My family and I had such a wonderful Thanksgiving.  We engaged in conversation, listened to music and had a wonderful dinner.  After dinner we decided to play a game my son in law brought over.  We had a lot of fun playing together, we are an amazing team, and as the game was about working together, we of course knocked it out.  One thing I must say about my family, we are great communicators.  We talked through the game and as it required coordination and teamwork, we bam…scored.

My other lovie, my daughter overseas called in, and we had the most amazing time catching up and talking about where all of us were in our lives.  After our “what’s app” conversation, I decided to bring out desert.  Since my daughter and brother are Vegans, I didn’t have a sweet desert plan.  So when all else fails, I brought out a fruit salad I whipped up.  I included tangerines, apples, pineapples, mangos almond slices and dried cranberries to sweeten it all up and give it an added kick.

But then there was the surprise.  Since my daughter like trying new foods, I purchased a persimmon for her to try.  She cut it up and gave each of our guests a piece.  I was in the kitchen getting a slice of apple pie of course.  After all, its thanksgiving and what says thanksgiving more than apple pie?  Okay, after the turkey, it’s apple pie.

When I came out of the kitchen with my smoking hot, slice of apple pie and a bottle of water, I noticed everyone had a weird look on their face.  They looked like if they ate poison.  So I asked what happened and this was the response.  “It’s sweet but then it tastes like fur, no – it does something to your tongue, it dries out your mouth.”  The more they ate, the more comments were made, “Wait a minute, this taste like deodorant.  My daughter said, try it mom, I thought, are you kidding me.  I tasted deodorant before.  What happened was I put some on after a shower and noticed I had a piece of lint from the towel on my lip so I went to remove it and bam, the taste of deodorant was on my tongue.  That waxy  miserable taste flashed back in my head.  Oh no.  I wasn’t about to try the persimmon – not today, not ever.  Then my brother said, “I know what it taste like, it tastes like a tire patch.”  I was laughing before, but at this point, I couldn’t stop.”

This is what happens when my family gets together, the foolishness that comes out of everyone’s mouth is unbelievable.  This is my family all day, every day.  It wasn’t about the fruit.  If I never purchased that piece of fruit, we would be laughing about something else.  Our old family stories can’t ever be repeated without someone begging us to stop.  How can you laugh until your throat, stomach and even back hurt.  I’ll tell you how?  Come over for our holiday dinner. 

This year and every year before and after, I’m most thankful for my family – they give life meaning, purpose and add such joy.  Lift your glasses, a toast to family diva.

I started a tradition a few years ago of buying myself a gift at Christmas time.  I wanted to share why I started this practice with all of you.  Well diva, every year at Christmas time we purchase gifts for our friends and love ones.  Why?  Because we want them to know that we love them and we are thinking of them during this wonderful holiday season.  It’s our hope that our small token of love will bring them joy and happiness.

I purchase a gift for myself each Christmas for the same reason.  It’s a, "Hey diva, I appreciate you and all that you do" gift.  Of course you can buy yourself anything you want at any time.  But if you are like me, you’re counting those pennies, so that won’t happen very often.  But around the holidays, it’s a wonderful time to treat yourself.  You’re already in the store shopping for all the fav people on your list, just add yourself to that list diva and keep it movin’.

We have no difficulty showing others that we love them, so we shouldn’t have any difficulty with the concept of self-love.  As we enter this holiday season, I want to wish everyone happy holiday.  Live Life on Purpose Ladies, smooches.

Why is it that people are so sneaky and dishonest?  Am I just an idiot magnet?  No matter what type of business I’m looking for a professional to assist with, I often get that one person you can’t trust to save your life.  I do my due diligence, check references etc. Who wrote their references, their sister?  I had the real estate agent from hell, the doctor from Elm Street, met Jason when trying to get my car serviced.  I often wonder is there anybody out there that care enough about anything to do it right.  And, can I not be taken to the cleaners so you can make 200% profit.

I miss the days when your word and a handshake was all that was needed.  If you hired a professional they had such pride in their work and reputation that you benefited with an excellent job as a side result.  Is it just me or have you noticed that business is now about, “how much of your money can I take for nothing”.  All I’m asking is that professionals act like professionals and have a code of ethic, do the job I’m paying them to do well and at a reasonable price.  Really diva, is that too much to ask of people?  Can everyone not have the car salesman mentality? 

I guess until we revisit the golden days, I’ll just have to review every deal microscopically.  It’s annoying but it’s a must.  We can all benefit from every service deal if we remember that honesty is still the best policy and karma, well – let’s just say – she’s less than a friend.