Meanderings

I’m finally normal, how did this happen you ask. Good question, I was listening to Dr. Oz on the Kidd Kraddick show when someone asked him what the optimal temperature should be for a good nights sleep.

He said 64 degrees, I was blown away! I’m normal! That is my best sleeping temperature! I have always slept better in the cold, this is not a new thing.

Since entering menopause I like it even colder. It has been 49 degrees at night here recently. I still sleep with the air conditioner on.

Since switching to the different plant based estrogen and the progesterone cream my hot flashes seem to be under control. Which is a great relief.

Hotworx has been a God send, I look forward to it and feel better after going. I have also started drinking lemon water and have done away with drinking watermelon water. My heartburn seems to have lessened since making the change. It is not gone completely but it is on the way out.

My joints are not aching, my tiredness is going away, the weight is also going away. My exercise pants are getting too big. I have to pull them all the way up, old man style. It is quite the look. So sexy.

I’ve come to the time of year when I am emotional. I am not an emotional person but here we are. I’ve had so many people that I love die and this time of year is a reminder of all that I don’t have.

I don’t have, nor have I ever had anyone in my life that loves me. In a romantic way. I’m allowed to mourn what I have never had and and never will have. I’m too old and no man wants an old woman going through menopause. I’m not stupid nor unrealistic.

I also don’t have family to spend holidays with, oh I have Christmas Eve and I relish that. Which explains why I have a tendency to go overboard with gifts.

But Thanksgiving, Christmas Day and New Years, well I’m on my own. Saturday my ex-husbands wife invited me to Thanksgiving with them and my children and their family.

Honestly it’s humiliating, to be looked at with pity by the father of my children and his wife. She doesn’t mean it to be that way, please don’t take this the wrong way. She is a lovely woman who is extremely kind. But I am humiliated, being a loser who has no one in their life who wants to spend that day with me.

Everyone knows it, but to be faced with it is not pleasant. I don’t know how to politely decline, I may just ignore it and hope she forgets.

I usually work, that day so I don’t have to face anything, but my office now closes on Thanksgiving. So maybe a Buffy marathon is in order.

I don’t write this for anyone to feel sorry for me or to give advice. Seriously there is nothing worse than someone who has family and a romantic partner trying to tell me I have so much to be thankful for. I know I do, it’s just this time of year is hard. I miss my mom, I miss my dad, I miss my son, I miss my grandparents and so many cousins and aunts and uncles. Sometimes it’s overwhelming. That’s all.

I have made the decision to not share my meanderings on Facebook anymore. This allows me to write much more freely. I hope you all have a good day, if your parents are alive go see them, listen to their stories and hug them.

Who is Perfect?

There is so much vitriol in politics today. I read an article from a minister that said being bombastic and crude was just as bad as advocating for abortion up to birth. I was completely floored, no it’s not, in case you’re wondering abortion is worse.

If we are looking from a biblical principle I would have you look at the men God used to do His work.

Samson, he was a drunkard and fornicator, he would pick fights and the only thing he kept in his promise to God was not cutting his hair. When he got so drunk he passed out, Delilah cut his hair and drained his strength. When he decided to obey God, he regained enough strength to bring down the pillars, killing himself and all of the Philistines. Not perfect but God used him for His purpose.

There are so many examples if you care to pick up the good book.

If you are perfect and without sin I urge you to immediately have a talk with God and find out what glass house you need to live in. We are all imperfect and come short of the glory of God. I’m not perfect, I’m sure if I ran for office all of my teenage antics would come back to haunt me.

Here are the reasons I don’t have a hard time with President Trump. He is the first president to pass real prison reform with the first step act. Essentially righting the 1994 crime bill authored by Biden. He is also the first President since President Reagan to not start any new wars. He also has guaranteed funding for the next 10 years for HBCU’s (Historically Black Colleges and Universities). He also has brokered peace between Israel and United Arab Emirates and Israel and Sudan and Israel and Bahrain. He was nominated for three Nobel Peace prizes this year. Oh and his Platinum Plan for minority business and communities. He is also the most pro life and pro gay president we have ever had. He is working to get being gay not a killable offense in other countries. I understand he is arrogant, bombastic and at times crude. However he has put his money where his mouth is. Also he donates his salary every quarter. Before you write him off I would urge you to do your own research.

