Angie World

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.

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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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.