New Beginnings | Peaches Prattlings

{December 31, 2020} The Prom

Another triumph from Ryan Murphy on Netflix. The man has the golden touch if I have ever seen it.

I’ll be honest, I haven’t watched everything he’s done, but from what I’ve seen, he has a knack, an eye for what works and how to make a movie or tv series. The reason I haven’t see everything is that half the topics are too skooky for me, yes I said skooky! Shows like American Horror Story, Ratched, and Nip/Tuck, not my scene, a little too graphic and gory, although I did start watching Scream Queens, not sure if I’ll finish… I loved Glee and I’m loving Pose, which I’m still watching, turned on after watching Paris is Burning, it’s been quite a ride, and still the list that I am looking forward to watching is Feud. I started watching Hollywood, but I was turned off after two episodes. You can call me a prude, but to me, it was like watching a bad porno, everyone was doing everyone and I didn’t feel like there was a definite story line. I know there was, I read the plot and I was excited about the potential, but I was just depressed.

What did like about Hollywood, like most of his movies, tv shows, and the mini-series he creates or produces, are the colors, the vibrancy, the dialog, the possibilities. Along those lines, I have to tell you…I just watched The Prom, and I la la la loved it! The IMDB description says it perfectly to a T! “A troupe of hilariously self-obsessed theater stars swarm into a small conservative Indiana town in support of a high school girl who wants to take her girlfriend to the prom.”

The cast is fabulous. There are two stories that converge into one. The movie opens with a PTA meeting, the president being played by Kerry Washington, at a school in Indiana, where the root of the story begins. A girl, Emma, who is an out lesbian, wants to take her girlfriend, not out, to the prom and the PTA doesn’t think that’s right, so…cancels the prom. Plot one.

Switch to Meryl Streep and James Cordon, two Broadway actors being interviewed right outside the theater of the show they are about to open, Elenore, which is a musical about Elenore Roosevelt. It’s a musical number, apologies, it’s a musical, a movie adaptation of the Broadway Musical The Prom, based on a true story.

Let me back up. Meryl Streep and James Cordon open on Broadway and during the cast party at Sardis the reviews come in and, let’s just say, the critics said nay. Devastated, drowning their sorrows with the bartender, in glides Nicole Kidman, who just quit the show, Chicago, where she’s been in the chorus for about 20 years and had enough. Streep and Cordon realize they need to do something to up their images, so they aren’t seen as the shallow, narcists that they are. Kidman reads something on her twitter feed about Emma and her plight and they realize they need to do something. Basically, not to help someone else for some altruistic reason, but for the good press they can get. You know it will turn around, right? Que music number.

Now we’re at high school, musical number about ‘just breath’ while trying to combat and ignore the bigots around her who blame her for the prom being canceled, while in her corner is the principle, played by Keegan-Michael Key, who happens to have a crush on Meryl Streep’s character, pretty much the only person, besides her grandmother. The plan was to introduce her girlfriend to the world at the prom, dance together and kiss in front of everyone, sounds simple enough. Sure.

When the Broadway stars get to the school, they make a giant entrance and quite an impression, not great for everyone, but they are enthusiastic. They soon find out that the prom is back on, the publicity put a few people on edge. Yeah, the prom is back on. Now what? That was only in the first 30 minutes, you think we’re done? Not a chance!

It’s prom proposal day, shopping with Emma’s new fairy godfather and now, we’re at the gym, she looks fabulous. But what is not fabulous, there is no one in the gym except the principal. It was a cruel joke on Emma and her new friends. Two girls she used to be friends with, until she came out, of course, found out who her girlfriend was and along with the parents, put on a ‘secret’ prom, basically the entire school, except Emma.

Standing in the gym, a song. Come on people, it’s a musical. Emma calls her girlfriend, who isn’t quite ready to stand up to her mother, who happens to be the president of the PTA. And the truth comes out why they came to this town, for publicity, not for Emma. The truth hurts.

Then there are some touching scenes where different characters have to admit things to themselves they don’t want to admit, what they’ve been covering up for years, through acting, what makes them most vulnerable. This includes Alyssa Greene, played by Ariana DeBose, Emma’s girlfriend, who just isn’t ready to come out and Emma takes a stand and says she can’t hide anymore and it’s over. During the sad moments, there is ice cream, friends, and then throw in a great ‘Fosse’ number with Nicole Kidman and Emma, played by Jo Ellen Pellman. Then there is apologizing and groveling for some characters, and some eye opening truths for others, reforming of some bigoted ideas.

