A mantra to remember~~~

Hello My Diva Darlings,

Just a little short post...

I came across a note written to me years ago by my Father, he said that it makes for good wisdom in what to do to simplify ones life.

In his note he said we get caught up in material things, if we have too much we should share it, give what we don't need to others.

I'm not saying that my Father was a religious man, he only went to church just a few times of the year, frankly my Mother and I went to church more ofter.

But he had values which he felt should be passed on.

We had and have wealth but we never flaunted it, Father belived that it was important to not flaunt wealth but use it to help others. I myself had a car that was over 20 years old and would have kept it going until some boys stole it for a joy ride and wrecked it. Which forced me to buy a new car.

That is only one example---

So my Diva Darlings I want you to take what I'm going to post in Capital letters and I want you to enlarge it and frame it to remind you that many are blessed and many are not:

REMEMBER: FIX IT UP,
USE IT UP,
WEAR IT OUT,
MAKE IT DO
OR
DO WITHOUT.
SAVE WHAT YOU CAN,
SHARE WHAT YOU CAN,
MANY ARE BLESSED
AND
MANY ARE NOT.

Until anon Darlings

Updates so much to catch up with

Hello My Diva Darlings,

Yes, yes. Where HAVE I been, well pretty much all over, visiting family, traveling with my friend Michelle, repairs to my home and pretty much taking care of things.

So much so that I've really haven't had a time to blog. But I plan to post some things soon.

Did any of you catch the opening film video for the London Olympics'. The Queen herself as the latest James Bond girl. Who said she doesn't have a sense of humor. The Dear does, she just is not vulgar about it, but I think that this story premise did tickle her sense of humor.

After all the Darling did her duty during the War (WW II) her family never left London and stuck it out through the bombings. And that takes courage. Even in one movie the James Bond character says he does it for "Queen and Country".

Did you see Daniel Craig's (the latest James Bond) tiniest reactions---you seem to sense that even he can't believe it---he is acting a scene as the iconic 007 character with Her Majesty. I just love it and have saved it onto one of my flash drives. As they say "You Go, Old Girl!"

I've been putting together a number of posts and saving them onto my flash drives and will most likely post a lot of them at the same time.

Right now I've been watching the market with all its volatileness but only to see where the general trend is for long term investing.

With the corn crop an absolute disaster it is guaranteed that food prices will go up, right now I'm finding excellent deals on meat and poultry so Juanita and I are stocking up and dating the frozen foods, with the knowledge that when we re-stock it will be higher.

And because we use a certain amount of ethanol or corn additives I would not be surprised to see fuel prices going up.

Mitt Romeny's visit to Israel is a very interesting and calculating move, something that might gain him the vote from the Jewish voters if they view him as a friend but it also sends a message to Iran that he could have a "Hawkish" administration.

This election that is coming up is see-sawing, but frankly I'm not too hopeful about Obama, his administration has not been the best, but it is possible that we are focusing in the wrong areas to make a final determination. I wish to keep women's freedoms via the Democratic party but there are somethings that the republican party is promoting, so the question is which devil is the best, I really do wish we had a third candidate that was a combination of the best of these two, but I even don't see that.

All I can say Darlings is vote with your head and with logic, not with your emotions, I think we'll know better if they have a debate, and I hope that will happen, most likely in September or October. If they don't then we will have a problem of deciding.

Now about family and friends---my family is doing fine, one of my nieces is expecting a baby, which may arrive near Christmas, so we are all excited, my dear friends are all well, Kenneth is busy traveling for his company, and Keith has invested in purchasing a rental property that he is in the process of fixing up, one apartment unit at a time.

Keith has some very elderly renters who live in upper units and since there is no elevator he has approached his tenants about shifting around to accommodate the elderly, so far everyone seems to be comfortable with the idea, especially about making it as part of the rental agreement. He is looking into eventually installing an elevator which will be costly but he feels that it might help with the value of the property and he's looking into grants for it.

Ralph is comfortably ensconced in his new apartment. Juanita and her family are all doing well, her granddaughter is having fun with her side business and trying to go to school I've offered to help offset some of her schooling costs.

My Ladies who Lunch are all doing well, two of them managed to get better jobs and on the whole things are looking up for them, but as always it is a struggle, one has to fight for each penny.

