Fleur de Aleta

Greg woke up and said, "I had a really good dream about you last night." I asked him to tell me about it. He said, "I dreamt that we were in our twenties. We just met and were roommates. We were living together at my house and became friends and then fell in love. It was great." He was smiling. My Man loves me. Who needs one day a year (Valentine's) when I am loved like that 365? He dreams about me. We both wish we met a lot sooner in life, but I'll take whatever time we have together and treasure it! A poem for you, my Love.. Don't Need Valentine's Day by Aleta O'Brien Mi aime jou I don't need Valentine's Day his blue eyes adore Je t'adore I don't need candy or cards each day is sweet Se thelo I don't need to wait for the 14th his actions speak 365 Aloha wau ia 'oe nui loa Thank you, Sweetheart, You are my world I Love You xoxo Translations: "Mi aime jou" - Cajun for "I Love You" "Je t'adore...

This week I had the joy of going to jury duty. Oh, I know, I should be grateful. I'm not totally against it. It's the waiting and waiting and waiting in the room all day long with total strangers that bothers me. And though all you do is wait, the boredom makes you tired! I have to thank my friend, Kim. I called her the night before and begged to borrow a book from her. She's a library! That night I picked up four books and figured I'd bring two with me to the courthouse. Not that I thought I'd read both of them, but you never know which one would tickle my fancy. It happened to be "Angels and Demons." (Yes, as in the movie, which I never did see.) But the book was great! Easy to read and constantly moving and surprise ending too. During my "wait" in the courthouse, I read over 300 pages. You can always tell when someone is new to the system. They don't have anything to read. Not a magazine or book or anything to do. They look around, like, ...

Fireworks bigger and better than the 4th of July! Car Horns are Going Off! People are SCREAMING AND DANCING IN THE STREETS! Greg and I jumping and yelling, "WHO DAT!!!!!!!!" Calling Everyone We Know!!!!! Our Blood Pressure is just beginning to come down.... Lol THE SAINTS ARE GOING TO THE SUPER BOWL!!!! DID IT IN OVER TIME!!!!!! So many prayers out there… here’s one that Dad sent to me in email: OUR BREESUS WHO ART IN NAWLINS HALLOWED BE THY NAME THY BOWL WILL COME IT WILL BE WON IN MIAMI AS IT IS IN THE DOME GIVE US THIS SUNDAY OUR WEEKLY WIN GIVE US TOUCHDOWN PASSES BUT DO NOT LET OTHERS PASS AGAINST US LEAD US NOT INTO FRUSTRATION BUT DELIVER US TO THE SUPER BOWL FOR THINE IS THE MVP BEST OF THE NFC AND THE GLORY OF THE FLUER DE LIS NOW AND FOREVER AMEN (The day started with EVERYONE saying how nervous they where.... Mari, good friend on FB, wrote: "Today has almost a Christmas feel w/ the anticipation. Except if we lose it will be like someone robbed us and took our ...

I know some people can't stand Lost, they think it went down the proverbial "rabbit hole" to never find a reasonable explanation out. I've read complaints about the flashbacks and a storyline that goes all over the place. (Greg used to watch Lost and can't stand to now.) Maybe the flashbacks didn't offer much to the story line, but it gave a history to the person. It helped to understand motives for certain actions. It kept you on your toes. Maybe that's why so many people watch it, for the anticipation. Isn't that part of the fun? Anticipating and then going in a direction you wouldn't have considered. How often do you go to the movies and come out saying, "Yeah, it was good, but just too predictable." Can't say that about Lost. Lol. So, the ending, the grand finale, the "tell all" is coming up and I can't wait. That's right, I'm a Lost fan! Woot! Supposedly this season, all questions will be answered. I won...

