Month: January 2016

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Brutal Cuts

I’ve made a decision, it is brutal, but it had to be done, I have cut three television shows from my viewing list. The funny thing is, they are all from one creator and on one channel and on one night.

I will no longer be watching or recording Scandal, let’s start with that one because it makes me the angriest. When I watch that show I become angry, the main character, Olivia Pope, is smart, successful, beautiful and made in a town that regularly chews up people and spits them out.

Here is the thing though, and there is always a thing, she cannot stay away from a married man. I don’t care about the man’s skin color or that his job is president. This woman is supposed to be strong and independent and every time this scum of a man (any man who cheats on his wife, fiancé or girlfriend is scum in my opinion) beckons, she runs. It is disgusting, because of who she is, someone who made her way in the world, created a business, she is good at, no not good, great, she is supposed to be a gladiator, instead she turns into someone who cheats. I can no longer watch a show that makes me want to throw a shoe at my television. The last straw was the abortion scene, with Silent Night playing in the background and Olivia with a small smile. Done.

Next up, How to get Away with Murder, this show, in my opinion (again, it’s not called AngieWorld for nothing) is a mess. Everyone killing someone and getting away with it? And once again the main character will sleep with anyone married, man, woman, anyone. There are no boundaries and no qualms, she even meets with the dying wife of the man she is sleeping with. Its insanity and while I know these shows are fiction, I am done watching shows that make me want to throw something at my television.

Last but certainly not least, Grey’s Anatomy, I should have given this one up years ago, I don’t even know where to start. Do doctors really act this way in hospitals? If so it makes me not trust my own doctors! They are so over the top and full of themselves it is nauseating. So I am giving it up.

Which clears room for things that make me cheer, gasp and root for the good guy and yes, sometimes for the bad ones as well.

I love television, I love scripted shows, I hate reality TV, I believe it has ruined the landscape of television. But now, these past few years, The CW is knocking it out of the ballpark with scripted superhero shows. And even though ABC disappoints me greatly with the bachelor, bachelorette and dancing with the stars they make up for it with Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D, Agent Carter and Castle. CBS needs to step up the Supergirl storyline in a hurry, move a writer or two from Arrow to work on the scripts, however, The Big Bang Theory knocks it out of the park every single time. Amazing show, amazing cast.

So there you have it folks, my shocking thing I am cutting out of my life.

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Answers One Does Not Want

Anyone who knows me well knows that I love Dear Abby, I read her every day and have since I was 12 years old. I read her today; however, it was another advice column that really caught my attention. One I have never even heard of, Dear Amy. What caught my attention was the headline, Mom Doesn’t Like Answer to Question.

I was quick to click, what did she ask that she didn’t like the answer to! Curiosity got the best of me, I admit it, I wanted to know what not to ask my own children. The mom lives on the West Coast, all of her children live on the East Coast.

She asked her children, two of whom live in Boston and one in Baltimore, where they would like her to live, so she could help with the grandchildren. Her words, help with the grandchildren. The two in Boston said we don’t need help, move to Baltimore, the one in Baltimore said yes I would love to have you and the help. With an answer like that, you know that mom (it’s a daughter that lives in Baltimore) needs help and welcomes it.

The two in Boston knew that as well and are directing their mother to where she is needed. This mom did not like that, she is not happy, she wants to move to Boston where she has friends and relatives.

I was aghast, why ask??? Why on earth would you ask if you were not going to like the answer? If one of my children said I need help, trust me, I don’t care if I don’t know anyone in the city, I am going to the one that needs me.

Well, Dear Amy hit it on the head, she said why did you ask, just move where you want and then be prepared for the hurt feelings. Because it is going to happen, all three are going to be not happy with you, mom, because you asked! Then, when you didn’t like the answer, just did what you should have done in the first place. Do what you want.

It’s insane when people ask a question then don’t like the answer they are given. When the time comes for my children to take care of me (it’s going to be soon, I am old) I am just going to go around and spend a few months with each.

They are going to love that, I’m sure, their mom there, 24 x 7, asking intruding questions, eating popcorn, hogging the remote control.

Oh wait, Elizabeth Anne doesn’t have television, no cable, no satellite, I may have to do some thinking on this. Install satellite at her house, for me, I hope she doesn’t want me to help with the roosters, I am still reeling from my last time.

