Fleur de Aleta

One of my FB friends recently asked me, "Are you OK, Aleta? Haven't heard from you in a while." She reads my blog mostly, because I'm not one to typically write on FB. Another friend emailed me the same thing and Greg has asked, "Are you going to update your blog?" I wasn't honest with myself or them, because I simply said, "I'm blogged out from doing a blog post a day last month. I'm taking a break." That was a lie. When I read about bloggers MIA, they will come back and say, "Life got busy, sorry." They don't give details and I understand a little too well. For me ~ It's about work. It's more than a typical stressful day, more than the economy. There's a lot of struggle going on, a ton of tension pressing down on my heart, the knowledge of instability leading to financial difficulties with an unknown plan. I wish I could bury my head in the sand. I wish I didn't know what I know, but then, at least... I d...

"He's a Jellicle cat!" If you've seen the performance, CATS, you'll understand the reference. My parents bought tickets to for the family and we went to it last month. T.S. Eliot mentions Jellicles in his book, "Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats," which references cats who are playful and sweet, but also have a nightlife. Ever since the performance, Greg calls Tigger a Jellicle cat. I think that's so cute! And probably close to true. Tigs is a "chill cat." But he gets wild-eyed at times and runs through the house as if he's on a mission to get to every room as fast as he can (and as if someone is chasing him when nobody is!) or he'll meow for Greg to pick him up and take him outside. (The cat has us trained.) Tigs is totally spoiled. In the morning, Greg brushes Tigs for a good while. (Though Pebbles gets jealous.) Tigger ~ waiting for his invitation to the Jellicle Ball.

My hair was getting too long. I told my family that I was going to cut it short and color it Christmas red! Madelyn, Greg's younger sister, came over and colored and cut my hair. We called Greg in the room to see what he thought. Would you like to see a picture of my hair??? ... ....... .......... .................. .................................... .................................................... .................................................................. Well... technically, it IS my hair! There was enough of it cut off that Greg scooped it up and piled it on his head. Hehe.

The following is a guest blog post by Greg. It was inspired after a conversation this afternoon with a good friend. She mentioned that she much prefers baths to showers. Greg was the opposite and hence, a blog post... Baths, I’m having a problem remembering growing up taking baths…. Of course being a rough and tumble kid as a toddler I would get cleaned regularly… and I remember baths somewhat … but what TOTALLY eludes me to this date is the actual mechanics of taking a bath. Showers were for grown up kids… and I do distinctly remember being given permission to take my first shower… and taking NOTHING but showers ever since. PERIOD. As everyone remembers years ago we here in the South were hit by Hurricane Katrina. After weeks of living in a Hotel 11 hours drive North of New Orleans, I made it back home. For one reason or another I didn’t have potable water available… so I had to take a bath in the water I left in the tub in case of hurricanes wash out the water supply and we have noth...

Well, considering what I wrote about in my previous post, I wonder what THIS bracelet will say? I thought I'd share the latest beading endeavor. I bought books and dvd's to no avail. I even brought the books and material to one of my friends who does crocheting and had her take a look at it. She became frustrated and told me, "If you ever figure it out, show me!" (Mind you, she wasn't a beader, but can crochet up a storm.) Crochet Beading ~ It's not the standard beading and it's more involved than regular crocheting. There is NO way I could have learned this without attending Bev's class. I've mentioned her in my blog before ~ she's the Queen Beader! Recently she had a small class on crochet beading. I was nervous and wondered if I would ever pick up on the method or if I was doomed to give up. What I didn't know was the Bev was nervous too! We didn't find out until the end that this was her first time teaching the class. I never would ...

What’s on Your Wrist? I love to make jewelry, but these days, if a kid asks me to make a bracelet, I will have to decline. Mom teaches the 5th grade. Greg and I visited with my parents over the weekend and Mom said, "Do you know the snap game?" I asked her to explain. It seems that these plastic bracelets that originally started as "fight cancer" and other diseases have taken off in a variation with the kids. If a boy or girl snaps a bracelet on someone else's wrist, it requires the person wearing the wrist to do specific things. What the kid has to do is based on the color that the other person snapped. EXAMPLE: If Child A is wearing a Yellow Bracelet and Child B snaps the yellow bracelet, then Child A has to give Child B a hug. Because Yellow stands for a hug. Aww, that's sweet, right? No harm in a hug, right? Just make sure that's the only color your kid is wearing on a wrist, because here's the breakdown of hues: Black - the wearer will have regu...

I refuse to have NaBloWriMo withdrawals. My muse is clinging to a wall and giving me dirty looks. She can't handle it any more. NOVEMBER 1st is here - my 31 days of wondering "what to post today" is done and I DID it. Yeah! And if any of you are wondering, no freaking way am I participating in the NaNoWriMo this month. Do I have "crazy" written on my forehead? No, I don't. I just checked. I'm curious, was the once a day blog posting too much for you to read and keep up with? What do you prefer? Reading a blog that post once a day or a couple of times a week? Don't be concerned if I don't post for a couple of days... or longer... I'm taking a blogging break. I want to catch up on blog reading and beading. In case you missed out on any of the blog posts, here's a list with links: Day 1 - NaBloWriMo - what it's all about. Day 2 - Update on the carport and a Question for the readers (dispute with Greg about hubcaps) Day 3 - The trick t...