Angie World

Today is almost exactly what it was in 1989, the only difference is it started at 80 degrees and dropped drastically to below freezing and an ice storm.

How do I remember a specific date in 1989, let me tell you, it was the day Elizabeth Anne made her grand entrance into this world.

A daughter I had prayed for, a dark haired, dark eyed daughter, just like my Great-Aunt Linnie had been. 

A daughter who has morals, integrity, sense of humor and strong.

I received that and so much more, so today, on your birthday Elizabeth Anne, I want you to know how much I love you and am proud of you.

You remind me so much of your Grandpa and Great Grandpa Testerman, with your love of animals and the way they love you in return.

You also remind me of your dad, your work ethic and foresight. 

You have an ability to see beyond today and plan for tomorrow. The way you work towards a goal and you don’t stop until you have achieved it no matter the obstacles is incredible.

You are beautiful, smart, funny and caring, I pray you continue to nurture all of your God given abilities and talents. Most of all your capacity for love, please never lose that and foster that side of yourself. 

I love the way you do not allow the past to dictate your future. You are an amazingly incredible woman and I am proud to call you my daughter.

Happy Birthday Elizabeth Anne!

Love,

Mom

Every year our department at work has an Angel tree, every year Shay and I adopt an Angel together. We pick a girl, Shay chooses the clothes, as she had sons and didn’t get to buy cute little girl clothes. I get to buy the toys, she always accuses me of getting things that requires helmets (she’s not wrong), it is a great way to start off the Christmas season.

I tell you this not to brag but as an introduction as to why I feel compelled to do this thing.

I never talk about my childhood pre-adoption, well, from birth to 5 years old was really good, then post adoption was amazing. The years in-between were not great, I honestly do not remember any Christmas from that time period except for one.

I was in the third grade and my elementary school had an assembly, it was the whole school gathered in the cafeteria. No one knew why we were there, but there was an excitement in the air. I will mention this was a low income school, so the parents were not backing what was about to happen.

All of a sudden the doors burst open and we hear hohoho, Santa came in with a bound, followed by firemen. First they gave us all candy canes, then Santa gave us all a present. I had never gotten a Christmas present that I could remember up to that point. 

It was a Crissy doll, she had auburn hair, brown eyes and her hair would grow. She was beautiful and I loved her.

That one kindness never left me, it has stayed with me, the thought that complete strangers wanted to make a whole school full of children feel special is a little overwhelming.

So to this day, I choose a child off of the Angel tree, so they can have a good Christmas and feel special. I tell you all of this in hopes that it will give you insight to how much a little kindness can create a lifetime effect.

If you have the means and the wherewithal I urge to choose your own Angel, you won’t be sorry. You will never know what may happen in the future. That one bit of kindness could change the whole trajectory of a child’s life.

I hope you all have a great Thanksgiving and a really Merry Christmas!

Today is the day we, here in The United States of America, honor our veterans. Those brave men and women who made the decision to put their lives before ours to defend our Constitutional Republic. 

I am so proud to say that our family has had many veterans, starting with the first one that came to these shores in 1773, Thomas Johanne Testerman who served in the Continental Army. 

My two brothers, Jim, Army and Jesse, Navy, served, my nephew Todd continued the family tradition. in the Air Force.

I have many uncles and cousins that served as well, in all branches of service, too many to list, but I am so proud of each and every one of them. 

My father-in-law, (I know, former, but I ignore that as he was an amazing man) Mareno Barsi, was among those brave souls as well, he served with honor in the United States Air Force.

I have so many friends who also served with honor, my bestie and travel partner Shay, Army, along with her husband Rande also Army.

I have many friends who were Marines, well I guess they still are, once a Marine always a Marine. The Army and Air Force are well represented as well, along with the Navy.

I cannot begin to express my gratitude to all of these extraordinary human beings for volunteering to put your lives on the line so we can all enjoy our freedoms here at home.

As we thank you for your service I would like you to know that the gratitude we have for you goes deeper than one day.

It is an ongoing daily thing, as a country we many not show it every day, but it is there, in our hearts and minds.

Without you we would not enjoy freedom of speech, the right to peaceful assembly, the right to worship as we see fit. You are without a doubt the glue that holds us all together, today we salute you and your sacrifices for us.

I’ve told this story to one nephew and my daughter, I thought I might tell the world.

