Fleur de Aleta

I was tickled with the responses to Greg's alligator picture ! When we went into the "trophy" room at my relatives home, Greg got on his hands and knees, put his hand into the gator's mouth, looked at me and said, "Get the camera ready." He made that expression perfectly on cue. I don't know how I kept the camera from shaking, I was laughing so hard. He should have gone into acting, yes? Or at the least, comedy! Maybe even drama! My aunt and uncle have a "J" shaped home in Lafayette, Louisiana. We traveled up there to introduce the home to Greg and Roda. That sounds odd, because normally you don't say, "Look, you MUST see this house." It didn't take long for them to realize it was a treat. The house is filled with handmade art, corals, shells, huge gemstone rocks, paintings, a hallway that has a pond and stepping stones to get to the other side, a pool that was converted into a pond, bathrooms with fossils as the décor.... the...

I'm participating in Tabitha's Sunday Citar ~ Visit her blog to see more pictures. "I know it's hard when you're up to your armpits in alligators to remember you came here to drain the swamp. " (Picture taken at my aunt and uncle's house in Lafayette. I will write more about their home in the next post. In the meantime, don't worry. Yes, it IS a real alligator, but it visited the taxidermist.)

Today's Citar is dedicated to my Dad. (Instead of a quote, I thought I'd share a brief conversation ~ because it's funny and Dad makes people smile) Dad: "I looked into that new Pet place. I asked them if they can kennel two cats while we're on the trip to Boston. The reception asked me, "How do you want them stored?" I told her, "Preferably stuffed!" Me: "Dad! You did not say that!" Dad: "Yes, I did" (laughing) "The receptions said - "Now, Mr. Grimball... Do you want a cage or a condo?" I was like... whhhhattt?" Me: "Wait. Did you say, a Condo for a cat?!" Dad: "Yeah, a condo. I couldn't believe it. I had to ask what the difference was." Dad: "It's a larger caged area that has space for two cats and stairs for them to climb and a place for them to play. They get 24 hour care with people there to take them out and pet them and play with them. It's a size of a large clos...

No, Mom, I'm sorry. She's not mine. I just had to share this baby with my blogger friends. Sydney is the daughter of Anneke and Jake. Jake is the son of Sally and Bruce. (I know Sally from the beading meeting and met her through Greg, as he is good friends with Sally and Bruce.) Ok, so now you know how we know them. I have to say this. I'm not typically someone who holds a baby. I'm the youngest in my family and most of my cousins/friends aren't much younger than I am, so I never grew up with babies around me. Most of my friends do not have children and the few that do, I'm a little nervous being asked to hold the children when they are young. When I told Greg that, he said, "Your maternal instincts must have kicked in, because you looked great holding Sydney." Anneke handed her to me and oh my gosh, what a little bundle of joy. When Sydney smiled, I laughed and she smiled a lot! I absolutely loved holding her and that's such a strange thing for m...

“Aleta, your wedding brought the family together, from California to Maryland.” My Uncle Sonny told me this on the phone as Greg and I left for our honeymoon. It meant a lot to me to see uncle and aunt from California.. it had been years. (in the picture, my uncle and aunt at our wedding) Today, Uncle Sonny starts his chemo treatment. He already shaved his head, in preparation for the results. It’s throat cancer, stage 4 in his throat, tongue and lymph nodes. The doctor said it would be a difficult process. The cancer is too large to just cut out at this point. But the doctor also believes my uncle can make it through this even with the cancer at stage 4. Prayers, thoughts ~ all will be appreciated. I believe in positive energy and healing beyond what modern science knows.

I'm participating in Tabith'a Sunday Citar. Click here to see her site and join in on the fun! (post a picture to go with a quote). This Sunday ~ it's all about sunrise. Greg gave me a quote last week and it became an inspiration for taking pictures. Here's the quote he liked: "The sun, with all those planets revolving around it and dependent upon it, can still ripen a bunch of grapes as if it had nothing else in the universe to do." Galileo Galileo's quote made me think of the sunrise. So, at 4am yesterday, I woke up Greg. Yes, you read that correctly ~ me, the NOT a morning person, got up that early. We went to the Bonnabel boat launch on Lake Ponchartrain and snapped shots on my camera and the "honeymoon" camera. Greg then sent me his own quote (inspired by the pictures). "All problems lying on a modern minds gets washed away in an instant when gazing on the mornings light, reminding each of us that every day is a new beginning… a new cha...

Some of you might remember the water leak under the sink that I blogged about before. Well, the other night, Greg gave me a kiss and said, "I'm going to bed." (I was still in the computer room at the time.) I heard him say, "Why is there water on the floor?" The oh no, not that again , lump in my throat feeling came up as I turned and saw the puddle. I got up and said, "That's the same exact place I saw the water pool when we had the leak before." We took out everything under the sink. Took the bottom face plate off of the dishwasher. Sure enough, water was coming out. We were tired and irritated, but felt like pro's about going through the mechanics of finding leaks. The cabinet "floor" is actually a couple of inches above the house slab and it was wet. As Greg fixed this new leak (it's an old house, what can I say?), he remarked, "We probably need to pull up the cabinet floor. I bet there's water under this that has acc...

