Foyisms

Since it is Father’s Day I’d like to share what I call Foyisms, they are the things my dad would say. He was incredibly wise and very funny, everything came with a dose of humor. So sit back and enjoy a few Foyisms:

Its better to laugh than to cry. He lived this one, he would find the humor in almost everything.

This is not Thumper, for goodness sake stop yelling! This was after he brought a skinned rabbit in the house for my mother to cook.

Don’t let the sun set on your anger.

You can call me anything, just call me in time for dinner.

You can just get glad in the same britches you got mad in.

Don’t eat any worms! (as I was leaving the house mad, in case you are not familiar with this one, there was an old song: Nobody likes me, everybody hates me I’ll just go out and eat some worms).

Quit putting on war paint and get in the car, we’re going to be late for church. (war paint was makeup)

Speaking of:

All of that war paint is going to stain your face that color.

If you put on that war paint no one will recognize you

And my ultimate favorite:

If you don’t behave I will throw away your war paint.

Stand up for those not able to stand up for themselves.

If you follow Jesus he will not lead you off of a cliff, the way your friends will. (Tammi he wasn’t referring to you, it was Pam.)

You’re the getting in trouble kind of pretty, so no, you cannot leave the house with that boy I don’t know.

And after I got my first job, if you don’t have anything to do, pick up a rag and clean, they are not paying you to look pretty. (They weren’t for the record, it was TG&Y)

Those are just a few, I miss my dad and his wisdom, I miss him a lot, some days more than most.

He didn’t have to be my dad, he chose to be my dad, and he was the best dad.

Happy Father’s day to all of the dads out there, may your children remember your witticisms long after you are gone.

 

Dean Who?

The summer before 5th grade, when I was 10, I read The Three Musketeers by Alexandre Dumas for the first time. I was convinced I was going to travel to France and become the first girl Musketeer. No one had the heart to tell me about the French Revolution, there was no king, hence no Musketeers. When I found out I was so mad, how dare they have a revolution before I could become a sword wielding  champion.

Since then I have loved every movie or show depicting the Musketeers. There is one I just discovered on Hulu, it is called simply The Musketeers. I must say it is well done, of course anything with Peter Capaldi as Cardinal Richelieu is nothing short of brilliant.

I met him, have I told you that? Peter Capaldi, he was super nice and didn’t make me feel dorky at all.

I digress, this particular show has an actor playing D’Artagnan is so amazingly pretty. I am telling you he has me saying Dean who? He has perfect hair, just enough scruffiness and plays D’Artagnan perfectly. Dean is the prettiest man in the universe (Superman duh) but this guy, he has earth.

He was always my favorite character, self-assured in his youthful exuberance, loyal to the king and so very pretty. Did I mention that? This is a BBC production, the actor is British, I am almost ready to go to England and find him.

Luke Pasqualino is his name, he is of Italian descent, I looked him up.

He was also in Battlestar Galactica: Blood and Chrome, I thought I recognized him while I was watching the show.

Watching the show and remembering my time in training for becoming a Musketeer, yes, I learned to sword fight, made me think about everything I wanted to become and didn’t.

There were so many things I wanted to do, Musketeer, intrepid girl reporter, singer (that one was never going to happen), a Solid Gold dancer, dancing on American Bandstand and Soul Train. The last two were real possibilities if I had been born sooner, but alas it was not to be. None of my childhood career choices came to pass, trust me, I never dreamed of tech support.

As one does when they take stock of all of their failed dreams I began to become morose. Then I thought back to the one thing I had wanted to become since I was 5 years old. A mom, I always knew I wanted to be a mom, and I did that.

I am so proud of how my children turned out, I like to think I was an ok mom. Anyone who thinks they are a perfect parent, you’re not, we all make mistakes along the way. Except my mom, she was the total exception, I feel like we should all feel that way about our moms.

I hope my children think I did an ok job, I told them while they were growing up that if I messed up too badly I’d pay for their therapy when they were grown.

None have taken me up on that, yet, so far, so good.

In conclusion, watch The Musketeers, I need someone to talk to about the show!

