Tis ...

... Tis the season ... rrriiiiggghhhhtttttt?

It is nothing but crazy busy around here!

You name it ... it's either happened, happening or going to happen! Whew! I'm exhausted!

Anyhoo ... I say it every year ... cut off time for pictures ... but I have issues in the "no" department ... oh well ... aim to please ...

... it really wouldn't be that bad, if it had not been for all the computer issues in the last two weeks ... which has put me tremendously behind!

so ... with NOT much sleep this week ... I'm progressing ... and by the time I go to bed this evening I should be caught up with client pictures (Christmas deadlines only though) ...

Yippy Skippy ...

So ... a big shout out to Renee Camacho ... HAPPY BIRTHDAY on Saturday the 13th ... You have arrived - WELCOME! to ... Middle Age! Yea! You've left your "youthfulness" and have crossed over ... ha! Hope your birthday was a happy one!

Last night we attended a Dinner Theatre at church ... LeAnna had a very small part (10 seconds to be exact) =0) She was an elf that led a family to a train ride ... she was SO excited about this ... Nana made her a costume to wear and all the way to church she kept saying, "ok, I need to practice my lines" ... which were "this way to Santa's train" ... bless her heart, you would have thought she had just been awarded a lottery check!

I was SO embarrassed to find out that she went to the director, Dessa, and asked if she could be in the play ... oh-my-goodness!!! Dessa was so sweet to write her in a small part ... thanks Dessa! Very sweet ... she's normally pretty shy about doing things like this ... I've been trying to get her to audition for different things at school and she just says "I'll be too nervous on stage" ... so I haven't pushed it ... so hopefully this will be the beginning of her wanting to venture out a bit ...

This week is another very busy week ... something to do every day and every night this week! Whew! Crazy busy ... AND I still have to finish Christmas shopping!!!!

tis the season to be ... hmmmm ... jolly? tammy

The Cookie Party ...

WOW ... extremely busy last week and this week so far! Not only have I had computer problems ... I've also had card reader problems, which means I haven't been able to upload all the pictures I've been taking for clients ... AAHHHHH ... not good in a time crunch such as now that I'm in ... oh well ... new card reader, new computer ... hopefully things will get better in that department!

Big Cookie Party last night ... it was the 6th annual Cookie Exchange ... it gets better every year and I think last night was the best yet so far ... I think it was the most in attendance as well ... everyone did such a nice job and went to great effort to make very nice presentations with their cookies.

Here's some pics ...

Alicia Becton, Karla Shoulders, me ...

The 6th annual group picture! (back row) Jennifer Batson, Alisa Mahoney, LaDessa Freeman, Alicia Becton, Connie Garcia, Karla Shoulders, Allison Barlar, Diana Cook, Renee Camacho, Dana George (front row) - me, Joy Young, Denise Williams, Karen Hord, Stacey Merriman

and ... the cookies! ...

The Winners! ...

Alica Becton - Most Original

Stacey Merriman - Best Presentation

Denise Williams - Best Tasting

Most Original - Hot Chocolate Cookies by Alicia Becton

Best Presentation - Chocolate Dipped Cinnamon Pecan - by Stacey Merriman

Best Tasting - Chocolate Dipped Coconut Macaroons - by Denise Williams

It was a wonderful, enjoyable evening spent with friends, new and old ... an evening of laughter and stolen moments away from the hustle and bustle of the holidays ... an evening to remember ...

happy day ... tammy

Rick Almighty ...

first ... let me start by saying ... hallelujah! Praise God! and a GIANT THANKS to my cousin Rick ... who literally saved me today!

my computer decided to die last night ... not a very timely death might I add ... by means of a nice shade of a blue screen ... followed by a black screen with white letters and a blinking cursor compared to that of a computer on LOST!

