Fleur de Aleta

MSN had an article about buying condo's. Considering the market, I took a glance at it, but what caught my eye was something else. This statement: "Some Florida associations hard-hit by foreclosures are demanding that new buyers make a down payment and demonstrate a minimum level of income." It ended with advising the reader to look for the "homeowners association board's minutes for the last two or three years" as a reference tool of trouble. I live in an established neighborhood. Before Katrina, it was VERY difficult to find a home in the area that went up for sale, because people, quite honestly, didn't move. It stayed in the family, that's what having deep roots is all about. Thankfully most of the neighbors did come back after Katrina. It's a good place to live, minus a few trees. Our home owners association is quiet. It's understood that you take care of your yard, that you respect your neighbors, etc. But other neighborhoods? I read

Garfield was one of my favorites to read. He doesn't like Monday's either.. or mornings. Greg is determined to make me into a morning person, but Honey, I hate to tell you, it won't happen. So, to lighten my mood, thought I'd share a couple of funnies with you that my friend sent to me. She's studying to be a Librarian: "In class our instructor told us that someone did a survey of librarians so they could create a profile of the profession. When the survey was completed and analyzed the only commonality that the researcher could find is that librarians have sex in elevators! Someone in class piped up 'That's because we can't afford a room!'" (After that comment, I'll never look at a Library Elevator the same way!) "I think I have gotten the most unusual reference question. :) A lady called and said her mother and her were having a debate about twins. She needed to know if Identical Twins could be of different sexes. I said no and t

Greg was going through pictures on his cell phone. He would look at one and laugh about a picture of our pets, then another one about a sunset picture. Then he came to one and said, “Who would take a picture of someone with a neck brace on?” Then he hit the delete key, thinking nothing more of it. Another picture came up with a guy in a neck brace and Greg asked me, “Did you take pictures with my cell phone recently?” Nope. I couldn’t even tell you how to take pictures with his cell phone! Then he looked a little closer at the picture and said, “Wait! That’s me! I’m the one in the neck brace. Did you take a picture of me in a neck brace the day of the accident?” (If you are new to my blog, click here , to read about Greg’s car accident.) Nope. I looked at the picture and said, “There are trees in the background. This was literally at the site of the accident. You are in your car. I wasn’t there. I saw you when you were in the trauma unit.” Then he remembered that Alvin took pictures of

"Wii are family - get up everybody let's bowl." Ok, that's taking the song on a spin, no pun intended. The picture of Roda playing the game is my favorite. She has such a cute, endearing personality and the shirt is a great example. Rob and Roda, the newlyweds, are back home. They had a great time in Las Vegas. Roda is wearing a shirt that on the front reads, "LAS VE" and on the bottom end of the back "GAS." Hehe. Ok, a little background on the Wii game. A couple of days ago, Greg said, "I bought your birthday gift (birthday is in October)." I asked for a hint. Greg replied, "I saw two women using it and they seemed to have a good time... and it's something I've been thinking about since we went on the cruise to Alaska." Sometimes I speak before thinking, "Oh no. Don't tell me it's a Wii game." Umm, boy did I guess it right away. I've never been one to play video games. Granted, the Wii thing is sli

I saw this on another blog and thought it was a fun idea. It’s one of those “getting to know you” questions for fellow bloggers. I tried to come up with some typical and not so typical questions. I’d love to read your responses if you’d like to share them in the comments: Are you a Cat or Dog person? Do you have any nicknames? What was the first job that you ever had? What is the most exotic food you’ve tried? What is one item in the kitchen that best describes your personality? If you could start any company you want, what would it be? If you went back in time and greeted your “younger self” – what advise would you give knowing what you know now?