Princess my little 4 legged Diva Darling just had her vet check up and is in excellent shape, she just visited the Doggie beauty shop yesterday and is all pretty.

Myself, well I am heir to all the plagues and fortunes that maturing age brings to me, but I keep active and interested in life which is important.

And right now my friends Betty and Bill are coming to pick me up we are going to our local Art and Wine Festival and see what items are up for sale and what wines are being offered, I may make a few selections.

And that is what all you Diva Darlings should do, enjoy life, you can do it even without spending a lot of money, look around see what is free or next to nothing in cost. Use your imagination and ingenuity and you can find life can be wonderful even in these difficult times.

Until Anon, Kisses Darlings

a few thoughts~~~

Darlings,

I am on the run today, but I just had to leave you with these few thoughts.

"When posing for the paparzzi, always stand on the right!" There is a reason for this, your angle for both face and body is always thinner also when they label the photo underneath it reads from left to right, so your name will be first, so when facing the photographer stand to the right of the group---your right.

"True Divas go by first names only" This is true if you are someone like Cher, Marylin, Madonna, and Dietrich, but with someone like Mae West, you need to use both names, because one cannot contain the full Divaness of her.

"You don't have a soul. You are a soul. You have a body." --- C.S. Lewis Never truer words spoken or written, our souls continue forever, we only borrow the body.

And now Darlings, I must be off, so much to do, not enough time to do it in.

Until Anon, Kisses.

Catching up~~~and Group Investing~~~

Hello My Darling Divas,

Busy, Busy, Busy is my only excuse, repair and remodeling on my home, working with my brothers on updating our financial portfolio's.

The tensions in Greece, Spain and Europe in general had us looking at our investments, and we've all made changes. No loss but no profit either, but that is at this time is what it should be.

Face book has proven to be a very poor investment choice and we were glad we did not take the plunge.

I've always been a "Mac and Cheese" investor, and now am looking more seriously at what people will need for children and for the elderly---one cannot get away from diapers, that is a given.

So I've been carefully shifting my portfolio. If anyone of you have been reading my earlier posts I've always recommended that it's wise to review it at least every 6 months and depending upon where you are age-wise.

And I have been taking my own advice. Part of it is to also always look at what people will always need. Again a type of "Mac and Cheese" investing.

I feel from what we've been seeing that the stock market is going to stall a bit, the Europe crisis is having people take a very hard look at things.

There is a oldish type of social gathering that ladies have been doing for a while and if you Divas have not been doing it then you should consider it.

An investment club---a group of people, mostly ladies, study the stock market and then pool their disposable money into investments---now this has to be a group decision based upon research. A book was written about this and once I find the title I will re-edit this post with it. Alright I've found out the name it was the "Beardstown Ladies Investment Group" both famous and infamous.

The reason that I say infamous is that they touted that they made more than the stock market SP. Which upon investigation proved to be incorrect. But this is what I'm trying to say....

Now some people think that is passe---but really it is a good social interaction and my late husband's partners re-marked to me the other day that they have seen a minor resurgence in this...they feel that woman are re-thinking and want to gain control again over their lives. One of the partners was asked to speak at one of these ladies weekend luncheons, he stressed in his talk that it is best to get educated as much as possible about how the stock market works, especially since it is so global for the 21st century.

He remarked to me how incisive and very deep thinking the ladies were with their questions, taking into account none of them had ever invested in the stock market before. He cautioned them about the type of schemes as done by Madloff.

My "Ladies who Lunch" and I have done this as well and still do it, although with changes in their individual lives we have had a few rotate off and new one's come on, each bringing their own outlook, but we've done well.

This is in addition to my own personal investments.

Now your choices may not do as well if you were with an investment firm but some people gamble playing the slots, poker, the horses. In that type of gambling, you'll lose your money and lose it quickly.

But what my late husband ex-partner remarked is that with careful monitoring, one does not have to lose all their money and can still salvage something. But it is something that if one is going to invest in should be for a long term investment not a quick turn over, and they should get together at least once a week, plus, with the use of the cell phone or smart phone each person in the club can stay in touch and can vote far more quickly than at standard meeting if something should suddenly come up.

So my Dear Divas, you might want to consider this as a social investment gathering with some profit in mind---so much better than going to a club for Mojito's and Chips.

