I’ve missed blogging. Life got a little crazy so I stopped. Life is still crazy but I have some things going on (non IF related) that are putting a little swing in my step. More on that later.

I spend most of this time talking about my ovaries and such. I’m aware that a lot of my audience is trying to procreate and comes here for advice, a little laugh and a lot of times, some hope. I hope I have a bit of all of that here….but it is time that I start talking about a few other things that interest me. One is my son. I’ll categorize so that people going through the process are able to weed out the glowing mommy reports. Nothing is worse than being blindsided by an IF blog than to find musing on the wonderment of a child. That is enough to break out the big old vats of chocolate triple fudge brownie ice cream and cry your eyes out and I get that. I might be a mother but I am what they call a veteran of this process and, as such, I am keenly aware that I have readers who need protection in this area.

Another interest of mine – a long time interest is investing money. I worked on Wall Street for the best part of 14 years. Risk Control, Mergers and Acquisitions, Private Wealth Management, Asset Management. But it is the my own investing and the process of investing that interests me the most. I love an undervalued stock. I LOVE the craziness of a bubble (hurry, buy Apple it is going to go THROUGH THE ROOF. I knew, back in late 1997 that the guy at the coffee stand talking about buying shares of Motorola meant one thing – get the freak out of the market. It happens ever time – people cannot help themselves. They are like sheep following the Sheppard. (not to say I have not done this exact thing but….I learned a lesson in doing so).

I digress.

A few weeks ago there was much talk of the natural gas glut – how they found a new way to extract natural gas through shale extraction. Financial articles were all doom and gloom about the price of natural gas and how it was unlikely to recover for a long time. So I did a little research. I learned that yes, there is a huge glut and yes, the prices were at record low and then I put on my old thinking cap. People love to gorge themselves on things – oil, gold, apple stock, google stock. We found a solution to our oil issue and it is right here in our backyard. I envisioned cars being converted to natural gas, all houses being converted to natural gas and I pulled the trigger and bought some UNG – the ETF (exchanged traded fund) which stands for United States Natural Gas Fund. I got in at 9.12 cents. My husband (the banker) thought I was taking on a huge risk. Funny thing happened – a few weeks later Exxon bought another company and announced that natural gas was the way of the future. Now I envision that investors across the land are going to pull their chairs up to the table, grab the knife and fork and start gorging themselves on natural gas…..I’ve already made 700 bucks (not bad for a few weeks investment). I’ll sell it when I feel that people are might stuffed – just right as they announce (say 7 years from now) that there is NO better way to earn money. I will sell it. I had this experience with oil, by the way. Right before the crash my inner voice said, “hey, you’ve had a good run – time to sell” but greed won out. Crash, bang, and no boom. Another lesson learned.

So this is now an investing blog, of sorts as well. I’m not a one topic pony despite the fact that my dear husband thinks that I have no interests other than those that create little human beings.

Citigroup. I own it. A lot of it now. I’m taking the gamble. Not for the faint hearted but come on, this is a brand as American as Apple Pie and they paid back TARP. If it gets to 5 in 5 months – oh will our family be happy.

So there. Anyone else interested in investing talk? Because I love it and would really like to get more interactive about it – warning though. I enjoy being a contrarian. Has served me very well.