I smiled a lot...

...this past weekend. More than I have in quite some time! By Saturday, EVERYONE in my home was finally feeling better. I don't take a healthy household for granted as it's only the case for about 35% the year.

Saturday was my grandmother's 75th birthday celebration. My mom invited about 30 family members to all meet at a local eatery and surprise my grandmother! Please understand that my grandmother is not the "public" social type, so getting her out of the house to go to a restaurant at all is a feat in itself. Alas, by Saturday morning, she had decided not to go after all. But, heck, she's 75 years old! She can do whatever she wants at this point and everyone understands! At least, those are the rules that I plan to live by when I'm that age! :-) The great news is that the whole family still wanted to get together even though my grandmother wouldn't be there. Lunch turned out to be the most fun I've had in a very long time. It wears on me a little with two demanding and sleepy young'uns in tow, but I'm glad they were there to be with the family, and I always enjoy showing the little munchkins off! :-)

Sunday was church. I don't know if it's just me, but I've been getting a lot more out of Sunday morning service than ever before. The sermons have always hit home, and are just what I need to receive spiritually. But it feels like my soul is penetrated more these days. I believe that it has everything to do with the point that I'm at in my life. Day-to-day, I am holding on tight to the Lord unlike ever before. I used to feel that I was in control, and that life was smooth sailing. I have been humbled to the nth degree over the past few years; life has really taken some painfully sharp turns that you can never be prepared for. So now, when I'm sitting in service, my spirit, heart, mind and soul, are MORE THAN READY to receive the Word from the Lord.

My friend Joel's mom had her surgery last week. I was THRILLED to see her at church on Sunday morning! Brought tears to my eyes; I wasn't expecting her to be there so soon. That is one of the most beautiful families that you'll ever meet. Thanks for your prayers for them.

Afterward, Olie, Cass, and I had lunch with Ifie! We had so much fun. Ifie is really good with Olie. He is migrating into a 3-year old (in less than 4 months) and I'm usually unprepared for some of the things he says and does at any given point. He really loves Ifie, though, and had a blast with her! After lunch, I took her up on her offer to head over to the mall with me so that I could replenished my makeup stash. I can't believe she's in her second week of college already. It's so cliche, but the years just go by to quickly.

I went to bed at 7:15pm last night and woke up at about 1:15am because I thought I heard Olan fall out of his bed, and then again at 1:30 because Cass started crying and needed changing. It's almost 2am now, so I'm going to go now and get another 3 hours of sleep. Not bad, huh?

Later gators!

Friday reflection

La Shawn Barber's self-reflective post this Friday has caused me to turn the mirror toward myself today in a manner I haven't attempted in quite a while. The end of the week definitely feels like the best time to look at the past and current state of our existence and contemplate how this is carrying us toward the future. Below are 3 questions that La Shawn poses for us to consider, and my answers to these questions.

1) What haven’t you done yet in your life that you’d really like to do someday? Why? Will you do any of those things in the near future? Are you making progress toward them?

— I've always dreamt of becoming self-employed. I hate complaining almost as much as I hate hearing others do it, and the workplace can be a cesspool of grumblers. Not only do I get a rush from being at the center of the decision-making process, but I also enjoy pulling individuals together to pool resources and solve problems. Add in the fact that I'm not usually in bed before midnight, and I think you've got the workings of a great business owner! :-) I've gathered a considerable amount of information and done extensive research on entrepreneurship, and have only been slowed down by the focus on my young children. As they continue to grow and become more and more independent, more time is left for me to focus on making progress toward this dream.

— I always felt that La Shawn and I had a lot in common, and the anglophilia is no exception. Most people that I know prefer to stay within the confines of what they are familiar with. But I have always longed to experience something more. Not necessarily better, but definitely different. I don't know where this comes from and how this was fostered inside of me, but I've always enjoyed British humor more, appreciated their style when it comes to music, and longed to spend a few years there enriching myself with the history of England (and the rest of the UK as well). My husband and I have already decided to take a very long vacation there within the next 5 years.

2) If you could completely start your life over from scratch, what would you do differently the second time around (if anything)? Why?

— If this opportunity were possible I would go back to my pre-teen years and focus on being happy with who I was. That stage of my life was when I began to adjust who I was in order to appear to "be" someone else. I loved my life, my family and everything that I was blessed with, but I always tried to adapt to whoever I was around by "being" someone else to make them comfortable. It became a habit and this behavior followed me all the way to college! My college years was when the realization of what I was doing started to become clear to me. I had to go through a period of spiritual and emotional renewal in order to discover who I really was, what I really wanted. That behavior actually still affects many of the relationships that are being restored in my life now. Some people who knew me back then don't seem sure how to take this "real" Tami! :-)

3) What do you think you’ll be like when you’re 70, 80, 90, possibly even 100 years old? Where do you think you’ll be living, and what activities do you think you’ll enjoy?

