my step mother Gloria, cousin Chuck Williams, Me, Dad, Bill Williams, my sister's Billee and Donna

This picture was taken in 2002, four years before my dad fell, hit his head and died after two brain surgery's to reduce the pressure on his brain. While in intensive care the surgeon told the family he was bleeding in the center of his brain. He lived for a week unconscious before dying.  I'll never forget the phone call from my brother Preston, telling me "Dad's gone."

My dad at 51, and me during the filming of Goodbye Norma Jean in 1974. He was in his prime and he had a Living Trust.

It's bad enough going thorough the trauma of losing a parent, but having to deal with his estate, has been a 10 year nightmare. It still isn't settled after years of fighting a lawsuit and the economic downturn.  The year he died, 2006, the Death Tax was around $2,000,000. meaning anything over that was taxed 55%. Today if a person dies and leaves an estate under $5,430,000 there is no Death Tax.

My Dad in his late 60s, still robust and productive. He had a Living Trust.

 If my Dad hadn't had a living trust and a good Tax Attorney and Accountant the nightmare after his death, would have been unbearable.  If you are considering a Living Trust do it now.  I have one and have had it for over 10 years. I wouldn't want anyone to ever face Probate. I think you might be interested in seeing how an Estate Tax would impact your family today.

What is Estate Tax and how does it Impact Me?

All forms of property, irrespective the format of ownership, that an individual owns at the time of their death is subject to federal estate tax. This tax is then payable through your estate. Normally, it will be paid by the decedent’s estate before the distribution of properties to the estate’s beneficiaries. Estate taxes are due, barring an extension, within a period of nine months of the individual’s death.

Exclusions on Estate Tax

Though the majority of the decedent’s assets will be included within the gross estate, occasionally there are exclusions. If the property is left outright to a spouse, then the federal tax liability is nil. It is a scenario referred to as marital deduction.

Should the decedent leave property to a charity that is tax-exempt, there will be no tax.

The Payment of Estate Taxes

Most Americans will not be subjected to federal estate taxes. As a matter of fact, it’s a tax that only impacts the wealthiest of Americans in most (but not all) states.  For a death that has occurred during 2015, the exemption on federal tax has been set at $5,430,000, per person.  If you exceed that amount, then a 40 percent tax levy is applied.

How to make a Calculation and File

The calculation of federal estate tax is potentially a complex matter. As such, it is thoroughly advisable to utilize the services of an estate tax attorney or other tax professional to receive help. An attorney who works in the practice of estate planning will be able to help you through the process, keep you updated as to any new laws, and also complete all the filing matters for you.

Nevertheless, if you are not quite ready to engage the services of an attorney just yet, and you merely wish to gain some concept as to the amount you could owe, you may utilize an estate tax calculator online. These can afford a reasonably good idea as to how much you will owe.

To use an online calculator, you will require as much information as you can garner with respect to cash and retirement accounts, investment accounts, vested stock options, life insurance proceeds, your home’s value, vehicles, together with any other assets. You will also need to know about your liabilities, unused exemptions of federal estate tax, charitable bequests, and taxable gifts.

You may wish to file on your own, in which case, you should use IRS Form 706. During the preparation of the return, do remember that you must file for an estate’s gross value rather than net value over and above the estate tax amount of exemption.

The return is due within nine months of death. Should you require more time, it is possible to pay an estimated tax prior to the due date, after which, you must file for an extension of six months. If you need help with filing, read through the IRS’s Publication 950.

Estate Taxes for the State

There may be no federal estate tax owed by an estate, but there are 15 states together with the District of Columbia that do levy their own taxes, and an individual does not have to be super wealthy to have to pay.

Currently, as of 2015, the following states are included: Rhode Island, New Jersey, Maryland, Maine, Minnesota, Massachusetts, Oregon, New York, Washington, Vermont, Delaware, Connecticut Tennessee, and Hawaii.

When will an Estate be Subjected to Federal Estate Tax?

With the death of an individual, an estate will become a taxable entity. Prior to the calculation of the tax, your real property, gross estate of money, and any other assets whereby you had some form of interest at the time of death, minus marital and charitable deductions, in addition to administration expenses of the estate, together with other acceptable deductions, will be tallied by the IRS to assess your net taxable estate.

If the taxable estate is to exceed the decedent’s exemption, federal tax is then payable. In 2015, the amount of exemption is $5.43 million. However, if you are married, your spouse has a separate exemption entitlement of a further $5.43 million.

The IRS closely scrutinizes the assets that are included in the estate as well as the worth of each item. This can and frequently does become the source of frustration between an estate and the IRS.

If your family owe estate taxes, use the services of a recommended tax lawyer in Rochester.

