Golden and 23 when I got to Breckenridge, but crisp and clear, so not terrible. You can tell that it snowed over the last few days, you could see snow on some of the mountains as I drove. Breckenridge was looking good! I found a parking lot and started to get set up for my day. The nice thing was that there was no snow in the parking lot where I parked, so I could step on the ground to get my boots on without fear of wet feet! Yeah!

I struggled, not as much as yesterday, but struggled buckling my boots. Funny enough, one of the women in the jeep that pulled in next to me was having the same issues. Oh boy, as much as it sucks, it’s nice to know someone else is experiencing the same thing! We chatted for a minute and then I was off and running, well, not running, there is no running in ski boots, at least not for me!

I took the gondola up to the first level and got off and went to stand in the very long lift line. The line went a little up the hill, so I trudged up with everyone else and inched my way down with everyone else, finally deciding to put my skis on when I got to flat land, I watched a lot of people standing sideways inching towards the flat spots. Up and up and up we went.

The slopes were wide open and smooth, there was some ice in a few places, they haven’t had a lot of snow over the past few months, but it didn’t get in the way. The ice wasn’t like East Coast ice, that was a plus. The music was on shuffle, never knowing what was coming up next. I swished and swished and swished, even a few straightaways. One of the runs I even shouted “I’m so happy!” and I was. It was such a great feeling!

I took a video of me swishing and swooshing down the hill, I completely forgot my GoPro, duh. One of these days I’ll get it set up and remember to take it with me, grrr. Let’s just say…my hand was mighty cold after 2 minutes and 33 seconds!

Eventually, I made it to the bottom, I can’t tell you how many runs I completed, but it was great, it even started snowing at some point, from the top of the mountain, it seemed as if there was low visibility, but it cleared up as you make your way down, still snowing, but easy to navigate. At the bottom, I used the facilities, had some lunch and decided it was time to go.

Part of me wanted to keep going because it’s my last day in Denver, but my body was telling me something else. Heart vs body, hmmm…body wins! I picked up my skis and headed to the gondola and headed back down to the bottom and towards the shuttle back to the parking lot.

It seems that a lot of people had the same idea, the same people I was ‘getting ready’ with at the car were at their cars to get disassembled, so to speak, at the same time, what are the odds? Granted, if you live in Denver and know you can ski many, many, many days during the season, even if you have to drive 2 hours, it’s worth it to go for just a few hours. It was the same for us when we lived in Hawai’i and would go snorkeling or to the beach, just to go to the beach, we’d go for one to two hours and go home, fair point.

Got ready to drive, headed out, got on the highway and then…what was supposed to be an hour and a half drive…red lights, no movement. I was already on the road about 45 minutes, maybe an hour and I looked at GPS, because of an accident on the highway, the delay was 1 hour and 4 minutes, really? It took me two solid hours to get back to the hotel. I was done! On with the pj’s! Figure out food and talk to you.

Tomorrow is my 12 hour drive back to PSM and two fur babies! And I’m already trying to figure out when I can come back to Denver to get some more skiing in before the end of the season. Hmmm… Despite the traffic, a great day, thank you Breck! Overall, three great days of skiing, fabulous visits with friends and a fabulous trip. Thank you Keystone, Breckenridge, Denver, and Colorado, I heart you!

{January 23, 2021} Treat after Treat after Treat after…

What a day today was, it was treat, after treat, after treat! I admit it, I’m spoiled, and I’ll take it!

Since I couldn’t get a reservation to ski for the day, I made other plans. First… last night I pulled down the blackout curtain, hoping it would help me also in a little. Well, any guesses how that turned out? It’s all good, more time for me to do nothing! Ha Ha!

I thought about going to a yoga class or doing a virtual livestream class and then I thought about something PSM said, you’re skiing, you don’t have to do yoga, true, but I thought it might help, who knows. Then my body said, “um…yeah, you’re good, take it easy” and I listened, go figure! I laid in bed, turned on the tv and vegged out, it was fabulous! Then I got up and made myself an egg sandwich, moved to the couch and continued my relaxing journey! Not a bad way to start a Saturday.

