Author: Angie World

My life is as open as I want it to be. I am a massive coffee addict, a lover of the written word, glitter and anything with Dean Cain in it.
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International People Day

I thought I would take a detour from chronicling the Florida adventure, yesterday was International Women’s Day, I have some thoughts on that.

I am all for celebrating women, sisterhood, girl power or whatever you would like to call it. The women who have shaped my life are nothing short of amazing, from my grandmother to my mother, aunts, cousins, close family friends and my friends.

I have to wonder why we don’t see the same posts on International Men’s Day. Does anyone know when that is without googling it? I didn’t. I had to google it, let’s face it, in today’s society men are getting a bad rap.

Men are all painted with the same brush, if they are too masculine they are processed under toxic masculinity. Metro-sexual? Too girly, not tough enough, they really can’t win. Too nerdy? Too brainy? They are loners and labeled losers.

It is a sad society we live in when all people are not celebrated. Men and women and all of our glorious differences.

I have both a daughter and two sons, I celebrate all of their differences. I have sons who work in very masculine fields, the automotive industry, they are very much men. Yet they have a nerdy side, an intellectual side and nurturing side. They are well-rounded, but from an outsider looking in, they are filled with “toxic” masculinity.

I seriously hate that term, I, for one, like men who hunt, work with their hands and who can also talk about Star Wars, Star Trek, comic book heroes and mythology.

The most important thing for a man or woman to be is themselves. Who God made them to be, whether that is a geek, nerd, mechanic, doctor, lawyer, landscapers, CEO, whatever they become in their chosen careers, celebrate them.

Look at a person’s soul, their innate goodness, their belief in God. That is what we should be celebrating, we should be together on this earth, not working against each other. Not marching against each other, not throwing barbs at each other, embrace our differences.

I would suggest this one thing, this week, have a conversation with someone you think you have nothing in common with. I do believe you will find you have more in common than in difference.

If you are a white-collar worker, find a blue-collar one, shake their hand, thank your mechanic for keeping your car running. Thank your plumber for keeping your pipes working. Thank your tech support person for keeping your network networking.

We all are valuable in the greater good of society, stop pretending certain work is more valuable than others. If we all coalesced and worked together how much better would we all be.

Any questions, comments or criticisms can be left here or sent to me at angie@angieworld.com. Oh and if they are mean-spirited or insulting, please remember this is Angie World and I do have the final say on what is published here. It is a monarchy, not a democracy or constitutional republic.

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Florida Adventure Part II

And now for the rest of the story. Saturday was the reason for the visit to Florida. The wedding.

This wedding was amazing, the bride is the daughter of very dear friends of mine. We have been friends for 30 years. Being able to see their only daughter get married was an honor. I was incredibly humbled to have received the invitation. Elizabeth Anne and I were looking forward to this event and we were not disappointed.

The bride was absolutely glowing, the groom was beaming, it was perfect. I do have to say one of my favorite parts of the evening was the father of the brides speech. It was poignant, sweet and just when the tears were gathering, funny.

The bride is the only daughter with 4 brothers, I cannot imagine the bravery of the groom. He has to be someone special to wade into that, not only did he wade, he swam and has flourished. Watching them all this weekend I know without a doubt the queen has indeed met her king. I foresee a lifetime of great joy.

The next day the festivities continued at the home of my friends. Elizabeth and I stayed twelve hours. I’m pretty sure they thought we were just going to move in. It was a difficult decision, but eventually we made our way back to the hotel.

Monday was Universal Studios, we had originally thought Disney, but Elizabeth Anne is a huge Harry Potter fan and wanted to go to the Wizarding World of Harry Potter. So off we went, the next adventure in our Florida stay.

Stay tuned for the rest of the story.

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Florida Adventures

The Florida adventure has begun! I have to say I am a little prejudiced, Florida is one my favorite states. It has been since my first visit in 1988. Every time I come here I am in complete awe of the beauty of the state. It has charm, quirkinesses and perfect weather, at least perfect weather in March.

I am, self-admittedly a cold weather girl, I always have been, but there is something about palm trees with a balmy breeze that draws me in.

