Fleur de Aleta

Greg and I played tourist again in Metairie/New Orleans. The house is located on the merging lines of the two parishes and there seems to be different opinions which one it’s located in. It didn’t take long before Greg whispered to me, “Reminds you of Biltmore?” Yes, it did with the over the top decorations and so forth. We weren’t allowed to take pictures inside the house. The house is 36,000 square feet and host rooms such as the exhibit gallery, ladies powder room, ladies reception room, docent lounge, flower arranging room, library, blue room, art gallery, etc. In all the square footage, there are only ~ 4 ~ bedrooms. Our tour guide very proudly stated that “No guests were allowed to stay in the main home.” There was a “guest” house where guests could sleep. Children were only allowed in certain rooms to play. And if you wanted to take a nap, you weren’t allowed to mess up your bed, so they had little day beds you could rest on… If the family saw a particular wall in a home or buil

Doula ~ isn’t that a neat sounding word? When I first read it, I thought, “Sounds like a musical instrument!” It wasn’t a part of my vocabulary until I met someone who was a Doula. Yes, it’s a job title and I thought the job description was so interesting that I’d blog about it. “Doula” originates from the Greek meaning of “a woman who serves.” The job description is ~ “non-medical support” ~ Doulas “mother the mother.” Doulas are there for prenatal consultations, for the labor, close to the onset of active labor and stay with the laboring mother until a couple of hours after the baby is born. They even come back for a post visit. Doulas are there to help mothers to make informed choices. I can honestly say that I learned a lot from my friend, things I might not ever have taken into consideration had I not met her. (Ok, going to say this before it’s asked, no, I’m not pregnant and no, I’ve never had a child.) “Studies show that support from a Doula has benefits, including shorter la

Bird of Paradise bloom ~ it captivates me. The bright orange, the broken blue, the fuschia veins.... “Paradise is exactly like where you are right now…. Only much, much better.” By Laurie Anderson Click here to join Sunday Citar !

One of my blogger friends mentioned that she might be the topic of negative gossip because of unrealistic expectations. My response was.. "People who have expectations that are unrealistic are often ones who are trying to hide their own faults by blaming someone else. Sadly, there's not much one can do other than keep your head up and don't let the disappointment of unrealistic expectations bring you down!" She sent an email back to me that said she liked the response and would keep it with her. I thought I'd expand on it for a moment. I'm not talking about the type of gossip that goes on where you catch up on what's going on or talk about positive things and share. This is the type of gossip that is down and dirty ugly, the kind that is meant to step on someone. I thought about her situation and about situations I've been in ~ I've always believed that the negative things in life are by-products of the truth, a reaction to the truth. In her instan

R&R railroad crossing rest and relaxation No ~ I coined it as Rob and Roda ~ R&R. (my brother and sister-in-law) Isn’t that cute? Greg said, “We need something like that for us.” Hehe. Well, R&R have their first anniversary plans already in motion. Rob surprised Roda with a gift. The First Year anniversary is symbolized by a gift made out of paper. Their wedding anniversary is in September, so it was given early, but with good reason. The paper Rob gave to Roda was a ticket! A flight to the Philippines on their anniversary for a week. I thought that was such an incredibly sweet and thoughtful gift. I’m happy for them! This way, Rob will have the opportunity to meet Roda’s mom and her two brothers and get to know the place where Roda was raised. It’s so romantic! Kudos to you, Rob. I asked Greg, “What do you think we can do for our wedding anniversary?” Greg responded, “Fix the AC and heater unit in the attic!” I laughed, because, truth be told, I was thinking the same thing

Quote: Living photography builds up, does not tear down. It proclaims the dignity of man. Living photography is positive in its approach; it sings a song of life -not death. - Berenice Abbott Greg and I were playing around with the settings on the camera. If you leave the exposure setting on for a long time and at the last few seconds, a person runs into the setting, it makes the perso n appear as if they are a ghost. It was fun trying out this experiment. Join in on the fun and see more Sunday Citar pictures, click here .