One of my blogger friends suggested interviewing Mom and I thought it was a great idea. Sometimes being a “guest blogger” can be a little scary, but an interview is a good start… ~~ Interview with my Mom: What was your favorite childhood memory? Probably visiting my grandparents for two weeks during each summer. We, my cousins and I, would visit the state capital, and we would climb as far up the steps as the inside building would allow. We once watched the governor's elevator and noticed that many different people would use the elevator. My cousins said that it clearly had “governor” above the door. We decided that the next person that entered the elevator, we would tell that individual to "Get Out - that elevator is just for the governor!" And that's just what we did. A rather chubby man turned to us and stated "I am the governor" Oopse! Believe it or not we got a tour of his office. Who were some of your friends growing up and did your parents like them? ...

I'm participating in Tabith'a Sunday Citar . Click here to see her site and join in on the fun! (post a picture to go with a quote). This Sunday ~ it's all about nature. (Oak Trees in New Orleans City Park ~ They survived Katrina with deep roots) "A few minutes ago every tree was excited, bowing to the roaring storm, waving, swirling, tossing their branches in glorious enthusiasm like worship. But though to the outer ear these trees are now silent, their songs never cease." John Muir (picture in Metairie by Lake Pontchartrain – sunset) "Adopt the pace of nature: her secret is patience." Ralph Waldo Emerson picture of a lily in Zachary at my grandmother’s home ~ for the quote and for my blogger friend, Lilly , who is an inspiration and joy to read.) "All my life I have tried to pluck a thistle and plant a flower wherever the flower would grow in thought and mind."" Abraham Lincoln

Introducing: Greg O’Brien ~ my husband, who agreed to guest blog for me today! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ First off I would like to say how much I appreciate the chance to be a Guest Blogger on this forum. Well... what the heck... its not like I ASKED to be here... in essence Aleta (very strongly) suggested to me to be a guest blogger, because she felt that to do the proper justice to this situation, that I should write it. For some reason she questions her own sense of humor. I don’t question it... I mean.. she DID marry me now didn't she? Well anyhoo... were off on out evenings adventure. Before we begin you should know these truths about us, our relationship, and our evening lifestyles.... 1. Aleta Doesn't cook. 2. Aleta LOVES to go to restaurants. 3. If I am not cooking... and I proclaim to Aleta that its her turn to be responsible for dinner... somebody needs to make a decision as to where we are going out to eat.... because.. (see rule number one). Grab the keys... lets roll. So... n...

If you're just starting to read my blog, please view the other Snippets (Part 1-3) prior to reading this one. It helps to go order. :-) (Picture to the right is my Mom - in the middle and two of her cousins.) Do you have a favorite childhood storybook? Mom does and I know what it is ~ the story of the Ugly Ducking. Mom loved that story when she was a little girl. She related to that ugly duckling and how the other baby ducks made fun of it and it felt ugly. It's her favorite story ~ one of rejection and wanting to belong. And in the end, the ability to stay faithful to oneself despite the name-calling and ridicule ~ one of hope, faith, courage and finding yourself. If you look into the layers of the story ~ it's one that promotes tolerance and diversity, that there's no standard of beauty. That beauty is within and once you find it ~ it shines... not to care what others think, as long as you're happy. Mom picked a perfect child's story for her motto. ~~~~~~~~~~~...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Mom attended LSU (Louisiana State University). (Next post, I'll explain the career choice.) It's here that she met Dad. She met him in a speech class; he made her laugh. Mom had other suitors at the time. Dad would have none of this. Whenever he saw another man approach Mom, Dad would give the guys a dirty look and put his arm around Mom. She told me, "This used to irritate me, because he scared away the other men. But your Dad could always make me laugh. It's hard to stay mad at him." It was a long walk from LSU back to her parents' home; when Dad drove up and offered her a ride home, she accepted. What Mom didn't know until after they were married was that Dad would follow her and found out her route. When Rob heard this the first time, he said, "So, basically what you're saying is that Dad stalked you!" Lol. I figured, Dad knew what he wanted, knew a good thing when he saw it. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Nana was sen...

I asked Greg what he thought of my previous post. He said, "It was disturbing, but I think it was therapeutic for you and something you needed to write. Does your Mom know you wrote this?" I answered, "A couple of months ago I asked Mom if it would be OK to write about her childhood and she said it was OK, but to be careful." ~ my disclaimer ~ Mom is one of eight children. She is the 5th child. There are seven other points of view out there in this world regarding their childhood. I respect and appreciate that each individual had different experiences and memories. I'm not comparing, contrasting, contradicting any other view. I'm sharing these stories ~ as a daughter ~ of one of the eight. Mom did not ask me to write this. It's something I want to do, as a tribute to her love as my Mom. These are my memories of what has been shared with me. I'll take care as much as I can with a topic where care is a precious thing. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ I asked ...