Dad said, "The doors to hell have now been opened." Dad's comment is regarding the "breaking news" - "US Supreme Court frees corporations from decades of limits on spending in political campaigns." Dad continued, "Unlimited contributions to the politicians, carte blanche. Gawd... our donkeys are in BIG trouble. Whatever the corporation wants, they will get. Not a good thing for any person to have this kind of power or source of funds." "... landmark decision that allows massive sums to be spent to influence future elections." Great, like we need more corporate power in the mix? It was already bad enough. That means any chance that a Politician had to NOT be corrupt... has been erased. What Politician won't cave in to the "massive sums"? In the Yahoo article: "In his sharply worded dissent, Justice John Paul Stevens wrote, "The court's ruling threatens to undermine the integrity of elected institutions acr...

This past weekend we had a “bring your own project” beading meeting. I agreed with Sally that it was really nice to get together with fellow beaders and do various individual projects. Some of the ladies brought projects where they didn’t know how to finish it or needed help with the next step. It's spending time together that makes it enjoyable! For me, I didn’t bring a beading project. I didn’t know how many women would show up before the Saints football game (will get back to that later). Fortunately for me, Leigh brought some chopsticks and yarn. I learned how to knit! Yes, using chopsticks. It’s very relaxing once I got into a rhythm. There's wasn't enough yarn to really make something. It was more or less, practice stitching. Here’s my beginner piece that I brought home to show Greg: Greg said, “Nice. You’re knitting. Are you trying to tell me something? You know what they say about newlywed women and knitting.” I laughed and said, “No, Sweetheart, I’m not pregnant. I...

Pebbles has sported a couple of different cuts, such as: Cocker Spaniel cut (shaved on the head and the back, but keeping the paws fluffy) Totally Shaved (usually during the really hot summer months) And during the winter, the full coat : Pebbles is a Cocker Poo (Mix of Cocker Spaniel and Poodle). I never really saw the Poodle part in her, except for the curly fur when she has a full coat. I mentioned to Greg that Pebbles was starting to stink. She needed a bath and she needed a clip. With it being so cold this month, I didn't think a cocker spaniel cut would be a good idea, because most of her fur would be cut off of her back. She only needed to be trimmed around her face, under her chin and paws. Pebbles has one good eye and with all that fur getting in front of her face, she was bumping into things. Poor heart. And when she ate or drank, the food was clinging to the fur on her chin and throat. As for the paws, she was tracking in mud and grass. Oh and yes, her tush, beca...

Greg calls his Mom a “reluctant cook” because she’s really good at what she makes, but doesn’t necessarily want to cook. Me, I just don’t cook. Greg laughs at me and says, “For someone who doesn’t cook, you have a fully stocked kitchen.” What can I say? I like gadgets too! With it being so cold and household budget cuts, going out to eat isn’t in the cards. I can’t leave the cooking all to Greg. That wouldn’t be fair. As long as he doesn’t gag when he tries my cooking, I’ll make attempts. As I thumbed through recipes (yes, oh my, I really do have recipes)… I came across one that said, “Hardy Taco Soup.” Sounded perfect for a winter night. I read the ingredients and directions and it had my name all over it! In fact, it was so easy to make, I didn’t want to share the recipe instructions with Greg. I wanted to get credit for slaving over a hot stove. But, alas, the truth is out. (Side Note: I wrote on FB that I was going to attempt a Taco Soup recipe. Roda, my sister-in-law, replied, “G...

Lately I've shared a lot of animal pictures. The pets are giving us cute opportunities. The next pet share is from Mom and Dad. A few nights ago Dad decided to start up the fireplace. Only he didn't open the fireplace thingie. Mom was the one to notice the smoke smell and the sudden fog inside. I'm surprised the cats didn't meow like crazy, but they did make a wild dash to get outside when Mom opened the door to air out the house. (The cats never go outside, they are totally spoiled and know better.) The good news is nothing was hurt and now my parents are questioning why the smoke detector didn't go off when it should have... if there's a reason to find out why a smoke dectector didn't go off, this is the kind of situation you'd want it to happen with, when nothing bad came of it. After Mom told me what happened, I went over to their home. The smell was still pretty strong, but the house wasn't foggy any more. Dad still had the fireplace going and t...