I wish I could take credit for the picture to the left. It was sent to me in an email, without recognition for the photographer. If anyone knows who it belongs to, please let me know so that I can give credit where it is due. I wrote the poem (below) after looking at the picture. How I wish we had such lovely fall colors here. Instead, one could go into green overload with our evergreen trees! First Day Crisp days, when the sunsets explode, makes for faster, deeper feelings, Trees cling to the leaves and it leaves me welcoming the golden hues, as if tipped in a kaleidoscopic riot of color. Crisp days, when the sunrise expands and wind rushes up the crunch of fallen foliage, like skirts upon the ground brings back a childhood urge to jump and kick my way through Crisp days, when sun is high and spicy scents hover around the wood fires burning, the spicy cinnamon and pumpkin pie, roasted chestnuts, makes me want to hold traditions hand Crisp days, in a loving embrace the blood rushing to

Rob and Roda are married! Everything went beautifully. It was a mad rush to the finish though. The carpenters were at the house on Friday, putting on the finishing touches of paint. Mom took off of work on Friday and was up at 5am, trying to reorganize her house to pre-renovation state. I took off of work for half a day and met up with my parents and Greg at their home to help out with the organizing and cleaning. (I've been to my parents' home every day this past week to help out.) Then Rob and Roda arrived, as well as Mimi and Al (Mom’s sister and brother in law from Texas). It became a decorating party! The morning of the wedding, Mom made arrangements for herself, Roda, Mimi and me to have our hair done. Yes, I brought my camera (it’s so small I keep it in my purse now). During the week, I would ask Roda, "Are you getting nervous?" She would say, "No. I’m not nervous." The wedding morning, when I picked Roda up to go to the hair salon, she said, "I

Greg said, "Nobody wants to hear about that." When I told him I was going to blog about the surprise shower for Roda. That's a man for you! Roda worked for the company that my family part-owns and runs. She brought us up to date on back-logged scanning, which needed to be done and in the process was able to get to know the office staff. Everyone wanted to contribute to a gift and cake to celebrate their upcoming ceremony. We didn't tell Roda about the shower, just that we had some more paperwork to scan. She came in, started working. Kevin (our cousin on Mom's side) also works for the office. He went to pick up the cake while she scanned. I had Rob tell Roda to turn around and took this first picture. The office staff picked two items from her registry. One was a really nice spice rack and the other item was a pitcher that fits on the door of a refrigerator. (Office Staff from left to right: Karen, April, Kevin (You can barely make him out in the back row), Keish

My parents are renovating their master bathroom. It’s something my Mom has wanted to do since I was in high school (yes, that long). They finally decided to put the plans into action, only it’s not something simply; nothing ever is, right? They wanted to expand the bathroom. Originally it was a shower and toilet and one sink closet, sorry, room. To make it more “master” like, they knocked down the walk-in closet walls and the closet in the guest bedroom behind the master bathroom. There used to be a long hallway, which is now divided into two closets and their bedroom now opens up into the formal living room with 2 French doors. Can you picture all of the rooms involved in this simple (cough) bathroom renovation? Did I mention that Rob and Roda are getting married this Saturday? ? The renovations were supposed to be finished by September 10th, but Gustav pushed it back and then with power outages from Ike, yet another day was lost. When I called Mom over the weekend to see how she was

K2Chem Christmas December 2006, Fort Worth, Texas Skewers, Eye High Kicks and Christmas Cheer "It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas" ~ that song dances in my mind a lot lately. Maybe because Mother Nature donned December with snow flurries, causing all sorts of flight cancellations in the Dallas region. We went through security check and Greg said, "The guy waved us over to his lane and said, "Aleta, you don't recognize me" Do you know him?" Talk about feeling embarrassed! It was my parents' neighbor of over 20 years and I didn't recognize Collin. I forgot that he was working security at the airport. I introduced Greg to Collin as Greg was preparing for security check, taking off the metal elements, including shoes and belt. Greg's respons e was, "Nice to meet you. Just to let you know, I don't normally undress while being introduced to someone." As we walked through the terminal, Greg showed me where he worked ~ fr