We started with an early flight, taking off at 6am, central time. That meant leaving my house by 3:30 am at the latest. So Stormie went to her home away from home the night before. Thank goodness for Sassy Tails pet sittings flexibility.

The flight was booked solid, every seat taken. No drama, no on kicked off, Southwest was great.

My travel companion, Elizabeth Anne, is the perfect travel buddy. She is funny, even with traffic frustrations and a good navigator.

We get to Orlando, get our rental car and off we go. We dropped our luggage off at the hotel then on to Tampa to visit with her Granpa Reno and Granma Mike (not spelled incorrectly, that is how my children say those words). And why yes, I did say I went with her to civet my ex-in-laws, I genuinely love them. They are the grandparents of my children and I think they are pretty terrific people.

We get to the area they live and it is just delightful. Quirky, beautiful and peaceful, I can totally see why they chose to live there in the winter months. They very generously took us to lunch. Great conversation, laughter and awesome food. Florida is the place for amazing seafood.

We left them in what we thought was plenty of time to get back to our hotel, freshen up and make it to a wedding festivity, we did not, what should have taken us 2 hours took over 4. I seriously have never seen anything like it. That pry was no bueno, but we persevered. We made it back to our hotel and crashed for the night.

Tonight is the whole reason for our sojourn, wedding time! Very excited. Can not wait to see my friends daughter walk down the aisle and marry the love of her life. This is one of my favorite families and I am so happy they invited us to share in this day.

We are here until Tuesday. So many more adventures to be had in that time. More later. I am going to finish my coffee and go back to the hotel. Which is seriously beautiful. I highly recommend the Waldorf Astoria to anyone who is coming to Orlando.

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Killer Queen if you Please

So I finally saw Bohemian Rhapsody, I loved it, but it felt rushed. Like it should have been a 6 part documentary, but I understand why they did it the way they did. I thought Rami Malek did an excellent job of bringing Freddie Mercury back to us for a short time. He captured his essence and his singing.

Of course I had to download Queen’s greatest hits and have been playing them since. I had forgotten how many hits they really had and how much fun it is to sing those songs. How much they allow me to time travel, they are so the soundtrack to my misspent youth.

So big happenings on the Dean front, this past week he liked two of my tweets. I know, right! Two!

Yes, I know, this is crazy talk and I am strangely good with it.

A few months back someone asked me if it has to be Dean, my answer was for now it does. You see I am damaged and Dean Cain is safe. The odds of me actually meeting him are pretty slim and of him actually being attracted to me is even slimmer. So he is safe, I can say I am going to marry Dean Cain and I know it will not happen. I am safe, I can live my life alone, never tempting any sort of ego bruising or actually feelings. What are those?

I don’t know if it will always be Dean, but for now he is my safety, he has been since 1993.

It started when I was first divorced, I was a single mom with three kids and three jobs and full time college. I didn’t have time to date, however, people still felt the need to call me out on not dating.

So I would say, i’ll date when Superman shows up at my front door, by Superman I mean Dean Cain. I mean seriously, he was and still is the prettiest man I have ever seen in my entire life. And Dean shirtless in Lois and Clark, well, that was a sight to behold.

So he has been my safety net since 1993, and when I did let him go, well it was disastrous, I think we can all agree on that. My life was a fiasco, and I refuse to have a fiasco again, no thank you.

I’ll sign off for now, Killer Queen is playing and I must sing it at the top of my lungs and dance with the dog.

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Spanx Thoughts

I love reading all comments on Facebook adds. I know it sounds crazy, but people are funny. The dating ones are among my favorite. The women are brutal, because of course none of the men on the dating apps look like the ones in the advertisements.

Another that has become a favorite is one for shapeware. Like spanx, the comments are brutal. Like, lose weight and you won’t look like a cow. I have news for these women, the right undergarments make the outfit. I was a a wedding years ago and the maid of honor was a skinny woman. Her undergarments were so ill fitting and make her look lumpy. She needed spanx to smooth out her dress. The beautiful dress looked hideous all because she didn’t look in the mirror and think oh maybe I should get better foundation garments.

I for one love spanx and other shapeware, it just gives you a smoother appearance. It has nothing to do with hiding the way you really look. As some women have hinted at in these comments. It doesn’t make you look skinny it just smooths your clothes and allows them to lay correctly.

