As she shakes the snow off of her recumberant body~~~~

Hello Sweet Things,

Yes it is I, the Fabulous Diva, I have been silent for far too long.

So what have I been doing?  I am now an independent  working woman, setting my own hours and fees, I'm fortunate that my income from my investment portfolio is very good and my retirement package is excellent, and my company has hired me back on an independent contractor basis so I'm making more.

Joe is still in the retirement process, his last day to work will be January 19, then he is free and considering what is happening not a minute too soon,  he has been covering a lot of shifts especially for those who have families, so right now I don't see him as much.

Heather's parents have moved into Lillian's home, it's paid for, Heather's mother works and the income is more than enough to cover taxes, insurance, utilities, upkeep.  Heather's Dad found work granted at 2/3's of what he use to make, but he is not complaining, he has medical and dental benefits and that is what counts.

The "little Beast' has been adopted by them and Heather is glad, her art work has been selling and she has received several commissions to do Portraits of several children, he portraiture work is fabulous and she has decided to do painting like Owen Smith and one other painter whose name escapes me but I know that he did a famous painting called "Nighthawks". 

But what she does is use her digital camera and takes photos of places, events and people and uses all of that as references for her work, even looking at old black white photo's for ideas.  What helped get her commissions is a painting she did of Lillian, working in a country kitchen but with a little girl helping.  There is such warmth in the painting as to reach out to you, and next to it is a portrait study in oil of Lillian, neither are for sale but it helps show what Heather can do.

She is still going to the University and working towards her degree.

Because Joe is working so many shifts I told him he could "crash" at my place or his little studio but since I won't really be seeing him I'm going to spend Christmas and New Years with my Family.  Joe said he didn't mind, Heather's folks have invited him over for both holidays---especially New Years, that is if he's not working, but they said he can come over for left overs if he needs to and unwind.  Heather's folks will keep an eye on my place until I return.

I will be taking the train again, I will not risk driving during the holidays, so I will leave tomorrow and enjoy my trip. 

If I sound tired, I am.  So much has been happening and I'm still adjusting.  This intense cold is hard to shake, even with a roaring fire and hot soup, I need the comfort of family this time of year and I know it will be a very warm and happy holiday time.

Happy Holidays Sweet Things---Kisses.

A Happy 2012

Hello Sweet Things,

And may you new year of 2012 bring good things to you.

What??!!! Some would say the Fabulous Diva wishing good things?? And why not? 2011, to put it bluntly for many people --"sucked"!

Unfortunately we are going to be suffering in 2012 the blitz media of the presidential political campaign. It does not matter who will be the Republican opponent, it's really going to be going with the Devil you know or the one you don't know.

I can do without the headache's really. And I'm going to lay down a rule in the office, no discussion as to who is the one to be president, but only about who is the one that has the best (we hope) financial acumen.

Last night Joe pulled the night shift so that one officer could be with his family. He just came home and is in the shower, and then he is to get into bed and sleep, all day if need be. I can entertain myself.

Last night Yoshi and I went to the Hornet for the big dance and we saw the fireworks from the ship. It was fantastic and we had a great time, we decided to dress 1940's style with gardenia's in our hair, o.k. so the flowers were made of fabric, it's the thought that counts.

And we did not lack for dance partners, one older gentleman was glad he met me, his wife had died 2 years ago and he's just getting back into the "swing of things" Dave was very nice dancing with me and Yoshi and we exchanged business cards as well. It's always a good idea to keep business cards in one's purse, you never know who your are going to network with.

Food was good, music was great, company was wonderful!

And to be on the safe side I had Yoshi stay overnight at my place, it's better she drive home during the day. We had a nice invigorating walk this morning along the beach with Heather, she brought the little "beast" Baby with her.

I have to admit Baby did look cute in his warm coat, but he did get tired so Heather picked him up and tucked him inside her jacket. Then we went back to my place and driving Lillian's van we all, including Lillian went out for breakfast, and a good thing we went early.

Heather is back with Lillian, Yoshi has just left with a promise to call me when she gets home, and I am here, having a cup of coffee, Joe just wished me a Happy New Year and now his snores are reverberating as I type.

Someones at the door...