Next, Emma decides she is going to do things her way and sings on a live stream on the inter-web and touches so many lives and hearts of people who are just like her. Her new friends band together to give her the prom if her dreams, in the high school gym and the people that show up to help? Her former friends, apologizing, her former girlfriend, apologizing, and the president of the PTA, protesting.

Now it’s time for prom, the lights, the sounds, the flowers, the decoration, it’s pure perfection. The participants? Kids from all across the state who saw Emma’s live stream, people just like her, just different, her girlfriend, and then…her girlfriend’s mom who realizes and tell her daughter that she is more important to her than anything and nothing she does or says will ever change the love she has for her child. Just what we wanted to hear.

What started off as a protest and an anthem, turned into a heartwarming story of courage, friendship, tolerance, acceptance, a belief in yourself, and above all else, love. Isn’t that what it always comes down to, love? The most powerful emotion of all and with it, we can get through almost anything. Oh, and a good dance number thrown in.

Ok, so you might be getting that I enjoyed the movie. I really did. I liked the music, the lyrics, the songs, the dance numbers and when you know it’s going to be a musical, you can handle the cheesy bits, which there were, but they fit in right where they were supposed to.

I laughed, I cried, I give it two thumbs up. And as the old theater joke goes, it was better than Cats.

{December 30, 2020} Wild Lights…A Wonderful Experience

This is one of those winter holiday only experiences. If you live or are traveling to the St. Louis area during the holidays, this experience is a must!

Wild Lights takes place at the St. Louis Zoo, this year from November 27 through January 2nd. So…if you are in St. Louis, or near it, or plan on coming to St. Louis and want to experience the 1 million lights, come on! During the week it’s $10.95 for non-members and weekends is $12.95 for non-members. Members, I’m sure, already know how much tickets are!

This is a wonderful spectacle of lights, lights, and more lights, and more lights. There were lights in and on the trees, structures made of lights, animals made of lights, trees, flowers, you name it, they made it out of lights. Some were more complicated than others, some striking, some just cute. There were a few animals about that we could see, polar bears and sea lions, didn’t want to wait on the line for the penguins, we did wait to go through the insectarium to see the butterflies, or flutter-byes as I like to call them, unfortunately, after walking through the creepy crawler section, the butterfly wing, pun intended, was closed. Boo.

It was a lovely evening and experience. There were a lot of people, but it never felt crazy crowded and everyone was wearing masks and we most were socially distant, we felt comfortable. The weather was cool and crisp, but as long as you kept moving, you didn’t get too cold. Everywhere you looked, there was something to see, something to ooh and awe at, something shining, sparkling, flashing, or just glowing.

I love events like these, they aren’t here very long, you know they put a lot of thought into the planning into the event just to know the wonderment on peoples faces and in their eyes. They did it for the love of the animals and the holidays. We need more cheer!

If you have the opportunity, don’t miss it, it’s so worth it and just what we need right now!

{December 29, 2020} WW84

If you haven’t seen Wonder Woman 84 [WW84] this will have spoiler alerts, you can always come back later and see if we agree. Warning delivered.

WW84…lots of questions. Why did they make this movie? Why did I go see this movie? Why do I feel like I will never get my two and a half hours back in my life? What were they thinking? What happened?! Is that enough W’s?

I’m sorry, this won’t be a very positive review. The messages in the movie had some merit, in the end. Let’s see…you can’t wish your life into existence, you have to work for it. Every action has consequences. You can’t wish for someone else’s life, live the life you have an if you’re not happy, work on what will make you happy. you don’t know what anyone else is going through or what their lives are like when you wish for them. Envy is that green eyed monster and a nasty one.

The movie opens with Diana’s past on Themyscira, she is talking about the lessons she did not learn until later in life, as we watch Lilly Aspell, the same actress who played young Diana in the first movie, running and wishing she had just taken the time to listen. I wondered allowed, isn’t that childhood? She is still a child, but competing in an olympic sort of competition against some amazing Amazons and comes close. It was great to see Robin Wright, alive and well! She has a valuable lesson for young Diana, it is the truth that is important and you cannot take short cuts to achrieve your goals.

The next thing we know, it’s 1984 and the stereotypes are incredible! It was very comic-bookish in the portrayal of the 1980’s. The big hair, big framed glasses, leg warmers, fanny packs, Members-Only jackets, the colors, the mall, the leotards, the side ponies, I lost track. Some of it was fun to see, then think back and hope that stuff really doesn’t come back around!

