Fleur de Aleta

Happy New Years! I’m eagerly looking forward to 2009! I wanted to buy a centerpiece for the kitchen table. Roda gave me the perfect solution. She told me of a Chinese tradition of putting a pineapple in the middle and "round fruit" around it. You also have to put garlic on the table, but not on the same round dish; it represents family as the cloves are stuck together. You set this up New Years Eve day, but don't eat any of the fruit until Jan 2nd. I love learning about different traditions and incorporating them into our lives as well. Ok, I received a couple of request (email and comments) about the bra experience. I’ll do my best give you a feel. (don't go there) I don't buy bras that often, but when I find one that works, I'll buy in quantity and if I'm lucky, in various colors too. I imagine I hear Greg singing, "Shake your Money Makers." That's actually something most women do when we bra shop ~ we shake. You have to see if it fits in t...

Normally we don’t take down the Christmas tree so early, but this year we figured it would be a good idea, so it’s one less thing we have to do coming back from our honeymoon. Speaking of decorations, but this time regarding wedding frills ~ All of the decorations are at my parents’ home, waiting for the decorating crew to show up. I am taking off of work on Friday and so are some friends, as well as family from out of town. I’m hoping we can get the bulk of it finished that day, leaving a minimal amount to be done the day of. This week, I’ll make phone calls to the various venders. If you don’t see me posting, you’ll understand why. Ever saw a chicken with its head cut off? That’ll be me in the next couple of days. I figure that’s better than a bridezilla! Before updating my blog, I asked Greg if I posted a picture, would he not look at it. He agreed that if I put a link on my blog, he wouldn’t click on it. So, honey, I trust you to keep your word! XOXO CLICK HERE (NOT you, Greg!) Th...

Much like Garfield, I don't like Monday's. A friend sent this joke to me and had me in tears. Laughter really is the best medicine, even for a cranky Monday! ** WARNING ** LANGUAGE *** Pocket Taser Stun Gun, a great gift for the wife. A guy who purchased his lovely wife a pocket Taser for their anniversary submitted this: Last weekend I saw something at Larry's Pistol & Pawn Shop that sparked my interest. The occasion was our 15th anniversary and I was looking for a little something extra for my wife Julie. What I came across was a 100,000-volt, pocket/purse-sized taser. The effects of the taser were supposed to be short lived, with no long-term adverse affect on your assailant, allowing her adequate time to retreat to safety....? WAY TOO COOL! Long story short, I bought the device and brought it home I loaded two AAA batteries in the darn thing and pushed the button. Nothing! I was disappointed. I learned, however, that if I pushed the button AND pressed it against a m...

Christmas came early! I can't believe it's already available for order. * so smiling* It's not a book about this blog, but I couldn't resist using the blog name for my book of poetry. Greg was my inspiration for the blog name, as well as countless poems. (I don't think he's read all the poems I wrote about him ~ but he'll see some in the book, for sure!) I love you, Sweetheart! I also have to give credit to Marcia, a dear friend and fellow poet, who believed in my poetic endeavors. She helped me through the manuscript phase and gave me positive feedback on my poems. Thank you, Marcia! If you'd like to buy a copy, it's available right now through: http://www.publishamerica.com/ There's an area to search for the title; the purchase can be made online. Eventually it will be available through Amazon and Barnes and Nobles. ** Edited to add: Fleur de Aleta is now available on Amazon - Woo Hoo!

By popular demand ~ Here's my Disney Share (sorry it's taken me so long to blog about it!) Our first night in Disney, we went to Epcot's French restaurant. Greg said, "It was too stuffy for a 600 dollar meal!" Dad said, "Well, it's expensive because you pay to be a snob for the night and have someone from France, who has only been in the states for 2 weeks, serve you." I'm sure we looked like a bunch of uncouth people, but we sure had a lot of laughs. (I loved going to the various "countries" in Epcot and hearing the authentic accents!) One of the "typical French" appetizers was a small serving of "whipped asparagus" with mussel on top. Now, I like asparagus, so I was game. Interestingly, very .. interestingly. We sampled various appetizers and I had my first taste of snail. It was actually pretty good. Not that I'd purposefully order it again, but hey, it was worth the new experience! Roda and I both ordered the...

I get out the shower and hear Greg’s voice, “Honey, come here! Fast! NOW NOW!” Greg doesn’t get like that for anything, so I wrapped a towel around me and dashed towards his voice. Unfreakin believable! It’s SNOWING! Looks like the weather folks got caught with their snow pants down, because it sure wasn’t in the forecast! From Disney to Snow ~ now, THAT’s magic! Greg bought me some flannel pj’s while we were at Disney (cute Mickey and Minnie are on them) to wear for when we go to N. Carolina on our honeymoon. I put the pj’s on last night, as it was chilly in the house. This morning after seeing the snow, Greg said, “It’s the PJs that made it snow!” There you go; all along Greg wanted to see snow this year. I can’t count how many times he said, “I wish it would snow.” (And asking for snow in New Orleans is…. Well… a snowballs chance in you know where!) Our first snow together! Greg must have seen the snow when it first started, because it wasn’t staying on the ground. We didn’t think i...

At first I thought the Neti-Pots was a hoax. For those of you who don’t know, a neti-pot looks like a little teapot. When I told Greg that my blogger friends mentioned it, he read my blog and sent me a link saying, “Do you want me to get this for you?” Click here for Instructions Video . I watched the instructions and thought, “Oh, but no.” It looked… well, icky! Greg came home and he bought it for me, insisting that I try it, after all, “Four of your bloggers mentioned it and the lady at the store said that you would really like it.” He even prepared it for me while commenting how “this has been done for hundreds of years.” Looking at the small plastic pot, I had memory flashes of me when I was a little girl having tea parties. I almost got the giggles thinking, “What if a mother saw her daughter sticking the end of a teapot into her nose?” Did I try it? If it wasn’t for Greg preparing it and thinking, “Hmm, would be blog worthy.” I mean, how often do I get to write about a mechanism ...

Miserable feeling. I used to say it was a "cotton ball stuffed" feeling inside of my head with the sinus pressure. Right now it feels more like a brick than a cotton ball. I can't get an appointment with the doctor until tomorrow (and I made the appointment yesterday). I guess this bug is going around. Ugh. Anyone have any home remedies for sinus pressure?

Please forgive me for sending this out late! I've been "out of pocket" for the last week and a half, as my parents treated Greg, me, my brother and his wife to a vacation in Disney with them. You would think I could keep up on my blog while visiting with Mickey Mouse. We were at the various parks 10-12 hours a day! By the time we made it back to the Villa, the only thing we could think to do was sleep. I'll share the highlights about the trip on a later post. Greg enjoyed everyone's wedding stories! He announced the winners as: 3rd Place: Kel 2nd Place: Hippomanic Jen 1st Place: BFS I'll send a note to each of your blogs, but if you happen to read this first, please send me your mailing address. You can email me at: aleta.grimball@gmail.com Soon I'll be back to visiting your blogs. As Greg said, "I need a vacation from a vacation!"