I decided to be a little productive, checking emails, updating a friend’s resume, and making plans for the day, all while relaxing, that works for me! My friend texted that she loved that I had no plans and I have to say, it is refreshing to not have plans when you’re visiting somewhere. It all depends where you are and what you’re doing, right? I used to live in Colorado, there is a lot that I did, but there is also a lot I haven’t done and depending on what it is, I want to share it with PSM. This time, I’m only here to ski and see friends, and since I have the pass and I’m not that far from the mountains, take it easy.

I finally got motivated and headed out the door for my first treat of the day. I drove downtown to see LJ, she has a great apartment overlooking Denver and the view of the Flat Iron Mountains is fabulous! She shares the apartment with her boyfriend JS and their kitten, Steve. OM G, what a doll baby! Cutest little orange tabby with a lot of energy and a name tag that might be bigger than him!

We sat down and talked and talked, about everything and nothing, and just like all our conversations it went all over the place, par for the course, of course! All the while Steve took turns biting my toes and fingers, pouncing on me and other things, and settling in next to his mom’s side happy as can be. Oh my am I getting my fix!

After a bit, we looked for a place to go and LJ is one of the friends I have who tries to go vegan with me, a lot of places we called had a wait and we decided on…Edgewater Public Market, I’m in! She’s been there a bunch and her yoga studio is there, same one PSM and I go to, which means…next time we travel to Denver, we can go to our yoga studio! She went off and got pizza and I got a vegan chicken Caesar salad from Meta Burger, another hit! I told her about my dinner from last night and she had to get a side of the vegan mac-n-cheese, she was not disappointed! And we talked some more, we can do this for hours, wait, we are!

Then…another treat! We both saved room and went over to Happy Cone for some vegan gelato for me and full on fabulous ice cream for her! We were both quite pleased. It’s a simple ice cream shop, ‘New Zealand style creamery handmaking ice cream, chocolates and happiness’ is the tag from their website. I believe Hap Cameron, the owner was the one who scooped our treats, I could be wrong, but it sounded like a New Zealand accent when he spoke…through his mask!

Then we sat and talked some more, go figure, then a strange smell wafted by and despite the masks, we could still smell it, it was probably someone’s food as a few people walked by, but it was time for us to get some fresh air, so we went to the outside heated tent and sat at a recently cleaned table and talked some more. I mean, when don’t we talk!? I’ve told you this before, one of my favorite things about my friends is that we can sit and talk about everything and nothing and it’s always as if no time has passed. Eventually, sadly, it was time to leave. I took LJ back home, we said our goodbyes and hugs and headed off in different directions. Looking forward to the next time!

I called AM and we worked on dinner plans, that was the plan after all, hang with friends! He called in an order at City O’ City, I think we’ve talked about it before, but I la la la love this place! I placed my order for ‘chikn’ n waffles. The chikin’ is fried cauliflower, not to worry, the waffles are actual waffles! It’s served with vegan creme fraiche, maple syrup, and carrot bacon. We also had seitan wings for an appetizer, y-u-m! There was a vegan pizza, and for dessert…a ho-ho cupcake and a whoopie pie. Let’s just say, if you come with me to Denver, I’ll take you to City O’ City. I’ll tell you how good it is…the first place LJ asked about getting lunch…City O’ City! Oh yeah!

I picked up the food and headed to AM’s house, it was AM and his daughter…AM! Ha Ha, his wife NM was at their house in the mountains, I was bummed not to get to see her, we kept missing each other this weekend. It was a great time! We talked school, a teeny bit politics, books, movies, podcasts, it was quite the dinner conversation!

When the younger AM went to bed, AM and I retreated to the den, popped in Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan‘s first movie together, Joe Versus the Volcano then spent the next 1.45 hours talking movies, discussing almost every movie on the wall, laughing, disagreeing, agreeing, howling, taking moments to actually watch some of the best parts of the movie. I think I’m going to have to dedicate an entire post to this movie, it is probably one of my all-time favorite, same for AM. What a great night, it really was, I’m still laughing!

What a day for me! Treat, after treat, after treat, after treat. I am spoiled and I’m ok with that! What’s next?!

{January 22, 2021} Meta Burger…What a Treat!!

Philly cheesesteak to be exact. And…VEGAN! And…FAB-U-LOUS!!!

