From a Cluttered Desk

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?

My second grandchild, who many people (Including big brother) are hoping is a girl, is due on June 17th.

The doctor says that date could change; it’s the date they came up with after today’s sonogram.

I’m going to be a grandmother again!

Yes, this has me grinning ear to ear. I’ve known for a bit, of course, and even announced it on Facebook, but wasn’t shouting from the rooftops until this doctor’s visit. Now that my daughter-in-love has posted the sonogram pic to her blog, I figure it’s safe to talk about it here.

And of course names have already been discussed. Well, girl names have been discussed with me anyway, because everyone knows I’m rather hoping for a girl. I like the name they’d chosen in case Connor was a girl. Connor has his own name picked out. Sheree has a totally different name picked out. I guess we’ll have to see what happens, huh? LOL!

Life can really make you smile at times, you know?

Celebrating Jesus!
Tammy C

You’ve not heard a peep out of me for months on end. I apologize for this, but I honestly don’t know that I would have come to post if I’d had the time and freedom. It’s been THAT kind of season.

I remember, in our early years of homeschooling, sitting in Greg Harrison’s "Seasons of Life" seminar and wondering how each of the seasons would affect me. Over all, the transition from one season to the next has been easy. Even having both sons move out of the house was a piece of cake, in a sense, and grandmotherhood has been fabulous.

This most recent season, though… It’s been a little more challenging, taking up pretty much all of my attention and leaving me without comprehensible words to share even if I’d had the time to share them. It has been a  season of picking new things up and putting down a few things that I thought I would hold onto until the day Jesus came.

The biggest thing I’ve picked up is a full-time job at my church. This is a position I’ve wanted for ten years, a chance to minister full time and affect people’s lives locally in an eternal way. It keeps me busy like nothing I’ve ever done before and I love pretty much every minute of it.

It also challenges me like nothing I’ve ever done before. I’ll be honest; I sometimes face those challenges with something less than enthusiasm, but I rejoice in all I’ve learned and there’s nothing like the feeling of accomplishment that comes when you finally figure out something that had previously seemed impossible.

And that’s all I can share for now, but I will try to make an effort to come back periodically and at least try to update this poor, neglected blog. There are some exciting things coming in my life and I’m looking forward to them. Hopefully I’ll be able to fill you in so you can look forward to them with me.

Celebrating Jesus!
Tammy C

Behind the scenes video…

Celebrating Jesus!
Tammy C

Her name is Susan Boyle and she’s taught thousands of people not to prejudge someone’s abilities by their appearance or presentation.

I wish I could embed the video, but they’re not allowing it, so do yourself a favor and go watch this clip from Britain’s Got Talent’s 2009 talent search. See 47-year-old Susan Boyle completely floor the judges and everyone else when she sings "I Dreamed a Dream" from Les Miserables.

Celebrating Jesus!
Tammy C

If you live in Austin, Texas, you might be shouting, "YES!!!!"

This is too seriously cool. You’ll find the whole article at TrekMovie.com. Here’s the first paragraph. Oh those lucky people!

Tonight Paramount pulled off one of the coolest stunts in fan history. Promoted as just a 10 minute preview of the new Star Trek to show along with The Wrath of Khan, tonight fans in Austin, TX were actually shown the entire new Star Trek movie. The event included surprise guests, including the original Spock himself, Leonard Nimoy. [UPDATE: A number of reviews are already in - we have a summary of those below]

The language in some of the reviews is..shall we say…less than delightful. I’d watch who’s reading over your shoulder.

Celebrating Jesus!
Tammy C

I’m not sure I remember how to change my profile picture on the whole website, but for the benefit of those who have wondered about my new blondness…

Celebrating Jesus!
Tammy C

Considering what I’m supposed to be doing - as opposed to what I AM doing, this one did make me LOL!

see more Lolcats and funny pictures

Celebrating Jesus!
Tammy C

Did I spell it correctly?

Ah, who cares. The point is… You have GOT to see this!

Antwerp station. Suddenly Julie Andrews’ voice, singing a well-known (to us anyway) song, starts playing over the public address system. What follows…

….is priceless!! (And HUGE fun!)

Celebrating Jesus!
Tammy C

I just slipped over to read The Conservative Contessa and found a thought-provoking post.

Here’s a short excerpt.

When in England , at a fairly large conference, Colin Powell was asked by the Archbishop of Canterbury if our plans for Iraq were just an example of empire building by George Bush.

He answered by saying, ‘Over the years, the United States has sent many of its fine young men and women into great peril to fight for freedom beyond our borders. The only amount of land we have ever asked for in return is enough to bury those that did not return.’

You could have heard a pin drop

She has several other such stories in this blog entry. Are they all true? Well, I didn’t check them out, so I can’t really say. They are the type of story that makes you think, however, and that is always good.

Celebrating Jesus!
Tammy C