I’d you have any comments, questions or criticisms you can leave them here or send them to me at angie@angieworld.com.

Sandi

Anniversaries are typically fun, they serve to give us a pleasant memory, one we can look back on and smile about.

Today marks ten years since one of my best friends left this earth. Sandi left us, God said enough, you have fought long and hard, I need you to come home now.

Sandi fought a 20 year battle with cancer, in the end some would say she lost, however I believe she won. Going home to rest and to have her strength and be pain free, that is winning a battle in itself.

Those of us left behind were on the losing end of that, we lost a bright and shining star in our world. She brought so many people together, I have some very dear friends thanks to her.

She was my friend, my mentor, my sister, my sounding board, the one I would call with good news and someone I could commiserate with during bad times. She was a 2nd mother to my oldest son, Jeffrey, she was a daughter, a mother to two amazing sons.

She had a sense of humor that was would sneak up on you. 

If you were meeting her to go somewhere and you were late she would leave you. I was never late in case you were wondering, I did however witness her leaving people if they were. She would get so irritated, she did not play around when it came to being on time.

She was terrified of cats, which was the funniest thing to me, at that time we had two enormous cats, Mickey and Arthur. She would call if she was going to come over and ask if they were put away, she would only come over if they were not in the living room.

She adored her two sons and her mother was her very best friend. She had too many friends to count, I just feel fortunate to be counted among them.

Today I remember my friend, I remember her infectious smile, I remember her beautiful soul, I remember her impeccable taste in fashion and decor and I remember her fierce strength and determination.

I miss her every day, there are still days when something happens or I have a thought that I think oh I need to tell Sandi that. I still have her phone number in my phone with her picture attached to it. I keep it in there because if anyone could convince God to allow them to make a phone call it would be her.

Everyone should have a friend like Sandi. 

Chicken Soup for the Non-Cook

So  I had the appointment I have been looking forward to for so long. The one where Taylor, my functional nutritionist, would tell me the results of my blood work and what it all means.

First of all I am doing fine, there were some things we need to tweak and supplements that we will add and some we will replace.

I am hoping to get the night hot flashes back under control, also the reflux, I know it is because I don’t have enough acid in my stomach, but building it up will take some effort and time.

The last time she and I met I told her of my love of soup and how I was taking vegetable soup and adding seasoning and making it like a chickenless and tortillaless, soup.

She said why not add bone broth to it as well, then I thought about it and decided if I was going to do that I might as well make soup from scratch.

So I decided to make chicken vegetable soup with Mexican spices. It was so good I decided to do a beef one, also so good.

I make it with bone broth, I also season the meat before putting it in the crockpot. I take the onions and garlic and caramelize them and put them on top of the meat before adding the other vegetables and broth.

She suggested I write my recipe down and share it, here is the thing, I am not the best cook, I am really not the best at anything. I try, really hard, so there’s that, when a meme comes up saying real women cook and clean I think I’m not real.

It’s great if you are the best cook and best housekeeper and best mom, but I’m not and I’m still a real woman. I digress, I will share my chicken vegetable soup recipe:

Two chicken breasts

One onion or leeks (today I used leeks)

One whole garlic thing.

Three carrots sliced

4 things of celery from one stalk, not the whole stalk

Two ears of corn

Green beans

Peas

You can really put any vegetables you want.

Organic chicken bone broth, enough to fill the crockpot.

Mexican seasonings, I use an organic package from whole foods. You can really use any you want.

Rinse the chicken and pat it dry. Rub olive oil on it and then rub in part of your seasonings.

Put it in the crockpot, with it on high to begin with, cover.