Barbara Minerva was typical shy, introverted, just wanted to be liked and maybe even popular. She wants to be Diana, who she thinks has it all. Kristin Wiig did a great job as Barbara Minerva, then Cheetah. Actually, she did a much better job as Barbara Minerva than she did as the Cheetah. The Cheetah, to be honest, got to be a bit ridiculous. I honestly did like Barbara’s transformation, up until she was one step away from becoming the cat and then the CGI was terrible, I was not a fan. I thought, after she made the wish, that although the transition was very subtle, in stages, each stage was incredibly noticeable and spoke volumes. The clothing went from mousy to magnificent then, I don’t know what. I guess she was supposed to be bad arse, but she just looked tattered.

The other villain, Maxwell Lord, was played by Pedro Pascal and if you’re a fan of the Mandalorian, you may or may not recognize him and if you don’t, spoiler alert…he’s the Mandalorian and now you know what he looks like without the helmet! He’s your typical scamming con artist only out for himself and doesn’t care what he has to do or who he has to run over to get it. The only thing he seems to love, and it’s not a thing, is his son. He claims he wants to make his son proud, but I’m not so sure. He seems to want total world devastation, as long as he gets what he wants. Actually, he doesn’t want total world devastation, he just wants to be the guy with it all. “He who dies with the most toys wins”. As he gets more power, he gets drunk with it and tarnishes everyone and everything he touches or thinks about.

Diana, or Wonder Woman, is kind of sad. She’s never, in all her time on Earth, never opened up her heart to anyone, only carried a torch for Steve Trevor. And, because of a wish, Chris Pine was in the movie. I enjoyed that part. It was fun to see him discover the world of 1984, like watching a child discover and experience one new thing after another. To see them together brought back feelings from the first movie, but…as you can imagine, it can’t last forever. The more she fought losing him again, the weaker she got, not just from Barbara’s wish to be more like Diana.

There were a few cool things that happened, didn’t make up for the entire movie, but cool, none-the-less. Just as they got into a plane that happened to be on the back side of the Smithsonian, don’t get me started on all the plot holes in this movie, I asked PSM “where’s her invisible plane?” guess what happened next?! That…was cool. Then they drove through and above some fireworks because it was July 4th.

There were some big fight scenes and some ridiculous ones. I have told you before, I can suspend my beliefs up to a point. And so much of what made Wonder Woman a wonder woman wasn’t there. I got antsy in my seat, waiting for something to happen, waiting for Wonder Woman to do her thang and kick arse. It was slightly painful and I know that it was what was happening around her and what people were doing to each other and the planet through what Maxwell Lord was doing, but it was still hard.

In the opening, we learn about Asteria and what she did to save the Amazonians. We learn about the gold suit of armor that she wears while doing it and we saw a glimpse of it in Diana’s apartment. She tells Steve that she tracked the golden suit of armor down after years and years of searching and told us, through Steve, about the significance of Asteria and her gold suit. As things were spiriling, I kept asking…when is she putting on the gold suit? When is she putting on the gold suit? It honestly took too long, maybe rock bottom had to be hit, but here it comes, in all its glory.

It did the trick up to a point, it was really her talking to people, telling them to look to themselves and into their hearts and resind their wishes, that is the only way that people won’t destroy each other and we can save the planet before it’s too late.

In the end, Maxwell Lord resinds his wish because he realizes the only thing that truly matters is his son and the love he has for him and hopes he gets in return, which he does. Barbara Minerva is no longer the Cheetah, there was an epic, albiet unimpressive battle between Cheetah and Wonder Woman and now it’s over, and we have no idea what happens after we see her sitting on a rock looking at the sky, just an unanswered question…what happened to Barbara Minerva.

After losing Steve Trevor a second time, claiming that she will never love again, something happens and it seems like she’s opening herself up to the possibility of being happy, who knows. There is a chance encounter at the end of the movie with the guy Steve had been inhabiting, was there a love connection? No idea.

Best part…serious spoiler alert…the additional scene is of a woman, with long dark, wavy hair and a cape, walking through a town, not sure where in the world, but it seems to be in an open market on a busy square and a banner falls and as the pole holding the banner starts to fall, the woman holds up the pole. Someone walks up to her and asks her who she is. We, of course, think it’s Wonder Woman, but no…it’s Asteria, played by none other than the original Wonder Woman, Lynda Carter!

Apologies if you’re disappointed, I was definitely disappointed in the movie. I had such high hopes. Doesn’t mean we won’t own it some day and maybe I’ll watch it again to see if my opinion changes. As it stands, I’m set with what I thought.