Some of these women have no shame, I admit I had to go look on their Facebook pages to see what they were working with. Some are simply gorgeous, others not so much, however, when one finds their self esteem in the mirror only, well, their old age is going to come as a surprise to them.

After the ravages of childbirth and yo-yo dieting, spanx is my best friend and I am not ashamed to say that. I like to look good in my clothes and I don’t think that is a bad thing.

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

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Seamstress Found

My mother used to be my seamstress, she was hands down the best seamstress in all of Oklahoma, nay, the world, nay, the universe. The covenant between a seamstress and her client is sacrosanct. You have to be able to trust your seamstress to tell you the truth about your clothing choices. Not what they think you want to hear, even if that truth is harsh.

So I needed a seamstress to do some alterations on a dress I am going to wear to a formal wedding. I found the dress I wanted, I was really hoping I wasn’t just thinking it would look good on me and it was not going to.

I researched online to find a seamstress, I found one with great reviews and called her. She could fit me in, I have two dresses, one is my dream dress the other a backup.

I took both because one needed to be altered and one needed to be hemmed.

Today I had a fitting, the one that needed to be altered, dream dress, fits like a glove, but I didn’t want to be overly optimistic. So I said I’m not really sure, she said try on the other one, I did. She came into the room and said can I be honest with you.

I said, yes please, brutally, she said the first dress looks amazing on you, this dress makes you look older than you are. I was like um I’m 55, she said what, I said um yeah. She said no, this is not the dress for you, the first one looks amazing and that is the one you need to wear.

I concurred, she will finish the alterations and have it cleaned and pressed and I will pick it up Monday.

I am very excited, this wedding is going to be so awesome, I cannot wait to see this beautiful bride walk down the aisle.

I am very happy to have found a good seamstress in the area, I haven’t really had one since my mom stopped being one. Like I said, the trust has to be there, my mother used to tell me some harsh truths. And I appreciated it, greatly, I am not one to tell a white lie when it comes to fashion.

It’s a risky thing, to tell a stranger the truth in a department store dressing area. I have done that, of course I told them my name was Rachel and I was a buyer for Bloomingdales. I didn’t want to die.

being the daughter of a seamstress affords me a different eye when it comes to fashion and what fits and what looks good on people. I wish I could sew, I cannot, I never had the patience to learn, my poor mother tried, but even she had to admit defeat.

My head was better suited to living in the clouds and reading all day long. She knew that and was happy to allow me to be well, me.

Maybe I’ll post pictures of me in the dress, that way you can all judge me. It’ll be too late by then, but hey, that is what the internet was invented for. Judging others after the fact, or making up stuff in it’s entirety and going to jail for it.

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My Perfect Man

Since I promised I would start dating if Dean Cain doesn’t marry me in March, perhaps April, I thought I would give a list of requirements.

6ft tall, I am 5’4” and I like wearing heels.

Hair would be nice, I really like dark hair and neatly groomed. I like a nicely trimmed beard, not a biker beard. You know the kind, the ones you find food in, that is just gross.

Eyes would be nice, two if at all possible.

Be able to dance, I miss dancing, I really like it, so yes please to dancing.

An OU fan, or at least not an UT fan, they are beyond annoying, as I am sure they will say the same about us. Oh and I don’t think I could date a Nebraska Cornhusker, we used to be huge rivals back in the day and who’s to say we wouldn’t have flashbacks.

Someone who reads, I read a lot, so a reader would be nice. We don’t have to read the same books, in fact I think a man who reads romance novels might be a little weird. So different genres definitely.

I like television, I cannot lie, I like all kinds of different shows as well. No reality tv, no bachelor, bachelorette, stars dancing or singers singing. Sci-fi, super hero, vampire biting and those things, yes.

Going to the movies, a must.

If you have never seen Star Wars, Star Trek, Battlestar Gallactica then I am probably not the woman for you.

Someone who exercises, I would like to have a workout partner. He doesn’t have to eat super healthy but eating the way I do would be a huge bonus.

Oh, if he could cook, major points, I mean I can cook, but a lot of times I choose not to, and I don’t know if I am that great at it.