 

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What I Learned This Week

I’ve learned a few things this week, number one, not a lot of my friends and family read me, so I can really write anything I want, very freeing. I also learned that if a business puts itself out there as being owned by a Christian, the owner better act like one, also her employees should be aboveboard and honest.

This is a good time to be a geek people, I am so loving television right now, ok, so I have always loved television, but let’s break it down. Monday night, Supergirl (ok, this show is not the best example, however after Monday’s episode I am hopeful), Tuesday is Flash and Agent Carter, Wednesday is Arrow and Thursday is Legends of Tomorrow. I know I have said this before, but I seriously cannot believe the same person who created Flash and Arrow does Supergirl as well.

If you are not watching Agent Carter, you are missing some of the best television I have seen in a long time. It is sharp, funny, smart, the actors have their roles down pat! They are nothing short of fantastic, I wish it were on Netflix so I could binge watch it.

It is so perfectly cast, I don’t know who did the casting, but Jarvis, Howard Stark and Peggy Carter are pitch perfect. The rest of the cast is equally as awesome, I see Whedon alumni’s in the mix, so it is no surprise.

Everyone who has a daughter should be watching Agent Carter with their daughters, this is the woman you want them to emulate. No love triangles, no wishy washy personality traits, she is strong, vibrant, witty, smart and beautiful as well. She doesn’t put up with anything, at all, even the nonsense from Howard Stark, she calls him on it, he responds by continuing his bad behavior to aid in her investigations.

Seriously, set your DVR’s to this show, Tuesday nights, ABC, 8:00 pm CST.

I find myself disappointed in women once again, I have seen several things over the past few weeks that leave me very literally shaking my head. From the employee at Rustic Cuff that made a 64-year-old, disabled widow cry because they bullied her. I am getting so many responses to those entries, I didn’t mean to take up a crusade but so many were coming forward telling their stories.

When Betsy Free tried her very best to try that tactic with me, well I could not keep silent and let it go. I think they are so used to dealing with women whom they can bully, and this is not put down, but they look for women who are not able to, for whatever reason, speak up for themselves.

They didn’t count on someone who can quite easily tap into their righteous indignation gene and who has a forum where they can speak out. I do not intimidate, at all, you see I have been through the worst thing that can happen to me in life, there is nothing that you can do to me that hasn’t already been done.

I was raised to always do the right thing, apparently some parents skipped that lesson with their children and now they have a business and employee people who are just like them. Oh and please, for the love of all that is holy, learn how to use a hashtag properly. It nearly drove me insane seeing all of that mess.

Tonight is Legends of Tomorrow; I must go prepare for that.

 

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My One Scandal

Last week, someone threatened to expose any scandals I had to the public. Well, I only have one real scandal, it’s not even something I’m ashamed of, or even embarrassed. It caused me great pain for many years, and still does to a lesser degree today.

Elizabeth Anne said, mom just write about it, I said well I need someone else’s permission to do that. My “scandal” doesn’t just involve me, it involves another person as well, so I asked them if I could tell the story. They have graciously agreed.

When I was seventeen I got pregnant, I knew the moment I realized I was pregnant what I would have to do. I was terrified to tell my parents; they had told me that if I ever got pregnant I couldn’t stay in their home. Before anyone condemns them, it is an age thing, I don’t condemn them, no one else gets to either. A few weeks before graduation my dad asked me if I was pregnant, I said yes, and true to their word, I had to find someplace else to live.

I went to the doctor, finally, he asked what I wanted to do, I said there was no way I could keep the baby. He helped me arrange the adoption, I didn’t know who would be adopting the baby, because in those days all adoptions were closed. There was no getting to know the new parents, no letters exchanged and definitely no pictures of the child afterwards. I knew I would be giving the baby up forever, and it was the hardest decision I have ever had to make in my life. To this day, it was the hardest decision I ever had to make.

I moved to an apartment in Owasso, now during this time there was only one apartment building and it was off of main street and 76th. It was in the slums of Owasso, up to that point, I didn’t even know Owasso had a slum. I paid a whopping $150.00 a month in rent. After paying rent and electricity there was very little money left over for food.

