Normal? Not so much ...

Do you have a security in your life?

I'm not talking about money, spouse, etc. ...

I'm referring to a "tangible" ... something that means something to you ... that you depend on ... daily ... that is YOUR security ...

I do ...

and for whatever reason ... as I passed by my "security" while cleaning today ... I noticed it and stopped to move it ... and really ... stopped to think about my dependence on this security of mine ...

it's my meter ... my blood glucose meter that monitors my blood sugar levels. it's a must for every diabetic ... it's your "measure" ... it "reads" you (literally) ... it keeps me in check ...

it also drives me insane if I don't have it near me ... at all times ... seriously ... I could go into a small panic attack if I don't know where it is at all times ... I have several ... and usually, know where they are ... I can even create false symptoms of a "low" if I realize that my meter is missing ... ha! sad ... but so true for me ...

first ... I hardly ever, almost never, discuss my diabetes ... it's a disease I've "dealt" with for over 30 years now ... I have a very strong, heavy, hard, high wall that keeps me guarded from even a slight feeling of not being or feeling "normal" ... all of my "diabetic life" I have strived and made it a furious goal to achieve "normal" or at least make people think I was "normal" (ok, ok ... enough laughter ... I know many of you reading this are thinking she's anything but normal -ha) I mean "normal" as in "non-diabetic" ...

I have worked places that NO ONE knew I was a diabetic until the cat was let out of the bag, so to speak ... of course my boss or supervisor always knew in case of an emergency ...

but I tried SO hard to ensure that my "normal" person persona prevailed ...

there have been times in my life that upon someone finding out I was a diabetic, immediately I was placed in a different category of being "sick" ...

yep ... I'm sick ... but I don't look like it on the outside ... to the average person ... you would never know a diabetic when you see one ... it's mostly internal (for the most part) ... unlike some diseases where you KNOW there is a problem beyond any shadow that there's an issue ...

I like that wall of safety that I hide behind ...

for the most part it's GREAT ... but sometimes ... it's not ...

let me explain ...

I deal with my disease every second, minute, hour of every day, week, month, year ... it's constantly at the forefront of my mind ... constantly ...

I know that if I run the vacuum for any length of time, my sugar level will drop ... I know that if I walk 15 minutes, same pace on a treadmill, my sugar will drop 100 points ... that's drastic if your sugar is in a normal range to begin with ... and death will prevail if you don't bring it back up!

there's so many things that my brain has to constantly process to just "keep up" sometimes with normal everyday living.

Most people I know closely, know that I am a diabetic ... however, it only crosses their mind when they see me pull my meter out to test, or pop a glucose in my mouth, and they automatically think to themselves "oh yeah, she's a diabetic" ...

however ... my mind thinks "oh yeah, I'm a diabetic" more times in a day than I care to calculate!

this blog entry is NOT about pity (having it or getting it) ... it's just a way of life for me that I've come to realize ... and I'm slightly shocked at myself for even being this open about it.

anyhoo ... my meter ...

My meter ... my friend ... VERY close friend ...

My blood sugar reading in the morning sets the pace for my whole day ... if it's in a normal range - great! ... if it's in a "not so normal range" meaning high ... it's not so great ... and I usually spend majority of the day chasing it up and down as if I'm on a roller coaster ...

change of blood sugar also means change of mood, attitude, demeanor, aches, pains, nausea, head ache and a plethora of other "effects" ... if my sugar is extremely low, I could appear dazed and not really "with it" ... well ... that's because I'm not really with it and most likely will not be able to recall any conversations had during that time period of "low" ...

most people don't understand this at all ... and that's okay ... I'm totally aware of that and I take that into consideration when people just "don't get me" ...

there are days when I would rather not even put my feet on the floor and face the day ...

there are other days when I'm running around the house like a crazy woman ...

it's weird how I consider a "good day" and a "bad day" ... and it's really all based on my stupid blood sugar!

it's not fun ... it's not even remotely enjoyable ... but it's me ... and it's the card I've been dealt ...