It's been cold here lately. In fact the front page of the newspaper not long ago stated that it hasn't been this cold in 14 years! To keep Pebbles warm, Greg tucked a warm towel around her. When Pebbles got up, I guess she liked the additional warmth, because she didn't mind carrying around her safety blanket. Tell me this isn't adorable :)

As a blogger, have you ever deleted a comment made by another person on your blog.. or deleted a comment that you left on another blog? I was pondering this after I recently deleted a comment by another person on my blog. The reason for the deletion was a negative comment made by an anon. person towards another friend - it was an uncalled for attack. First, if you're going to be nasty on someone else's blog, have the courage to own it and state who you are. Secondly, don't piss in someone else's pond. If you have a gripe, get it off of my site and take it to your own blog. And Third ~ eh, no third, I figure those two are sufficient. I don't mind different opinions. But ugly comments with the intentions of attacking, that's a hint for the delete button. As for deleting a comment I've made on another blog - nope, never have. If I don't want it said, I shouldn't write it the first time, is how I figure it. I have seen a blogger delete a duplicate post a...

Just a quick little note.... I left the house to pick up breakfast. Greg was in the computer room, along with Tigger and Pebbles. When I came back, Greg said, "The second you left the door, Tigger turned around and had this look on his face. As if he was saying, "Where'd she go? She's coming back, isn't she?" I took a picture of him with my iphone." Greg knows Tigger's expressions now. I think that's so cute and I loved that he took the picture to share it with me.

One of my blogger friends requested (in the comments) a sample of Tom's poetic endeavors. Tom read the comments and sent me the following unpublished poem to share on my site. Enjoy! My Onion by: Thomas Lugovoy I woke up today feeling anxious I don’t know what is going on I feel like an onion Too many layers in front of my inner self What is going on? Is it anxiety? Is it deeper? As much as things have been fun I sense loneliness Another layer is peeled away But truly is that it? Is it loneliness? The circle of emotion To get to the root I look in the mirror What do I see? Is it who I want to see? I’m staring back I see age Some say age is distinguished Am I? I don’t see? Superficial or Real? Another layer is peeled I am happy with myself The light is shining brighter than ever before Can it be just insecurity? As I look at the onion It’s become a flower with all the peels Opening up, tears of happiness Flow from my face Petals of…

This past year seemed to fly by. Every new year will bring a special memory for Greg and I and I'm very grateful to have it to welcome in each New Year ~ that memory being ~ Our Wedding. On January 3rd, we celebrated Our First Year Anniversary. The anniversary gift for the first year is supposed to "paper" and in keeping with tradition, we exchanged lovely cards. Going to the Roosevelt Hotel was a romantic way to start our celebration. It was still decorated for Christmas and my gosh, it felt like a Fairy Winter Wonderland! The pictures don't do it justice. All those lights and crystal and glass ornaments and white tree limbs seemed to go on forever! It made me smile; Greg said that I glowed. We were surprised with the cost of the meal ~ it wasn't as expensive as we thought it would be. In fact, it was very reasonable. Greg had the three egg omelet. The hashbrowns looked ehhh, interesting - picture hashbrowns with tomatoes and asparagus. I had the banana walnut pa...

From one poet to another.... A long time ago, I hosted a poetry forum. It was a small group of people that shared their poems, offered suggestions, encouragement and inspiration. Over years, online friendships developed from the trust of sharing your work and appreciating the responses ~ and fortunately, even after I took down the forum, the friendships and sharing of poetry remained, carrying on to various poetry sites. I recently found out that a good friend and poet was published. I wanted to share his joyful news! Thomas C. Lugovoy is published! His book is titled, "With Each Breath of a Single Dad." Tom asked me to write the forward page for his book; I was honored to do so. Below is the description of his work. (Tom shared with me that his girlfriend, Cathy, assisted with the description. They did a beautiful job, very fitting for his poetic talent.) With Each Breath of a Single Dad is a compelling collection of poetry written through the years of marriage, the birth o...