Fat Catstard

This morning I awoke to the most disturbing thing ever. Fat Catstard was casually lying on my chest, staring me in the eyes and softly meowed. Correction, it was more like mow, very soft, very low.

Much like the scene in Endgame, when Thor is on the Guardians of the Galaxy’s ship and Starlord says I’m in charge and looks at Thor. Thor says Of course. The looks Quill in the eyes and whispers of course. That is exactly the same look Fat Catstard had this morning. Letting me know he is in charge but allowing me to think I am.

So I gave Stormie and Ronald new babies that look like them, Storm loves hers, Ronald hisses at his. It’s very amusing to watch, could explain the menacing meow this morning.

I left my house Thursday evening to go to Costco and Target. Highly successful trips to both, Target of course got way more of my money than I had intended. Darn them and their terrific layout and tempting products.

Friday I had to have a technician come and move my RG, which is a residential gateway, modem, router, whatever you want to call it that is what it is.

He was here within the appointment window and did his job and left within 10 minutes. It was a great appointment. That’s really all I have for now. I hope you all have a rest day, peace out peeps.

And Now for Some Seriousness

So someone on twitter said they didn’t understand the Black Lives Matter thing, they said don’t all lives matter. Yes, all lives do matter, however, that is not what is being said, that black lives matter more than anyone else’s life.

A friend of mine, Anthony, posted a meme that explained it very simply and so elegantly that I asked if I could share it. He said yes, so I am going to post it here, but I wanted to expound on it as well.

Once again, I am not an expert, I am not black, I have never lived a black experience. I simply thought that the information I am going to give everyone was thought provoking.

Everyday we are learning about each other, even though we have all been on this earth for thousands of years we are still learning.

Ignorance is not bliss but ignorance can be corrected, I would rather speak with someone ignorant than an idiot. I recognize not everyone is as exposed as others as far as interacting on a daily basis with people of different cultures, skin colors, accents or whatever the difference is.

I am going to tell you a story my mom told me to maybe bring a little light to how we are all continually learning and evolving.

When she and my dad were traveling from Oklahoma to California during the depression looking for work their car broke down in New Mexico.

There they were, on the side of the road, darkness approaching, with two very young children. The only people that stopped didn’t speak english. They were Hispanic, they managed to make my parents understand that they should go home with them and they would take care of the car problem in the daylight hours.

So my very trusting parents went with the people they didn’t know, the people that were a different skin color, people that didn’t speak their language.

My mom said these people shared their food with them and made sure they got a good nights sleep. The next morning they drove them back to the car and helped them fix it, gave my parents food for lunch and sent them on their way.

My mother had never met anyone that was not like her, she grew up in very rural Oklahoma. She said that it taught her something, she said we are all alike, we all just want to really help each other and make sure our children have a better life.

Ignorance can be cured, stupidity cannot, we should all remember that. Love also is a big cure for ignorance, God bless those strangers and their generosity, they not only helped a young couple, they showed them that even in our differences we are the same.

Here is the meme, I hope you read the words as they are intended and I hope you all have your moment in the daylight, realizing we all just want better for our progeny.

Happy Birthday Dad

Today is my dads’ birthday, when he was born he wasn’t expected to live. He was a twin and he was the smaller one, the midwife told his mother (my great grandmother) that it would be a mercy to let him die. She wasn’t about to allow that to happen. She was a midwife herself. She saved his life and he thrived. I’m awfully glad my great grandmother was so determined.

I’m so happy he was my dad, I know most people feel that way about their parents, but my dad didn’t have to be my dad. He chose to.

The other day I say something on my Facebook timeline that brought an incredibly strong memory of my dad so strongly that I feel the need to document it.

Back in the olden day, 1980 to be precise, there was a shoe craze that overtook the nation. Waffle stompers, I had to have them, I craved them. My mother said no, even back then I loved heels, I wore them all of them time. My mom said that I would never wear them and she was not spending good money on something I would only wear once.

My dad, seeing how sad I was at not getting the shoes, told my mom he would take me shopping for school clothes that year. Mom was relieved, if you have ever taken a teenage girl shopping you will feel her immense relief.