I don't like admitting that I'm sick, I sure don't like referring to myself as sick ... there is NO cure ... a lot of people have the misconception that insulin is a cure ... heavens no ... it's merely a means to live ... it cures nothing ... if there were no insulin, there would be no me ... period.

scary thought ...

anyhoo ... my dependency on my meter goes way beyond "normal" - ha! I'm also a fanatic about testing as well ... I exhibit some hypoglycemia unawareness at times ... which simply means ... "sometimes" I can't tell if my sugar if high, low or normal ... and that's not always good ... sometimes if it gets too low, it can fastly become past a point of me helping myself to get it back up ... another scary thought ... and I HATE low blood sugar ... I have no control at that point and that scares me ... yep ... not fun ...

to this day ... "regular" Coke makes me nauseous ... that and orange juice with about 3 tbsp of sugar were my Mom's "treatment" of choice when my sugar was low as a child ... and along with very low sugar comes symptoms such as extreme nausea and the LAST thing you want to do is drink or eat something when you feel like you're going to puke your guts up ... but you know you have to or drop so low that you would eventually die.

hmmm ... feel sick and drink/eat anyway ... or die ... hmmm ...

yep ... so along with all that leaves me with the bad memory of "Coke" and even Orange Juice (which I hardly ever drink).

So ... not really sure why I posted all this today ... even though my posts are my journal and they are being printed into books for keepsake purposes ...

but I hardly ever lower a wall enough to reveal such things about me ... guess I was just feeling a little vulnerable today ...

Sometimes ... I wish ... I could just have 1 day ... 24 hours ... diabetic free ... to me ... that would be better than winning the lottery.

Normally I'm a happy person ... I like to make others happy and laugh ... and sometimes succeed ... but sometimes I let my guard down and show a real side of me that most don't ever see ...

So if I've ever seemed annoyed or not really having a good day ... sometimes "trying" to be normal supersedes me and I succumb to it's reality.

back to my meter ... yack! (really waded out there)

I love my meter! I wish I could convince another diabetic friend of mine to love it as much! =0)

It's funny how ... we all have "something" that we deal with on a daily basis ... and to us ... it's a BIG deal ... to others not so much ... but just the "knowing" that we all deal with "something" makes getting along so much easier.

Thanks to all my family and friends ... when at times you could have blown me off, but instead you gave me a break ... thanks for understanding.

happy "not so normal" day ... tammy

Pepperoni and Lingerie ...

Today was a busy day ...

this morning ... fixed pancakes, eggs and bacon for breakfast ... did some shopping at the mall ... had a client at noon ... fixed homemade pizza ... went to a lingerie shower this afternoon ... and had dinner with friends tonight ... and then went back to the grocery store before coming home ...

yep ... very full day ...

Nate and I are facilitators at our church in which we host a group of six families in the church ... our first get together is tomorrow for lunch ... I'm excited to get our "new" group together for the first time ... we're planning on meeting at least once a month ... it's going to be a great year! I'll post some pics tomorrow from our event ... =0)

I made pizza for lunch today ... and was SO excited because I got to "finally" use something new I had purchased at the grocery store last week!

Mini Pepperoni ... ha! yep ... it's doesn't take much for me! They are about as big around as a thumb nail and oh so cute! =)

anyhoo ... very cool, nifty idea, to make mini pepp's ... they would be great in salads too! Yum ... and they were yum ... (probably more yum to me because I had been anticipating them for a while now!)

anyhoo ...

Attended the lingerie shower for my friend Alicia this afternoon ...

It is always so very cool to see my old buddies ... we all go WAY back ... and it is nice to reconnect every once in a while ...

here's "some" of the gang ... Regina left early and missed this pic ... and several others weren't able to attend ...

Tracie, Alicia, Stephanie and Tammy

It was a nice, happy day ... tammy

The Worst/Best Mommy Awards ...

I get the "bad mommy of the year" award ...

oh my goodness ...

I had my day all planned out ... which included running errands, purchase a shower gift for a friends shower tomorrow, go to school and do my "weekly thing" to help out, take pictures at school today ...

yep ... all planned out ... even got up, got dressed and out pretty early, so as to get it all done before having to be at school ...

So I'm taking my time ... browsing around the mall ... really enjoying myself and actually relaxing a bit ... I never go to the mall anymore - so my thought is "this is a treat" ... even though I'm fully prepared to window shop only, except for my shower gift ... and thinking ... I've got plenty of time ...