Guns, yes, I grew up in the country and am very comfortable with them, I don’t think I would get along with a man who was anti-gun.

Someone who wants to travel, I find I like to travel and I don’t want to spend my life sitting at home. Watching paint dry or peel or whatever paint does when one is watching it.

Oh speaking of paint drying, no soccer people, ever, never, I refuse.

Sports in general, I mean I do enjoy a live game,  I am all for that, but sitting at home watching it, I’d rather be reading, or skating or watching paint dry.

A sense of humor is a must, I am really funny fo him finding me funny is a necessity.

So, if we can put all of that into a dating app and find the perfect man for me, let’s do it. You know, if I don’t marry Dean Cain. It could happen, I am incredibly charming.

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Last Day of Valentines Week

For my last post I’d like to end with a poem my mother wrote. My mom loved words, she was a published author and had such a way of saying things. After all of these years I am still amazed at my mothers God given abilities. I hope you all enjoy her poem.

 

I Walked In Gethsemane

 

Lord, I feel akin to Thee

For I’ve trodden Gethsemane

In the dark and gloomy night

With no ray of hope or light.

 

Doubt of safety for one dear

Sent me there in deepest fear

In despair I wandered on

Thinking I was there alone.

 

Then in mists of twilight dew

I saw there were others, too

Other figures, shadowed, still

That in life I knew so well.

 

Some walked aimless, to and fro

Lost in fear and deepest woe

A gray haired mother, bent with grief

Knelt to pray in sweet relief.

 

Friends and loved ones dear to me

I tried to reach with sympathy

But my own doubt drove me on

In Gethsemane, alone.

 

I wanted much to still the fears

Of a girl who sat in tears

But in my stumbling, doubting way

I found I knew not what to say.

 

Then a voice out of the deep

Whispered softly “Do not weep”

I wondered if each one could hear

That voice so soft and yet so clear.

 

“Faith and comfort I could give

If for Me you’d daily live.

I could be your Guiding Star

Moving doubt and fear afar.”

 

Then like clouds of morning light

Banished were the fears of night.

Faiths fair light rose bright and clear

And I knew ’twas Christ so near.

 

As I stood He seemed to say

Some are here who’ve lost the way

Go and tell the story sweet

Of a Heaven of Retreat.

Odela Testerman

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Day 4 of Foy and Odela

The next note comes from my mothers best friend, Joyce, they had been friends since they were young girls growing up in Love County, OK. Quick side note, I don’t know if Joyce ever knew this or not, but when the twins moved into the area my mother instantly fell for my dad, Foy. She and Joyce were playing house and were deciding which twin would be their husbands in their pretend game. My mom let Joyce go first and she always said she held her breath, hoping and praying her friend would not pick her twin. Joyce chose Roy so my mom could breath again. I asked her once what would have happened if Joyce had chosen the wrong twin. My mom winked at me and walked off whistling. To this day I don’t know what would have happened to Joyce if she had chosen unwisely.

Jan. 3, 1984

Joyce (Hudson) Seefeld

Rogers, New Mexico

I have very fond memories of the Testermans and Allens. Odela was my best friend by the time I started to school at Greenville, OK till we left there in 1924. I shall never forget how she and I could climb a hackberry tree, find a forked branch where we could sit comfortably and listen to the noises of the creek such as birds singing and crickets chirping and eat hackberries. Thinking back there wasn’t much to eat but they were good to two hungry barefoot kids when the hot summer days were as long. I also remember sneaking in her mama’s kitchen and each getting a biscuit to eat with the sheep showers we’d gather and sat on the creek. Um-m-good eatin!  I wonder if kids would like them now? And would kids like to ride saplings? We could go mighty high if we could find a young tree, bend it over till we could get a good hold and give a little kick. Up we’d go and a bluff never got too high for us to jump off of, especially if it had a sandy bottom to land in.

Odela was the envy of every little girl in school when her teacher presented her with a pretty doll for making the highest grades, I don’t think I envied her for I was glad it was she who won it (since I couldn’t) and like I said she was my best friend.

School was fun and to second graders in “love” with two cute (handsome?) twin boys made it even more fun. She liked Foy and I liked Roy. I’d like to ask Odela a few things that she remembers,..