— Please do not chuckle, but I intend to be living in Melbourne, Florida in my golden years, and running a fitness and nutrition center for seniors. I hope to have accumulated enough money by this time to already have a trust fund setup by then for my kids. Hopefully, they will also still be profiting from the business that I started in my 30's. :-) I hope that I will be taking several trips per year with my family and I also hope to be a lead prayer warrior for my church or the community at large. I want to be able to make a difference in others' lives during the period of my life that I'm focused on preparing to meet my Savior face to face!

4) What ages do you think have been the best for you so far? Why? What do you think of your current age…are you enjoying it? Are you looking forward to your next birthday?

— I can honestly say that 30 has been the best age I've experienced so far. I'm currently 31 years old, and this is the first time in my life where I have learned to balance concern with how others view me publicly, along with a confidence in my decisions and livelihood with little regard to others' opinions on the subject. There has always been such a thin line there for most of my life. I finally know who I am and whose I am unequivocally! I am also coming out of this comfort zone that I've always hid within. I'm starting to try new foods, new styles of clothing and hair, books, and even friendships! My horizons have been expanded this year like never before in my life...it can only get better as the years go on, I believe!

I'm Bad, I'm Bad...You Know It

It's 8:10am on Friday morning. Normally, I would be just arriving at my desk in my office to settle in for work. However, I'm still at home...staring at the computer. The kids are upstairs in Cassie's room playing (they're in her crib, not roaming the house, btw). I have 25 minutes to shower and get dressed, then get them dressed and out of the house. So why am I still sitting here delaying the inevitable? Because I'm sick and should stay in bed. I've been debating calling in sick, but I've already lost several days recently tending to Cassie and Olan. I need to hold on to my PTO days for Thanksgiving and Christmas which will be here before we know it.

I'm going to tough it out today and go on in to the office. I'm a bad, chica. Or, that's what I'll tell myself all day today. :-)

On-call and it feels so good

Let me start by saying that I am a web developer for CNN News. I am on a team of individuals who are responsible for the tools that are used to publish CNN.com. We develop, enhance, and maintain the software that the editors/writers use to create their stories for the website. We have rotations, in which each developer will be on-call for 4-5 days at a time every 6 weeks or so. Our cellphone will get a text message outlining the issue at hand, and we have 30 minutes to triage the issue. My August rotation began Tuesday morning at 11am.

At precisely 11am, one of my technical managers hand-carried a note to me with a description of an issue that was in progress. I was on it! Except, not really. I had NO idea how to get to the bottom of it! There is a senior-level developer here that I really trust and look up to, so I went to his desk to get some guidance. Together we walked through the steps of eliminating all of the obvious issues until we finally got to the bottom of it some 3 hours later. This did two major things for me: 1) It gave me a lot of guidance on how to take on tasks of this magnitude from beginning to end, and 2)it boosted my confidence in my abilites; if the senior-level developer took 3 hours to figure it out after working here for almost 6 years, the situation was definitely a tricky one and not a bad reflection of my skills.

Later that evening at 10:15pm, I received a phone call from the on-call developer of another group describing an issue to me. I would spend the next 3 hours running around, pulling at my hair, chewing on my nails, and on the brink of tears (mostly from a lack of sleep) as I beat myself up for not being able to wrap my brain around how to figure this issue out. As it turns out, one of the resources that I had been calling for help during this 3 hours of trauma was actually supposed to have been able to resolve the issue! This did two major things for me: 1) I was struck with the realization that I wasn't the only person that found the issue confusing, and 2)it boosted my confidence in my abilities; if the sole person who was trained to resolve an issues such as the one I describe didn't have a clue, then I shouldn't beat myself up for not being able to figure it out.

Notice a pattern? The next 3 days would be this way. Issue after issue were being sent to my cellphone. With the resolution of each issue, my confidence grew stronger. I became less panicky with each situation, and even started welcoming the issues with open arms! My on-call rotation for August ended yesterday at 2pm. I celebrated by eating a chocolate and peanut butter protein bar with 32 ounces of water. (I'm a weirdo sometimes) I don't have another rotation until late September...Bring it ON! :-)

My Very Excellent Mother Just Served Us Nine......what?