So ... in the middle of the mall ... the phone rings ... I look down and it's the school ... in the few nanoseconds between looking at the phone due to it's ring and actually pressing the "answer" key ... I had a 1,000 thoughts ... oh no ... LeAnna is sick ... is she throwing up? does she have a headache? is it a fever? she's not throwing up, just sick at her stomach ... she's not really sick, she just wants to start her weekend early ... oh no ... there was an accident at school ... she's busted her head open again ... WHAT could it be?!?!?!

so I answered the phone ...

"hello" (with anticipated tone)

"this is Ms. Green" (the teacher)

"Did you forget that we're only here 1/2 day today?"

"OH MY GOODNESS" (playground voice)

I looked down at the time ... it's 11:30 ... they got out at 11:15 (and according to Allison, they came out earlier)

GREAT!

"I have a meeting that starts at 11:45" "when can you be here?"

"I'm in Green Hills ... I'm on my way"

"I'll have to send her to aftercare"

"I am so sorry Ms. Green"

Ms. Green not only had to do "my Friday job" that I do to help her out, but also had to stay with LeAnna until her meeting ...

I left the mall immediately ... no gift ...

Drove fast (ok, really fast) ...

the whole way ... thinking ... LeAnna is crying by now ... I can just hear her saying "YOU forgot me!" ...

I wasn't even thinking properly ... I could have called Renee to rescue me ... and found out later ... she was actually at the school waiting on her eldest child to get out during this time ...

all I could think of ... was ... getting there ... while mentally awarding myself this very worthy award of being a very bad mommy ...

knowing she hadn't had anything to eat since she left home this morning ... lunch is normally at 10:55 and it was almost 11:50 ... yep ... beat myself up over it ...

ha! oh well ...

So ... more than 1/2 way there, I called the school to see which door I needed to come to ... or to see where I would go for "aftercare" ... the lady that answered said ... well ... first I have to find her ... I don't know where she is ... I'll find her ... just come to the front door ...

oh great ... now she's lost?! dumb frantic thinking ... because while this thought passed, another thought passed by that one at the same time that said "she's on the premises, you're such a dork tammy"

yep ... crazy woman!

I've just never forgotten her before ...

So ... get there ... walked in the office and started the apologies ... "LeAnna, mommy is SO sorry baby" ... blah, blah, blah ...

the whole time ... she's smiling and saying "it's okay mommy, really" ...

The lady watching her said, "she was very happy to be in aftercare"

ha! I had forgotten that she had always wanted to go to aftercare and today she got to!

well ... for about 15 minutes!

She had a great time ... and loved explaining "why" she was there to the other aftercare kids ...

Just last week, she had asked if I would let her go to aftercare one afternoon ...

We got in the van and I kept apologizing ...

LeAnna said, "Mommy ... it's really okay ... I got to go to aftercare"

"so you're not upset with me for forgetting you?"

"no mommy ... I got to go to aftercare"

Now ... suddenly ... I'm the hero ... I just got awarded the "mommy of the year" award ...

for letting her go to aftercare ...

... whew ...

Thinking I was the 'worst' mommy today and ended up being the best mommy today ...

(so what's so big and bright about aftercare I wonder ... it's probably the same curiosity that a child has about wanting to ride a school bus)

hmmm ... all is well ... happy day ... tammy

It's "All You" ...

LeAnna's school did a magazine "thing" last fall ... and of course ... we felt obligated to order some ... so ... one that I ordered was ... "All You" ...

it's a magazine about hundreds of ways to save time and money ... "ideas - tips - life with a reality check" is their slogan ...

anyhoo ...

I was looking through it this morning ... and you know what? I'm REALLY liking this magazine ... I haven't really paid that much attention to it the last couple of months that I started receiving it ... but ... man ... WoW! ... I guess I've been so busy that all I was doing was just "skimming" through it and not really paying attention to its content ...

but ... yesterday and today while looking at it ... I discovered ... there are a LOT of coupons ... I guess I noticed them more this issue because I'm being more coupon conscious at the present time ... but ... there seemed to be an over abundance of coupons ... so ... I went back to the beginning of the magazine and started adding them up ...

are you ready for this?

$30.95 ...

WHAT?!?!!?

Yep ... newsstand cost is only $2.49 (which I got a little cheaper by ordering a subscription - even better)

WOW!!!! now, the coupons vary in interest and product ... but a very good variety ... many food coupons and household products as well ...