Tonight I was looking for something to eat after I went to the local Indian Motorcycle Dealership of Denver dealership and went to my friendly neighborhood Happy Cow app and found Meta Burger, 100% vegan and only 6 minutes away, sold! I clicked directions from the Happy Cow app and away I went.

What I found was Edgewater Public Market, opened November 2019. I LOVE places like this…open space, exposed beams, open concrete floors, tables, food choices to satisfy almost any pallet, from what I saw, some in a food court type area, and some were along the walkways. There were a few stores, although it looked like they would be adding more, indoor and outdoor seating with strings of Edison bulbs. It was simple, open, inviting, and welcoming. It reminded me of some places I’ve been in the states and throughout Europe, a place I can see going with PSM on a date night, a girls night, group of friends, lunch during the week, or some fun on the weekend.

Quite a few of the restaurants had entrances along the outside and Meta Burger was one of them. Meta Burger doesn’t say they are vegan, their foods are 100% plant based. As they say, “Meta Burger’s Mission is to reshape fast casual dining through a metamorphosis of ingredients, atmosphere and company values in order to construct a better future for all.”

I’ve told you this before, but I absolutely LOVE when I don’t have to ask where they cook the food, is there dairy in the food, and other questions. My questions now are “Is it spicy”? And my favorite question…”what do you recommend?!” Should I choose between their burgers or classics? I get veggie or plant based burgers a lot, I wanted to try something different. “If I were to choose between the Philly cheesesteak or the chicken sandwich, what would you recommend?”

Philly cheesesteak it is and it was fabulous! It was strips of seitan, seasoned like Philly cheesesteak meat, peppers, onions, on a roll, and cheese sauce on the side. I skipped the grilled mushrooms, no thanks! and for a side I got the mac-n-cheese. I have to tell you, the cheese sauce, which was mostly potato based, was amazing and creamy and delicious and stayed that way, O M G!

The guy who took my order and helped me decide walked by while I was eating asked how I was liking it and I told him that normally I don’t finish my food and tonight, oh yeah! sandwich gone! Mac-n-cheese, well, the rest will make a good midnight snack! I will tell you that there wasn’t enough room to try some vegan gelato at Happy Cones next door. Maybe next time! Hoping there is a next time!

If you are in the Denver area, or within the vicinity of the Edgewater Public Market, give it a shot, I bet you could find something that would tickle your taste buds.

{January 20, 2021} Vegan BBQ? I’m in heaven!

Last night we went out for BBQ, at Smokee Mo’s BBQ, a place I found on Happy Cow, the app I use to find vegan, vegetarian, and veg friendly options all over the world. I la la la LOVE this app!

PSM said let’s go out to dinner, I was up for it and started to look on the Happy Cow app. Vegan didn’t work in our area, so I selected options and a few more options came up, this time Smokee Mo’s BBQ, which offered VEGAN BBQ! What?! Let’s check it out! It’s only about 15 minutes from us. PSM said let’s go!

We got there and it’s set back from the road, it looks like a BBQ joint, or a giant barn, words burned into the wood, high ceilings, exposed cross beams, huge chandelier, big menus and best of all…as I rounded the corner, a GIANT VEGAN MENU! I’m over the moon! And it’s not just one or two items, nine full items and eight side items, all vegan!

If you eat meat, you start at the beginning of the line, if you are vegan, you order from the folks at the register, even better…the girl who was helping me was vegan, and when the person helping you is vegan, you can breath a little easier because you don’t have to explain things or ask certain questions, that honestly, I get tired of asking, so I honestly do appreciate it!

If you go to their website, you can view their vegan menu, they even have a vegan holiday menu! The tagline on the page “It’s Like A Vegan Restaurant Inside A Traditional BBQ Restaurant!”

One thing I really liked is that even though, when you first walked in, it was smokey, like a BBQ joint smokey, it wasn’t overpowering smokey, so I could actually sit in the place and not think about what I didn’t want to think about. They were socially distant, first, by the signs, and second, it wasn’t very crowded, which was unfortunate, because of the high ceilings and lack of a crowd, it was a little chilly, but that didn’t deter our enjoyment!