On my repairs and remodeling---My dressing rooms are all done, painted, polished, new fixtures and beautiful, next is slowly putting in the clothes and while doing that weeding out things as well.

Juanita wants to buy a Sewing Machine, a good dependable Singer she says and she has one in mind, nothing too big, for her room. Her Grand Daughter who has a sewing business on the side is doing very well, especially with Prom Dresses, I asked Juanita if she is going into partnership with her Grand Daughter and she said no, but she'd like to have a machine to do repairs on her clothes and mine. And I thought that was a perfect idea, so we are going to leave in a few minutes and go Sewing Machine shopping.

And that Dear Divas is another good investment.

Until Anon, Kisses Darlings

Updates briefly~~~

Hello All my Diva Darlings,

Forgive me if I haven't been posting of late, so much to do, so little time to do it in. >p>I will be posting in the near future about my friend Ralph, I've had a few inquires about him, suffice to say he is now doing well and has a new apartment. But I'll go into that later.

Also the loss of Donna Summer has upset me, it seems another part of my life is gone. I will post a comment on her later. Just so sad, but a magnificent lady.

I have been getting inquiries about the stock options on "Facebook"---My Darlings, although it might be a good investment on the surface, I feel it will not be a sustatining one. My impression is that people will go in while the prices are affordable, and then allow it to build up to a point where when they sense another, better social network comes out, they will sell.

Remember I strongly believe in "Mac and Cheese" investing something that is not volitale and will stay for the long run, dispite its up's and down's. My ATT stock is a prime example, they have to be creative to stay for the long term. And I was in on the ground floor with Apple, because I felt it had "legs", but something as insubstantial as "facebook" ---well Darlings, I will pass. Some people may feel it's a mistake but I'll have no regrets.

Now I must run, I have a few errans to do and then this evening I and my friend Betty will have some fun at the Vintage Fashion Show.

Until Anon, Kisses Darlings

Oscars and Gasoline~~~

Hello All you wonderful Diva Darlings,

I hope you don't mind Darlings, but I had to just post this marvouls picture of a period pink bathroom, and I have to admit mine is pink too. Well why not? Certain shades of pink can be very flattering.

So did you enjoy the Oscar’s??? My friends and I certainly did, had a wonderfully marvelous party here, champagne, fingers crossed, wonderful finger food, and small plate food, pot luck as well as catered.

Yes My Dears, having an Oscar party is a wonder event to celebrate, to see all those lovely ladies in their elegant gowns. And you can dress up too just for the fun of it.

And especially since I’ve installed a huge plasma screen T.V.; did it just like the “executives” do in their homes, well it does help to have the funds to do it and I consider it an upgrade and improvement to my home.

I have this huge bookcase and right in the center is this plain blank wall created to hang paintings; well I had my contractor, who did all the work on my home before I moved in, to look at it and told him what I was interested in. The clever man knew exactly what I wanted, since I was planning on buying a new television and Juanita wanted my old one. (It has a larger screen).

So he very carefully removed the paneling and found the perfect recess for the screen, he finished it off, set up the mounts, and connectors for the screen. Then he installed a motor to raise and lower the panel on tracks so it retreats up into another alcove that actually holds the supports for my floor to ceiling book cases on one side and my floor to ceiling mirrors on the other, making sure that the vibration (if any, from either the motor or sliding) will not crack or loosen the mirrors. The motor is powerful enough to lift not only the panel but also any painting that I may choose to hang on it, up to a certain weight.

All was ready (after a number of test runs) so like a curtain rising on a theatre, up it went and we enjoyed the Oscars. I have to confess I did not see all of the films up for best picture but I was hoping that either “The Help” or “The Artist” would win and as I suspected “The Artist” won out, but just for the fact that “The Help” was even nominated told me how wonder a picture it is.

Of course we were “ooohhhing” and “Ahhhing” the clothes that the ladies wore, it was hard to say what was my favorite, but it was ‘sparkle, sparkle, sparkle”.

But sadly it all has to come to an end, and with much “air kissing” and “see you soon’s” it was over, I told Juanita that we would just put away any left over foods and drinks and leave the clean up for the next day. So with her and I working as a team we cleaned, washed and put away everything, and doing the usual “fluff and dust”. There are times when team work is very important. Fortunately it wasn’t all that much, you see Darlings, I do believe in paper and plastic, so the clean up was relatively easy, as long as you have hefty garbage bags.

