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?

I was just filling out one of those question things you get in email and one of the questions (What song represents you?) sent me to Google. I know the words to the song, but couldn’t remember the name or author.Interestingly enough, when I got the Google results, the very first was an entry I made on my other blog back in May of 2006. After rereading it, I decided it wouldn’t hurt to repeat it here.

I was just reminded of the day I learned the song “Lord, I Give You My Heart,” by Darlene Zschech.

I’d been on vacation and while I was staying with a dear friend she talked me into watching an episode of Robin on Sherwood, a TV series (from Great Britain, I believe) that she felt had done an excellent job with the Robin Hood legend.

You are probably familiar with the Robin Hood legend. I certainly am, and have both read an assortment of versions and seen various movies through the years. This one really impressed me, drawing me into the storyline immediately and making me really connect with its Robin. And then the end came – THE END. There were Robin, someone else, and Marion standing on a hill, under attack, and he sent her and the someone else away. He handed his sword to her when she left, asking her to keep it safe, and I knew at that moment that he was about to die. (For a few minutes, my hostess was also in danger of death by strangulation. LOL!) He shot arrow after arrow at the advancing men, giving his love and his friend cover until they were safely away and he had only one arrow left; this one he shot straight into the air, not even seeking a victim.

Although the viewer (that would be me) didn’t actually see him die, this proved to be one of the most devastating death scenes I’ve ever watched. Those last few minutes haunted me for days; I couldn’t shake it and even though I do have a vivid imagination, it wasn’t enough to explain why, days later, it still replayed itself in my mind.

And then I got back home and, during that first praise and worship service, God brought that scene and a new song together, touching and changing me.

I was distracted during the opening song, still ‘seeing’ the scene and feeling guilty that I wasn’t able to set it aside and focus solely on God. “Why?” I asked him. “Why can’t I shake this?” Hello…when wondering about a thing, ask the One who knows. There’s a lesson I relearn often.

We started singing the new song, one I’d never even heard because I’d been on vacation when they learned it, and God answered me at the same time. “You can’t shake it,” He said, “because Robin was completely sold out to England. Every breath he drew, he drew with the determination that he would do everything in his power to protect the country he loved, and when he died it was with the knowledge that he had truly done all he was able.” (I use quotation marks, but it’s been a few years so the quote may not be exact.)

In that very moment, the choir around me was singing these words…

    Lord I give You my heart
    I give You my soul
    I live for You alone
    Every breath that I take
    Every moment I’m awake
    Lord have Your way in me

“Are you like that Robin?” He asked. “Can you honestly say that you live for Me alone? That every breath you take is taken with Me in mind? That you genuinely want Me to have My way in you at all times? Are you, in truth, sold out to Me?”

The tears started and they didn’t stop for a long time. I still often cry when I sing that song because I realize that I’m not there yet. Every breath Jesus took on the cross was taken for ME. My desire, my goal, is to reach the place where I can honestly say that every breath I take is taken for HIM.

Celebrating Jesus!
Tammy C

Okay, are you ready for a laugh?

Or a groan

So you know I work at Bath & Body Works. We sell Dr. Wexler’s skin care products and I am totally sold on them; I’ve begun using some of her anti-aging products faithfully (For me to take care of my skin at all faithfully is unusual!) and I’m seeing a definite difference.

So not long ago I had a customer ask me what I use on my face.

I answered her.

She listened.

She then turned, pointed to one of the sales associates, and said, "I want to know what she uses on her face. I want my face to look like hers."

On the outside, I was most polite and courteously passed her off to the other associate. On the inside, I couldn’t get to the stockroom fast enough, caught as I was between outrage and hysterical laughter.

The other sales associate, you see, is THIRTY YEARS younger than me. Sure, I’d like my skin to look like hers too!

Celebrating Jesus!
Tammy C

When I loaded I Can Has Cheezburger this evening, this was the very first picture I saw.

I HOWLED! I howled as only someone who thinks these things could howl. LOLOLOLOL!!!!!!!

more animals

 Yep. This one’s definitely one the desktop!

