I am Tammy Cardwell, she of the cluttered desk. (Hey, you think I'm kidding?!) I'm having a blast here in Blogland and invite to you to peruse my ramblings. Like a buffet, they offer variety - essentially whatever makes it to the top of the piles that sometimes clutter my brain. We'll eventually cover it all - homeschooling, God, our church, the Eclectic Homeschool Online, books I'm writing and publishing, conferences I speak at, the joys of grandmotherhood, and hopefully chocolate. Of course, this is only what's near the top now. Who knows what's in those piles?

One of my frustrated publisher friends just posted to her blog. Her post soooooooooo expresses what thousands of people are feeling!

Practice with free writing: A rant against CPSIA

Celebrating Jesus!
Tammy C

Visit the Lifestyle Education through Discipleship blog and you will meet the ones who own the company. (Their company logo is "Freedom & Simplicity in Spirit LED Home Education") You can reach the company site through links in the blog, of course, but in reading the blog you also gain access to other sites and stories that interest them.

Celebrating Jesus!
Tammy C

Lori Seaborg is one of those bloggers that you just enjoy reading. Like so many of us, she writes about whatever is on her mind at the time. Today, that’s her children’s watercolor painting session, with mention (and a photo) of a unique watercolor picture done by someone else. She even offers a link to a tutorial that shows the artist’s technique. Other recent posts cover things like dental work, the softies she’s designed (and a link to her tutorial for them), and the flood they had on Monday.

Celebrating Jesus!
Tammy C

Go visit from me and you’ll get to meet a "Christian wife, mama, and keeper-at-home." Her blog categories give a good idea of the variety of her offerings. As of today, she has posts on…. blogging, events, for the family, homemaking, just ‘from me,’ nutrition/recipes, our family, and sewing. The bulk of her posts fall into the nutrition/recipes category, with her most recent posts discussing organic products and the things that are now becoming availale.

Celebrating Jesus!
Tammy C

Penny Raine has a different way of looking at things. Yes, this is yet another blogger friend, one with a fresh perspective and a determination to use her God-given creativity to the fullest extent. Right now, she’s planning a wedding for her well-deserving daughter and sharing the experience with her readers. She’s also been giving tips for taking care of and sprusing up old houses, which is interesting. If I had any hope for this old house that I’m still living in (Yes, that was a slight note of disatisfaction you heard there) I’d probably read back through her blog for more ideas. Her topics range widely and she has much to offer. I may use some of her ideas later. Buying a milk cow… Yeah, that’s one idea I’d have to pass on. <grin>

Celebrating Jesus!
Tammy C

Amanda Bennett is another long-time friend. We met at a homeschool conference years ago and have laughed together many times since. She’s well-known among homeschoolers and considered a unit study guru for good reason; she’s a prolific producer of some of the best unit studies on the market. She’s also thoughtful and loving and FUNNY. She is one of those rare people that truly knows how NOT to take either herself or life too seriously. And did I mention that she’s funny? Her blog hits on more topics that you can imagine - tree farming, unit studies (DUH!), to… who knows?

Celebrating Jesus!
Tammy C

I’ve shared about Cindy Rushton before. Her heart beats a lot like mine does, so if you like me you’ll surely like her. Cindy Rushton’s blog… You never really know what you’ll find. The most recent entries right now share about seminars she’s offering through her chatroom. These events are wonderfully rich experiences that can change your life, so I’m glad she’s got this space to tell the world.

Celebrating Jesus!
Tammy C

The Clearing (Subtitle: finding myself in the thick of it!) used to be known as An Open Book. It’s the offering of one homeschooling friend who moved from one of those foreign countries (Some people call them states) to East Texas a year or two back. Julie, the author, blogs on a variety of topics, from homeschooling to family to her home to… Well, right now, aside from doing an impressive revamp of her blog template, she’s in the middle of something called Script Frenzy; I imagine it’s similar to NaNoWriMo, which is a writing project that has been tempting me for years. I wish she had time to tell us more about that!

Celebrating Jesus!
Tammy C

Scraps of Glory is a blog intent on offering…

I love the explanation that Maxine, the author, gives. Scraps are bits and pieces, snippets if you will, and her desire is to show the glory of God using short collections of words. Her blog entries tend to be brief, but blessed. Today’s, for instance, takes you to Shakespeare for just a few minutes, letting you contemplate the quality of mercy.

Beautiful!

Celebrating Jesus!
Tammy C