The food comes out on big silver trays, I saw a tray of nachos go by that I think you would need an army to finish! PSM got two meets and two sides, brisket and pulled pork, with corn and carrots, along with a piece of cheese bread, it looked good and I did taste the carrots and corn, the only thing non-vegan about them was that they were cooked with butter and as we know, butter hasn’t killed me yet! The carrots were tasty and the corn had a kick.

For me, I got a BBQ pulled jackfruit sandwich with cheddar cheese and mac-n-cheese, which was made with cashew cheese as a side. I love that I didn’t just have to say vegan this and vegan that. If you haven’t heard of it, jackfruit is an exotic fruit grown in tropical regions of the world and it’s used often as a substitute for meat because of the texture of the fruit, which can be shredded, hence the pulled jackfruit sandwich. I don’t always like jackfruit, just like anything, it all depends on how it’s prepared, and in this case, it was smokey BBQ good, had a little tang, I added lettuce and tomato and really enjoyed it!

I have to tell you, I love my husband for suggesting that we go out for vegan every once in a while, and if it’s 100% vegan, he’s a great sport and can always find something to eat and quite often enjoys what he orders, I don’t always enjoy what I order, so it’s fair! I love Happy Cow for helping me to find somewhere to go that we can both eat, I love that I could find a BBQ joint that could accommodate me and it was good! I am looking forward to going back to try something else and even taking you when you come to visit! Let’s go!

{January 19, 2021} To Yoga or Not to Yoga….Teach that is…

I know I told you that PSM and I have been doing yoga together for about a month and I’m working on it. He is in hog heaven, so to speak. He’s centered, he’s sweating, he’s stretching, he’s moving, and best of all…he’s HAPPY! What more could a wife ask for?! I was out of town for a minute, he continued to go to in-person classes and I did a livestream class, that means from the comfort of my own living room, that’s another post for another day. It wasn’t bad.

Here’s something funny, not sure if it’s funny ha ha or what, but…I got an email from the yoga studio we go to. “Hi JJ, M from the CC Y6 Studio let me know you may be someone who would be interested in Yoga Teacher Training 🙂 I’ve attached some info here. Let me know if you have any questions or want to set up a time to chat about it!” Huh? I forwarded it to PSM ‘interesting’. I responded to A that I didn’t know who M was, but I appreciated her sending the information and if I have any questions, I will be sure to reach out.

The interesting thing about this is that, as you know, PSM is yoga all the way, I’m working on it, but… a few years ago, PSM asked me if I wanted to go to a yoga retreat to learn to become yoga instructors, I was on the fence, but I knew how passionate he was/is, so I was up for it! So…interesting that this opportunity came up, isn’t it? They have had it posted on their site and on the walls at the studio for a while, so it wasn’t a surprise when they started talking about it during classes. They weren’t hyping it up a lot, but at the beginning of class they always make studio announcements, social distancing, taking breaks if you need it, and now, YTT [Yoga Teacher Training], answers if you have questions.

I clicked on the attachment and it has the cost, which is not inexpensive, the total hours [200], different types of modules [In-Person and Virtual], 3-month unlimited membership to the Y6 studios, and a 3-month subscription to Y6 GO, which is their on demand sessions, and lastly, the schedule. The schedule isn’t horrible, there are classes on each day of the week, some classes in the evenings, from 5-9p, the rest are 9a-5:30p, two during the week and the rest on the weekends. There are days off in between here and there and two full weeks off during February, the entire program is three months. And…I just noticed the fine print: *In addition students are required to take, observe, or assist 32 yoga classes throughout the program.

It’s an interesting concept, as you know, or may not know, I’m still on the fence if I love yoga or not. Some of it I like, some of it is alright, still not a fan of hot yoga, but I’m getting better with the moves. I can do almost everything, just not to the full extent, like dancer, I can hold my foot and stretch out, but not all the way up!

There is a part of me that wouldn’t mind taking the Yoga Teacher Training, to get better at the moves and really understand why I’m moving the way I’m moving or the way I’m supposed to be moving and maybe I can get those breaths under control, who knows. Oh yeah, and smile while I’m doing them! HA HA!

So…To Teach Yoga or Not To Teach Yoga? That is the question…

{January 18, 2021} What wakes you in the morning?