I don’t think my parents realized how bad things were until my dad made an unannounced visit to bring me vegetables from the garden. He opened my refrigerator and just stood there and didn’t say a word. We talked for a little bit, he left, then the next morning there was a knock on the door.

There stood my dad with a bag in his arms, he came in and went straight to the kitchen. He brought everything to make pancakes, even the bowl. To this day that is the same bowl I make pancake batter in. You see, they didn’t abandon me, they just wanted me to learn the lesson, if I make adult decisions, I would have to live in an adult world.

From that Saturday forward, until after I moved out of that apartment, my dad came and made me pancakes.

On one doctors visit, the doctor asked me what I was going to do when I went into labor, I said I guess I’ll drive to Tulsa to the hospital. I still remember the look on his face, he said what about your parents, you see he was our family doctor. I explained about the apartment, he said come see me tomorrow.

I went back, he said he had spoken to the people who were adopting the baby and they wanted to pay for a phone for me. I said no, because wouldn’t that mean they were buying my baby? I was so young, so, well, stupid, he explained no, they would pay to put the phone in and pay the bill until I had the baby, then if I wanted to keep the phone I would have to pay the bill after that. He also called my parents, he explained to me that they would take me to the hospital, that I would not be able to drive myself.

When the time came, I called my parents, they drove me to the hospital, my mother didn’t leave my side until they took me to the delivery room. Then, she was born, I saw the top of her head, it was filled with hair, it was dark. I heard her cry, I asked if she was ok, then passed out from all the drugs they had given me.

When I was in the hospital room recovering, I asked one of the nurses once if I could see her, hold her. I wanted to tell her I loved her, I wanted to tell her I couldn’t take care of me, how could I take care of her. I wanted to tell her I was giving her to people who would love her and take care of her. I trusted that because I trusted our family doctor, he knew the people, he would never have arranged for a child to go to someone who was abusive. I wanted to tell her that if she wanted to ever find me, I would be easy to find. I didn’t know how at the time; I just knew I would make myself easy to find.

The nurse told me no, she gave me a scathing look and said I made the decision so I would have to live with it.

Live with it I did, and it was painful, made worse by the death of my first child after her, someone told me that God was punishing me for having given her away.

Years went by, I remembered her every July 27th, I remembered her every day, I would look at my children and wonder if she looked like any of them, I would wonder if she acted like them.

Then one day, in 2005 I received an email, it said I think we may be related. I just sat and stared at it for a really long time.

There it was, the contact I honestly didn’t believe would ever come, it was her, and she looked exactly like me, except with blue eyes. She had children of her own and became curious about me after having her own daughter.

We had a rocky start, I won’t tell that part, because it is really her story, however, today we are forging a relationship. She is forging relationships with her siblings and we are happy.

She doesn’t call me mom, I am not her mother, she had very good parents, to which I am extremely grateful.

That is my scandal, once again, I am not ashamed of what I did, I did the right thing, I faced my responsibilities by giving my child the best home I could at the time.

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I Only Thought I Was Done

Just a note before I get started, this is my world, I will write what I want to, when I want to, uncensored. If you do not want to read about it, find a new website. It is not called Angieworld for nothing, I am Angie, I am from Owasso, I do know my 1st Amendment rights and I regularly exercise them. Another thing, I never lie.

