Fleur de Aleta

Did I mention that one of my birthday gifts from Greg was a helmet? That's for our latest toy. Greg eyed up a number of scooters and found a sweet price for one ($ 400) on Craig’s List. (So, now we have 2 cars, 1 SUV and a Scooter Lol) Looks like fun! We’ll use it for around the neighborhood, going to my parents’ home and getting to the park. It’ll be great to enjoy our “summer lite” season.

Office Staff celebrated my birthday -- HUGE balloon even had the customers wishing me a happy birthday. Lol. The man of my dreams... my wish already came true.

My good friend, Gwen, treated me to tea at the Windsor Court Hotel for my birthday, which is today. Woot! (OK, change of subject… my Mom’s cousin posted on my facebook wall that she thought I was in my 20’s – totally made my day!) (Below, me getting ready to go to tea) Windsor Court is a posh hotel that overlooks the Mississippi River. We valet parked and walked into the lobby. Immediately to the right is where they host afternoon teas. We were greeted and taken to our table. As we waited for our tea to be served, we listened to a lady playing the harp. This tea was a little different from the norm, in that it had a Halloween theme. I loved that, given, well, I have a certain affinity for this month. It was also cute to see some of the ladies and their young daughters dressed up as princesses and witches as part of the Halloween theme. Gwen decided on a favorite, Earl Grey. I had to try the Pumpkin Spice tea, which was delightful, but for my second cup, I went back to Earl Gre...

This past weekend, Greg and I hosted a supper with some friends of ours. Greg has known Sally and Bruce for a long time. When we first started dating, Greg said, “One of my good friends, Sally, does beading too. You’ll like Sally and Bruce.” He was right about that! Really great people, down to earth, love to laugh and honest Sally introduced me to the New Orleans Beading Society and from there I met a lot of nice ladies, including Bev (she could bead me under a table in no time flat, she’s a Master Beader) and Carol (her wire-work makes it look like she’s moving silk instead of silver). It was such a treat to have Sally, Bruce, Bev, Art, Carol and Philip over for supper. I decorated the table for 8 in fall colors (including the pooping fall fairy). Greg barbecued and our guests brought over side dishes and deserts. It was so lovely! The conversations were smooth and inviting. Greg even brought out his iPad and stand and showed our iMac computers to the group. (Greg should g...

Golf – It’s not a subject I’d generally write about, because it’s not something that I play, not even something I’d like to watch on TV. However, I’m bringing it up because of an event Greg recently attended. He has Yamaha clubs and a red leather golf bag. Ok, I’ll admit, I love the red color! I asked him where he got the golf bag from and he said, “I won it at a pool tournament.” Interesting enough, Greg is right handed, but he shoots pool left-handed, shoots guns left-handed, but plays golf right handed. Before playing, he bought some golf balls, went to a range to practice and also played golf in the backyard to get back into the swing of the game. Yeah, pun intended, my apologies. The event, Fall Classic, was hosted by Air Liquide. Greg’s company sponsored the event and was given 4 tickets. Greg was one of the four that attended and he was impressed with how everything was handled. Everyone was given two hats and a dark blue shirt, which I really like on Greg! At the Fall ...

Greg received a Name Game and sent his answers to me. Thought I'd share this with you (and also because it's getting towards the end of NaBloWriMo and my brain is turning to mush).. Rules: It's harder than it looks! Use the 1st. letter of your last name to answer each of the following questions. They have to be real places, names, things, nothing made up. 1 What is your last name OBrien 2An animal Orangoutang 3A boy's name Owen 4A girl's name Ophelia 5 Occupation Oiler 6 A color Orange 7 Something you wear Opal (Aleta here - I loved this answer, being that it's my birthstone!) 8 A beverage Orange Crush 9 A food Olive 10 Something found in the bathroom Old Spice 11 A place Orlando 12 A reason for being late Overslept 13 Something you shout (Aleta here - I busted out laughing with Greg's answer below) OH! Oh! Oh! Oh!…….. OOOOoooooooooooooo! (light cigarette)

When Greg and I visit Sally and Bruce, we also get a visitor on four legs. He looks like a deer and leaps across two backyards in 4 strides! Have you seen a Pharaoh Hound? They are full of energy, huge ears and as Greg said, “Everything about the dog is pointy!” I did a little bit of research on the Pharaoh dogs. They originated in the small island of Maita (in the Mediterranean Sea). They were called Kelb Tai-Fenek, meaning “rabbit dog.” I guess with the ears, I can see that! I thought this was interesting info, “The Pharaoh Hound was thought to have been linked to ancient Egypt because historians found paintings of similar looking dogs inside pyramids. In reality, this dog is of no relation to any Egyptian breed but is actually a descendant from African hunting dogs.” Pharaoh Hounds are one of the oldest dogs, dating back to 4000 BC. Sally and Bruce don’t own the dog, it’s a neighbor’s dog and they don’t have a fence dividing the two properties. The dog actually comes inside ...