I think we’ve talked about the fact that I don’t sleep, much. I really don’t. I sleep about 4-5 hours a night, I know, I know, it’s not enough, but what can I say? It is what it is…

I used to sleep through the night and then some. I’ve been told, when I was born, I fell asleep, ha ha. My mom said the nurses would pinch my feet to get me up to nurse. Apparently, I used to take long naps and sleep through the night, giving my parents and their friends a false sense of ‘wow, we could totally do this’, nay nay, they found out! Ha ha!

I know, I know, why am I not talking about why we’re here today? Have you met me? I’ll get there, promise! I loved to stay up late when I was a kid, but I would sleep, oh boy would I sleep…8-10 hours a night, sometimes longer and hard, I slept so hard! My dad used to drive me to high school in the morning, well, if he could get me up! He would come from his bedroom to turn off my alarm! And I was lucky if I had enough time to brush my teeth before leaving the house! Totally on me! You’ll love this one…when I was in college, one year, my bed was under the fire alarm…when it would go off and everyone had to vacate the building, they would have to come and drag me out of bed, I would sleep through it, that’s how hard I slept! And for anyone that knows me now, that has shared a space with me, that is not the case!

Now, I wake up at the drop of a pin! So to speak…and we’re back to our regularly scheduled program, see, told ya I would get there! I don’t know how many years ago it started, but I had a cat that would eat those plastic bags you get at the grocery store, they’re toxic, so I would hide them, but if someone, even me, accidentally left one out, she would find it! Not every cat likes them, but mine did and if I hear that sound, even to this day, and she’s been gone about 12 years, I still jump up out of a deep sleep! Oh, speaking of cats, who has a cat that hasn’t jumped 12 feet in the air, right out of bed when you hear the sound of a hairball coming up! O M G!

When my kids first started spending the night, I had new mom syndrome, I would hear them turn over in their sleep and if one of them needed something and called out, I heard them! The lightest touch on my arm from them, awake! There are a few other things that happened when I became a mom, but that’s a story for another day!

Today, who knows, I take so long to fall asleep, you would think I would sleep for hours, not so…I have trouble falling asleep, and then staying asleep, I wish it wasn’t so! There are some days, I have to say, that I can sleep, I make up for it by sleeping 10-12 hours, oh wow! But, that being said, what wakes me up today, no idea! Sometimes, like everyone, nature calls. Is that age or just nature calling? Nature calls in the middle of the night, not a fan of her then! There is no snooze or shut off when that happens!

PSM is so very sweet, he worries that everything is going to wake me up, he tries to be quiet, well, as a church mouse, as the phrase goes, he knows it doesn’t always work, but I do appreciate it! The dogs start whining, the ceiling fan all of a sudden I can hear, a door closes, I turn over, a thought pops in my head, my leg twitches, I breath. Those are things at home that can wake me up, aside from the alarm, of course, well, actually, for some reason, that doesn’t always work! Ha ha! Isn’t that always the case!? Maybe I snooze and then…there is a limit on the snooze button, right?

When I’m in a hotel, love when the cleaning staff knocks on the door at 8am on a Saturday…it could be any number of things when I’m at a hotel! When I’m staying with friends or family, there are so many possible sounds to wake me up, who knows! Today it’s this, tomorrow, it’s that. Could be the crack of sunlight creeping in through a curtain.

Do dreams wake you up? They do me, especially if I don’t want to be there or in it at all! Maybe you tell yourself that you’re dreaming, it’s not real, and you should really get up! Are you being chased? Did something just happen? Mine do that and I want to write them down, I’ve been told you should write them down, they mean something. How many of you can actually remember your dream to write it down that fast? Sometimes I’m still processing the dream as I wake up or I am just trying to wake up and then by the time I’m awake, I can’t remember what woke me! Or I didn’t like it enough to want to forget it, unfortunately, those stick with you, gee thanks!

This morning, I woke up in a panic because someone had stolen my bag, from a train station, I think. I retrieved the bag yesterday, in my dream, left it there, because I was focused on something else and came back to get it today. The woman helping me said she knew exactly what bag, where it was, it was and went to get it, but it wasn’t right where she left it…in the middle of the room and she was surprised! Actually I think she was more surprised because she had just pulled the bag out from wherever she was storing it.

Not to worry, the bag in question is sitting right where I left it, full of whatever I have in it, but…I was still in panic mode, I really like that bag!