You might have noticed that I have a new design? I absolutely, positive LOVE it! When I first wrote to Jill, I did some research on her work and thought, "Hmmm, I like what she's done." She even has a seperate blog, just to give tips to bloggers, from beginners to advanced. Jill had a bunch of great ideas and she was always considerate and concerned with me being happy with the results. She told me from the very beginning that she wanted me to "love" the blog. She made it clear throughout the process that me being happy with the results was her priority. My thoughts were, "Well, I don't want to get overly excited about what it's going to look like, but I have hopes." I figured I would end up asking too much or asking for something that couldn't be done. Let me tell you ~ Jill was AWESOME! I wouldn't recommend someone unless I truly believe in his/her work. I can say with confidence that Jill is great to work with. She knows how to make

Clean Laundry… I want CLEAN LAUNDRY!! The first few paragraphs below is my rant… but that’s not what this article is about… I want you to know that the point I want to make… and I sincerely hope you share it… is that part after that. The part in BOLD is what I want you to HOLD. At what point in America’s history did we become drama junkies? That we THRIVE on negative news and huge scandals? (Imagine if you will the track “Dirty Laundry” playing in the background as you read further). That when somebody famous dies or caught in a scandal we are glued to the TV to hear all of the “details” only to find out that its bogus conjecture, unassociated “officials” and “experts” give their opinions as facts? And then the media takes it and plays it 24/7 until every American finally gets sick of it. I’m not sure about you… but it truly turns my stomach….and when I see a rude TV personality like Nancy Grace talk about ANY subject, I want to call her and remind her that most of America, who is inte

This Sunday Citar is about art. "A picture is a poem without words." Horace I could say it's about adventure and learning as well. Saturday's beading meeting was taught by Bev. She's a fantastic beader ~ Master Beader! To learn from her is a treat, to say the least. Because we have so many new members, Bev came up with the idea of not just having Name Tags, but to BEAD the name tags. I was tickled when she said it would be a "free style" peyote. I haven't had the nerve to try free style. She gave us just enough instructions to start us off and then tips to take it away. And take it away, my muse did do. I was nervous after finishing the piece. I wrote to Bev and said, "I might need a new name tag to start over. I think I might need bead intervention." Yikes! Ok, be kind, please. I know it's a bit much, but I SO loved doing this. Bev responded, "This would make a great blog post. You are truly creating beadart!" Thank you, Bev,

Have you ever brought your vehicle in to a dealership for service? Ever found anything missing? Ever wonder if the people working on your vehicle are doing anything other than fixing it? A little history on this link ~ a guy named Jason brought his vehicle to the Toyota dealership and complained of theft… afterwards, he placed a video camera in the car for the second visit for service. Click on the link to read the letter Jason wrote to the dealership with his findings. It is unbelievable and makes me want to leave a video cam if ever I bring in my car! (If you live in Louisiana, please note - this happened at a Louisiana dealership!!) Click Here

Greg sent the following email to friends and family.... thought I'd share it with my blogger friends: "Aleta and I were coming back from taking sunrise pictures in City Park and we found this billboard at the airline and causeway elevated traffic circle.... we liked it so much we circled around and took a pic to share with you. So true... so true... nice ad Cox..."

Enter "cities of the dead" where graves are above the ground. After a quick glance, you'll know why so many vampire movies and books are written with Louisiana as the backdrop and inspiration. Rusty ironwork, bleached tombs, crosses and statues add to the mystery, telling a story that one can only guess. If you've never been to New Orleans, you might think it's odd that the dead is buried above the ground. There is good reason for this, not just for the decorative tombs, but rather ~ in New Orleans the wat er table is high and New Orleans is below sea-level elevation. Dig a few feet down and you'll hit water, thus the casket would float ~ literally (and yes, this did happen during Katrina.) One idea was to put holes in the bottom of the coffins so water would enter and sink but (shivers) can you imagine the gurgling sound as a casket is lowered? They opted for the cities instead. When you look at the cemetery, "cities" seems appropriate for the rows