Crash is not a nice word in the world of computers, it's a bad word ... and a very bad one for me ... fyi ... if there are any clients of mine reading this right now ... please be assured that your pictures are safe ...thanks to Rick (did I mention him and his almightyness already?) ... after having a horrible night and pacing for hours this morning until I finally got a hold of my cousin Rick (who saved the day - did I say that already?) ... and spending the entire afternoon and half the evening at his office in Hermitage ... AND after purchasing a new external hard drive to move EVERYTHING off my now vintage computer onto this sweet little external beauty ... yep ... it's been a very long, stressful day ...

the moment I started seeing my files on his server at work ... yep ... my everything went limp and I started breathing again ... I will not even go into detail of what I was thinking ... and imaging what would happen if my files were not able to be retrieved ... not just my personal files with 1,000's of pictures from the last 4 years ... but my clients pictures from the last 4 years ... and my data base and all that entails for my other job ...

Yep ... not able to describe to you my feeling at the moment ... can so relate to you Renee knowing you just went through this ...

as I was driving to Hermitage today ... looking down into the floorboard of my van at my tower, cpu ... whatever they call it today ... that box that holds my memory, etc ... I thought to myself ... that small box holds SO MUCH personal stuff to me ... like ... every picture I've taken in the last 4 years of LeAnna and family ... that I've NEVER bothered to print ... AAAHHHHHH ... stress people, stress is what I felt and experienced today in a VERY real way ...

yes ... stress ... and lots of self promises today too ... of what I'm going to do to help prevent this from happening again ...

however ... I'm feeling MUCH better ... and after finding out the problem ... it wasn't my hard drive at all ... and in fact, my computer didn't even crash!!!!! My $20 card reader decided to bite and take a chunk out of my USB port and when it did, it shorted out all the other USB ports ... which in turn messed up the entire computer ... and so ... when my nice shade of a blue screen popped up ... all it kept saying was ... Disc 0 not found, Disc 2 not found ... meaning, hello, no hard drive ...

leading me to believe that my computer crashed ...

I was very happy to find out it was just a USB issue and can be fixed!

So ... in a state of trying to relax at the moment ... although most of my limbs are still taut and drawn up somewhat ... I'm trying to relax ...

I had big plans for today ... they will have to start tomorrow ...oh well ... LeAnna was back to school today after a week out ... I was ready, she was ready ... and my plan today was to take down all Fall decor and start decorating for Christmas ... didn't happen ...oh well ... there is tomorrow ...

now ... if I can just relax enough to fall asleep! Thanks Rick for calming me down and making it all okay ...

happy day ... tammy

Stuffed ...

Happy Thanksgiving!

We had family to our house today ... TONS of food ... so very good food ... and we ate WAY too much ... okay ... wait ... I ate WAY too much! I'm literally sick this evening from eating so much today! Yuck!!! Was it worth it?! Hmmm ... I'll let you know tomorrow!

Oh well ... so nice to take time out of our busy schedules to get together and eat, talk and ponder thoughts of "family" and being thankful.

These were some edible Pilgrim Hats that were at each person's plate ...

and ... here's some place mats that LeAnna made (her very own idea and creation) for the kids table ... the kids took them home with them ... she had fun making them.

she also made place cards to put at each person's seat ... she did it all herself and then placed them where she wanted everyone to sit ...

it was a very nice day ...


Happy Thanksgiving 2008!

tammy

Thankful ...

In the hopes of finding "the cookie" worthy to bake for the cookie party coming up ... I've been trying out new recipes ... last night I tried "Chocolate Dipped Coconut Macaroons" ... they turned out pretty stinkin' good ... this might be the one ... however, I'm eyeballing a few more that will be tested prior to the party ... regardless, I'll definitely make the Macaroons again and put them on the Table for Three blog ...

Today ... was LeAnna's cardiology appointment ... the GREAT news is ... that he said she was doing "excellent" ... and that although he had told us we would visit him annually, he felt that we could go two years without another visit (unless necessary of course) ... WoW!! This was very good news and made LeAnna very happy!

The tests don't really hurt that much ... just some pushing and prodding in tender areas ... and then the sticky tape x's 10 all over her chest that the leads connect to, were a bit difficult to get off and left places ... but other than that ... good to go!

We did however, have a concern that has been a concern for about 2 years now and has progressed ... She has been complaining of tenderness and soreness in one particular spot on her chest that includes a very prominent "something" sticking out of her chest ... ends up ... a wire that was placed around her breast bones to wire them back together after surgery is now protruding on her sternum which in turn is pushing some cartilage out of her chest ... she has ran into objects a few times and hit it here and there in the past couple of years and always complains that it hurts really bad ... so the doc said ... two things can be done ... go back to the surgeon, let her remove the wire that is no longer needed (purpose was served to mend the bones back together) or do nothing and leave it alone ...