Bryan Batt, I knew of him because Greg and I watch Mad Men. Greg rented the first two seasons so he could watch it on the flight to Hawaii. When we got back home, we watched the seasons together and really enjoyed it. This month, my good friend, Gwen, told me that Bryan Batt was going to be at the library discussing his memoirs in his book, “She Ain’t Heavy, She’s My Mother.” Gwen arrived before us and reserved two seats. I’m so glad we went! Bryan is a down to earth nice guy. He shook hands with each person as they came into the room and signed the guest book. He wasn’t stuffy or pretentious, he was funny, animated and well, humble. Even though, he’ll quickly say that he likes attention, it’s not the “it’s all about me” type of attitude or feeling of entitlement. Gwen read his book and said I would enjoy it. Given how Bryan feels about New Orleans, I know the book will be good. When Bryan signed his book for us, Greg said, “I can relate to what you said about New Orleans. My...

Given it's the Halloween month, witches, sorcerers, vampires, werewolves, oh my! I figured I do a quick summary book review of such. I love reading Fantasy Fiction. I blame my friend, Kim, for this. She buys the book series and then lends them to me. (Now I order the books on iBook via the iPad.) The following are very short reviews: Twilight Saga by Stephenie Meyer ~ Let's get this one out of the way first. Raise your hand if you haven't read the book or seen the movies? Some people can't stand it, because it's an "I want to be a vampire, I love you but can't be with you" young adult angst. This would be a correct opinion. But... the author writes it with such beautiful description that it's captivating, moves quickly and is an easy read. To give credit as well, the movies are just as ornate as the book's description. I enjoyed the series and love the movies. And in case you wanted to know, I'm on Team Edward (Greg is on Team J...

RPS Ok, I’m running out of things to blog about, so I thought I’d write about a game Greg and I play. Rock, Paper, Scissors. Everyone has done this, right? Greg tries to guess what I’m going to do and I just smile. He loses a good 75 percent of the time. We go to Café La Te Da and Greg says, “RPS to see who pays.” The owner of the restaurant looks at Greg and says, “You might as well just pay because you always lose.” Hehe. It’s not a matter of who pays, it’s the game. We’ll also do RPS to see who has to go to the grocery store or who has to drive somewhere. He’s trying to figure out my way of thinking. Good luck with that, Honey. Lol.

My husband is the sweetest man. I posted the vacation pictures on Picasa – you can see them here and here (I had to put them into two folders because there are so many of them.) I sent an email to Greg that the Hawaii Picasa pictures were ready and he sent back this email: “the pic of you smelling the flower at the Noni factory is the best pic of them all” Awwww… I love him and I’m loved by him.

About a week after we got back from Hawaii, Greg and I invited our parents over for supper and to enjoy a short version of the vacation pictures. Greg’s parents arrived first. When my parents came in, Greg’s Mom gave my Dad a hug and asked, “So! How many times did you get lei’d on your vacation?” Dad smiled and answered, “Quite a lot, actually.” I busted out laughing and said, “That’s blog material. How often do you hear your mother-in-law asking your Dad that kind of question.” She said, “Just as long as you spell it lei’d not lay!” Hehe When we sat down to eat, I had the Love Tiki on the table. There were comments about it and Greg’s Mom said, “Is it a girl or boy, I think it has boobs.” Greg’s Dad said, “It’s a girl. I know my girls.” LOL Here’s a picture of the Love Tiki in the curio. I had a surprise for Greg. After I unpacked and we settled into the work routine, I put the surprise on his desk for him to see when he came home. He sent me this email: “Just saw the surp...

I’m so glad that if I had to get sick, at least it was at the very end of the trip. My throat was sore and I could barely speak and the sinus drip was going crazy. I wasn’t able to sleep and I had two flights in my very near future. I was concerned that the sinuses would cause me a lot of pain on the flights. Greg and I didn’t make the very last ship excursion, which was to see the “Grand Canyon of Hawaii.” Mom and Dad said it was nice, but if there was one to miss, that this was the one, as it was very small in comparison to the Grand Canyon on the mainland. I went to see the ship’s doctor. He gave me some antibiotics and said that I would be feeling great tomorrow. I don’t think he took me seriously. I was NOT better and felt completely miserable. Poor Greg. He really wanted me to be well. I felt bad that he missed the excursion. Greg would eat his meals and then bring me back something to eat and then worry because I didn’t have much of an appetite. That afternoon, I gathe...

Kona, Hawaii At Kona, we had to tender ashore, which means that we have to board the life boats and go to the island. We left the cruise ship…… To go on this boat…. (look at how clear the water is!) And we got on that fast boat… to do Parasailing in Paradise. OMG! This was fantastic! I wanted to do this excursion; I’ve wanted to go parasailing for a while now – one more thing off of my bucket list – WOO HOO!!! It was GREAT! Greg was surprised that I wasn't scared. I was excited! It did help that one couple went before us and I paid close attention to what they did for lift off and landing. For lift off, you have to sit on the boat with your legs in front of you and don’t grab anything metal (such as the clasps, because you’ll fall 500 feet). I liked that the lift off and landing was on the boat. One lady shared her experience in parasailing – where they started it from the beach and you had to run. She said it was a horrible experience. But this one – was great and oh m...