What woke you this morning?

{January 17, 2021} Kitchen Nightmares…oh how I LOVE you!

I forgot how much I loved Kitchen Nightmares, hosted by Gordon Ramsay. I have watched the entire series, not when it first came out, but I’ve watched it and I la la la loved it! And watching it again this weekend, I realized how much I loved it!

I don’t know if I told you that I don’t always watch a series while it is on tv, I wait until it’s over, then binge watch it, it’s kind of crazy, but that’s how I do it, actually, the way I like it. Now, before streaming, even before DVR or On Demand, I watched shows each week, it was an event, wasn’t it? We got together to watch something. Ok, I’m not going down that path, I just got inspiration for another post! [Draft begun!] And now, back to our regularly scheduled program.

As I said, I used to watch it if I caught it, it wasn’t something that I scheduled the time to watch, but I loved it! I loved watching it late night when it came on…laughing at some of the crazy things said, cringing at some of the conditions of the kitchen/dining room/walk-ins, crying sometimes at the heartache, hiding my eyes at the grody, gagging at the food Chef Ramsay samples, getting irate at the stubborn owners/chefs, impressed by what he can accomplish overnight when his team revamps the restaurant, and the transformation of the menu, triumph watching the chefs find their passion again, is that enough?

Watching the show, I always wondered why menus had to be so complicated. Chef Ramsay’s biggest message: Keep it simple and keep it authentic! What always amazed me was when a restaurant owner/chef doesn’t think, because Gordon Ramsay is not that nationality or something like that, he can’t cook whatever the local cuisine is. Really? Half the time when he shows up, they think their menu/restaurant is the bomb and when he tells them it’s shite, they fight him. THEY invited him! Then…he turns things around, simplifies the menu, cooks the food better than they do/could or imagine. He is a multi-Michelin starred chef, I think he might know a few things!

Just in case you don’t know who he is, a little background…Gordan Ramsay, as I mentioned, is a multi-Michelin starred chef, he has opened restaurants around the world, UK, France, Singapore, and the US, as well as well as the star of tv shows such as Kitchen Nightmares and Hell’s Kitchen. I’m not into the shows like Hell’s Kitchen or Masterchef, but I love Kitchen Nightmares, as you can tell, and Hotel Hell, which is similar to Kitchen Nightmares, but with hotels.

The reason I’m telling you about this, I ended up on ‘tv’, meaning, it wasn’t a streaming channel and I started flipping and found a station that had Kitchen Nightmares Revisited, which, as you can imagine, is when Gordon goes back to restaurants he helped to see how they are doing. And despite the fact that I cannot stand commercials, I am sitting here watching Kitchen Nightmares and I think I remember every single episode, there are not surprises, it’s like a traffic accident, I can’t look away and I’m in…heaven!

{January 16, 2021} Adventure Quote…perfection!

I was watching a new show, Call me Kat, which I’ll review another time, the jury is still out, but there was a great quote from one of the characters to the other and I thought, wow.

‘Some people search for adventure and others create it wherever they go’. Just wow. It says so much and I wonder…which one am I? I love travel and new experiences and I have a good time wherever I go, someone once told me that I could have fun at an insurance seminar, a compliment if I ever heard one! So…that tells me I am a mix of the two.

PSM and I love to figure out what our next adventure is going to be and plan it, and each adventure seems to be more epic than the last. We’re bummed that we couldn’t go on our honeymoon, or next great adventure, it was scheduled for December and you can probably imagine what happened there.

When I met PSM, one of the things I was attracted to was his love of travel, he had been around the world and then some, I had traveled, but not to his level, I had a lot of catching up to do! Even before I met PSM, I had an adventurous spirit and I wasn’t afraid of taking risks or travel on my own, but since we met and started traveling together, even bigger. We love looking for the out of the way places a lot of people have never heard of, living in Hawai’i made that attainable for us.

As for creating adventure everywhere I go, I do try to have a good time, see the fun and possibilities and it seems to be working. Even when PSM and I go somewhere we think is going to be boring, we try to have fun with it, find something to make us smile or laugh. And it works, go figure!

‘Some people search for adventure and others create it wherever they go’. Are you one or the other or a bit of both?

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What was I thinking?