I am very impressed with ALL YOU all of a sudden! ha! Of course, I need to look at the magazine a few more times before I start clipping ... otherwise it will look like a school project with dangling pieces of paper - ha!

The coupons start at .50 cents and go up to $4 ... and most of them average $1 to $2 ... yep ... liking these coupons!

Anyhoo ... it's stocked full of household tips, organizing, budgeting, and even has recipes ... and even a few games in the back to occupy you when you're tired of "clipping" ... ha!

I know it sounds like I'm getting paid to advertise ... but ... when I get excited about something ... I'll be their best advertisement!

There is even a .50 cent coupon to get April's issue ... (it says available only at Walmart)



here's a couple of tips I found of interest ...

1. Dryer sheet - after you've finished cleaning your faucets ... rub a sheet of fabric softener on them to polish and shine.

2. Stuck-on-gunk? ... fill the pan with hot water, sprinkle in dish-washing powder (such as Cascade), and put it on the stove on low heat ... the mess cooks right off!

3. Keep up your candles - Can't figure out how to clean dirty, dusty candles? Wipe them with old nylon panty hose, and they'll quickly shine back up!

4. Stop smudges - Apply spray starch to walls around doorknobs and other places where fingerprints accumulate. The costing resists marks!


So ... there you go ... a "happy" for this day ... tammy

Yikes-A-Daisy ...

This morning Nate had to leave the house by 6:30am ... which means ... Tammy had to get fully dressed to take LeAnna to school ...

We were up and at'em early with some time to spare ...

So I let her play with Daisy a bit before school and I took some pictures ...

I did NOT realize however, until after I uploaded these pictures and looked at them ... that Daisy's head is now officially bigger than LeAnna's!

Yikes-A-Daisy!

She's so cute and floppy though ... oh my goodness ... it's amazing how calming it is to love on a puppy and run your fingers through their hair ...

I really do "calm" a bit around my dogs ... I love them! (even though there is nothing calm about them!)

It reminds me of a few of my childhood dogs ... I remember many times, going outside to play with my dog ... loving on them ... telling them my innermost secrets ... believing they "really" understood me ... wagging in reassurance that everything would be okay ... ha!

I know ... childish and crazy ... but to me, then ... it made sense I guess!

There were times that my little head felt like it would explode bearing the weight of a disease I didn't understand at 8 years old, coupled with the fact that my Dad was very sick and my Mom was trying to hold us all together ... somehow ...

yep ... my little dog came in very handy at times ...

I guess that's why they have such a calming effect on me today ...

Maybe that's why I feel it's so important for LeAnna to have a dog ...

there's just something about a puppy ... hard to explain, but undeniable ...

oh well ... a slight Tuesday stroll down memory lane ...

happy day ... tammy

Happy Heart Day ...

It's Valentine's Day ... and we spent ours at a Leadership Meeting at Lake Benson ...

LeAnna and Kaitlyn stayed with Nana and she kept them busy ... making hotdogs, cupcakes, a "welcome home" cake for "the parents" ... McDonalds for breakfast ... took them shopping for new outfits and stuffed animals ... yikes!

I would say they had a nice time ... and just being together ... and at Nana's made it even better ...

When we arrived back home from the overnight meeting ... they were standing in the back of Nate's truck with a sign that said "welcome home parents" and they were dancing and jumping around ... then they took us inside and gave us the "joint effort cake" they had made to welcome us home ...

not sure they missed us that much ... but they had fun ... and that's what counts ... especially when you have to go away.

Our valentine was celebrated at Tequila's with Nana and the Camacho's after getting back in town ... Nate said at the table, "this is very romantical" ... ha!

Oh yeah, and then we went to Big Lots! ... ha!

too funny ...

and ... it's really just all about making memories ...

Happy V Day ... tammy

A First Valentine ...

Today was LeAnna's Valentine Party at school ... it was an afternoon of food and fun ... lots of games ... AND ....

LeAnna received her first official valentine ...

from ...

a boy ...

AAHHHHHHH!!!!!!

CRAZY!!!

oh my ...

His name is Grayson ...

he brought something "special" for LeAnna and her friend Kennedy ...

they had to go out in the hall to get it, away from the class ... since he only brought stuff for them ... and this was on our way out the door to leave ...

ok ... so ... the gift was a small stuffed puppy dog and a heart shaped roll of bubble gum tape ...