I hope I didn’t ruin the movie for you, but I do look forward to your take on things!

{December 27, 2020} I’ve gone back to my roots.

Ha ha. That cracked me up! Let me tell you why…

I was born with a full head of black hair. As time went on, it lightened a little, but it was very dark brown throughout my childhood and into my teens. I used to try to lighten streaks with peroxide, that takes forever, maybe it worked on a few strands.

Then at some point after college, I started dying it red. It started with the ginger spice look. All over red and two platinum streaks in the front. Then, it was time to have some more fun…all over red with platinum, blond, and black streaks, one time, almost orange, this was when I used to get my hair done professionally.

My mom was a red head and I was always envious. She had the most amazing long, firey red hair, then I was born and used to get my little fingers caught up in it, so she cut it, sorry mom! It got darker over the years and she would get it dyed professionally, red again, but a darker red. I guess that’s where I get it!

So…I was dying multiple colors, oh it was fabulous. Then I stopped going to the salon, it was a wee bit expensive, and started doing it myself. I looked for the perfect red for myself. I’ve done a burgandy wash, that was cool, it was great in the sun, but still looking for the perfect red. Revlon 42, that’s me! [About $4 a box at Walmart! Sometimes, I can even find them 2 for $2, think I stock up?!] I even dye my eyebrows! It’s such a perfect color for me, no one questions it! I’m on the paler side, so the red it just right! When I went to Ireland, no one questioned me! My granddaughter, LB, is almost the same shade of red, no one questions if we’re related!

After having my hair done with different colors and shades professionally, my hair is now shaded on its own, and there are sparklers. We don’t call them grey, we call them sparklers! Feel free to use that one! With the streaks and the sparklers, my all over color is different shades.

When Covid hit, I got a hair cut and dyed it my usualy Revlon 42 and it looked great. Then… I have been wanting to dye it different colors and PSM said go for it! What? Why not! Let’s do it! A few years ago, I had done the Atlanta Women’s 2-Day Walk for Breast Cancer and dyed my hair a hot, magenta pink. It was awesome! But…I used Splat and what I didn’t do was follow the directions and put vasoline on my forehead, neck, and ears. Guess what color parts of my face turned! Lesson learned!

I really liked the color, it was perfect, I was working remotely at the time, only went into the office on occassion, and it was October, perfect for Halloween! I kept the pink for a while and when I dyed it Revlon 42 Red again, you could see pink streaks in it for months! I loved it!

So…I went back to Splat, it’s easy and you can find it almost anywhere. First thing I did was cover everything in vasoline, I wasn’t falling for that again! First color was aqua, then blue green, then lavendar, and I have to tell you, I LOVED it! Let me tell you, first…I didn’t realize how ‘sparkly’ my hair is now! The coolest part…as the color started to fade, it shaded the sparklers just so! I was getting compliments from random strangers, it was flattering!

August, I went blue, a perfect blue that matched Charlene, my motorcycle, how cool! It is, after all, all about accessorizing, right?! I wash my hair just about every day, so the color tends to fade quicker for me than some people, but it was working. Same thing happened, as the color faded, random people stopped me to tell me how much they loved my hair! Fun!

I dyed my hair blue when I was on vacation and I let the color start to fade because I knew in October I was going to have to conduct Train-The-Trainer with the client trainers, I couldn’t have crazy colored hair. We were also on Zoom, so many people, they couldn’t tell my hair had any color. I was waiting for vacation to dye it the next color, which was going to be emerald green. I had been debating on when to dye my hair or if I should dye it, I thought it looked great and had a feeling I would never be able to recreate the fabulousness.

Vacation came, my hair had almost no color, I needed a change and it was time, so I got down to dying my locks. I left it on for 45 minutes, which is what I usually do and it was awful. First, it didn’t come out emerald green, it was more blue green, emphasis on the green, but not emerald green. I was a little disappointed and then it started to fade more and more and it started getting muddy. It was still green, blue, lavendar, and aqua, but not pretty. You know when you start to mix paint and it gets, well, ugh? That was my hair. disappointing.

So…when we got home from Denver, PSM took a nap, it was 6:30am after all and we had been driving all night and with that nap, I was wide awake, so…under the sink I went. I told you I buy these in bulk! Pulled out the gloves and got down to business. Eyebrows first. Eyebrows have to match the hair! I told you, I do it right!

Thirty minutes later, because the instructions, yes, I read the instructions, said to leave it on 30 minutes for…grey. I did and at 30 minutes, got in the shower and when I got out…looked in the mirror and…”Hey…it’s me!” Yeah, the readhead is back!

