Dear Blog; Day 231 (33 weeks down)

I finished house-sitting today.  I have to admit I am looking forward to sleeping in my own bed tonight.  I woke up rather early again this morning after going to bed rather late; makes for one sleepy Angela.  I will share with you that there weren't any major incidences this time and actually it was rather calm so that is very very good. (no more shootings!)  The rest of the day was pretty quiet for a Sunday which is always good.  I had choir practice,church, and then dinner.  I did a little bit of home work which I will post here for you to read... Just to learn a little bit about me.

What’s in a name?

Once there was a young mother and father who had a quandary.  What should we name our first born daughter?  My mother spoke up first.  She had always loved the name Rachel Rayanne.  Rachel, she said, was unique and she had rarely heard the name; Rayanne she had once seen on a barn door and thought it was beautiful.  My father promptly spoke up and said that he would never be able to have a daughter named Rachel.  He had an acquaintance in school named Rachel who was a stinker of a person and he would always be reminded of her when hearing his daughter’s name.  Together they started over at the beginning of the alphabet, with baby name book in hand.  My parents never made it past the letter A. 

A consensus was reached and I receive the name Angela. As an English name, Angela actually didn’t come into use until the 18^th century.  The origin of Angela begins in Latin.   Angelus means angel, deriving from the Greek word Angelos which means messenger. There was no word in ancient Greek for an “angel” as we know them, so they used this word when writing the New Testament.  Only then did the word come to take on religious connotations.  Before that it basically meant courier or message runner. Angela means, messenger, graceful, talented, and angelic.  Little did my parents know that in the late 1970’s Angela was one of the top 10 baby names; they just thought it was pretty. 

There is a bit of familial history with my name.  My first name is in part named after my fathers’ Aunt Angela and my middle name is Mae after my mothers’ Aunt Ella may.  Mae also rhymed with my mothers’ middle name which is Kay; my sister also having a rhyming middle name of Danae. (My mother thought it would be cute if they all rhymed).     

When I was little I was affectionately referred to as “Angel-Mae” or bug.  I never referred to myself as anything other than Angela, nor did I allow anyone else to call me anything else either.  During my freshman year of high school my orchestra teacher asked if he could call me Ang and I found myself too stunned to say anything other than yes; there it began, the nicknames.  I didn’t really think a name like Angela could have nicknames, but it does.  Here is a list: Ang, Angie, Angelina, Angelala, Annena, Angewa, and Angeweena.  My students in Mexico affectionately referred to me as Angelina Jolie and when I moved to Arizona my now best friend introduced me to everyone as Angie.  I still to this day feel funny referring to myself as Angie, but I have gotten used to hearing others say it.  My family still giggles and thinks it is weird when people call me Angie. 

I used to watch Murder She Wrote with my mother on Sunday evenings and I just thought the main character (Angela Lansbury) was amazing.  My mother told me one day that her name was also Angela and from then on she has always held as special place in my heart.  I remember wanting to write her a letter telling her that my name was Angela too and how great I thought she was.  To this day I still admire her and think it is special that she and I share the same name. 

Love Angela