Celebrating Jesus!
Tammy C

More than one member of this household adheres to this philosophy!

more animals

Celebrating Jesus!
Tammy C

Okay, so I do know what it is, or I’ve been reminded.

I had Saturday off from work..and I TOOK Saturday off - no responsibilities, no to-do list, no necessary phone calls… I took the whole blessed day off and spent a large part of it wandering through bookstores and craft stores with my very patient husband. We added to our bookshelf, we shared a carrot cake and got lattes at Borders, and we finished the evening by having dinner with Thomas, his family, and my sister Clarissa.

Oh… No, we finished the day with a trip to Hobby Lobby on the way home. I’ve told myself that I AM going to start drawing again.

Now let’s see how closely self pays attention.

Yeah, Saturday was GOOD.

Celebrating Jesus!
Tammy C

I’ll be chatting with Cindy Ruston this coming Tuesday at 8 PM central. Come join us!!!!!!

Getting to Know Him: Developing a Passionate, Rock-Steady Relationship with God–with Tammy Cardwell and Cindy Rushton (and YOU!)

Ready for a Mommy PJ Party??? Join us as we welcome Tammy Cardwell from TammyCardwell.net  to Ultimate Women’s Expo. Tammy and Cindy will be taking off the masks and shedding their super-girl capes to get real with you. Grab a big cup of tea, your Bible, and plan to have a long-distance girl-time. In the meantime, learn some great secrets to weathering the storms of life, dealing with the daily STUFF in your life, and getting to know God in a way that will make this new year the very best ever. Get to know Tammy  online at: http://tammycardwell.net,  http://tammycardwell.net/cluttered_desk,  and at http://eclectichomeschool.org/.  Don’t miss this awesome Mommy PJ Party!

Here are your call-in details:
Dial in with your phone: (646) 727-1978

Want to view chat room on the internet?
Here is the link: http://www.blogtalkradio.com/Ultimate-Womens-Expo (you can see the chat/questions there–of course, I will be watching them and asking them for you so you don’t have to worry. We can also accept call-in questions and feedback. If you have any friends who want to call in, just give them your number. I will be working the switchboard.)

I’d love to see all of my friends there, even if I can’t really "see" you since I’ll be on the phone connection.

Celebrating Jesus!
Tammy C

I was checking into AARP today (My husband’s over 50 and I’m close) and found two great articles on Flight 1549.

Hudson River Hero

After the evacuations, Sullenberger walked the length of the plane twice to make sure everyone was off before he left. Sullenberger’s high school friend, Doug Hoover, 58, wasn’t shocked. “He would have gone down with the plane, if the situation called for it. He was just that kind of guy,” Hoover says. “I’m not surprised he kept his cool.”

Sullenberger cannot grant interviews because the accident is still under investigation, says Hoover. “That’s why we’re speaking on his behalf. He’d probably say that any good pilot would have done what he did. But he deserves all the praise that he gets. He’s exceptional.”

 

Exclusive Eyewitness Account
Flight 1549: First on the Scene
One man’s daily commute turned into an unexpected rescue mission

As the ferry drew closer, its passengers stared silently at the people on the plane wing, who appeared to be standing on the water. “Then, without anyone saying a word, we all just swung into action,” says Watta, who lives in Edgewater, N.J., and worked at AARP until the summer of 2008. The passengers grabbed bright orange life preservers from the back of the ferry and formed a line, passing them down to the crew. “We were like a colony of ants,” Watta says. “No one directed us—we just instinctively organized ourselves.”

For more than 10 minutes Watta and the other men and women aboard the ferry were alone on the Hudson River with the 150 stranded passengers of Flight 1549. The first to be rescued was the flight attendant, carried down into the ferry’s cabin, bloody and in great pain. The passengers cleared a space for her on a bench. Someone shouted, “Is there a doctor?” And there was.

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

Now the Wall Street Journal has posted an editorial. I’m glad to see someone in the mainstream media sitting up and taking notice.

Pelosi’s Toy Story

Here are some snippets

In the tale of "The Velveteen Rabbit," a child’s stuffed toy can only become "real" once all its fur has been loved off, and it’s missing a button or two. If only. Under a new law set to go into effect February 10, unsold toys, along with bikes, books and even children’s clothing are destined for the scrap heap due to an overzealous law to increase toy safety.