Next chop up the leeks or onion, whichever one you want, use a garlic press and do the whole garlic thing. Not just one clove.

Saute them until carmelized, pour over the chicken in the crockpot, cover.

Next slice the carrots and the celery, put into the crockpot

I use whole ears of corn, so it will soak in all of the seasonings while it cooks.

Next pour in the bone broth and the rest of your seasonings. 

Cook on low for 6 to 8 hours. 

After that I put in the green beans and peas, because they are canned and already cooked.

I then take the chicken breast out and shred it and put it back in.

I also take the ears of corn out and but the kernels off and put those back in the soup.

It is ready to eat, I usually put avocado in it after I put an individual serving in my bowl.

Taylor suggested I add turmeric as well, I will do that in the individual bowl, that way I can see if I like it for the next one.

Like I said I am not the best cook and everyone will probably read this and go yuck. But I like it and it lasts all week, that one pot, which is good for me. It keeps me on the right path with my eating.

I hope you all have a great week and remember, you may not be the best at some things, however you can be the best version of yourself. 

Always be yourself, there is no one on earth like you, and people around you like you for you.

As usual you can leave any comments, questions or criticisms here or send them to angie@angieworld.com.

Family Photos and Hairless Cats

I asked my children for one thing for Christmas, a family photo, all of us, there is a lot of us. We haven’t had a family photo since my kids were little, so I want one of our large family now.

I tell you this so you can understand the conversation I had with my daughter a couple of days ago:

Elizabeth Anne: Mom you’re on speaker phone and Jeffrey is here.

Me: Um ok

Her: What do you want us to wear in the picture, Jeffrey is going to have to buy clothes for the kids.

Me: I’ve read red, white or blue shows really well in photos.

Her: silence for a good 30 seconds, so you want us to be patriotic? 

Me: oh well, then, red, blue based red, OU red. 

Her: so maroon.

Me: NO! What! NO, crimson.

Her: mom they look the same.

Me: NO

Her: so you want us to look like Target workers.

Me: a good 30 seconds of silence, no, no I don’t. Dark Purple shirts with dark jeans, that’s it, that is what I want.

Her: ok Jeffrey is gone, and we are all going to have to buy stuff.

My conversations with my daughter never lack for amusement and I feel the need to share with the world.

It is not easy to organize 7 adults and 5 children, but that is their responsibility now. 

I can’t wait to take those pictures, oh did I mention the hairless cats that will be in it as well? 

The days seem to fly fast, today I find out what my blood work results mean, I have resisted the urge to webmd them. I think you all know how difficult this is for me, it has been so hard.

On a different note, it is my besties birthday, she is the best travel partner, sister, sounding board and friend ever. I can only wish that you all have a friend like Shay. 

I hope you have a great day and I hope I have made you smile a little.

Weekend Break

I took a break over the weekend from watching STtNG (Star Trek the Next Generation) to watch my beloved Marvel movies.

Disney + has a feature now where you can watch them in order of their timeline, not when the movie was released, but the timeframe of the characters.

However I do believe they got one wrong, Ant Man and the Wasp should be after Infinity War, due to what happens at the end, also the Spiderman movies are missing. As they are not on the Disney+ platform, but no worries, I own those as well. 

Back to STtNG, I had really forgotten how funny the show was, when Worf is delivering Keiko’s baby is one of the funniest scenes ever. Him telling her that the simulation was way less messy than the actuality.

I also watched the rest of The Platform on Netflix, no I haven’t canceled them, I still believe Cuties is soft core Kiddie Porn. I am hoping they take it off, I digress, I enjoyed The Platform, but it took me a while to get through it. Simply because it has subtitles, so you have to really be able to just sit and watch it. I like to have things on that I can go grab a load of laundry and fold it while listening to what is on. You cannot do that with this show, it was interesting, full of intrigue and has a few scenes with Dean Cain. The original reason I watched it, but he was literally in like 4 scenes throughout the whole of the season one.