PSM even said he likes me better as a redhead and…I look younger! This keeps getting better and better! Like I said…back to my roots! HA HA

{December 27, 2020} The end of an era…

There are NO MORE storage units out in the universe with my stuff in it! What?! I know you caught your breath! It’s true, all my stuff is is one place!

Even PL, the woman at the U-Haul in Colorado, said she was proud of me! You know you had some stuff out there when that happens!

You may recall, it all started a while back when I moved from a four-bedroom house in GA to a 2-bedroom apartment in Colorado. I had to do something with my stuff. When my grandmother passed, I didn’t have any place to put some of the furniture I got from her house, so it moved into a storage unit in GA, my first. Then, when I moved to Colorado, I packed up most of the house, but still left it furnished since I was trying to sell it. What didn’t fit in the apartment, went into a storage unit in Longmont, Colorado.

Then, when I left Colorado, I was moving in with my sister until I figured things out and anything I didn’t take with me, went into a second storage unit in Colorado. Over the years, I would go and visit my stuff, on occasion bring something back with me, but for the most part, I would visit it. one time, I even introduced my stuff to PSM. We went to one of the units, I opened the door and said “Stuff, this is PSM. PSM, this is my stuff” and watched him try to hide his horror! HA HA. Not to worry, he still propsed and I said yes. Better he knows what he’s getting in to, right?

When I left my sister’s house, I had a studio apartment, you may remember me telling you about it. It was a dump when I moved in, but I made it my own, it turned out to be a really cute place, needed some more love, but as I said, I made it my own. Then…when I left Boston for Hawai’i…I added what I couldn’t take to PSM’s storage unit.

Yes, friends, if you are keeping track, that is GA: One Unit, MA: One Unit, CO: Two Units. Why do I feel like the Count from Sesame Street?! One Unit, Two Units, Three Units, Ah Ha Ha!

This was not how I wanted to live and honestly, I wanted to see my stuff. So…one of the things that was a must when we moved to Missouri was a basement, so we could get all our stuff from all the units into one place. First…it was GA. Last November, we moved from O’ahu to Missouri, and I just realized we haven’t talked in a while, so you didn’t know we left Hawai’i, sorry! More on that later.

I took my last flight from Hawai’i, PSM flew to Missouri to take care of things for the house and start working, JCT picked me up from the airport, we had a great catch up, then she helped me load the truck with the last of my stuff in GA, then I hit the road and drove through the night to MO. A few years earlier, KAB bought a house with JB and I gave them all my furniture, the coolest part…when I visit, I get to sit on the same sofa I enjoyed for years and I am tickled when I get pictures of the grandkids at the table I used to have. So…GA: Done!

Next…last Christmas, I went to GA, then to Boston, met PSM, we loaded up the U-Haul with the last of our things from Boston and my sister’s house, he flew off to Iceland with our newphew JM and I hit the road and drove our stuff from Boston to Missouri. So…MA: Done!

Next…July 3rd of this year, I dropped the top on the beetle-bug and headed to Longmont, CO. It was a great drive, 12 hours, not the great part, but the weather was perfect, except for Limon, CO, which tends to have torrential rain and hail storms in the summer, no fun, but the rest of it, awesome! Top was down most of the trip, music blaring, what more could you want!

I rented the last four U-Boxes in the state, hired two guys to help me and emptied one and three-quarters storage units. I got back in the car and drove back to Missouri, another great ride, minus the hail storm!

Yesterday, PSM and I loaded the truck up with the dogs, two dog beds, and a travel pen and we were off for Longmont, CO. It took us about 13+ hours, with stopping for gas and the dogs. Good thing we packed provisions, not much open on Christmas day. This morning, we got up, picked up the U-Haul truck, drove to the storage unit and just over 90 minutes later we were saying goodbye to PL, the woman in the U-Haul office, the one who was proud of me, and we were off.

PSM drove with the dogs and I drove the U-Haul. It really wasn’t bad, except for no cruise control, that gets old after a while, but the speed limit is 75 almost the entire way, so how bad could it be! The truck had some nice features. The backup camera view was in the rearview mirror, there were several power/charging outlets and the regulator topped at 75, I wasn’t complaining.

The trip took way longer than 13+ hours, we finally gave up the ghost about 11pm and got a few hours sleep at a rest stop, about four hours from home, that…was heaven! And now…we’re home. But…Colorado: Done!

