Fleur de Aleta

I can't stand attics. I don't like going up the creaky step ladder. I don't like the heat in the attic or the insulation. I am glad that we have a floored attic. But you won't find me storing anything there. That's right, all those decorations for Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, Easter, Mardi Gras - it's all stack, racked and packed into closets. Christmas takes up 2 closets, in fact. The reason is that I've seen too many things get ruined in the attic or broken. Not that I have treasures or anything, but what I have I'd like to keep in good condition :)

I have a confession... I don't plan on making any New Years Resolutions. I hear about people claiming New Years Resolutions and it seems like a plan to fail. "I'm going to do this or I'm going to do that..." but why wait until the New Year? Each day is a New Day - a new opportunity. I guess what I'm saying is that I won't wait for a New Year to make plans and goals and dreams. It's year round :)

Normally I do confessions on Sunday, but that just didn't feel right for Christmas day! My confession: I love blogs that offer email subscriptions! Please, if you don't have this on your blog, consider it. It's a great way for your blog followers to quickly get the latest update on your blog post. I added it to my blogs, other than the photography one, because I can't figure out how to do that. Grrrr.

I have to confess... I love to collect cards. Not the kind you get in the mail. Business cards. I don't know why. But I like them! Below is just a small sample of some of the cards that I have :) I think I started my collection when I saw that my Dad collected business cards for business purposes.. but then I took it on as a personal collection wherever I go. :) If I spread out all the cards that I have, it would most likely cover my desk!

My husband used to laugh when we'd go on vacations together. He laughed because I had the habit of cleaning the hotel room. Ok, not CLEANING it, but straightening it up. I would put garbage in the garbage can, not leave soda drinks out or paper anywhere. I would "sort of" make the bed - throw the covers on it, along with pillows, just enough to straighten it out. He would watch me do this and say, "Why? There's a maid service for this." I replied, "Because if it's neat, there's less of a chance that things get lost or forgotten." Then... one business trip my husband left a part to his CPAP machine at a hotel room. It's something that he has to use nightly for sleep apnea. And now? When we go on vacations, he helps me straighten up the room. It only takes a few extra minutes, but it sure can save you in the long run. If a room is neat/organized, you know where stuff is and have less of a tendency to forget to pack...

Do you believe in ghosts? I think we might have one in our home. It doesn't do scary stuff or anything. No banging of kitchen cabinet doors, no creepy tales to share here... But yes... I think our house has a ghost. A ghost that likes to use the bathroom. Seriously. I go to sleep at night and get awakened by the motion light in the bathroom, but nobody has gone in there. (And no, it's not the cat or dog, because the dog stays in her kennel at night and the bedroom is closed so the cat doesn't come in.) The motion light won't go off until something moves well into the bathroom, so it's not as though it's picking up on something moving in the bedroom. We have a haunted bathroom. Toilet doesn't flush on it's own. Sink and shower don't come off and on. Just the motion light. Weird, huh?

I love to read . That's not a confession, I know.... But here's the thing... even if it's a BAD book, I have to finish the story, because I have to know what's going on. Because I know that about me, I've become a little more particular about what book I start :) So, I've read some really good books, which is great! But... bad. Because when I say, I have to know how the story ends, I mean... like SOON! I will read through the night and into the morning without stopping. And if an over-nighter didn't get me to the end, I'll read in the morning, go to work, come home for lunch and read some more, go back to work, come home and read, read, read. That's bad. Because my husband every now and then feels neglected. I have to space out my readings. Lol. Then again.. if I'm reading Romance.. my husband really likes that *wink*

Sleep Confessions You thought this might be about me talking in my sleep? It's true, I do that. Greg has actually asked me things in my sleep and I answer. He found out the Christmas gift I got him one year by doing that and PROMISES HE'LL NEVER DO THAT AGAIN! (cough) But no, it's not about me talking in my sleep. This is about a pattern before sleep. Some people like have to keep the TV on at night. Greg is like that. He falls asleep to the TV on, with a timer set for one hour. My problem with that is I get into a show, no matter how stupid the show might be (late night shows are really bad). Or worse... I'll watch something scary and it ends up in my dreams. Ugh. Some people like to fall asleep to the radio. My parents like the radio. But they set it to the talk shows. Oh my gosh, that would keep me awake too. I prefer something more relaxing, matching tiles. Not floor tiles. Mahjongg tiles. I play it on the iPad. It takes me back to the years of child...

Maybe it's laziness. Ok, yes, it IS laziness. My medicine gets automatically refilled each month at the pharmacy. My confession is that when I get an email from the pharmacy about my medicine being ready, I NEVER go to pick them up in time. I stretch it to the point that the pharmacy calls me to say they are about to re-shelf the medicine before I go. Very lazy on an important thing. Blood pressure medicine, Thyroid Medicine and Glaucoma Eye Drops. Bad me!

*whispers* I have a confession to make... I haven't been at home one of the weeks in October. My husband and I took a vacation! I have another confession to make.... I don't like to blog and announce to the world when we're gone. But we've been back for a while. I haven't had a chance to write about the trip or put all the pictures together. It'll give me something to do for a post in November. Something to look forward to :)

I have a confession.... I don't get the Pinterest fad. It looks like a grouping of pictures that you like. A collage of things you want or enjoy or.... but why? What's the fascination with it? I know this is late in the game to be asking this... but I don't see why people were rushing into it with such... addiction.