If you like intrigue and high tech adventure, watch this show, it was really well done.

I am in a quandary right now, it is fall, I want to take the light quilt off of the bed and put my big, fluffy, deep purple comforter on. However, these nighttime hot flashes are not conducive to having that thing on the bed. But I really want it, there is nothing like having the air down to 66 degrees and snuggling under a big fluffy comforter. 

I am so sad that is not to be right now, the good news is I am losing the weight this stupid Menopause has put on. Between the supplements and the Hotworx, I am able to wear my jeans again, comfortably. That is the key word, comfortably, a month ago I could get them on and get them zipped but they were not comfortable.

Now they are, so I shall continue with what I have been doing, except when it changes. I have a feeling somethings will be changing on Friday when I see Taylor, my nutritionist. I cannot wait to find out what all of that bloodworm resulted in.

Until then I shall sweat and eat healthy and continue to watch STtNG.

Are You a Pretend Christian?

I’ve been troubled by a few things for a while now, a long while and now I feel led to write about those things.

If you are vocalizing that you are a Christian and follow Jesus Christ and publicly advocating for the death of someone you disagree with politically, I need you to stop saying you are a Christian. Also publicly saying you are not going to pray for someone you disagree with politically, well, I’m going to need you to stop saying you are a Christian.

I am going to show you why this is so wrong and if you continue to do these things why it will be detrimental to you in the long run.

Matthew 5 43“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ 44But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, 45so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven. For he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust. 46For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? 47And if you greet only your brothers,i what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same? 48You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.

Hmmmm what do you think Jesus was telling us here? What does that say to you?

If someone disagrees with you, do you consider them your enemy? If so, you are required to pray for them, but only if you are a Christian. If you are not, then you don’t have to pray for them, but if you are a Christian and vocalizing you are one, then the things you have been doing are going to be detrimental to your life with Christ. You won’t have one, it is really that simple. 

While we are on this vein:

Romans 13  1Every person is to be in subjection to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those which exist are established by God. 2Therefore whoever resists authority has opposed the ordinance of God; and they who have opposed will receive condemnation upon themselves. 3For rulers are not a cause of fear for good behavior, but for evil. Do you want to have no fear of authority? Do what is good and you will have praise from the same; 4for it is a minister of God to you for good. But if you do what is evil, be afraid; for it does not bear the sword for nothing; for it is a minister of God, an avenger who brings wrath on the one who practices evil. 5Therefore it is necessary to be in subjection, not only because of wrath, but also for conscience’ sake. 6For because of this you also pay taxes, for rulers are servants of God, devoting themselves to this very thing. 7Render to all what is due them: tax to whom tax is due; custom to whom custom; fear to whom fear; honor to whom honor. 

I think that is pretty clear. While we are in Romans 13: 

8 we nothing to anyone except to love one another; for he who loves his neighbor has fulfilled the law. 9For this, “YOU SHALL NOT COMMIT ADULTERY, YOU SHALL NOT MURDER, YOU SHALL NOT STEAL, YOU SHALL NOT COVET,” and if there is any other commandment, it is summed up in this saying, “YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF.” 10Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.

It doesn’t say love your neighbor as you love yourself only if they agree with you politically. I am so sick of people saying if you are voting for so and so unfriend me. I can’t believe I have to say this, if you are basing your friendships on political views your world is really small. 

I also want to say if you are a Christian and voting in people who advocate abortion, especially abortion up to the point of birth, rethink your Christianity.

What does the Bible say about the unborn? I’m so glad you asked.

Psalm 139:13-16 For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well. My frame was not hidden from you, when I was being made in secret, intricately woven in the depths of the earth. Your eyes saw my unformed substance; in your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there was none of them.

God knew us before we were born, he knew us when we were knitting in our mothers wombs.

I’m angry, I’m angry that I know people that are pretending to be Christians. I’m angry that people are choosing to be so callous, so hard, so angry and so blinded by sin they cannot see what they are doing and how they are hurting their immortal souls.