A few weeks ago I was startled awake in the middle of the night by flashing lights. Disorientated and confused I grabbed my phone thinking it must be an Amber alert, no, nothing on my phone. The lights were still flashing, my bedroom is in the back of the house, the windows face my backyard and the backyard backs up to a wooded area. I knew it wasn’t a police car or emergency vehicle as I can’t see the road from my bedroom.

I’m just lying there thinking this is it, it’s the revolution! It’s happening! Still nothing on my phone and the lights are still flashing.

I decide if the revolution is happening I need to go the the restroom. I am 58 after all.

As I am walking out of the bathroom back to the bed I see it, the source of the flashing lights.

A few months ago I had bought light up scrunches and had worn one to bed. It came out of my hair in the middle of the night and I had rolled over on to it turning it on.

So yeah, no revolution, yet.

August 29, 1985 was equal parts excitement and terror, I was terrified at what could happen, and excited to welcome a beautiful baby boy into this world.

The day you were born was an incredible day, filled with elation and then fear. You were born with water on your lungs and had to be rushed to the NICU. I was told by one of the doctors you would always have lung issues and never play sports.

You proved them all wrong, starting in soccer, then t-ball, softball and baseball, throw a season of football in and there ya go, an all around American boy.

I’m so proud of you son, you have grown into an incredible man, son. You have a sense of humor that is quiet and surprising. Much like the rest of us you can throw zingers in rapid fire. 

You are an observer, you always have been, with a keen eye and sense of what is going on in the world.

I love you so much and I know I don’t get to see you as often as I would like. You are very busy with a bustling family of your own. 

Every day I pray for you, that you retain your sense of humor, that you are strong for your family and that you keep that sense of wonder and curiosity that you have always had.

I love you so much son, I hope this birthday brings you everything that you want and more!

Today is here, 31 years ago you made your way into this world and your place in this family. The day you were born was a great day, you completed our family and now you have your own family.

Watching you grow into the man you are has been an honor, watching you grow as a father has been nothing less than amazing.

Seeing you stand up and become an advocate for your daughters, for doing what is best for your family, taking care of them, working for your family. It is a privilege to be able to watch you grow into the man you are.

On this birthday I pray that God rains his blessings down on you, that you and your family thrive.

As your mother I could not be more proud of you, your strength, intelligence, your heart, I pray that you take time to enjoy all that you have in your life.

I know you are going to continue to do great things in your life, for your children, with your wife and for your future generations.

Always remember to do what is best for your family and you as a person, always remember you are very much loved. Always remember you come from a long line of people that persevered and overcame. From the first one of us to come to this country, the one you are named after to the current generation.  It is in your DNA to tackle life and make your own way. Never forget how strong you are and how much you have gone through to get to where you are. You are nothing short of amazing. 

Happy Birthday Thomas Alexander Graham Bell, I love you so much and am so grateful to be your mother.

With next week being Father’s Day I thought I’d tell a story about my dad. It doesn’t involve me and happened before I was born.

It is a story dad loved to tell and he told it to me so many times.

My sister will have to correct me if I get any of the details wrong because it involves her as well.

Nell asked dad if she could play with his hair, he didn’t have much for her to brush and play with but he told her yes she could do that. I don’t remember how old she was when this happened.

He fell asleep soon after she began, when he woke he decided he needed to go to town for something (I honestly can’t remember what for if he told me).

As he was walking around town he began to notice people were looking at him and laughing. For the life of him he couldn’t figure out why.

Then he looked in a storefront window, Nell had put pin curls on his head with Bobbie pins. He became very angry yanking them out one by one making his way to the car. By the time he got to the car he was laughing at how ridiculous he must have looked to all of those people.

He told he that he couldn’t be mad at Nell because he had given her permission to play with his hair.

He would end the story with let that be a lesson to always look in the mirror before you leave the house.

He was a man that loved Jesus, his family and friends. He had an infectious smile and even more infectious laugh. He would say it’s better to laugh than cry and he was so right. I feel incredibly fortunate to have had him as a father.

This next story is mine, dad was working on the car in front of the house. He had it backed in facing out with the fence behind it. He told me to get in the car and push down on the gas. I said I don’t want to do that and he said go on and do it. It’s fine, it’s in neutral, I get in the care, a 1972 Ford Ranchero.

I pushed down on that gas pedal and the car went backwards into the fence. He and I just stared at each other, our eye were big and round.