So my dad and I went to Tulsa to go shopping. We hit all of the sales and he let me get what I wanted. It was the best time.

Then we went to JC Penney, to the shoes, I spied the Waffle Stompers. I picked up a pair and looked at them longingly. My dad said try them on, I did and it was love at first step.

My dad bought me the shoes, he told my mom that he wanted me to have them. That was that, it turns out those would be the last shoes my dad ever bought me.

My parents bought me other shoes, but those, they were the ones my dad took me to get.

I kept those shoes until about 4 years ago, when they finally fell apart.

My dad was an amazing man, his laugh could fill your soul with joy and envelope you in warmth. He taught me what a real man is. Kind, generous, loving, funny, smart, God fearing and welcoming.

I’ll always treasure the time I had with my dad, I didn’t get to have him for as long as most people get to have their dads in their lives. I’m grateful for the time I had.

Happy Birthday dad, I hope mom makes you a coconut cake with marshmallow fluff icing.

Sleeping Royalty

A long time ago in a life far removed from the one I have now I had a king size bed. With king size pillows, that I loved.

Then that life ended and I traded up to a Queen size bed, with standard pillows. Have you ever noticed that? Queen size sheets have standard pillow cases. That’s simply wrong. For many years I lived with the standard pillows. I hated them. I missed the bigger size pillows.

I thought I had to stay with what came with the set, the norm, as it were.

I needed new pillows, Elizabeth Anne had sent me the link for some she had bought on Amazon. I was almost ready to buy but something didn’t let me click the button.

I was at Costco and noticed the pillows, there they were, perfect pillows, ones that stayed cool. One problem, they only had King size pillows. I stood there and thought those won’t fit in my pillow cases. Then it hit me! I could purchase king size pillow cases! Why had this never occurred to me before? I bought the king size pillows, bought new pillow cases and had the best nights sleep ever!

Why I thought I had to suffer all those years with inadequately sized pillows I’ll never know. The point of this whole thing is buy the stupid pillows you want, not what you think is appropriate! Color your hair purple, sing off key at the top of your lungs.

Life is incredibly short, God never intended for us to be miserable for the sake of compliance. Following the teachings of Jesus was at one time the height of rebellion. In some places on this earth it still is.

Be a rebel, buy king size pillows and use them on your queen size bed.

Sadness With Our World

I have debated on writing about this, but it bothers me so deeply that I don’t have a choice. I don’t know if it will be posted or not, I’ll have to decide once I am done.

I have incredibly white skin, I am not black, I don’t pretend to be black, I don’t have the same experiences as black people.

I’m going to say the thing you aren’t supposed to, I have a lot of black friends. A woman I call my sister has skin darker than mine, her sons call me Auntie. I work with a lot of black people. I do not have the life experiences that they have, I will not sit here and say that I understand their specific struggles over something that can be found in a child’s toy box.

The horrible thing that happened to George Floyd should not happen to anyone. As most people, I have seen the video of the death of George Floyd, it is disturbing to watch. I am not going to pretend I understand why this happened. I just know it should not have, they had handcuffs on him, no one should ever experience a death like that.

I cannot begin to imagine the fear that went his mind as he was losing his life. The very people that we are told to trust should not cause the end of a life in this manner. Ever.

I wish we lived in a Gene Roddenberry world, where we are all judged by our character, not by the way we look. My parents taught me that lesson well, never judge a person by the way they look, judge them by the content of their character. Judge them by their heart, judge them in the way you would want them to judge you.

Unfortunately we don’t, yet, maybe one day, the generations are so much better than the ones that came before. Isn’t that the way it is supposed to be? Ever evolving, doing better than the ones that came before us, not remaining stagnant.

We have so much work to do, this cannot continue, our brothers and sisters should not fear being hunted down by people in a truck with guns. Our brothers and sisters should not fear the people who are entrusted with our safety.

We should ALL be able to teach our children not to fear authority, uniforms, police, ALL children, no matter what shade their skin is should never have to fear the police.

I am saddened and sickened by the past few weeks, things are happening that shouldn’t be.