Remember how I wrote about not liking to drive. Here's a great example... I used to drive a 2003 Chevy Malibu, gold, 4 door. It was in great condition and I knew exactly how to turn it to make that perfect parking job. 2003.... and when I went to sell it... this year - 2011. The mileage on the vehicle? 57,462. That's right from 2003 to 2011 that's all the miles I put on the car. My confession though is about my husband's SUV. See, the reason we put my Chevy Malibu up for sale was because Greg got a company car. 2 people, 3 vehicles. Fortunately, both of our vehicles were paid for, but Greg's SUV was the newest (2009). And yes, it's true, the Ford Edge is a far cry nicer than my sweet Chevy. So, I had to learn how to drive the Ford Edge. It took me 2 months before I was finally willing to let my Chevy go and take on the Ford Edge full time. I love it now. Still don't have the parking down as lovely as I did the Chevy, but I'm making friends w...

I have a confession... What do you like on your pizza? Pepperoni? Ham? Canadian Bacon? Sausage? Breakfast Bacon? Bell Peppers? Tomatoes? Onions? Mushrooms? Cheese? My husband can order his pizza any way that he wants it. And he can have it all. The entire thing. Because I don't eat pizza. I know, that's.... un-American. But it's true. I just don't like it. Just thinking about it makes me want to gag!

I have a confession to make about living in New Orleans.... I don't think I was meant to be born here. I love New Orleans. I think you know that from reading the ABC's and various things about doing fun stuff in the area. But... I've often said, "I shouldn't have been born in New Orleans. I should have been born up north!" I can't stand the heat. The humidity. It's one of the reasons I love fall and winter. Well, "summer lite" as well call it over here :)

I have a confession to make. Greg says that I'm mean. i think animals are just so darn cute when they are sleeping. The cat curls into a ball and does the "broken neck" turn, you know that "I feel comfortable and can trust where I am" look. The dog, well, she doesn't care what position she's in as long as she's next to you. They are just too cute... and I can't help it. When I see our cat and dog sleeping, I have to pet them, thereby waking them up.. sometimes just for a brief moment and then they go right back to sleep. I don't try to scare them or anything. Greg says I'm mean by doing that...

I have a confession to make about my Mom. We didn't always get along. Our's wasn't a loud, horrible, break the bond rebellion, but it was there. Me wanting to stretch wings and Mom wanting me to land safely. For the Mom's out there with young teens... it'll get worse for a while. Just remember yourself at that age. Kids think they have enough experience under their belt and enough wisdom to garner good ideas and the right path to make.. and sometimes the young adults need to make the mistakes. We all do, young and old. But love always finds a way to bring it back together. Mom and I went through a silence in our relationship, but we made it through. I'm all the more grateful, because of everything we've gone through and how she's been there for me. Today is my Mom's birthday. I love you, Mom. Thank you for being there, for letting me make the mistakes and for holding me in your arms when I needed to cry and for lifting me back up when I was ...

I have a confession to make... I use a fork and knife when I eat. Oh, that doesn't sound like a confession, right? But I use it for just about everything! Yes, I will eat chicken with a fork and knife. If there is corn on the cob, I will use the knife to cut the corn off of the cob and use a fork. Believe me, I can do a great job with a rack of ribs using the fork and knife too! (Mind you, I'll use a spoon when warranted as well)... Even for sandwiches, if I can get away with it, I'll cut it into pieces and eat it, though I WILL eat a sandwich without a utensil. But then again, I'm not into eating a lot of bread, so I don't eat many sandwiches. I don't know why I'm like this.... my family will pick up food with their fingers and eat. My husband teases me about it. In fact, one day, he cooked this awesome, delicious ribs and it was so good, it was finger licking good... when I grabbed the rib to eat it without a utensil, he threatened to take the came...

I have a confession about making popcorn. We don't use the microwave kind unless it's the only thing we have in the house. My husband enjoys making the popcorn on the stove, the old fashion kind of way. It smells up the house very nicely :) I should also confess that I'm considering putting some of the popcorn we make into a bag and having it in my purse for when we go to the movies - it's cheaper than the movie kind and better too! Oh and I'll confess something I know about my Dad... he can't stand the smell of popcorn. He tells employees, "NO POPCORN in the office!"

I have a confession to make... I wrote this month about Happiness being a clean house. Two things to confess..... First ~ if you open a closet or drawer, don't expect organization at any given point in a day of the month or year. Second ~ The clutter in the closets and drawers start to drive me up a wall and I've been know to do a "spring cleaning" and reorganization, at least once in the year... most likely two or three times. So, I'm not a total neat freak, but it does come out every now and then :) Ummm, to the point that I'll literally empty out the room of furniture, clean the woodwork in the room and reorganize everything back into the room again. This need to clean often times does arrive when it's getting cooler outside - that burst of energy!

I have a confession... I took the below picture, because I thought the cloud was giving us the finger... then I looked at the picture again and thought of something more dirty. Lol