Think back to the 2nd grade when it was time to learn the planets. Remember the teacher instructing you to commit that sentence to memory so that you could easily remember: Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto? As I went through school I heard SO many variations of that sentence. (i.e. My Very Easy Method Just Speeds Up Naming Planets) No, just me? Okay.

Either way, astronomers are meeting as we speak to determine whether Pluto even qualifies as a planet anymore. Apparently this debate has been going on for decades.

Source

Prayer Requests

My friend Joel's mother is going to be having a lumpectomy soon to remove a cancerous tumor. Subsequently, she will need chemo and radiation treatments. As terrifying as this situation sounds, I know that this is a woman who walks in the Lord's favor, and that her spirit is more than likely completely at peace. Please lift her up in prayer.

My friend Allison is in need of prayer as well (the woman mentioned above happens to be her mother-in-law). Danny, her husband, was in a terrible accident almost 1 year ago (August 16, to be exact). I cannot imagine how difficult this year has been for her. Danny had a traumatic brain injury as a result of the accident, and he is still recovering neurologically. Danny and Allison have a son that isn't even a year old. He was born after Danny's accident. Alli will require the strength of God to get through the one-year anniversary of this accident, and I'm asking you to please lift her up as well. Her mother-in-law mentioned above usually helps her take care of Danny; with her mother-in-law having health issues currently, it's especially difficult for Alli to do everything that needs to be done. Danny and Alli's website

Thanks, and God bless you!

Better and Better

This week has started off great. The only thing that comes to mind that I did wrong was that I went to bed WAY too late yesterday evening. In fact, it wasn't until THIS MORNING at around 12:30am that I went to bed! But, the alarm clock still goes off before 6am no matter what, so I'm STRUGGLING to keep the eyes open right now.

Signing off...I'll update more tomorrow.

Reflecting on a very HOT week...

I am so sorry for anyone that is dealing head-on with the misery that is the 95 + degree temperatures. People are literally dropping like flies because the heat is unbearable for them, and that is heart-breaking. :-( It reminds me to thank God for blessings as simple as the cool air that flows through the vents in my home. In an instant, there could be a blackout or power-outage of some sort...Makes me wonder what people with babies and toddlers do in situations like this.

I'm fighting off some type of cold or sinus infection. I'm convinced it's the latter. I've been feeling pretty yucky over the past 3 - 4 days, and I have really needed to be in the bed. Instead, it's been business as usual for me. It finally caught up with me yesterday morning. Blech! I'll be glad when it passes/heals or whatever.

It's not even 8:30am as I type this, but I've been up since 6:30 listening to Olan talk to me about how Cheerios are not as tasty as Chocolate Chip Teddy Grahams, and how the episode of SpongeBob that was on television wasn't his favorite, and that he'd rather be watching Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. These are the things that are important to 2-year olds. Makes you want to go back, doesn't it? :-)

My mom told me yesterday that she is officially retiring after 33 years of teaching! I'm SO excited for her! She has a Type-A personality, and it makes me wonder what endeavours she will begin pursuing now! Meanwhile, my sister and I are going to have to start planning a big shindig to celebrate both mom's retirement, and her and my dad's 35, count 'em, 35 years of wedded bliss! We're shooting for sometime in early December, which gives us plenty of time to get moving. How exciting!

Well, I only have one more full week with Chris before he starts school. I know that everything will be okay, but GEESH. I'm in the mental-preparation stage right now. What time will I be getting up in the mornings? What time will I get off everyday from work? What will the kids and I do by ourselves in the evenings while Daddy is studying? What will I do when the kids wake up at 2am and again at 3:30am? These are only a fraction of the things that have crossed my mind.

More potential corporate drama. Bear in mind, at the place where I work, drama is HARD to find. I understand that this is a blessing not to be taken for granted. I know how bad things CAN be, due to the 6 years that I spent at a certain company which shall not be named. :-/ But, one of the things that I had hoped I would never have to deal with appears to be going down right in front of me. I'll update more about this later, unless this situation somehow dissipates before I even have a chance to find out whether I'm right or not.

More positive stuff...already planning for the Orlando trip in December! This will be our first year attending Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party (MVMCP). I've seen it on the Travel Channel, and it looks spectacular. Chris and I have been to Disney World during the Christmas season TWICE, but have managed to miss out on MVMCP both times. We must buy tickets VERY SOON, as they are usually sold out before October! Read up on it here if you're interested! AND, my parents are going back with us this time!! My parents are the BEST people on earth to go on vacation with! We always have a blast with them, and we're all counting down the weeks! (more than 18 to go, unfortunately)

Well, I'm going to go spend some time with Olie Polie, and wait for Daddy and Cassie to wake up so that we can all watch morning cartoons. :-)