My heart aches, my soul cries, I don’t want my nephews and grand nephew to have to fear simply because their skin is a different shade.

I pray for a great awakening, if someone claims to be a Christian they should treat others as their fellow man as bothers and sisters.

If someone commits a crime and is going with the police peacefully and not resisting arrest should not fear those same police are going to kill them.

Once again, I do not pretend to know what my friends are going through right now. The fear, the anger, the justified outrage, I just hope they know that my heart is right their with theirs.

Once and Some Revelations

So, watching Once and Again at this stage in my life I realize how much I have in common with Karen. Played by the incredible Susanna Thompson, the way she portrayed this woman slowly losing her her children (she thinks) as they grow up.

The episode of the first Thanksgiving that Rick and Lily are married, It’s Rick’s holiday with their children.

Her daughter Jessie says mom what are you doing, Karen says she’ll be with friends. Then cancels those plans, because it’s all too much. Sharing a holiday this is uniquely family oriented with someone that is not family, well, it’s too much.

The look that she has, I know it all to well, I understand Karen in a way I didn’t the first time I watched this series.

Every character in this series is just so well done, I really wish it were streaming on something other than YouTube. Some of the episodes are missing and a lot of them are really poor quality. Which is why I had to buy the series. Well the first two seasons.

Speaking of series, let’s talk Stargirl, this series is everything Supergirl should have been. It is pure fun, unadulterated, old fashioned superhero fun.

As you know I really wanted to love Supergirl, but it is so preachy and sudsy and filled with SJW stuff. All of those things belong in a teen angst show, not a superhero show.

None of that is present in Stargirl, so far, I’m two episodes in and am enjoying it immensely.

On a different superhero front, Dean Cain likes two of my tweets in the past week. I believe you all know what that means. It’s just a matter of time.

As

Memorial Day

Today is one of the most important days for us as a Nation, it is when the United States of America pays homage to our fallen soldiers.

The difference between Memorial Day and Veterans Day is on this day, Memorial Day, we honor our men and women that have fallen in battle.

Veterans Day we honor those who came home.

As most of you know, there has been a member of my lineage fighting for this country since 1774. Since then there has been a member of our family in a branch of the armed services. One of my brothers was in the Army, one in the Navy. Cousins that were in the Air Force, Marines and a nephew in the Air Force. Uncles that fought in WWII and one that fought in Vietnam, my youngest brother was in Vietnam.

We love this country and are willing to put our lives on the line to keep the freedoms that we hold so dear.

I feel that I don’t have the right words to properly express my gratitude to those men and women who put their lives on the line for us. For me, for my family, my children, grandchildren and countless others, so we can enjoy life in this country.

Thank you seems pitiful, seems as if it doesn’t convey how  highly I think of them. How highly we all think of them, it takes someone special to put their lives on hold and join a branch of the military. Especially in these tumultuous times, I know without a doubt I do not have that fortitude.

I truly believe that there is a special place in heaven for those willing to put their lives on the line for others.

God bless each and every one of them, God bless their families for all they have endured without their father, brother, uncle, mother, sister, aunt, cousin at their sides.

Know that we, as a country, thank you for the sacrifices made for the rest of us.

May we all remember that Memorial Day is more than lake time, barbecues, cookouts and a three day weekend.

Once and a Hair Appointment

I had to do it, I was really forced into this, it’s really not my fault. I was forced into this situation simply because I couldn’t find all of the episodes of Once and Again on YouTube.

Plus the quality was not great, this is a totally justifiable purchase. And what is up with Season 3 not even being on DVD??? I don’t understand what’s happening here! There is no excuse for all of the seasons of this show to no be readily available for me to watch.

I had my hair done on Thursday, the last time I had my hair done was March 13. I think I scared the poor girl because I talked a mile a minute. She was great, she was so happy to be back at work. I admit I tipped more than I normally do, she earned it for listening to me. So my roots are done and I also have caramel highlights framing my face. Plus I got to talk to a real live person in person!

The salon did ask me to wear a face mask and my beautician had a face mask. So I don’t want the Covid police to come for me.

I still need to get my eyebrows done, that’s next.

I hope everyone is having a great weekend.