<snip>

The burden may be manageable for big manufacturers and retailers that can absorb the costs of discarded inventory and afford to hire more lawyers. Less likely to survive are hundreds of small businesses and craftspeople getting hit with new costs in a down economy.

<snip>

Because the new rules apply retroactively, toys and clothes already on the shelf will have to be thrown out if they aren’t certified as safe. When Congress passed the legislation in August, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi boasted that "With this legislation, we will not only be recalling, we will be removing those products from the shelves." Yeehaw. While large retailers may ask manufacturers to take back uncertified products, independent stores may be stuck with inventory that is suddenly illegal to sell. One Web site, NationalBankruptcyDay.com, is cataloging the costs faced by small businesses.

There’s more. I suggest you go read it for yourself.

Celebrating Jesus!
Tammy C

CPSIA = Child Protective Safety Improvement Act

I’ve been trying to decide what, if anything, to write about this act. The odds are good that you’ve not even heard about it, but it’s been a hot topic among my publisher friends for months. Why? Because it threatens to put a LOT of them out of business in a matter of days. (February 10th, to be exact)

CPSIA was a knee-jerk reaction to all those children’s toys that had lead in them last year. To protect our children, they passed this law that applies to anything that is intended for children 12 years old and younger.

ANYTHING

They have recently made clarifications that save resale shops (Yep, any resale shop that relied solely on children’s clothing, etc., was facing being pushed out of business), but pretty much everyone else is still hanging in limbo, because anything intended for children 12 and under now has to be tested or pulled from the market immediately.

This means, among other things, that publishers of children’s curriculum are facing having to have each of their products tested before February 10th (Which, I may point out, is a physical impossibility given the number of publishers and relatively few approved labs). It also means that libraries may have to pull massive quantities of children’s books. Don’t believe me? Check out …

Congress bans kids from libraries?:New safety law may prohibit children under 12 from libraries – or make many books illegal

This means mom and pop businesses that have made wooden toys have to have each of their toys tested. This means that…

I could go on, but this thing is seriously seriously bad. Some of the big guys are fighting it, obviously, but every one of our voices needs to be heard.

Someone posted a really good piece about it today. The following came to me through one of my homeschool lists.

Here is a portion from: http://ceska.typepad.com/little_ida/2009/01/cpsia-disheartened-but-not-without-hope.html  where you can read the whole article. I’ve pasted a portion of it here.

Cathy
————————————————————————————-


The unintended consequences of the sloppily written atrocity called the CPSIA are unraveling at a dizzying pace. Even the consumer groups who pushed it through are no longer denying the law is a mess.

The latest news comes from Emily Sheketoff, Associate Executive Director of the American Library Association. Sheketoff warns that if the CPSC does not issue a statement saying that books are exempt from the CPSIA, she will have no choice but to ask American libraries to “take all the children’s books off the shelves,” or “ban children from the library.” Read this article-

http://thephoenix.com/Boston/News/74940-Congress-bans-kids-from-libraries/

And listen to this interview where you will hear these words from the mouth of Emily Sheketoff herself:

 http://moodyradiopaulbutler.wordpress.com/2009/01/12/consumer-product-safety-improvement-act/

Yesterday, with Ms. Sheketoff’s chilling message and printed documents as evidence, I took a good chunk of time out of my busy day running my company, Craftsbury Kids, to let some of the staff and faculty at the local elementary school of my city, Montpelier, Vermont know what was going on. I expected concern, I expected shock, and I expected questions. Instead, I was met with blank stares and even downright contempt from the school librarian as I explained what was going on.

Some of the responses I’ve been receiving from local businesses and others here in Vermont, when talking about the publishing industry dilemma and the CPSIA in general: “But that’s absurd.” “Impossible.” “There’s no way they can do that.”  Another popular reaction is “They’ll never be able to enforce it.” Are my fellow business owners and citizens really saying: “We’re willing to give up our rights to produce children’s products in America because we don’t want to bother fighting for and protecting our constitutional freedom. We’d rather just fly under the radar and hope we don’t get caught”?