Hmmm ... okay ... so my questions were ... is there an option? Do we have to do surgery? Will it hurt her? Will it push further out?

He recommended waiting ... and just seeing if it got worse or bothered her ... at that point, do something about it ...

Okay ... I can live with that!

All in all ... a VERY good visit ... and we left there VERY thankful and happy.

I, however, got very emotional in the ultrasound room ... it's very low light, with just the hum of the machines and us watching the monitor with all the red and blue colors shooting out of her heart ... still not sure what it all means ... but I watched intently ...

It's been 3 1/2 years ... she's well ... all is well ... yet, days like this ... takes me back ... to a very scary time in her life as well as mine ... and just being in that moment was a bit overwhelming today ... I managed to wipe tears 3 times without anyone noticing ... you know, the trick wipe - like there's something in your eye ... oh well ... she was a bit nervous ... I was holding her hand and she tried making a couple of comments to me that let me know she was nervous, but that she was playing her "cool card" about it all ...

Such a brave girl ... been through a lot ... I'm very proud of her ...

And for her ... today ... I am thankful.

Thankful that I have her first of all ... thankful that she is here and that all went well 3 1/2 years ago ...

Can't even BEGIN to tell you what it feels like when the doctor calls from surgery just to let you know that your daughter was just placed on by-pass ... knowing that a machine is "living" for her for 45 minutes and then anxiously awaiting until the phone rings again to say that she's off by-pass and that her heart starting beating on it's on again ...

yep ... enough to make you go AAAHHHHHHH .... in about 5 different languages ... all on the inside of course ... =0)

So ... yes ... very thankful today for my miracle ... not just once (her birth) ... but twice.

It is my hope and prayer that you have a most blessed holiday ... celebrating and being thankful with those you love and hold dear.

happy day ... tammy

Nothing Like A Good Sale ...

FINALLY starting to feel better ... YUCKY stuff!

Actually did some Christmas shopping yesterday and today ... Macy's one day sale proved helpful in knocking a few items off my shopping list ... happy about that!

Found and purchased LeAnna's main Christmas gift today ... been searching ... finally ... mission accomplished!

Made a new dessert this evening ... oh my ... very good ... and wouldn't you know that I didn't even think about taking pics of each step to add to my "table for three" blog ...oh well ... I'll definitely make it again and take pics next time and add the recipe ... It's a Fresh Blueberry Almond Cake ... yum!

LeAnna was supposed to go to her annual "heart doc" appointment today ... but since she missed school on Monday and Tuesday, I changed the appointment to next week ... it's a necessary annual visit and will be for the rest of her life ... I always anticipate the results of the tests after each visit ... and probably always will ... the hole is no longer there ... it's closed, sealed, gone ... but there's always that chance with the other issue, the cleft she had in her mitral valve that makes me nervous ... there is still some back flow of blood and has to be watched for the rest of her life ... if the stitching should come unstitched it would mean life threatening emergency open heart surgery ... and I know I shouldn't think about it, but I do ... however ... I also know that she's going to be fine and everything will be alright ... she is a "promise" and I DO know that ... it's just a "worrying mother characteristic" coming out just a bit ...

anyhoo ... enough about all that ...

Mom's Christmas Village is this weekend - Friday and Saturday ... it's their 25th Anniversary for it ... very cool ... they raise a lot of money and it all goes to Missions ... very cool ...

So ... some friends of mine are meeting there for breakfast in the morning ... I know it will be tasty (Mom's the manager of the booth) ... that's one thing Mom is great at - her "grub" ... =0)

Then it's to Sams Wholesale for their taste testing frenzy from 10-2 tomorrow ... they do this like twice a year and it's when they bring out all the good stuff (imported cheeses and fancy dancy type stuff, etc.) ... ha ... that will be lunch I guess ... =0)

Then to school to help with some Math tests and do my "normal" on Fridays to help out at school ...

busy day ... AND ... a cold one I hear!

later ...

happy day ... tammy

Happy Nate Day ...