Meet Maybelline an Abyssinian ground hornbill on display at the Albuquerque Zoo

Maybelline will remain at he Zoo while teams examine the genetics of birds for pairing.

The Albuquerque Zoo said Maybelline originally came from the Omaha Zoo and thought the name was about the eyelashes since it was named by the gal staff. If it isn't the eyelashes maybe it's the eye shadow....Or maybe it's Maybelline??

The birds, native to Africa, imprint on humans and Maybelline recently greeted the Omaha zookeeper she hadn’t seen in a decade with bill slaps

http://www.abqjournal.com/696597/upfront/biopark-keeps-species-from-vanishing.html

Thanks to Bob Curmudgeon for sending me this story.

The Origins of Champagne - Happy 2016

          

What celebrates a special occasion more than cracking open a bottle of good Champagne with that special someone, or a boatload of friends.

 But, how do you know what Champagne to buy, or where it came from. If the occasion is significant, like bringing in 2016, a splurge on a good bottle is a must.  I save the cork from my bottles to remember the moment. I believe it's good luck  because Maybelline was born when my Auntie Mabel took a match to a cork, made ash and mixed with a little Vaseline over 100 years ago.

No matter what the reason to pop a good bottle of Champagne, remember to make a wish and kiss the cork.

              The Origins of Champagne

Champagne is a sparkling wine which is produced from grapes that are exclusively grown in France’s Champagne region. To be classed as champagne, it must follow particular rules that include the wine’s secondary fermentation in a bottle which creates carbonation, the sourcing of grapes which are from particular parcels within the Champagne appellation, as well as specific pressing regimes which, once more, are unique to the region.

Many utilize the term champagne to describe sparkling wine generically. However, in the majority of countries, it is now illegal to label any product as champagne officially unless it hails from the region of Champagne and is produced according to the particular appellation’s rules. 

Primarily, the grapes that are used in champagne production are black Pinot noir together with Pinot Meunier. The appellation laws governing the production of champagne only permit grapes that have been cultivated in accordance to the appellation regulations, which apply to specifically designated plots.

In the 17^th, 18^th, and 19^th centuries, various royal families became associated with champagne. The leading manufacturers made particular efforts in order to associate their own champagnes with royalty and nobility by way of packing and advertising. This led to the drink’s popularity within the emerging middle classes.

Types of Champagne

The majority of the good champagne that is produced these days is in fact non-vintage, which means that it is blended using grapes from numerous different vintages.

The base is mostly from a single year vintage whereby producers will blend between, generally 10 percent and 15 percent of wine from vintages that are older. Should the conditions of a particular vintage be more favorable, various producers will create a vintage wine that must combine 100 percent of the grapes from that particular year.

Under the regulations for champagne wine, houses that produce non-vintage and vintage wines are permitted to utilize no greater than 80 percent of the entire vintage’s harvest to create vintage champagne.

This then allows the remainder from the harvest to be reserved and used in non-vintage champagne. It’s a method of ensuring consistent style that consumers have come to expect from champagnes that are non-vintage, and it is not altered radically through the quality of the vintage.

Some producers will create a wine from a single, less than ideal vintage, but will label it as non-vintage, given that the wine is of lesser quality and those producers prefer not to reserve this wine for blending in future. 

Prestige cuvée

A blended wine which is normally a champagne, cuvée de prestige is said to be the very best of a producer's selection. Prestige cuvee is no doubt a good champagne, and a few preeminent examples include Moët & Chandon's Dom Pérignon, Laurent-Perrier's Grand Siècle, Pol Roger's Cuvée Sir Winston Churchill, and Louis Roederer's Cristal.

Blanc de noirs

This French term, which literally means "white of blacks" or "white from black," is used to describe a white wine which has been produced solely from black grapes. 

Blanc de blancs

This French term literally translates to "white from whites," and designates champagnes which are made wholly from Chardonnay grapes. Perhaps on rare occasions the champagne is made using Pinot blanc, for example, Cedric Bouchard’s La Bolorée.

Rosé champagne

Champagne’s rosé wines, which are also referred to as pink champagne, are created by either leaving the juice from black grapes to liquefy on its skins for a short period of time – referred to as the saignée method – or, by combining some Pinot noir red wine together with the sparkling wine cuvée.

Sweetness

The amount of sugar which is added upon the conclusion of the second fermentation, known as the dosage, and the ripeness of the grapes, varies. This will impact the quantity of sugar still remaining within the champagne when it is bottled to be sold, and thus, also the sweetness of the wine

.

Those wines that are labeled with Brut Zero, which are more commonly found among the smaller producers, are normally very dry as they have no sugar added. They have no more than 3 grams of residual sugar for every liter of finished wine.