THEN ... oh my ... LeAnna hugged him and thanked him ...

but look at this look on his face ...

oh my ...

ha!

... the one arm around her (says he's thankful she's thankful), the other hand in the pocket (says I'm a cool dude), the eyes shut (a torn moment of "I made her happy" and "yes, another one") ... you know the ones ... there's at least one in every class ... man, they start young!

Anyhoo ... here's another "point" to prove his type ... the teacher, Ms. Green, told me during the party that on group picture day, 2 weeks ago, she was going around to each child straightening their shirts, buttoning buttons, etc. ... and after she buttoned up Grayson, he immediately unbuttoned his shirt, pointed to his chest and said, "Man, I need some chest hair sticking out right there" ... yep ... this little boy has been stereotyped ... yikes!

ha!

oh well ... LeAnna will never forget her first valentine ... (and neither will I)

One of the Moms made this very cool valentine that was in Family Fun last month ... very time consuming, but a very cool treat! An i-Pod for each kid made out of a box of candy hearts, ribbon for the wire, and Reese's Cups for the ear pieces ...

Nothing like making memories ...

happy day ... tammy

The Farmer In The Dell ...

Some days ... you just feel like ...

The Farmer In The Dell ... - ha

SO true ... and made me smile this morning ...

this is for you Allison ... bless your heart ... who at the moment can't even read this because she is a "farmer" ... I'm so sorry ... we all have bad computer days ... hope yours is better soon!

happy day ... tammy

Who Says You Can't Get Pizza At Wendy's?!

Last night on the way home from church ... stopped by Wendy's to grab a "frugal" value meal ... apparently a lot of folks had the same idea ... ended up having dinner with a lot of people we know ... nice ...

anyhoo ... was standing in line ... staring blankly at the menu ... trying to decide "what" to order ... when ...

this caught my attention ...

WHAT?!!??! I'm laughing ...

It's a Pizza Hut delivery guy ... not purchasing a burger ... but actually making a delivery to the workers at Wendy's! This was her paying him for the pizza!!!

ha! too funny ...

Nate says ... "tired of burgers?"

anyhoo ... it doesn't take much to amuse me ... especially late at night when I'm sleep deprived anyway ...

funny ...

tammy

Nice Idea ... But I'm A Dork!

Wow! What a beautiful weekend! The weather was wonderful, and warm, ahhh ... even wore "slip on's" on Saturday ... such a VERY nice change from boots, Clark's, and tights!

Okay ... so ... I'm a dork!

I asked the teacher last week if she needed help with anything ...

(I have to keep reminding myself that "I asked"!)

anyhoo ... we have Open House at school this week for prospective families ... and she was in need of a fresh bulletin board in the hallway outside our classroom ... she asked me to come up with an idea or two ...

and ... I did ... actually I gave her 3 ideas ... the one she chose ... just so happened to be the most "involved" ...

of course!

oh my ... I really didn't realize HOW involved it would be until I started working on it ...

one of "my things" that I love to do ... is being creative with themes, promotions, etc. for kids ... I really do enjoy things like this ...

so ...

what we're doing ... it's all about self esteem and being kind and positive to our fellow classmates ...

my thought was to take a picture of each child ... and make the child's picture into a flower ... so I purchased the muffin size cake liners and placed each child's picture inside it (middle of the flower) ... and then for the petals ... "positive", "nice" things about each other ...

okay ... sounds simple ... right?!

hmmm ...

maybe I just made it hard ... I dunno ...

all I know ... is that I cut out 282 construction paper petals ... printed off 282 'positive' statements about each child ... cut them, pasted them onto the petals ... and connected them all together with the picture in the middle ... and I still have to make the stems ...

more difficult than it sounds ...

AND ... it's 2:30am and I'm not finished!

The teacher has asked me to be there right after lunch tomorrow (Monday) to put the bulletin board together ...

oh my ...

I'm stopping to go to bed ... mainly because I ran out of adhesive ... otherwise I would probably stay up and finish them all tonight!

Whew! I started this project last week ... worked off and on all weekend ... all afternoon ... and started back as soon as I got home this evening!

yep ... I'm a dork! Crazy ... dumb!