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

STtNG and Other Things

The thing I wanted to write about I find I have a block, so it’s not time, soon.

Today I am going to write about one of my favorite episodes of STtNG, for those not in the know, Star Trek the Next Generation.  Season 3 Episode 15, Yesterday’s Enterprise, they encounter an anomaly, they are in a different timeline and have to make a decision that will send the prior Enterprise back to her time and set things right. During this episode Tasha Yar is reintroduced and learns she should be dead, she makes the decisions to go back with the other Enterprise. Thus sealing her new fate, of course we all know now she is captured by Romulans and goes on to have a Romulan child. 

The thing about Star Trek is it teaches us sacrifice for the greater good, perhaps everyone should watch these shows for a reminder on how to behave.
I often think about the job I would have on the Enterprise, perhaps a history expert. Definitely not medical personnel, nor engineering, not science officer and most definitely not security. That leaves history or captain, or Captain Angie, make it so! 

That is the one, I’ll go for that, watch out Captain Janeway, I’m coming for your command! 

My blood work that my nutritionist ordered came back, I don’t know what it all means, I’ll find out when I see her. I am fighting the urge to google all of them, because I will end up with cancer or covid, one of the two. 

Who am I kidding, I am going to lose this battle, I shall google everything! I shall scare myself with the results and my nutritionist will have a good laugh.

Does anyone else do that? Do a lot of people do that? Before google was a thing, my doctor at the time, mailed me blood test results. So I consulted a medical volume in the library, I had cancer, that is what it said. I called in a panic and heard stunned silence at the end of my panic. He said I need you not to do that again, look things up, I said well I need you not to mail me these things. A phone call will suffice telling me I’m all good. He said deal, I said deal and then google and webmd were invented. I have been terrifying myself since then, oh well, what is one to do.

I’ll let you know what the results are after she studies them and give me the real skinny. On an up side, Hotworx workouts have helped me immensely, I love it and look forward to it.

I love the cooler mornings and nights, I look forward to the day when it is cold all day long. Storm and I have been taking several walks a day, she is loving it, I am loving it. No downside to cold weather, boot season, leggings, oversized sweaters, what is not to love?

As you go about your day, please be nice to one another, don’t base friendships on politics, do base them on footwear (J/K). Do not lecture people who do not believe politically like you, you will lose friendships over this as well. I believe what I believe, right is right, wrong is wrong, it is plainly laid out in the Bible. I believe the Bible is the word of God given to men, I am a believer in Revelation, I am a believer in Jesus Christ coming back to save us all. I believe human trafficking is a huge problem and people have turned a blind eye to it. I believe that God is coming back and the signs are there that is is sooner rather than later. During my lifetime? I don’t know, none of us do, but my beliefs are mine, they are not for you to chastise me about, as I do not chastise you for yours. 

Have a great day, make good choices, watch some STtNG and make time to wear boots.

As usual you can leave any comments, questions, criticisms or suggestions here or send them to me at angie@angieworld.com. Oh and any vitriol will be removed and not published, because why, oh yes, this is Angie World. 

A Little Story About Michelle

I’d like to tell you about my friend Michelle, some of you may have seen her comments from time to time on here. I met her at work, we were in the DSL department together, I didn’t really know her that well at first. She worked evenings and I worked early mornings, so we had very little contact. All of that changed when we were put on the same team.

She professed me to be too peppy and I needed to lay off of the caffeine. I advised her my peppiness had nothing to do with caffeine. We were off and running, it was all in good fun.

Michelle’s exterior was of a gruff, no nonsense woman, underneath was a heart that matched the state we live in. Everything is bigger in Texas after all. We bonded over a love of Star Trek, coffee and dogs.

She encouraged my love of Dean Cain, hand making me birthday cards and valentine cards with his picture in them. She even made a puzzle from one of his pictures, very thoughtful, and fun.

I found out from a mutual friend that Michelle’s deep love of dogs manifested in her going to her local rescue and paying adoption fees so people who were not financially able could have a dog.

