I'll be back ;)

Hi all,

Just a quick email to let you know that I'll be out of town for three days for work. We're shooting another power station, so I'll be tanned, tired and dirty when I get back :) I'm heading to a place called Biloela here in Queensland, I believe it's in the middle of nowhere, but if anyone wants to do a little googling about Biloela and let me know something interesting about the place, that could be fun :)

On a slightly more serious note - I know that several of you are going through really difficult and challenging trials at the moment, and that several hearts are hurting. I just wanted to let you know that you'll be in my thoughts and prayers, and I really hope things are better soon. I also wanted to quickly share one of my favourite quotes:

"I testify that when the Lord closes one important door in your life, He shows His continuing love and compassion by opening many other compensating doors through your exercise of faith. He will place in your path packets of spiritual sunlight to brighten your way. They often come after the trial has been the greatest, as evidence of the compassion and love of an all-knowing Father. They point the way to greater happiness and more understanding and strengthen your determination to accept and be obedient to His will."
- Elder Richard G Scott.

Things will get better.
xo Tammy

One last thing!

Okay, I know this is getting a little silly (three posts in one night!) but I was just talking to Abby, and she reminded me that I actually had something blog-worthy that she's been waiting for me to write about all week (can't believe I forgot!)

We had FHE over at Abby and James' house last week, and for activity, we played Sardines in the Dark. Now, that's the backwards hide and go seek game where one person hides and one by one as we find them, we have to hide too. We play it in the dark, because that makes it more interesting. Mum was up, and she decided it would be a good idea to go and hide in Abby and James' spare bathroom, in the shower!

I was the last person to find Mum, so when I did (and after I'd turned the light on), this is what I found:

I believe that's 9 people in the shower! It was hilarious! Until the shower door came off....

Don't worry - later, after a little post game discussion,

we got it back on.

It was a fun night :) Thanks Abby and James!

xo Tammy

Since we're talking and all...

I had a hard time thinking of things to write for my last post (the one I posted about 3 minutes ago), but now that we've started talking, I can think of lots of things to say! So I thought we should chat for just a few more minutes.

1) The car. I know, I know. The international competition is supposed to have been decided already! But the problem is that I can't make up my mind! Anyone who's ever had to go out to dinner with me to a restaurant that doesn't have Ceasar Salad on the menu, knows that I have a hard time with decisions - and the more trivial the question at hand, the more of a struggle the decision is! I'm aware that Tallulah is currently winning, but I'm pretty sure I don't like that one. In my head, I think I'm down to Wilson, Errol and Fritz. And right now, the poor car is going to have to have a first, middle and last name because I can't pick. The problem of course, is deciding which name should come first... I like Wilson because I like the whole 'Willlllsssooooonnnn' thing. I like Errol because he was a swashbuckling Aussie/Hollywood pirate devil and Fritz is just kinda cool. (I'm sorry Jonny - I realize that they're all boys names, but I just don't like Ariel....)

Anyway, the GOOD news is that the dolphin decals on the side of the car come off! I pulled some off today, and they don't actually cause any problems with the paint at all - wonderful news :) They do leave behind a little sticky residue that's hard to clean though, so it's a bit of a pain staking process that you get bored with half way through. Right now, my car has dolphins on one side, and none on the other. And the fact that one side has no dolphins is actually due to the fact that my brother (saint Michael) came out and finished pealing them off that side of the car after I got bored and wandered off. If it wasn't for him, I'd have one side of the car in dolphins, and the other side half in dolphins... Thank you Micky!

2) Last night, we had the twin's 16th birthday party. It was fun. They had a group of friends come over, and I led them through a series of games out in the back yard for a while. They were pretty dorky games, but the kind that are fun because they're so dorky: Musical Chairs, Donut on a string, Countries, Blind Man's Bluff, 3 legged races (with a twist), etc. etc. I have to admit my favourite part of the games was when they were playing body letters (they have to make words or letters with their bodies, and we pick the team we can read the best), and I had both teams trying to create a giant letter T for Tammy :)

.... Shortly after that I stepped down as games master and sent them off to eat dinner. The power was obviously going to my head....

The twins have a really lovely group of friends, and I really enjoyed seeing them have a good time. At Family Home Evening last week, everyone had decided that at their party, we'd sing Ben happy birthday first, and then 7 minutes later (because Oliver was born 7 minutes after Ben) we'd sing it again. We thought it was a great idea! So last night, following the plan, we sang Ben Happy Birthday. The problem is (and Oliver pointed this out only tonight mind you) that we actually forgot to come back and sing to Oliver 7 minutes later!