I was in the car, having just dropped Greg off at his parents’ home for a visit. On my way to Walgreen’s to pick up a couple of items that we needed, kitty litter, shampoo small stuff like that. The light poles danced in Ike’s wind, reminding me that we were riding the cape’s end of his path. My mind drifted, happens when I go on automatic pilot, thinking about the things that have recently happened and softly.. these words filtered from the radio between my thoughts… “If I had to live without you What kind of life would that be” My eyes widened with the words and my heart thumped hard.. “Oh I, I need you in my arms Need you to hold You're my world, my heart, my soul” I know, I KNOW, he’s home and safe and recovering… I made a turn on another street and wondered if I should pull over; the song gripped me to the point of tears… “Without you, there'd be no sun in my sky There would be no love in my life There'd be no world left for me” I have never related to music with this

My brother has a theory. I’m listening to his theories ever since he was the first to say evacuate from Katrina when everyone else said it was going to Florida. Anyway, Rob’s theory is this: "It’s good to have a track that originally says the hurricane is coming here. Because then you know that it won’t come here. The track ALWAYS changes." That was the case with Ike. It was a beeline to New Orleans to start with and it ends with Texas. I don’t wish that hurricane on anyone; my prayers go with them.

My grandfather on Dad's side ~ his name was Ike. He passed away when I was a little girl. Dad found some pictures that I treasure, of PawPaw holding Rob and me. Dad's running joke about the hurricane is, "Hurricane Ike is coming here to give me the whooping that I deserve!" We're keeping a close eye, but praying we don't need to leave. If it stays this track, we aren't going to evacuate. This last time was too hard on Greg. It took us 2 hours to get to Hammond when we left for Gustav. By the time we arrived at the hotel, Greg didn't have feeling in his left leg! After calling Sally (one of Greg's friends who is an RN) and explaining how he felt, she advised that if his leg became swollen or it progressed, to bring him to the emergency room at the Hammond hospital. She thought it might be a pinched nerve from his back though and that seems to be the case. Even at home now, he can't sit upright for too long before it starts affecting his leg. Tha

(ok, I must admit, the first picture has nothing to do with the shower, but I took it before we left. Tigger just looked SO cute on the top of his cat bed. Lol) Mawmaw (my grandmother on my father’s side) and Diane and Vera (Dad’s two sisters) hosted a bridal shower for Roda. I won’t go into all the details of who everyone is, but from picture to picture I might add a little snippet. It was a lovely shower. Aunt Diane took the floor and welcomed Roda into the family. It was a heart-warming beginning. They received many wonderful gifts from Fleur de Lis picture frames to a fantastic set of pots (compliments of Diane and her three daughter s). The first shots are at Rob and Roda’s house, where we had a "pre-Bridal Shower" ~ giving them the gifts from Mom and Dad (the Oneida Flatware). I bought some gifts off of Roda's registry at Linen's N Things. The picture to the left is of Roda (left) and Rowena (right). They are sisters. It is because of Rowena that Rob and Roda

Are you photo'd out yet? Just a few more! Dad is a "meat and potato guy" so how Rob convinced him to go to Osaka is beyond me. I think it was because Roda wanted to go there. Hey, he was willing to try the Hibatchi, but NOT the raw stuff. I like Japanese rolls now (and have even enjoyed raw tuna - thanks to my friend, Kim, who convinced me to try it). These next couple of shots are Rob teaching Roda how to drive via Golf Cart. At one point you'll see where Rob is laughing hard ~ because Roda was going slow and Rob reached over with his left foot and hit the gas pedal! She was scared and slapped his arm (but she did well!) and Rob busted out laughing (to the point of tears ). Roda did well with the driving! (Though she didn't like bridges or water or driving in a tunnel -- that was a scary moment.) Greg had a lot of footage on his video camera that cracked us up when we watched it a week or so later from the vacation. The last picture is of Greg's birthday.