I really thought I was done, but Betsy Free just cannot go away quietly, Betsy Free accused me of hiding behind a computer and being a “mean girl”. When Betsy Free used a nom de plume herself, well hello Cady, by the way, I said that in my best Rachel Green voice when she says hello Mr. Rachel to Ross.
I digress, it turns out Betsy Free works for Rustic Cuff, so everything she has threatened is coming from the company. She represents them, so I am being threatened by Rustic Cuff, they have threatened to find any dirt they can on me and make it public information.
I am also hearing from a plethora of people that have similar experiences with Betsy Free in particular and Rustic Cuff. I am so shocked at the number of people coming forward.
A little back story. You see, in my family, that has been in this country a very long time, one branch since 1774, another one since the 1600’s, we have a motto. Take a stand, speak for those who cannot, for whatever reason, speak for themselves. It was the reason in elementary school I went against my best friend Ricky, when he was picking on a girl that, well now we know it as DS, I was incensed he would do such a thing. I didn’t keep quiet because we were friends, it is the reason I spoke up for my friend Bobby in High School when some of the athletes made fun of him for being too effeminate. It is the reason I became a Union Steward.
Speaking up against what is not right is a family heritage to take a stand, to speak out against wrongs where we can. Here I can, I don’t hesitate, especially after I have been attacked for simply stating the truth.
Jill Reamer Donovan, your direct report, your employee, you are the owner of Rustic Cuff, Betsy Free is speaking for you. So, ipso facto, you are the one threatening me with all sorts of nasty things. Is that really the representation you want for a company that is trying to build itself on benevolence and giving? If so, then it is what it is, if not, don’t you think it’s time you had a conversation with Betsy Free, your employee?
In her comments to me Betsy Free, who hides behind Cady, posted her email address, her email address is public, when you provided your email address when commenting, you freely provided the address on my website and directly to me. I did not force you to provide your email address, this was a free decision on your part, therefore by freely doing so on my property (my website), you consented to providing such information. The fact that your comments were marked as spam was the only reason it did not become public automatically. Email addresses are like your home address. These are publically available on the internet, and not protected. I found it easily at Spokeo. If you want to become a keyboard warrior, make sure you know what is public and freely available before commenting. If you are to accuse others of hiding behind a keyboard, you should be using your real name when threatening on the internet.
I really wanted to get back to writing about my beloved superheroes, I have a Peggy Carter article that I am working on and this just keeps me from it. I do have a large following that wants to read about science fiction, Marvel, DC and, well anything Joss Whedon. They also want to read about my family research and about my parents’ history.
Betsy Free, stop harassing me so I can go back to my passion!
I have your comments saved, I will be contacting the Better Business Bureau in Tulsa, the Small Business Association and looking into cyber harassment charges with the local police.

Betsy Free

Just a note, this is freely available on the internet and requires no special access. It is public information.

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Betsy a.k.a. Cady

I wasn’t going to write about this anymore, however, I feel the need to address a few statements that were in two comments, made by the same woman who landed in my spam folder. She accused me of not posting her comment because she had spewed vitriol and she called me basically a hypocrite. So, first I am going to do a letter to Cady, even though I did send her an email, at the email address she left, no answer from her, explaining that spam messages were not going to be approved. I will write the letter, then below copy and paste her comments, I will not be editing them.

Dear Cady,
In the opening salvo of your comment you asked if someone posted something negative about me or my family would I keep it up for others to read. First of all, I did not make any disparaging remarks about an individual, what I did is tell the truth about a COMPANY, a company that does business with the public. That is hugely different from posting a negative comment about one’s family or an individual.
Next you said what if you were to post my public records, something about a dui and scandals, first off, no one posted any public records, court documents, dui information or scandal about any individual. Once again I said that a COMPANY has fulfillment issues and customer service issues and suggested that they create a call center to address those issues. Which would provide more jobs in the Tulsa area. Not seeing a downside to that.
I am not jealous of anyone’s success, as you suggested, I have my own successes and am very happy with my life at this point and time.
My children, who are all grown, are incredible adults, I raised them to be that way.
You seem to know me since you called me by my first name, so I am not hiding, also there is a link to my personal twitter on this page. No hiding.
I am happy that you want to add me to your prayer list, I love it when people pray for me.
And to the second time you posted, as I have previously said, your IP address came up as a spammer, and you were sent to my spam folder on my blog admin page. That is probably due to you having a virus or hijacker on your pc. Might want to check that out. Now I will copy and past your comments so you can see them. Also this is the very last time I will be addressing this, not due to your vitriol, but due to me having so many other things to write about, you might want to check out my blog this weekend, I am planning a huge Peggy Carter post.

First comment from Cady: Bfree1103@yahoo.com

I’m confused ! You mean to tell me if someone posted something negative about you or your family you would leave it up on your facebook page for others to read?
What if I were to post some of your or anyone else’s Public Court records on your facebook page would you leave it up for the world to see all the Protective Orders against you, the DUI’s, scandal or anything else negative you have done or would you delete it? I think you would delete it and handle it privately. At least that is how most mature grown ups handle things. Not social media!
I feel like jealousy plays a big part in all the nasty negative comments.
Angela, the fact you take the time to write blogs about Rustic Cuff speaks volumes about you and the way you live. Is that the way of Mary Kay or the way your parents raised you? I would sure hope not.
To me it seems like a bunch of jealous Grown Immature Women hiding behind their computers attacking others like junior high girls. I really hope you aren’t raising your children to grow up and treat others this way.
#meangirls #Miserylovescompany
I will add you to the prayer list at church. I pray that something good happens in your life because it seems you need a little happiness in it.