Happy Birthday to Nate! 36th birthday to be exact ... he's getting closer ... to the big 40! He reminds me all the time that I'll hit it before him ... but Lisa was kind enough Sunday to mention that he looks much older than me ... =0) Thanks Lisa!

Nate's birthday was yesterday ... we went to dinner with about 30 of our friends and family at Demo's in Hendersonville last night ... a very enjoyable evening ... we have such great friends and we love spending time with them ...

I ran to Costco yesterday to pick up Nate's cake ... got gas while I was there ... thank goodness I happened to look down at my display and see that I had "2 miles to empty" ... it's a little cheaper there since we're members ... after pumping ... I had to grab my phone and take a pic of this ...

I know it's nothing new that gas has dropped considerably ... but I was taken back a bit in realization of the fact that just a few short months ago, I paid $75 at this same pump for the same amount of gas!

Nice ...

What's NOT so nice ... is that we have all been a little under the weather at our house ... LeAnna was home yesterday and today ... not feeling 'real bad', but enough to stay home ... she does pretty good during the day, but at night time (sleeping) she is stopped up and wakes up with a low grade fever ... I have actually spent a lot of my day in bed! I feel horrible actually ... oh well ... hoping to get better and be over this soon ... Nate was feeling better, but seems to be feeling pretty yucky today ... AND after finding out that it's getting down to 23 degrees tonight ... PERFECT evening to just "stay in" and hibernate!

As far as the Holiday Market over the weekend ... did okay ... not a lot of traffic ... did sell some clothes of mine, more of LeAnna's, a play kitchen and a toddler bed ... I guess it was worth setting up, but was feeling pretty rough all weekend ... AND can't believe that next week is Thanksgiving and LeAnna is out of school for most of the week ... only attends Monday! THEN December happens!

AAAHHHHHH ... where in the world have I been while time has been flying by?! Oh My Goodness!

ok ... I'm worn out from this post ... back to bed for me!

happy, blowy, snotty day ... tammy

Our church is hosting a

"HOLIDAY MARKET"

Friday, November 14th

7a - 7p

Saturday, November 15th

7a - 12 Noon

New Life Apostolic Church

Fellowship Hall

4712 Clarksville Hwy.

Nashville, TN 37218

Crafts, Home Baked Goods, Monogram Booth, New and Gently Used Items, Antiques, Candles, Baby Items, Clothing booths and many more!

Plenty of booths to shop at!

The Kitchen will host Breakfast both mornings and a "dine in or carry out" dinner on Friday night from 4p-6:30p

Join Us!

Word In Waste Out ...

Well ... it's always "something" with me ... I don't even know what to blog so much has transpired since the last time I blogged ...

however ... the main reason I haven't been able to blog ... computer was on the blitz! FINALLY got it fixed ... ended up being a bad modem and bad cables ... so ... all better now ... thank goodness!

Didn't want anyone to think I had flown the coup! ha! Still flapplin' around here like a crazy person!

We have Holiday Market at church this weekend, which I have a booth at ... most everything that will be in my booth was left over from the consignment sale, so it's all sitting in the garage and ready to go! However ... the playroom has yet to be gone through ... next project ... empty the entire room and ... basically ... start over! NEEDS to be done ... HAS to be done ... and what better time, when you have a sale to sell it in! =0)

Anyhoo ... LeAnna always has wild stories to tell ... it's always "something" when she gets in the car in the afternoons! So ... "one" of the many things she said day before yesterday ... the conversation went like this ...

LeAnna: Mom, want me to read you some scripture?

Mommy: Sure!

LeAnna: It's Luke 98:8 (and then proceeds to quote "something" not sure what ... but something scriptural sounding and knowing that Luke does not have 98 chapters ... hmmm)

Mommy: Wow baby that's great! Did you learn that in Chapel or in Bible Class?

LeAnna: No

Mommy: Oh, ok, well where did you learn that?

LeAnna: On the toilet

Mommy: WHAT?

LeAnna: On the toilet, using the bathroom at school ... they have scripture on the walls and I get bored in there sitting so I started learning it!