That means, my friends, that there are no more storage units anywhere in the universe, except for our basement! I’ve been working on paring down, it’s not easy, but I’m working on it. Now that I have all of my everything, I can really get a grasp on what I need to do and start making some serious headway. I have to, for my sanity and my marriage! He’s such a good sport about it all but I can’t do this to him forever!

It really is the end of an era. What’s next!?

{December 23, 2020} If you don’t need to go to Walmart, why would you…two days before Christmas?

Well, for one, if you don’t celebrate Christmas, why would you think about it? And for another, well, why didn’t you look at the calendar?!

We finished with yoga today, that’s another adventure I’ll tell you about later, and we realized we needed something that I found online and we could get at Walmart. So…we went to Walmart. Ok, not the brightest idea, but there we were.

I don’t know what it was, but it was not a happy, it’s almost Christmas vibe, kind of place. The guy we met in the parking lot realizing the monster truck for his kid was not going to fit in his ‘not-so-monster’ truck was nice. PSM and I started chatting with him about the toys we had when we were kids. I still remember the Tonka Truck I had as a kid, but it was small and metal and it did not have batteries and you could not ride it. Well, you could try, but did I mention it was metal and small, and a bulldozer, good luck! Ouch! As I said, he was nice. He was at that point waiting for his mom to show up with the van.

The guy working the door checking that everyone had their masks on was pleasant, he said hello when I said hello, but I didn’t necessarily feel greeted…by the Walmart greeter. Then we walked into the store and it was a little more crowded than we were grooving on, yes, it’s two days before Christmas and it’s Walmart. When isn’t Walmart crowded?

This was also a Walmart we hadn’t been to and I didn’t get any warm fuzzies in there. I asked someone who was working there a question and first, I felt that I had interrupted her, and second, she looked at me like I had six heads and annoyed when I asked my question. Lastly, she had no idea where the section of the store I was looking for was. Fun…sorry to bother you.

We didn’t find what we needed and neither of us was grooving on this particular establishment, so we proceeded to hightail it out of the store. Remember the guy with the monster truck? Mom had just shown up and they were attempting to load it into the van, so PSM lent a hand, such a nice guy. That gave me a warm fuzzy, which didn’t last long because the vibe in the parking lot was, well, let’s just say, the Christmas Spirit hadn’t quite made it.

I am going to take the good cheer I felt chatting with Monster Truck dad/dude who told us we could come and play with the monster truck wherever we wanted to. That…wiped out all the negative vibes from inside the store…almost!

{December 22, 2020} Social calls and gatherings sure have changed.

Times are different. Covid to start, but even more so with the times we live in.

Do you remember a time when you would walk to a neighbor’s house, knock on the door just to say hello, maybe even stay for a cup of coffee or tea? If you’re under a certain age, you’re probably thinking, ‘no, I can’t even imagine!’. And you’d be right.

There was a time, way back when, when people would stop by a neighbor’s house just for a cuppa and a chat. I remember when I was a kid and I would go to my grandmother’s house in Brooklyn and if I couldn’t find her, she’d be down the street at AL’s house. They didn’t make plans, it just worked out that way, they’d be hanging out having a cup of something and usually playing cards.

When I lived in my last neighborhood in GA, the one I lived in when you and I started talking, it was that kind of neighborhood. We could walk to each other’s homes without calling first, just to say hello. I remember when it all started…I went on a cruise with some neighbors. We spent 7 days together, eating, drinking, shopping, exploring, touring. Well, they were drinking, I was the ASP, Always Sober Person. I had to know everyone’s cabin number and when the ship was sailing. I enjoyed the responsibility, it was fun and they were funny, win-win.

Same thing when I take a trip with my family. We spend 7-10 days together and then we go our separate ways. What? All that time spent together and now I wake up and no breakfast with my nieces? No lunch with my sister? No dinner with my dad? No more exploring with ACS, LaLa, not fair!

So…what to do? FaceTime? Zoom? Skype? All great options, but not the same. Also…when I took the cruise with my neighbors, there was no Zoom! So, with the family, great options, but with the neighbors, greater option…walk down the street and pop in for a chat and a cuppa.

Well, times being what they are…not so much dropping by. People can’t really invite you in or they won’t, which is completely understandable. We have to let someone know we’re coming and wave from the street. Or you don’t let them know you’re coming and leave something on the porch. Ring the bell and step back? Ring the bell and run away? If it’s a surprise anyway, but…with times being what they are…do you want that kind of surpirse?