Second comment from Cady Bfree1103@yahoo.com:

Funny I knew you wouldn’t post my comment. Guess you didn’t like what I had to say. Isn’t that what you are accusing them of doing? #Potcallingthekettleblack
hahahaha

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Bemusement

Reading a recipe is like reading a foreign language, I mean seriously who has a mortar? I decided to give Hello Fresh another chance, I really love that they have everything already measured out and everything you need is right there in the box.
However, it’s putting the ingredients together that stumps me, I wish I were the kind of person who can just walk into a kitchen and create magic. I am not that person. I wish that I could put together the recipes Hello Fresh sends me, but I cannot. Reading the recipe cards are just mind boggling for me.
I highly recommend them to people who like cooking and who love trying new recipes, the food is fresh and the recipes look amazing. I actually made the pork chop one they sent last night, it didn’t quite go as planned, however the sugar rub with cayenne was nothing short of amazing. I am telling you I wanted to just put my head on the plate and just eat it. I did use organic, raw sugar, not white, and organic olive oil, that is the only thing I changed.
So, go over to https://www.hellofresh.com/ and give them a try.
I know in this day and age telling the truth seems to be frowned upon, I have never encountered anything like this. I’ve been alive a long time, and I am truly befuddled and a little disheartened.
As you know from previous entries I have talked about the issues that Rustic Cuff, out of Tulsa has. On Instagram today, they posted a video of them dancing in the store, a woman commented perhaps that was the reason the customer service people rushed her off the phone. This company has major fulfillment issues, and apparently customer service issues as well, I work in a customer driven company. Without the customer there would be no commerce, without commerce there would be no income. It is basic economics, this company is not a charitable foundation, as one person stated on Facebook. That comment made my eyeballs pop out.
So here’s a thought, instead of blocking people who state the truth, why not correct your customer service and fulfillment issues? I wholeheartedly suggest you open a small call center that can look up orders, answer phones and find missing orders or figure out how people are being charged for more than they are purchasing? I saw several posts where people were over charged, here is the thing that shocked me, people were waiting weeks for their refunds! Weeks! If they didn’t fix it within 48 hours, I’m calling my bank and putting in a claim to get my money back.
And another thing, does no one look at their receipt when they are walking out of the store? Or when they are at the register and they tell them the price and it over by $70.00 or more, don’t you question that? I would, I look at my receipts for everything I buy, right then, at the store, at the register.
I thought I was done writing about this company, but there is a plethora of material, and they just keep it coming.
I fully believe there are people in this world that can inspire us to go out and do good, Mother Theresa, Gandhi, Martin Luther King Jr and Steve Nardizzi come to mind. Granted only one of those people are still alive, but he is doing great things with the Wounded Warrior Project.
My parents, they did wonderful things that no one knows about because they took Matthew 6:2 seriously. I tend to be like them as well, I don’t like talking about the things I do, they are between me and God and the organizations that benefit.
A company blocking someone because they were honest is more than disheartening, it is bordering on dishonesty.

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Time-Travel?