And Juanita and I had enough food for two days, lunches and dinner, although we did have to be careful not to give Princess too much, as it can be not healthy for her tummy.

Ordinarily I would used Monday and Tuesday to go to my “office” but I instead decided to set it aside and use the time to go through my closet to see what needed to be repaired and spruced up by my shoemaker and labeling each one as to what need be done.

Currently going through my holdings, they are doing well, and I simply cannot see anything that I should be on the alert for, except I am watching the events as they unfold in Greece and other European Markets as well as the Middle East.

With the rising oil prices forcing the cost of gasoline to go up I am going to have to curb some of my driving excursions and plan my household trips a bit more carefully. I do use public transportation, bus, rapid transit, ferry to get to my office, since I have the luxury of having the bus stop only a few feet from my home, but other things cannot be frivolous.

As a matter of fact, talking with my “Ladies who Lunch”, the subject of gasoline prices came up. We all agreed that Jerry Brown’s statement in that we all have to use “green-cars” was ridiculous, there are people who cannot afford to purchase such cars, or are elderly and on a limited income. They cannot afford anything else, and then, as one of my ladies pointed out, the idiot in a “letters to the editors” column, stated everyone should use a bicycle, there are people who suffered from various health conditions such as sever asthma, heart troubles, rumitoid arthritis for who attempting to use a bicycle could either kill them or be extremely painful, it is even difficult for them to even walk to a bus stop or walk in general. Our general consensus was that the idiot was stupid to even make such a blanket statement like that.

And in the last 6 years or so, our public transit system has eliminated runs, discontinued stops that were needed, shifted others to area’s that are and difficult or dangerous to get to, raised the rates and generally has made the public transit system an impossible, useless joke. Especially with the Van Hoole buses that are so dangerous that an elderly person is in danger of falling down and in some cases cannot even climb up to the platform seats. Some elderly people have to use a walker or one of those rolling market baskets to carry their groceries and it is impossible to get them on board because of the design of the bus.

Definitely one of our Public Transit systems worse choices.

And some of our ladies have said that being environmentally concerned is fine except for the Environmental Nazis, we need to develop our own oil resources and cease to be dependent upon foreign oil and not sell our oil to other countries, “American First” is our war cry, enough with making people rich when the economy is hurting, even I no longer have any stocks in oil or auto manufacturing, with the exception of John Deer.

And with the “saber rattling” with Iran, and Israel has said they will attack on their own schedule and not even give the United States or any free country any warning of their military moves, this is serious Darlings.

So what can you do now?

First --- see if it’s possible that public transit can take you to work, you may have to plan on leaving from home sooner and get a transit card or pass that will help you pay your way without having to dig for change.

Second—if that is not possible see whom you can car pool with.

Third --- If you can take public transit to work, then plan your car trips very carefully to maximize travel with the least amount of gas, combine trips, make a route map so you will know where to go. Go to the Farthest out place first and also find out about each places’ hours. Then work in, in some cases you will see that you maybe working in a loop, if so and 2 or more places are close by, park your car at the best location and walk to the different stops.

For example, my shoe repair person and my tailor are within two blocks of each other so I park between the two and I take one thing to one, then walk past my car to pick up what I need to take to the other.

In a shopping mall that also has banking, and a grocery store, I will go to the bank first, and finish with the grocery store, in some case though you may have to re-park since many grocery stores now have shopping carts with locking wheels.

So plan your route and note where every place you need to go to is located and pick the best parking location.

Fourth---if you have no choice but to drive to work by car, consult with a seasoned, knowledgeable tax preparer about mileage and see if you can get a tax deduction for your car if used to get you to and from work or as part of your work routine, it is possible that you maybe entitled to a tax break of some sort. See also if your transit pass is also tax deductible as well. It will mean that you will have to do some bookkeeping but keeping a small notebook in your purse should not be difficult.

One of my Ladies does not use a gasoline credit card because she objects to the high interest rate, so she uses one of her lower interest rate credit cards (she keeps two) and goes to the one of the better grocery store gas stations where she frequently shops for groceries, just the other day, she received a 43 cent per gallon discount on her 20 gallon fill up, a savings of $8.60 or the cost of two gallons of gasoline at the current rate.