That night we saw the wicked elf with his sword drawn to cute off our heads? How miserable we were with our heads under the cover on a hot summer night?

Picking boll weevils off of wild flowers and weeds and selling them for 1 cent each?

Getting the day lights scared out of when the strangers stopped close to the bridge to have a picnic? And how we sat high in a tree waiting for them to go on? How we pushed and pulled on Lillian to get her up there? She might have been four years old. And getting their paper cups they had left?

Finding the dried up knot out of the tree, thinking God had started making a baby and had dropped it so we dug a shallow grave and after a short service, perhaps a prayer and a few tears we buried it and went on our way Just goes to show we sure hadn’t watched television!

I could go on and on. I could say a lot about Foy’s mother. She was our closest neighbor and my mothers very dear friend. They wrote letters to each other long after we came to New Mexico. I’d walk with my mom to visit them and have such a good time playing. Mama would say before we got there “now Joyce don’t you ask for something to eat” but Foy’s mom knew kids were always hungry and I remember how good the bread, meat and buttermilk was. And mama would eat too! I remember the day I spent with them and a terrible sand storm blew all day and we went to the cellar. Foy’s mom brought food, water and clay and we played, moulded all kinds of farm animals and wagons and buggy. Really had fun.

Childhood memories!

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Day 3 Legacy of Foy and Odela

Todays missive comes to you from my mothers cousin Joe Kee and his wife Mary. The story they tell is one of childhood and then one of my dad in adulthood. The one from adulthood is one I have never heard but it fits with my dads personality and sense of Christ. I hope you enjoy it.’

Jan. 3, 1984

Joe and Mary Kee

Odella was Joe Kee’s cousin and Foy had lived close by since Joe was a small boy, when all would come over to play at Uncle Toms house. Uncle Tom Allen lived close to Monroe Kee with their wives being sisters.

Us kids had some good times and gave others some bad times. What one couldn’t think of one of the rest of us was bound to. In later years we all moved to Amber. Joe took Rhoda, his sister to practice on a play and he stayed at Bob Allens home. Jess and Joe decided to scare all of the other boys in the house. They tied a string above the window in the bedroom and down to the castor bean stalk in Linnies garden. Joe put rosum on the string. Jess and Joe told the others they were going into town and of course there is always someone else wanting to go it was Tom. Finally when they couldn’t talk Tom out of going, they let him in on to what they were going to do. They said “now Tom you get the shells out of that gun of Ralphs or he will shoot us.” Tom played the French harp and he was good. About dark he was playing that harp and we hit that string and it made a terrible racket. We could see them open the bedroom door and peep into the room. They couldn’t see anything so they went back, a few minutes we hit that thing again and back they came and would peep around and look all over the room. Finally they came peeped out the door but they wouldn’t come out. That line did make a terrible racket and was enough to scare you. We decided that they were too scared to come out so Jess sneaked down to the hen house and got an old hen and he would grab a feather behind that old hens head and pull it out and of all the swaking that hen would do it. Ralph got his gun and stuck out the door. He didn’t even come out where he could see he just put it around the corner. Jess took off and I could hear him running plop plop plop,. He sounded like a herd of cows., Ralph hollored again, “stop or I will shoot”. We started to laugh and he said you are mighty lucky I could of shot you. We said oh you didn’t even have any shells, he said “I always have shells.” He looked and the gun was empty,

I remember after Mary and I married they came to our house at Stonewall and stayed the night. Mary started to fix the meal and had no bacon.. Odella went out into the car and got some and Mary has always remembered that visit. They had to bring their own food but that wasn’t the only reason we remembered that visit,. Foy told of a man in his church that he really had got to the point of not being to worship at church because of. He could hardly stand the man, so bad was his dislike for the man he could hardly worship, One day the Pastor had them all knell in prayer at church and Foy said he started to pray for that man and then Foy said, “I found myself praying for old Floy and when I got up and looked at that man he looked so different”, Mary and I talked about that many times since and I think he taught us what the parable in the Bible meant to first cast out the beam in your own eye, Foy and Odella taught many people things, I was around them all my life in growing up and I never heard them or their family ever say a bad word, we love Odella and Foy and hope they feel our love through out all of the years to come.