Next time ... I will think my "ideas" out a little more before offering them ... especially if I'm going to be the one to implement them!

lesson learned well.

I'm such a dork!

This really is a "happy" for me (well - creating the idea is a happy for me) ... implementing them by myself, not so much!

Anyhoo ... I think the kids "at some point" ... will be able to look back at their "flower" and read it and feel good about themselves ... knowing all their friends in class said nice things about them ... a great self-esteem builder ... (one little boy used the word "creep" for two girls in the class ... I left "creep" off and changed it to something else! ... there was also one little guy who referred to my daughter as 'hot' as his "nice" comment for her ... me, having the prerogative of not putting that petal up, didn't ... and changed it to cute or something ... AAHHHHH!)

such a stressful project! - ha! I had a major melt-down when I was reading over the kids lists and saw the "hot" word after LeAnna's name ...

yep ... no ... not dealing well with that ...

anyhoo ...

K.I.S.S. from here on out ... (keep it simple stupid) - maybe if I remember this, it will be much easier on me in the future!

oh well ... we live and learn ... and I do so everyday!

happy day ... tammy

Some Traits Revealed ...

It's funny how we just "see things" sometimes ... and finally just "get it" ...

I realized something last night ...

Forever ... I have wondered ... what will LeAnna be like when she grows up ... what "type" personality will she be ... what character traits will she best possess ... crazy questions we, as mothers and fathers, ask ourselves frequently while raising our children ...

Every once in a while ... a small realization of such will be revealed to us ... just through small actions, gestures, etc. ...

I realized one last night ... and thought it was pretty cool ...

LeAnna did something last night that made me remember something she had done months ago - that today sparked the realization!

Anyhoo ...

Last year, at the end of the school year (Kindergarten) ... the kids were having a jog-a-thon at school ... and the coach had them practice running around the football field during recess ...

one day ... (several weeks before the event was to happen) on the way home from school ... I pulled into the subdivision and LeAnna said, "stop Mommy" ... "let me out, I want to run home" ... I questioned why ... and she said she needed to practice getting ready for the jog-a-thon ...

If you've been in our subdivision ... it's not an easy trek home! It's all uphill (steep at times) and curvy ...

anyhoo ...

I let her out ... and she started running ... I was right beside her in the van all the way home ...

We got home ... and I said ... Wow! You did a great job (she was worn out - and it was hot)

The next day ... she did the same thing ... "Mom, let me out" ...

She did this just about everyday until time for the jog-a-thon event ...

No one asked her to do this ... she did this all herself and made herself do it everyday ...

I was very proud of her at the time ... but didn't realize what she was proving to me and herself ...

"for whatever reason, and whatever she did last night" ... it took me back to this ... and I saw ...

initiative

determination

endurance

Very cool to me ... and hopefully will prove some traits she will continue to demonstrate well into adulthood ...

I guess, for so long ... I "had" to encourage her along to do things, just so they would get done ... and for once ... she did something without me asking, all on her own, her idea ... followed through with it ... and reaped the benefit of "finishing" something she had determined to do ... and it was for "herself"!

very cool ...

Isn't it funny ... how we teach, teach, teach ... train, train, train our kids to do, do do ... and then ... out of the blue ... if we would sit back and "pay attention" ... for just a moment ... our kids just might teach us a thing or two along the way!

just "thoughts" today ...

happy day ... tammy

Salad, Girlfriends and Homemade Gifts ...

Today ... I had a "girlfriends lunch" here at the house ... there were several that couldn't make it ... but the five of us that did had a great time! It was a potluck salad lunch ... and very creative ones I might add ... everything tasted great!

AND ... I asked everyone to bring a "homemade gift of love" to exchange via brown bag ...

Everyone did and I was so excited because they were all truly "homemade" ...

It was a good time!

I'm just mad at myself ... because I didn't take one picture! Bleh at me!

Great food and fellowship though!

My Mom treated us to dinner this evening ... it was a nice yummy evening "out" ... we've been cooking at home a lot lately ... AND ... oh hallelujah! Nate came in with a stove today!!!

Woo-hoo!!!! FINALLY ... a stove that works! Very excited ... (so excited we went out for dinner - ha!) ...

I was seriously going to cook ... and Mom asked us to go out ... So ... we did!