Well I'm going to have to cut short my post, Heather made sure Lillian and Baby are comfortable, she is restless and has her camera in hand, so we are going to drive around and see what we shall see.

Which is fine, I'm feeling restless too, although I do plan on calling the Folks and wish them a Happy New Years later today.

And all of you have a happy 2012.

Kisses, Sweet Things.

Morning Coffee and Birds~~~~

Oh sweet things, I have awaken early this morning, enjoying my morning coffee, looking at the play of sunshine on the trees and water outside my window, viewing the city as it’s hills and canyons are outlined in light and shadow.

My attention is grabbed by movement closer to me and I find myself watching the small birds quickly pecking and nibbling at the emerging blossoms on my neighbors fruit tree, looking for tiny insects, hopping from branch to branch, each chirping to the other in their ‘bird gossip’ way.

I found myself thinking about these birds’ life. We make the mistake of thinking that birds have it so easy, but they don’t when one thinks upon it. Their lives are focused on the basic needs of life, food, shelter, procreation and survival. Yes, my sweet things, those are the four basic needs of life.

And it is not easy for them, yet they do survive, some sacrificing their lives so other can continue the species; mating, raising their “children”, giving them the basic tools for their lives, pushing them out of the nest, and doing it all over again. Are we so much different? Not really, the only difference is we are more complicated, we clutter our lives up with material things, thinking that material things are important when they are not.

Lillian told me last night about the Oakland Firestorm that occurred in October 1992; she said that she had strangely been prepared. “More for Earthquakes than a fire, but it’s all the same”. Her home was up in the hills, where she had lived with her late husband for almost 50 years, he had died 5 years before and she continued to live there, but when she saw the fire, her sense of premonition took over and she quickly gathered all the albums, important papers, her purse, pills and her small suitcase and threw them into her car and drove before anyone even thought of evacuating.

She wasn’t sure where to go, but thought that Alameda would be best since it was separated by the estuary from the rest of the bay area. And there was a ‘back door’ escape route towards the Oakland airport, eventually she stayed at one of the hotels that was near the airport, and contacted her family that she was safe and where she was.

“I watched it from the T.V., I knew that my house was gone. 25 people died in that fire, a miracle it wasn’t more.” And this was only a few years after the Loma Prieta earthquake, her house had come through fine in that earthquake, but the fire “melted everything, reduced it to ashes, ash was floating everywhere, even a burn page from a cookbook found its way to San Francisco, the wind carried it, that was the problem, the winds and everything so dry.”

And now watching the birds I find myself reminded about the basics of life and its resilience.

Lillian said that I should bring everyone up to date on my “Web log” (that is how we got the word ‘blog’—computer speak) she said that everyone would wonder what it was that I said in that church, what was the aftermath how do I feel now that I had done it. And she is right; a chapter, all of life is chapters, like Shakespeare’s 7 ages of man.

All the worlds a stage and all the men and women upon it merely players---to paraphrase him.

I will do it this evening, I’ve nothing special planned, and more rain is coming, it will be purrrrfect.

To Fram---it is wonderful to have remarkable neighbors to admire and to be amused by, such an energetic woman, good for her, and those boys, how enterprising, maybe Daddy has too much stuff in the garage and needs to have a serious garage sale. (Merowl)

To BLUEx PRiiNTZ---as I said in response to your comment earlier, it is difficult for me to engage in a “talk” on line, I am busy and have demands upon my life and time, but feel free to ask me questions and I will respond here. (mew)

About “pistol whipping” some of the characters---I have found that, with only a few exceptions, it’s better to laugh at them, with how their minds work, laughter seems to disorient them, it is not what they expect. With those exceptions, I call the police, although I most likely would prefer to “blow away” those 51/50’s, less DNA in the gene pool and less stress on the budget, but that would not be “politically correct”.

And speaking about the ‘gene pool” the Mayor of San Francisco, Gavin Newsom, is expecting a baby, not him, his wife. Oh bother! (Growl) just what we need another PC weenie idiot, who thinks we should eat grass and not defend ourselves.(Snarl)

I need to get into my car and drive to the range and release my anger----Hmmmm I think I’ll do that, it’s been a while.

Until this evening, my sweet, luscious, yummy things, until this evening. (Growl)