I’m sitting here on a Saturday morning, waiting for the weather to turn into something I love, watching Peggy Sue got Married. I love that movie, any movie or show or book where people travel through time gets my attention.
In case you haven’t seen it, the premise is Peggy Sue has a medical emergency and travels back to her teenage self. After she gets a handle on what happened to her, she seizes this opportunity to right all of her perceived wrongs. First off is not marrying her high school sweetheart. Next, and here’s the part I really love, she gets to know the people she shunned, not really shunned, they just weren’t in her circle.
She befriends the nerd, the one that will really make something of himself in the future, she gives him a heads up on what will happen in technology and women’s fashion. She first friends him to see if he can help her get back to her time, at first he thinks she is making fun of him, then realizes she is telling the truth. It is pleasant watching their friendship unfold.
Next she engages with the real social outcast, the James Dean type, the deep, poet spouting, motorcycle riding, too good-looking to be real guy. She simply has, hmm what is the word we use here, a tryst with him, he thinks it is something deeper. Wants her to come with him to Utah to live on a chicken farm with another woman. Because polygamy is legal in Utah (apparently in that time frame), the quick thinking Peggy Sue says she can’t because she is allergic to chickens.
She tries her best to change her future, she keeps breaking the heart of her boyfriend, breaking up with him. Accusing him of all the things he does in the future, which of course confuses him greatly because he hasn’t done those things yet.
Towards the end Peggy Sue comes to realize her children would not exist if she succeeds in changing things. When she comes to that realization she wakes up in her future self, things seemingly normal, like it was all a dream.
Then someone brings her a book the poet wrote, dedicated to her and she realizes it wasn’t a dream.
I think a lot about this, if I landed in my teenage body, what would I do, who would I want to befriend that I didn’t? knowing some of these people as adults, there are a few I would have liked to have known in jr high and high school.
I believe core personalities are formed in our childhoods, our pre-school days, take me for instance, I am caustic, sarcastic, funny, nerdish, geeky as all get out and engaging. I don’t say this for bragging rights, although I could, I say this because I have always had these core personality traits. They have not always won friends and influenced people.
So, seeing old school mates in the form they are in now, getting to know their core personalities here’s a list of a few of the people I wish I had taken the time to talk to:
Fred – he’s funny, sarcastic and speaks his mind. He does not mince words to save feelings. I like that.
Billy – once again, funny is the first word, also sweet and thoughtful.
Deanna – She is sweet, thoughtful and giving.
Carol – She is sweet and stands up for what she believes in.
Here’s one I don’t know on FB, but did know in HS, however, we were never really good friends as we traveled in very different circles.
Eldora, she was smart, like crazy smart, and when you did speak to her she was nice, and funny, I truly regret not getting to know her.
There are more, however it would take a long time to list them all, these are the ones that made the short list.
As to what I would change otherwise, nothing, because my life is well my life and while not perfect it is mine. I wouldn’t want different children, so nothing to change there, so everything else would remain intact. Oh I would talk to my parents more, and visited my grandma and great-aunt Effie more. Those are things I would change.

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The Cult of Rustic Cuff

I was a single struggling mom once upon a time, there were situations where making a decision between paying the electric bill or buying food to feed my children were realities.
I am saying this as a preface to what I am about to vent, yes vent, rant, an old fashioned Angie Rant is in the works.
As I have written about before, I was introduced to the world of Rustic Cuff, it is a store in Tulsa that has become a phenomenon. The owner gives away a lot of bracelets and does great things in the community, the following is nothing on her.
I was introduced to a group on Facebook (of course) called Addicted 2 Cuffs, Jill Donovan Fan Club, kid you not, that is the name.
In this club I have seen some really good things, but the majority of things I have seen border on narcissistic, selfish, unkind and unfeeling behavior. They worship Jill like she is Jesus come to earth again. They say things like, in the spirit of Jill and what Jill would want and things of that nature. I am not going to lie; I have been truly bothered by some of the things I have seen.
First I am going to touch on the things I have seen that have inspired me, the woman who took her mother out this Christmas and they bought lunch for strangers. Took money and went to fast food places and paid for people’s meals that were in line at the drive-thru. That was inspiring, the woman who spoke of her friend whose husband lost his job, people donated gift cards so she could buy groceries and gas. Inspiring. Jill taking toy donations for the children’s ward at the local hospitals. Inspiring.
Then we see the ugly side of things, the woman whose 5-year-old son told her he needed money for the Santa shop at school, she asked what he was going to buy. He said he wanted to buy her a bracelet, because she wears them and he wanted to get her one because they make her happy. She told her son not to buy her any bracelet but Rustic Cuff. He said I guess I’ll buy you a necklace, because even a 5-year-old knows he can’t afford one of those bracelets. One could almost feel his defeat, as his mother cackled about this and women clicked like and made comments like, oh I don’t own anything but Rustic Cuff. This mother should be ashamed of herself, all her son knew was mommy wears pretty bracelets and loves them and he wanted to be included on her arm.
God help the person who sells one of these things they have bought with their own money, these women become vicious. Here’s the thing, once one buys something, it becomes theirs to do with what they want. If someone on eBay is willing to pay 4 times the original price, well good for that seller. They are living the American Dream, it is called supply and demand, it is called feeding your family.
To the woman who said her goal this year was to give away 52 of these things, I am truly flabbergasted. I did the math, even on the low-end, that is $1,200.00 to $1,500.00 in costume jewelry. I’m sorry, but if you saved that money all year and at the end of the year used that lump sum to truly help someone in need, that is in the spirit of Christ.
Let’s not kid ourselves, Jill is making money hand over fist, that is why she can give away trips to Disneyland and Iwatches and IPad and free bracelets. She is incredibly altruistic, but she is not Jesus! Women are forgetting that, once again, when I see in the spirit of Jill or let’s do what Jill would want I am a little horrified.
I wonder if this woman who started all of this reads some of these things and is just as horrified as I am, I wonder if she thinks how can I rein it in. I don’t know, I don’t know her, at all.
I do know she did a wonderfully nice thing for someone very close to me and I really appreciate it. But Jill is not Jesus. I did not praise her, I thanked God for His work in this woman’s life.
I am done buying bracelets, I have enough, after all, I only have two arms, I have the ones I want, ones that represent people and things very near and dear to me. My children, my home state and my Sooners, that is enough.
Oh, I also wear bracelets other than Rustic Cuff, gasp, I know, right! Imagine the horror!
I have seen pictures of some of the collections of these women and I have done the math, no one needs over $3,000.00 worth of costume jewelry, no matter the message of the owner of the company. You could have a really good piece of jewelry that you could hand down to your children for that amount of money.
I know I will take a lot of bashing for this, as those women are vicious when they feel that their cult has been belittled. However, living in Texas, I feel relatively safe.