So Darlings NOW is a time when a Divalista must also think like a Frugalista.

Until Anon, Kisses Darlings

Bed side Reading~~~

Well Darlings, after all of that heavy work we need something a bit lighter.

Ordinarily Darlings, I don’t often recommend books to read unless its periodicals or books dealing with finance, but with such cold, cold weather and I do mean cold darlings, one really wants to just snuggle up in a nice warm blanket with a cup of hot coco, in front of a blazing fireplace, with good soft music, (I love Ella Fitzgerald myself) and a really good read.

Here are several that I found fascinating on the Non-fiction front.

In the Garden of Beasts: Love, terror, and an American Family in Hitler’s Berlin by Erik Larson, what a frightening time for them.

Jacqueline Kennedy: Historic conversations of life with John F. Kenned; interview with Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr., 1964 by Michael Beschloss, my goodness I love her thoughts, she was not a brainless twit as some people would try to paint her, and I would love to read Michelle Obama’s thoughts on paper as well, considering some of the looks that she delivers during certain moments.

Killing Lincoln by Bill O’Reilly & Martin Dugard, amazing how events turned on this one horrible act.

And for spiritual uplifting reading “Heaven is for real” by Todd Burpo w/ Lynn Vincent, I found myself in tears reading this.

On the Fiction front well I have to confess Darlings I do have my favorites.

With the new Stephanie Plum movie coming out I am re-reading “One for the Money” as well as Janet Evanovich’s latest “Explosive Eighteen”, laughs, laughs and I wish it could be made for T.V. ala “Columbo” it would be a hit.

Sue Grafton never fails to entertain me with her “V is for Vengeance” she still has x, y, and z to go.

I’m including Sandra Brown’s “Lethal” and Lee Child’s “the Affair: a Reacher Novel, and I’ve always adored John Grisham and he does still do justice with “The Litigators, as does James Patterson’s two books with two different collaborators “The Christmas wedding” and “Kill me if you can”

Of course Kathryn Stockett’s book “The Help” is also a fun and eye opening read.

One book that I would recommend as very serious reading on the investment and financial front as well as American history is “That Used to be Us: How America fell behind in the world it invented and how we can come back” by Thomas L. Friedman & Michael Mandelbaum. Not for a cozy winter read but for serious reflection.

And when I say cold Darlings I do mean cold. Juanita and I worried about our small family of ducks that like to, on occasion nest under my plants, so I asked Manuel to build a small shelter and we put bedding hay for them, I was please to see that they took advantage of it ever since it started turning very cold and especially when the weather dropped to near freezing.

Juanita and I covered the more delicate plants with blankets for protection and I threw an old rug on top of the shelter for more insulation. For the last few extremely cold weeks I saw them taking advantage of its protection all snuggled together and Juanita and I put out duck chow for them in large plastic bowls that they partook of. I had to keep Princess in so as to not disturb them.

And Princess my little 4 legged Diva Darling, was so cold even with her sweater on that she begged me to come to my bed, so with a special flannel blanket for her she slept with “Mommy”. Even as I write this I have a heating pad on her chair, set on low so she will not take a chill.

With the weather taking such a freezing dip our walks have not been very long, just a quick dash down about a block and then back. She did learn that we have those special doggie pads on the garage floor all she has to do is just scratch the door, go there quickly and do her business on them. I have a special bin to put the used pad into to dispose of.

And bit by bit we are learning more about drafts and doing some work to eliminate them.

It’s times like these where it is soooo much better to fall back on using flannel pajamas as well as flannel sheets and pillow case and thick warm fuzzy wuzzy slippers. I know darlings, not glamouriest or divaiest, but you’ll be at your warmest.

And speaking of warm, well Darlings, I did run out of the Pumpkin spice liquid creamer but I still have my Pumpkin Spice tea, and it feels so good going down into my tummy (sorry Darling I know that sounds so too-too). But it is the feel good thing I’m going for, and at night when it is fine to use the fireplace I still burn candles for a sense of feeling warm, there is something so cozy about it.

In a few days when Juanita and I go shopping I’m going to get the Hazelnut liquid creamer as we head slowly into spring, which I can hardly wait for.

Until Anon Darlings, Kisses.