The terms below are utilized in order to describe the sweetness of the final product and apply to a liter:

-          Extra Brut (no more than 6 grams of residual sugar)

-          Brut (no more than 12 grams)

-          Extra Dry (between 12 and 17 grams)

-          Sec (between 17 and 32 grams)

-          Demi-sec (between 32 and 50 grams)

-          Doux (50 grams)

Visit my goddaughter, Hana-Lee Sedgwick's blog,
 Wander and Wine to learn more about Wine and Champagne. 

 http://wanderandwine.com/wine/#.VoRQJlJcBSE

How Much Does it Cost for Hair Extensions?

During the late 1960's I wore long Falls, which were made of real hair and cost hundreds of dollars. I also had wigs and hair pieces that I matched to what ever outfit I was wearing that evening. It took hours a week to care them. They sat pinned to head stands waiting to be washed, colored or styled.  Today having hair extensions is what all the Movie Stars and a few of my friends prefer.  If you are thinking to having the process and wonder how much it will cost here is some valuable information.

 If you’ve not had hair extensions before, you may be thinking that the process is going to break your bank. The good news? Not necessarily.

Most ladies come with a preconceived idea that hair extensions are either particularly cheap and they therefore look fake, or, that they are very expensive and cost thousands.

Sure, the ones you see Kim Kardashian wearing likely run in to the quadruple thousands of dollars a time. But the good news is, there is an area for middle ground with hair extensions and pricing. In other words, you can have affordable hair extensions that not only look really great, but also last.

And we are not referring to those temporary clip-in types either. We are talking about the sort of hair extensions that you can wear in a ponytail, you can have blown out, and you can do a workout in. in other words, they appear perfectly natural.

Hair extensions can be life changing since they may add length, volume, and provide much fuller hair instantaneously.

Most ladies wish to try hair extensions, at least the one time, and some women simply can’t live without them.

You might have fine or short hair, but you really want long, full hair. But how much is that going to be? The price of hair extensions will vary depending on the method used for installation, the quality of the hair, and where the extensions are applied.

Types and Pricing of Hair

Now, considering the cost of hair extensions, one thing you must determine is the type of hair that you want. Different types of hair work best in terms of budget and appearance.

-          Synthetic: Cheap, fake hair. Low-priced.

-          Non-Remy: Cheap, often low quality hair, and may be from the hairdresser’s floor. Low-priced.

-          Remy Human Hair: Remy human hair, which is of medium quality. Low- to mid-priced.

-          Remy Human Hair, with Cuticle Intact: this is the highest quality of Remy human hair. Mid-price range.

-          Virgin Cuticle Hair: this is the highest quality of hair that’s available. High-price range.

It’s worth noting that the higher quality of hair – from Remy human hair with cuticle intact up to virgin cuticle hair - is an investment. This will normally pay off, given that the hair lasts far longer than cheaper formats.

The synthetic types are low quality and really, this is not to be recommended. The best quality of hair is human hair, such as Indian hair, and if you can afford it, always opt for that.

With respect to human hair, there are a variety of grades. You will find that quality Remy human hair together with the cuticle intact is very high-grade. This will start at a few hundred dollars and move rapidly upward. This type of hair extension will generally last for around a year, and perhaps a bit longer.

Non-Remy hair is more affordable, but it will not last nearly as long.

 

The highest grade available is that of virgin hair which will last for 2-3 years, providing that it is maintained correctly. The prices vary, but for virgin hair in general, you’d be looking at a starting price of high-hundreds and moving swiftly into the thousands.

Keep in mind that the hair you are buying may seem cheap. There are two potential reasons for this – the grade is very low-end, and/ or, you’re only buying a small amount. You should calculate the price based on weight, and not merely quality.

Application and Maintenance

Once you’ve made your decision about the quality and the price with respect to your hair extensions, you then need to think about the method – DIY temporary job or semi-permanent solution?

Going for the DIY job will cost $0 in terms of application. For something longer-term, you’ll likely spend anything between $200 and $2000 at a salon, and that’s just for the application. Then, there’s the price of maintenance on top of this, which will be necessary every 2-3 months.

For obvious reasons, it’s important to understand how regularly you will need to return to the salon for upkeep and maintenance. It all factors into the overall price tag for hair extensions.

Cost of hair extension application in the salon (price of hair is not included)

-          Clip extensions - $100-$200

-          Sewn-in hair extensions - $100-$400 

-          Tape extensions - $200-$800

-          Fusion/ micro methods, which involve strand by strand application by the stylist - $1000-$2500

Original Maybelline Christmas Card 1952.

Tom Lyle Williams was Unk Ile to the family and never failed to remember every single one of his siblings, their children and their children's children on Christmas.  My sisters, brother and I, and all our cousins couldn't wait for our shiny $10.00 bill inside a money-card, that said Merry Christmas, Lots of love from Unk Ile.