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Foy and Odela, the Story Continues

So, today, my parents are celebrating their 82nd wedding anniversary in heaven, I know without a doubt there will be coconut cake, as that was my dad’s favorite.
They were married January 13, 1934, during a time in America that was bleak and chances of success were seemingly nonexistent. They beat the odds, they worked together for a good life for themselves and their children. They didn’t attribute any of their success to luck, they attributed it to God and hard work.
I know on this day, in the past, I have told their courtship story and how they came to be a couple, but today I’d like to tell about their journey across the United States during the Great Depression to find work and keep their family together.
After they were married and after they had two children, Foy and Odela had a conversation about the future welfare of their growing family. There was no work in Oklahoma and it was the dust bowl of America at the time. Crops were not growing, there was no work, Foy knew there was work in California, so they packed their family up in the old Model T Ford and started their journey.
It wasn’t a straight shot, it didn’t take several days, it took months, as they worked their way across the nation towards a better life. You see when Foy and Odela started the journey, they had no money for gas or food, so they had to work their way towards the future.
They found farms along the way that needed migrant workers to help bring the crops in. Foy and Odela picked cotton, they picked tomatoes, they picked green beans, they picked anything they could to make the money for their next leg of the journey.
Their car broke down in New Mexico, there they were, on a dirt road, knowing no one, with a toddler and a baby. There were no cell phones in those days, not even phone booths on every corner, and it wasn’t a well-traveled road.
Foy flagged down the first car he saw, it was filled with other migrant workers, ones that did not speak English. But by hand gestures and the looks of panic on Foy and Odelas’ faces let the family in the other car know something was wrong. The man took a look at the engine and somehow conveyed he knew someone who could fix it, however, night was coming and it could not be fixed in the dark.
The other family gestured that Foy and Odela should ride with them to their house, the family was very literally dirt poor. Odela would later recount how the floor was dirt, but the house was somehow clean, the family shared what food they had with them and made sure they were comfortable for the night.
The next morning, true to his word, the man went to get the mechanic and they fixed the car, gave Foy and Odela some food from their meager supply and sent them on their way.
Odela later said it was the first time she had ever encountered people who were different from her and God taught her a valuable lesson. All people, everywhere, just want to provide for their family and make sure their children have better opportunities than they had. She would say that day she had been humbled in the presence of grace and generosity.
They finally made it to California where my dad worked in a gold mine, my parents painted houses, had another baby and then my dad landed the job at McDonald Douglas, which after a few years allowed him to transfer back to Oklahoma, where they landed in Owasso.