These days, gatherings are a little different. We make a date to meet and then hang out in the driveway! If you know the people, maybe the backyard. What’s funny is that we’ve been doing that unintentionally for years! You happen to be outside watching your kids playing and a neighbor comes walking by or comes home from wherever, gets out of the car and walks over to your house. My sister’s neighborhood is like that, they make dates to hang in the front yard or in the driveway.

For Halloween, our neighbor invited us to sit in the driveway, socially distant of course, around a metal fire pit, roast marshmallows, have a bowl of chili and chill. It was a lot of fun! Tonight, a co-worker of PSM’s invited us over so the wives, me being one of them, could meet. They have two small kids, so the kids were playing in the yard, we set up our foldable/portable chairs, brought out the drinks, and stood around and talked for a few hours. The sun started to dip down and it was time for the kids to get some grub.

It was fun. Got to meet some new people, chat, compare stories, and…they actually met on O’ahu when she was in grad school and he was there working for the same company PSM works for. Actually, he had the job PSM took in Hawai’i, before PSM had it. That was the really fun part, talking about O’ahu and someone, or two someone’s, know exactly where you’re talking about! Especially the stuff locals know about, you know, daily life in a city. And…not being from there, working on pronouncing the places we went and saw.

This seems to becoming the new norm, it’s not so bad, we still get to socialize a little, just a little farther apart from each other than normal. We value the relationships we have and that we’re building. I wish there was an easy way for me to do that with my family and friends back in NY and GA.

When things open back up, who knows, I may be knocking on your door for a chat and a cuppa. Ooh, maybe even inside the house! Oh my!

{December 21, 2020} It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas

I know, I know, it’s December 21st, duh, it’s almost Christmas JJ. Thank you very little Captain Obvious! HA HA.

It’s chilly here in Missouri, not freezing like some parts of the country, but cold, and slightly confusing at times, 21 degrees in the morning, then 50, even 70, in the afternoon. Huh? I remember days like that when I lived in GA, but that was the South. We’re in the middle, right? I’ve been told that where we are is the middle, but the Southern part of the state, so south middle?

We were also told there is at least one day a month, even in the winter, when we could ride our motorcycles, sounds good to me! I have to say, the weather has been pretty good, even when it’s 21 or 34, the days it’s been sunny, I am down with that, I can take cold weather, as long as it’s sunny.

Enough about the weather! One of my favorite things about the winter holidays are all the light displays people put on their homes, and even in their windows. Admittedly, I was having trouble with people putting up decorations before Thanksgiving, because traditionally, as soon as Thanksgiving is over, it’s time to get set up for Christmas. I am used to, well, not used to, but have accepted, that stores are going to put up their holiday decorations and items for sale by Halloween, sometimes sooner. Hey, it gets earlier and earlier every year, or at least it seems that way.

But…that being said, I realized why so many people were putting up their decorations early, we need that extra bit of cheer right now. 2020 has been such a crap year, not everything, but enough, that we need that extra bit of cheer [sorry for the repeat, it fit] and joy, who’s with me?! Someone even said we should leave them up until all the craziness is over and everyone is healthy and safe. I do love the look of some holiday lights, I’ll give the idea some thought.

After getting some food the other night, we took a tour around our neighborhood to check out the lights and what a sight to see. Not every house is decorated, but what there is, is cheerful and happy and makes me smile, so how bad could it be?

With that, I leave you with a wish for good cheer, joy, and happiness. Enjoy the lights!

{December 20, 2020} Words with Friends: A pickup site?

Since when did Words with Friends become a pickup joint? So to speak.

I’ve been playing Words with Friends since the game first started, sometime in 2009. I was playing like crazy and then took a break from it. I started playing again, now Words with Friends 2, in 2017 and it was a blast.

Now, all of a sudden in the last few months, it’s become a haven of pick up artists. Now, when I say artists, I mean delusional men, and I say men because I haven’t been approached by any women…who think they’re going to get lucky trying to pick me up through a game.

I wish I had saved some of the chats, I wasn’t thinking…this was one of those times that I wanted to talk with you again, but wasn’t actively blogging, so that opportunity was lost, but I found some photos from other people online who have experienced this same thing! Go figure.

Now…I have chatted with people through Words with Friends, but I was actually friends, or family, with these people, so opening a chat and having a dialog, innocent enough. But then…I get my first invite and I didn’t think anything of it, like someone just wanting to say hello, maybe even chat about the game. It starts innocently enough. “Hi, how are you?”, then where are you from, but when they start throwing in ‘my dear’ among other things, you start to wonder. My favorites “Are you happily married with kids?” “I would like to get to know you better, how about chatting using other means?” “What do you know about What’s App?” Seriously? Does that work?