She also volunteered at the local rescue, washing dogs, grooming them, making sure they could make a good first impression to the humans coming to look at them.

Michelle’s big heart didn’t just encompass animals, she talked about her sons and grandchildren all of the time. How proud of them she was, their accomplishments and their abilities and how much she missed seeing the ones that lived far away.

Her health was never great, but she persevered, coming into work when she physically should not have been able to.

She finally had to go out on medical leave, we, her friends, were hopeful we would see her back in the work place. Then Covid hit and we hoped we would see her online, able to work from home.

It was not to be, I don’t know what Michelle finally succumbed to, but God said enough. I need you to come home, so she did, she went home to be with her beloved mom and dad and sister.

Her legacy of the caring she showed us will live on, I’ll never forget her. In her honor Stormie and Fat Catstard have been getting extra love and extra treats.

She also loved hearing about Fat Catstards escapades and what Stormie was doing.

She was one of a kind and I’ll miss seeing her comments on my blog, or some silly thing I posted on Facebook.

She hated winter and aways had something sassy to say about my winter posts. I’ll miss those the most.

Michelle I’ll continue to keep your family in my prayers, I know they will miss you more than I. I also know without a doubt I’ll see you again, when I do I’ll tell you all about the escapades of Fat Catstard and Stormie.

Star Trek Continues On and On and On

As you all know I recently watched Star Trek the Original series again. I forgot how unsatisfactorily it ended, of course it didn’t know it was ending at the time, I’m so happy the movies came out.

I have moved on to STtNG, for those not in the know, that is Star Trek the Next Generation, I remember when it premiered. I wondered if I would love it as much as I loved the original.

I needn’t have worried, I did, I felt the same emotions watching the series premier that I did when I first saw it. The first look of the new Enterprise, the introduction of the characters.

Having DeForest Kelley come on and bridge the generations, those of us that loved the original, transitioning us to the next. It was brilliant and pure Star Trek in nature.

Seeing Lt Ryker for the first time and watching the interaction between him and Deanna Troi, you could feel the electricity between them. You knew before the telepathic conversation between the two.

Speaking of Jonathan Frakes, let’s just say Genie Francis chose well. He remains an incredibly handsome man, his Ryker had such a manly swagger, very intriguing. Even translating well in todays world, manly men are well, just watch Lt Ryker. Or Poldark. Moving on. 

The series premier, Encounter at Farpoint, was a great start and showed off each characters strong suits perfectly. We get to know each one of them, even a Klingon, an android (in the words of Dr. McCoy, just as bad as a Vulcan). A counselor that we never knew that we needed, a woman as head of security and a boy genius in Wesley Crusher.

It was a great introduction to Captain Picard was pitch perfect, we saw him take command immediately and we saw his weakness. He is uncomfortable around children, and they gave him a family ship.

I have my twitter friend Gin to thank for this one, she has been rewatching the series and tweeting about it. A natural progression from Star Trek the Original, I do love my Star Treks.

You can learn a lot from watching these shows, plus, what other television show spawned so many shows and movies?

Let’s see if we can name them:

Star Trek

Star Trek the animated series

Star Trek the Next Generation

Deep Space Nine

Voyager

Enterprise

Discovery

Picard

Lower Decks

There is also the fan one, Star Trek Continues

Movies:

Star Trek the Motion Picture

Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan

Star Trek III: The Search for Spock

Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home

Star Trek V: The Final Frontier

Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country

Star Trek Generations

Star Trek: First Contact

Star Trek: Insurrection

Star Trek: Nemesis

Star Trek (2009)

Star Trek Into Darkness

Star Trek Beyond

There are plans for a new Star Trek series as well, Star Trek just goes on and it makes me happy.

If you can name another series that was cancelled after three seasons that spurred generations of shows and movies and continues to delight fans everywhere. I have to go now, I am on episode 2 of season one of STtNG.

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

Stay safe and make good choices.