Mom came flying out of the door and looked at dad and said Drivers Ed. He and I just stared at each other then her, dad said alright.

She went back in the house and dad said I guess it was in reverse. I don’t think I said anything, just handed him the keys and walked away. The dent in the fence was there until the day they moved out.

Some days I miss him more than others, I miss his advice, his humor and his steadfast love of the Lord. It was unwavering, even with a handful of a daughter like me.

Today I celebrate, with no fanfare, my longest successful relationship to date. It is my 25 year anniversary with the major telecommunications company I work for.

I am really proud of this accomplishment, it won’t be celebrated, we all work from home now so no party. I could use the party money and go out to dinner but that would be awkward. Me and my boss, my guess is he is hoping I do not opt for that.

Since I have no other outlet I’ll tell you all about my career so far. Not really a career, more of a happy accident.

I was working three jobs, going to school full time and raising three children. A friend of mine asked if I was ready for a real job and I said sure. She brought the application to my apartment and waited while I filled it out.

The next day the head of HR called me and asked me to come in and test. You see she had been the maid of honor in my friends wedding. Nepotism is a beautiful thing and I have no shame.

I took what is called the Telephone Battery Test, at first, due to the questions, I thought that they were trying to see if I was crazy and not hirable. I later realized the test is designed to see if one is crazy enough to work here.

I also took a typing test and word perfect, I passed, they offered me the position of Operations Clerk. I accepted and the rest as they say is history.

That one job allowed me to quit the other three jobs, I finished the semester and we began to have a normal life. God blessed my family immensely with that open door and I will be forever grateful.

More than the financial aspect I have also made lifelong friends in this company. Too many to list individually, some I still work with, some who no longer work for the company.

I have had positions I have loved, I have had positions I have not loved, but through it all I have been grateful.

Grateful for the training I have received that has allowed me to move on to other departments and jobs in the company. Never getting bored, never complacent, never stagnant.

If you’ve stayed with me thus far, thank you, this is my only opportunity to tell anyone about my 25 year relationship.

Just a quick hi to China!!! I see you are back to reading me! Don’t be afraid to say hi!

So I did a thing, a bad thing, so bad that I know God was tuning in and shaking His head and saying she’s gonna learn today. Telling the Angels, stand down, this is a lesson she brought on herself.

I had a bad week this past week, and yes, I know, I am not in a war torn country, I have food and a place to live and a job. I could be so much worse. Now on to my issues that were not so great.

My air conditioning went out, it was Tuesday morning and I realized the fan was running in the house but the unit outside was not. I did what any person would do, I youtube’d it and checked a few things. I had recently changed the filter, recently as in 4 days prior, there was no debris blocking the unit. Then it started talking about electrical stuff and I was completely out.

I called my leasing agent and she was on top of it, they could come the next day, which is a blessing, it wasn’t a week out, it was literally the next day. 

The bad thing is Tuesday was hot, it was 85 degrees with no breeze, I do have fans and the house is all tile and wood flooring, so it was fine.

But then came time for bed, as you know I am in full blown menopause and the hot flashes are no joke. I typically keep it at 64 degrees at night. It was 78 degrees in the house, by then a breeze had started and I opened by bedroom windows and had three fans going. My ceiling fan and two floor fans. 

I did not realize the temperature was dropping as much as it did. Needless to say I did not sleep well and when I did and woke up it was freezing and I was congested and my ears were blocked up. 

The air conditioning man came that afternoon and he was very nice, very professional and had it fixed within 20 minutes.

I thought good, I will get to sleep tonight and it will be glorious. That was not the case, I think I was over tired and sleep was elusive. 

So by Thursday I was grumpy and not having fun, top it off with the last call of the day with someone screaming that their service wasn’t working, me talking them down and resolving everything, 30 minutes past the time I was to clock out. I was done, with the week, I did the only thing I could. Retail therapy.

Yes, I took myself to Target and here is where God said let her learn. I allowed Target to tell me what it wanted me to have. Let’s just say I did not do that at Costco the next day.

I have learned a lesson, a costly one, sometimes God allows us to make the mistakes we do in order to learn what He wants us to.

Instead of shopping I should have gotten out my bible and gone to Him to calm my frayed nerves. Lesson learned.

I hope all of you had a much better week and that you do not need to learn a hard lesson the way I did.

As usual, any comments, questions or criticisms can be left here or sent to me at angie@angieworld.com.