Fleur de Aleta

I have a new toy and because of it, I'm creating iMovies of the vacations we've been on. I'm learning as I'm doing each new movie and loving it. Here's an example: (Click on the video to make it larger.) (I also thought it was at least, somewhat... appropriate to share, given the last video on this movie - appropriate song for Memorial Day ~ Thanks and God Bless to our soldiers!)

I don't eat Italian. It's the red sauce. Greg, on the other hand, loves Italian. One day, Greg asked where we should go for supper. I was tired of the regular places, so when he suggested "Fat Greg's" in Kenner, I figured ~ hey, it's a change. Most likely it's just pizza and red sauce, but I'm sure I can find a salad too. The outside looks like a hole in the wall. It's something that you look at and think, "Who would eat there?" Greg said, "Fat Greg's isn't a name of a restaurant that you'd think of table cloths and good dining." When we walked in, it was lovely. Not super fancy, but nicely decorated. It's not a large place but the tables are spaced so that you don't feel like the place was trying to crowd people in. We went to the table on the right side of the restaurant (it’s divided in two halves). Another couple was on the same side of the restaurant that we were and Greg asked them if they could recomme...

Greg and I will sometimes go for a treat at the local snowball stand. For just one dollar, you can get a “small” (which is actually pretty large) snowball or a soft serve ice cream. We don’t like to drive away immediately because we don’t want any spills in the car. After we got our orders, we stood outside the snowball stand. A group of 5 kids came up to place their order. One boy took a bite out of his snowball and made the FUNNIEST expression. It was a lime snowball – VERY SOUR. I so wish I caught the moment. Below is the “moment after” when he shared his snowball with his friend.

Do you want to see a cat jump 10 feet in the air out of a sound sleep? All you have to do is grab a bag of Sun Crisp Chips! No kidding, the bag is THAT loud! I don't like loud noises and no matter how gently you pick up the bag, CRUNCH CRUNCH CRUNCH - and I'm not talking about eating the chips - it's the darn bag making that sound! Seriously - you need the sound reduction headphones before picking up a bag of chips! I guess if you ever want to have a raging fit, pick up the bag and crackle it with your mood. Lol. (Warning- if you have a kid who likes to make loud noises, keep the sun crisp bags out of reach!) Ok and the other thing - I'm all for helping the environment. It's cool that the Sun Crisp bag is biodegradable. Something about the bag made out of plants and will degrade after 14 weeks in the right environment. They even have a picture on the bag.. but honestly, the pictures kind of freak me out. I don't know if I want to see compost while eating a chip ...

At the beginning of April, I blogged about Greg and I ordering the 3G iPad. When the Wifi iPads arrived in the stores early April, Greg was chomping at the bit to get one. He sent me an email about how it's better to have two iPads when it comes to a couple. Then said that he would likely hog the 3G iPad....and convinced the both of us, that we should get a Wifi iPad as well. Greg even went so far as to send me this link about "Peace in the home: Sharing an iPad with your spouse" (Greg added, "This is why we have two iPads!"). Here's the link: http://www.tuaw.com/2010/04/20/peace-in-the-home-sharing-an-ipad-with-your-spouse/ So, WOOT! We have Wifi and Wifi/3G iPads now for about a week. It's GREAT! Greg handed me the Wifi iPad and said, "This is yours. You get to open it." Cute little box, one sheet of paper with directions on controlling volume, on and off button and it was ready to go - yes, that simple! It's so incredibly portable! It...

I was crochet beading; it was around 9pm. Greg came into the kitchen and I heard him say, “Is that a huge roach…?…. What the… it’s a spider! I really huge spider!” I called out from the office room, “Oh my gosh! Please kill it!” Greg answered, “Well, of course.” My man, my hero. I continue to bead crochet and I hear a [splat] and “Aleta, come quick! I need your help!” Thoughts racing, “Did the spider bite him? How BIG was this thing?” I run into the kitchen and Greg said, “It was pregnant and there are thousands of baby spiders!” OMG! I was freaking out! I grabbed my shoes and did a stomping dance around the kitchen, all the while screaming, “EWWWW!!! EWWWWWE EWWWWWWWWEWEWEWWWWWWW!” Greg said, “I popped that little prego sack and it busted all over the place.” That was a first for both of us ~ a pregger spider and all the babies running around. Shivers just thinking about it. I’d want to feel sorry for the momma and babies, but… shivers.. Just think, if she gave birth how many spiders ...

Ok, I have to admit, I’ve seen the “People at Walmart” pictures and thought, “I never see those people.” Everyone I see at Walmart seems, well, rather normal. Then Greg went to Wally World and took a snap shot on his cell phone of this guy. OMG – it looks like he has red wings! (And what the heck is on the back of his shorts??)

Cindy and Matthew are really sweet friends. They are quick to offer help, laugh at your stories and share their own. Right now, they are in the midst of home renovations – everything – bedrooms, hallways, kitchen, living room, you name it – it’s being gutted and renovated! They are brave and patient souls to do this huge undertaking. One of the things being removed from their home is a green shag carpet. It’s original with the house and every time Danny would go over to visit, he’d give Matthew and Cindy a hard time (teasing, of course). So, when the carpet came up, Matthew and Cindy saved a nice square of it…. Greg said, “We should put this in Danny’s condo and surprise him when he comes in.” They loved the idea and got a great laugh from it. When Danny sent a picture of him sitting with the carpet in his condo, writing “I finally found some carpet that matches my vase and the curtains.” Matthew sent a response to him: “Hey Danny, Nice Carpet. Might want to get more while it last. For...

Aquarium of New Orleans I love to play “tourist” in New Orleans. Greg and I went to the Aquarium, as neither of us had been there in a long time. There are two feedings early in the morning. We missed the Penguin feeding (might have to go back, just for that). But we made it in time for the Sting Ray feeding! The feeding is on the second floor and there are limited tokens to purchase. After you purchase the tokens, you turn them in for 5 small fish. You make a “pancake hand” (flat) and hold the skinny, smelly fish between the middle and fourth finger. Lower you hand down and the stingrays will come! There were a lot of kids in line to feed the stingrays, but most of them just dropped the fish in the water, too afraid of the experience. For my first fish, I have to admit, the stingray came right up to me and I dropped too quickly. Afterwards though, I was shouting and giggling like a kid. It was fun and what a strange feeling ~ the stingrays suck the fish from your fingers and don’t eve...