The Lady could take a car engine apart and put it back together, change the oil and patch the tires during WWII! And during the war a lot of stuff that happened was kept very tight lipped!!!

I know something about that. My dad was considered a hero by the British and we received, after his death, a letter from a small group wanting to contact him. Also, in that group was a very upper middle class woman who is our half-sister. She was adopted and lived a very good life but had decided the time had come to know her genetic background. She is a very special person and we certainly enjoyed seeing the photographs she brought with her, during her visit with the family,  of some very famous people we would all know but I will not mention here. It was astonishing who a young, strapping soldier meet during the war!

OK, Darn It!!!! M J, you, along with what Phyllis wrote has convinced me to start writing a journal. I am also going to include a lot about mom and dad. My dad was a tall, blondish, handsome man with an eye for a beautiful woman. He and mom fought for years because of this "afflication"—-but there are some heartwarming stories along with the sad, the funny  and, the making of a wild, wayward youngster (me). My stories will be jaw dropping!!!!

I may look like a comfy, cuddly grandmother, but I wa a "hot mama"!

I will put the jounals in a locked vault (buying a small, fireproof one this week-end) and let them read them when I am gone. I think I will leave them to my oldest granddaughter. She will love them. My daughter and son will be so shocked I can see them now, into the fireplace before their hands (and minds) are scorched!

Oh, what fun….especially about the stories my paternal grandmother had the opportunity to tell me about my dad when he was born and growing up. My mom, too had a story that could have been a 1950’s movie.

This is going to be fun!!

Oh my, much ado about such an everyday type of thing!!!

I’m a touchy person and feel that  just by a small touch when speaking makes a big difference in the way a conversation evolves. If a person doesn’t like to be touched, the message is obvious and I certainly reframe from doing so. However, I have friends who I have meet on planes who have written me for years because I am accessible. Why aren’t we all? Life is short and the queen certainly understands that as someone who was a driver during the 2nd world war. She has evolved, with I think the influence she saw from Diana’s death and it’s aftermath, to become so much more open to gestures of friendship and warmth. Long live the Queen and our first family!!!!!

Nooooooo, S.J.’s research really, really impresses you!!!!!!!

Diana, I have a half sister who was raised in England. I am only 5’4" and feel much like the bigger sister to her. She is so tiny I feel I could pick her up and put her in my gigantic purse sometimes. However, she is a spunky little one and I ADORE her. She is older than I am by several years but appears much younger.

As Suzanne has a special feelings for the French ( which I totally understand),  I obviously feel a comradrie with the British. They have such a wonder sense of humor, so dry and so much fun.

Carmen is unforgettable.

That hair, those checkbones. I’ve missed seeing her in fashion magazines. I hope she gets a lot of dough to look so beautiful for our pleasure.

Also, as Suzanne said, a biography by Ms. Dell’Orefice would fly off the shelves and be purchased by all of us of an older generation who love beauty in all its manifestations.

As I near my 61st birthday I am so glad I didn’t keep a journal. I was way to wild. And, today, realized how innocent my near grown granddaughter is. It seems that when she does  something she knows her mother would not approve of, she always breaks down and tells.

I told her she obviously did not get many of my genes. I would have been beaten to death if my dad had know even a third of what I did as I grew up. After I became an adult, I would have been killed by one of my various husbands if I had written down what I had been up to.

For some reason I was always a thrill seeker. I was once told  by one of my secret lovers that I had a young soul. No matter what I did I would always come out a winner or at least with no visible scars. I must say that is the case.

Oh, I wasn’t encouraging my granddaughter to be "wild and crazy". She will 18 in July and her character is pretty much established. She will always strive to do what she thinks is right and if she makes a misstep she will tell her mom..or her husband when she marries (hmmm, I really have to talk to that girl!!)

And since I have become an AARP member I have slowed down and nothing I could write about would be really worth keeping.

I will, instead, attempt to write some short stories  for my new great- granddaughter (born to my 21 year old graddaughter).

Why should any thinking person be more worried about the economy because there are some of the people with the stiff upper lip acting out?

No disrespect to the British, my sister lives in Britain. I have wanted to take to the streets many times in the past year with a pitch fork and run amuck jabbing any banker I see who contributed to this mess our country and others across the globe are in.

Our President is at a meeting right now and has to listen to PM Brown make slurs against our country. Well, as long as the money was flowing they, the bankers in his country, did not mind buying bad loans from our greedy bankers.

I still feel like taking a pitch fork, joining Cobert Nation and running amuck. 

"This site has now fallen to an all new low.  Poking fun and making a game out of other people’s misfortune.  How dare you!  Karma is going to run over your dogma."

Serena, you are so right!!! How dare the people who own this site!! 

Except for an occasional peek, I don’t come to this site anymore..it used to be a daily habit and I loved to just be in the presence of such smart, savy women. However, with the above post I am so appalled I just am speechless. 

DeBurca, I couldn’t agree with you more..I am appalled also.

SHAME ON YOU wowOwow.

You have written a very informative piece. However, I think calling the tent cities anything other than what they are - tents for the homeless is not right.

Thanks again for your explaination of how the current economic crises came about.

As an RN I should make it clear that I would report any child neglect or abuse to the proper authorities immediately. However, I would not and could not appear on Dr Phil or on any TV show (or any where else) and talk about my observations and knowledge of a patient and/or client. That is unethical and I would lose my license. What is wrong with these people?

I’m not a supporter of Nadya’s decision to become pregnant when she already had 6 kids but it is really not my business. There are many people on California’s welfare system and I don’t have anything to say about them. This is just crazy and the whole family needs to be left alone. With that said, I do believe the Children’s Protective Services should keep an eye on the situation because taking care of 8 infants is a totally unrealistic task without having many helpers.