Granted, I did talk with a few of them until it got stupid. “No, thank you for the offer, but I don’t give out my number to people I don’t know or that I play games with”. “Why? I just want to get to know you better.” “We can be friends.” There were at least 2 that I thought, well, this is innocent enough, but alas…

Then the dilemma comes in…if I resign out of the match, then my standing goes down. What I started to do was ignore their messages, either by muting the chat or just not responding. Eventually, they time out or resign, doesn’t count against my stats, and that’s the point, isn’t it? Ha ha.

I started to wonder if I was alone in this. I asked my dad, he hadn’t gotten any invites on Words with Friends 2, but he has gotten invites when he plays online chess. I didn’t have anyone else to ask, so I started doing a Google search and low-n-behold…I am not alone!

Now, hooking up through an online game is not unheard of. I know people who have met their significant others, had an affair, through online gaming, but that was through the MMORPG (Multi-Media Online Role Playing Games). These are games where you spend hours upon hours gaming with people, sometimes groups of people, teams, you chat, you get to know each other, you’re strategizing how to play the game, kill things, whatever, and one thing leads to another and…I’m not saying that’s everyone. It’s also a great place for families and friends to spend time together. But this is Words with Friends?

If you want someone to play scrabble with rapid fire, back and forth, unless we’re friends and sitting next to each other, I am not the right WWF2 player for you. I make my move, then it might be a few hours or a day before I play my next move, no matter when you sent your last move, I’m not that focused. Don’t get me wrong, I really do like the game, but I’m not that competitive. Well…that’s not entirely true, ha ha. I love to win and I’m frustrated when I lose, but I’m not going to sit and wait for you to make your next move, I play about three games on my phone and WWF2 is one of them, I do a round of each, then come back to it later.

Back to the topic. It’s a game and that’s all I want it to be. I’m not interested in chatting with you, I have great friends. I don’t want to know where you’re from or if you’re happily married, you should have friends to talk to about that, as do I. It’s interesting that only men are inviting me to chat and play, hmmm….the girls have better thing to do apparently.

That being said…I currently have 36 games going. That is a bit much, but I keep getting invites to play. I know, I know, “but JJ, just say no’, I could, but I don’t, that’s my own fault. Out of those 36, eight are women and only one of them has invited me to chat and she is family! I can tell a bunch are about to drop off, 6-9 days waiting for them to make a move…thanks for playing!

Bottom line, this post is not against WWF2, I am going to continue playing, I enjoy it, some of my opponents are definitely challenging, and I appreciate that. I’m against the idiots who think their invites and so-called charming ways are going to work. They can leave me alone. Just don’t mess with my stats! HA HA

{December 19, 2020} Hello Again

Wow, it’s been a long time! Too long by some accounts.

So first, I should probably apologize. I’m sorry for being away so long. It’s been just over two years that we last spoke, way too long and oh my, I have missed you all! Not sure if you’ve missed me, but I sure have missed you!

Based on that statement, you’re asking yourself, well then, why did you stay away so long? Great question! I was enjoying sharing my nothings and everythings with you every day, I really was, but then I got on a project at work that kept me working 12-18 hour days, writing. After writing for 12-18 hours a day, I couldn’t find it in myself to write or talk to you, I failed. Over the last 2 years I’ve written so many posts in my mind, you can’t even imagine! I even started a list of posts that I could write about, but when it came down to it, I just didn’t have it in me.

But…over the last few months, I’ve really thought I wanted to get back into writing/talking with you and well, here I am. I got into another project that had me working 12-18, sometimes more, hours a day and I fell into the same pattern. Some of it was on me, but a lot of it was on the project, we had deadlines and if you knew me, you know I couldn’t just let it slide or miss the deadlines and since I don’t sleep…well, it was easy to do.

Something has changed in the last week+ that has made me take up pen and paper, well, mouse and keyboard to say hello again to you. And do you know what? I am over the moon ecstatic! My amazing husband PSM, oh, I have missed using initials to talk/tell you about people!!! bought me a new laptop to help me with something, isn’t that amazing! Many women are swayed by bling and shiny things, get me a piece of techie equipment and I’m mush! Well, that being said, be bought me this fabulous new laptop that I am using to talk to you.

So…here begins our journey…again! I blogged faithfully for about four years and 1,840 published posts! WOW! Let’s see if we can beat that! Are you with me? I sure hope so, I’ve missed you my friends!

Here’s to the next chapter!

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