Thanks Mom!

My "happy" in today ... being with my family and friends ...

happy day ... tammy

Lunch Break ...

Wow! Today I can make calls off and on ... but they are full of static!

Thank goodness for a cell phone ...

LeAnna asked on her way out the door this morning if I would eat lunch with her ...

(been off some meds for a few days - feeling the effects - not by choice, refills ran out - yada, yada - anyhoo ... and not feeling my best anyway today ... )

hmmm ... "ok" ....

apparently that was not reassuring enough for her ... because when I showed up, Wendy's in hand - she had her lunch card in her hand and acted surprised to see me and said, "you did come" ....

yikes! glad I did now ...

She chose her friend Kennedy to sit with us ... they have become super close buds this year ...

it was a nice "get out of the house breather" that I much needed ... glad I went and made the effort.

FINALLY got the computer issue figured out "enough" to get back on line on the old computer this afternoon ... but now the new computer is off line ... AND ... I have WAY too much to do to worry about that for now!

So ... for now ... I work ... and work ...

hmmm ... so .... "happy" in today? I would have to say ... lunch with LeAnna-bug ...

got a VERY busy day tomorrow ... starting very early ... I have to be fully dressed by 7:30am in the morning ... I know that doesn't seem like "much" ... however ... when you work from home ... 7:30 is VERY early to be fully dressed!

Have to take LeAnna to school, Nate to get his truck across town and then get back home to meet a client by 8:30!

yep ...

ok ... day ... tammy

A 25 Cent Happy ...

Day 2 of "happy" ...

well ... I decided to do something that made me happy today ... I baked ...

well ...

I attempted to bake ...

I turned the oven on to preheat ... while I started butter fudge cupcakes ...

45 minutes later ... oven light was on, oven was running, but ... oven was cold!

WHAT?!?!?!

My oven has been on the fritz for a while ... and Nate said, "I'm going to have it fixed" ... hmmm ... and I made it through Thanksgiving and Christmas like this!!!!!!!!

Whenever using the oven ... I could turn it on, but not off ... so when I was done with the oven, I would have to go to the breaker box, turn the breaker off for about 20 seconds and then pop it back on - just to shut the oven off and reset it!

NOT fun ... however ... I'm being patient ...

THEN ... today ... total death of the oven!

I had my batter ready to pour and put in the oven ... I started looking for Mom's key to her house ... (it had been lost) ... now what am I going to do ... waste a perfectly good bowl of batter?

Aaahhh, I think not! =0)

after some persistence ... I found the key ...

went to Mom's to bake the cupcakes ... day saved ... well .... cake saved!

And my "happy" in baking was happy again.

However ... also ... our phones went out ... I couldn't make calls, but I could receive calls ... CRAZY!

THEN ... late this afternoon ... I lost my connection on the computer ... AAHHHHH - what else?!

Okay ... so ... I go pick up LeAnna from school ...

and ...

I went here ...

I needed another "happy" for my stressful day ... and this looked pretty satisfying at the moment ... blowing a buck at McDonald's in Bellevue (not sure if anywhere else or not) but they are selling Chicken McNuggets by the "each's" (I know, not a word - but makes me happy to use this made up word in a sentence - it sounds better than it reads - ha) for .25 cents each!

I "could have" ordered the 4-piece happy meal ... but no ... what made 'me' happier ... was to order 3 nuggets! for .75 cents!

I know ... I'm weird ... and it doesn't take much ... oh well ... it takes weirdos like me to make the world go round - right?!

anyhoo ... I'm trying to remain positive in this day ... and look for my "happy" among the "stuff" ...

"happy" day ... tammy

Warm Day + Friends = Happy

February 1st ... and ...


it's beautiful outside!


LeAnna had Kaitlyn over today ... and they have had a blast outside this afternoon ... playing and jumping on the trampoline ...




Nothing like an "unseasonably warm" afternoon to "warm" your heart on this first day of the "love month"!

I drew a new word today from my "Word-A-Month" box ...

February's word is ...

Happy.

Another word to "act on" this month ... finding things that make me happy, doing things that make me happy, finding ways to make others happy ... the list goes on and on ...

I'm happy that it's "unseasonably" today ... yep ... a sunny, warm day makes me happy.

happy day ... tammy