Alrighty then ... hey ... whatever works ... "the Word in, the waste out" ... our new Motto! ha!

Okay ... so, now that I'm up and running with a computer again ... LOTS on my plate to do ... just wanted to give a quick update ...

happy day ... tammy

Riding The Rail ...

Yesterday ... LeAnna was out of school for Teacher In-Service training ... so ... I took advantage of the day and did her 7 year pictures ... it was a beautiful day, not cold, temp was just right, sun was out, lighting was good ... and basically, just happy I got it done. I would much rather have stayed at home ... heaven knows theres MUCH to do there! But, happy I did! And, it gave LeAnna and I some one on one time that we haven't gotten in a while! Before she started school, we were together all the time ... then school happened ... and I got used to her being there and she got used to being there ... and now I'm used to it, I have to admit - it's nice ... it's all about getting into a routine I guess ... anyhoo ... it was SO nice to spend the day together yesterday ... just hanging out and talking, laughing ... just communicating ... it was nice.

I wanted something "different" for her pics this year ... in the past at birthday time, I tend to do "fall" type pics, mainly because I love Fall and the color ... and also it's her birthday "season" ... but I wanted to do different ...

so ... different I did ... I went downtown and parked and we walked down a railroad track and did pics on the track ... very neat and I'm happy and glad I did ... afterwards, we went and did some at Sylvia's ... the color is always so nice there ... I took lots of pics, but here's a few that I've started on ...

My LeAnna is growing up ... and yesterday ... proved it even more just in our chats throughout the day ...

it was a very nice day ... one to store in my safe keeping for retrieval on a day when I just need to "recall" ...

happy day ... tammy

All About Some Punkin's ...

I met Karla for breakfast Thursday morning ... it's an effort we began a while ago to meet once a week to eat breakfast and just "catch up" ... we both lead very busy lives, and this is one way we can "keep contributing" to our friendship. However, lately, it's been so busy that we have only been able to catch breakfast here and there ... one thing we always "try" and do is eat somewhere new that we've never been before ... this is fun trying to find new places ... I found this one last week ... Cafe Coco's ... they are off of Elliston Place on Louise Ave. They are open 24 hours and serve breakfast, lunch and dinner ... the menu stated that breakfast is served 90% of the time ... with the clause that if it was VERY busy during "non-breakfast" hours, breakfast would not be available ... oh well ... breakfast was good ... and it was nice for something different!

Friday ... I had training for my new insulin pump ... had to be admitted to Summit Medical Center (ID bracelet as my souvenir) just so the facility could get paid by insurance ... anyhoo ... got a new pump ... excited about that ... it has a remote control ... very nice new toy that will make life easier when in public and need to pump discreetly ...

then ... had to do my "normal" teacher help at school ... while I was there, the class heard a "christian" pumpkin story while the pumpkin was being carved ... each kid got to remove two scoops of "pumpkin guts" before the story ... here are a few pics ...

LeAnna lost two teeth this last month ... so she decided she needed to be a pumpkin ... I found her a costume ... grant it, it was 18-24 month in size, but it was on sale .... ha! She wore it as a shirt ... So in the following pics ... the hat is just a tad bit tight on her head ... you'll be able to tell ... on the way to trunk-n-treat last night she said ... "I have the beginning of a headache ... right now it's about a "1" on a scale of 1-10, so I'm not going to take off my hat yet" .... ha! oh well ... she's the one that felt it was important to stuff her 7 year old head into an 18-24 month old hat!

Daisy had a pumpkin costume too - (got it on sale as well - woo-hoo!) They looked too cute together ...

Daisy went to trunk-n-treat too ... she was a cute punkin' ...

Lot's of food, fire, treats and hayride! Fun night ...

I for one, can't believe that we are officially starting "November" today! Oh My Goodness!

I had two clients today ... both included family Christmas pictures ... After my clients left ... I thought ... Wow! What organized Moms to already have Christmas pics over with and a card in the works! Top of the game ... Nice! ... Kudos!

Now ... I must go change all of my clocks ... and I have TONS of them! Oh My - I just realized what a task this will be ... ha! Oh well ... maybe I won't and just pretend that they're all set for different time zones! ha!

happy daze ... tammy