Sorry Oli!

3) This blog, by the way, almost got me killed late last week. I was driving home from work, and I was trying to think of something I could put up on my blog so you would all feel like you share my life, and I thought it might be kinda cool if I could take some photos of my 'drive home' so that you'd know what that's like. So I reached over and got my camera, and held it up in front of me as I was driving. What you would have seen if the photos had worked out (which they didn't) was only cars and lights on a dark freeway, so I'm not sure where I was going with this one, but know that I was thinking of you all. Instead, I swerved over the road a few times, and ended up with photos of either my reflection in the windscreen (I was frowning - obviously not ready for the next life just yet), and photos of squiggly lights from the street and car lights all around me.

I suppose that it would be a little more accurate to say that "This blog, by the way, almost killed several innocent commuters on their way home from work last week"... Luckily, all involved were safe.

Well, I could keep talking, but I should probably get to bed. Know that I love you all, and hope you're doing well.

xo Tammy

Just do it!

I know, I know. I haven't posted for a few days. This is bad, because my brand new audience will stop checking my blog every day if I let them down too often.

I keep waiting for something 'blog worthy' to happen, but if I continue to do that, you may be waiting for a while...

And besides, it's not as if I only have conversations when I think of something that's conversation worthy (anyone who's had a conversation with me knows that!). So I figure I should just approach this like I approach conversations.

Hi.

(This is where you're supposed to say something....)

....

*hmph*

I guess I'll just talk then *sniff*

Hey, I know! I got a new calling last week at church. I'm the ward organist. I also actually play the piano in relief society, and teach the 16-17 year old Sunday School class, but that's okay because I like having things to do.

Now, this isn't my first foray into the world of church organing. I actually had this calling for a few years when I was 14, so I didn't think it was too big a deal. Actually, I had a pretty traumatic experience when I played the organ back at age 14 (this is good - a tangent! We must be having a real conversation). I was late to church, and I ran in and sat at the organ just as the conducting member of the bishopric announced the opening hymn. I turned on the organ (an electric one in our old chapel), and it started playing a really loud, really awful drum beat! I guess some kid had been playing with the buttons and and left something pressed 'on'. I spent a few frantic seconds trying to make it stop, but I couldn't find the right button. So I just turned the whole organ off. I sat like that for a few moments, but everyone was still sitting there waiting for my to play the hymn introduction, so that OBVIOUSLY wasn't going to work. I switched the organ (and the drum beat) back on and pressed more buttons, before turning off the organ again, getting up off the organ seat, and walking over to the piano - the blessedly unelectrical instrument that helped me get through the rest of the meeting!

But I digress (that was for you Justin). The problem with an organ, is that you're supposed to play with one hand up on one level of keyboard, and the other hand down on another level of keyboard. That feels a little funny, and us 'piano players' really aren't used to it. You're also supposed to use your feet to play the base notes on a keyboard of peddles. Now when I was 14, I just used to sit with my feet tucked up, or hovering over the peddles (heaven forbid your foot should slip and hit a peddle halfway through a talk... you don't tend to make that kind of a mistake twice, in case you were wondering). This time round, I've decided that I really should learn to play the peddles too. I mean, the pedals are just another keyboard, right? So I don't need to learn any new notes. And besides, it's sounds SO much better if you can play the peddles.

I practised a little before church, but the whole peddle/hand thing is actually very confusing, and I played terribly during my practise, so I had to give it up during sacrament meeting. Until the closing hymn that is! I noticed that the base notes mainly hung around a G and a D. 'Brilliant!' I thought, 'I have 2 feet!'. I poised one foot over each note, and off I went! In the third verse, I even made the daring decision to move my right foot from the D to the C for a few notes - that's 3 notes with 2 feet!

At the end of the hymn, I looked up to see if everyone in the congregation was as impressed as I was - but they were busy bowing their heads for the closing prayer... *sigh*

After the meeting, I rushed over to my little brothers (who just turned 16, so they're actually not THAT little anymore) and burst out with 'I was playing the peddles with my feet!'. I just thought SOMEONE should know. Ben shrugged his shoulders and said 'I know, I heard it'. I didn't believe him (because it's not all that obvious at all really), but Ben assured me that he'd heard the normal notes played with my hands and then the 'really low Dhhhhhhh notes'. So there you go. My audience appreciates the efforts of my struggling feet.

:)

On a slightly more serious note, I really am a little excited to tackle a bit of a new challenge. The hymns are really close to my heart, and I love the chance to serve through music. I'm really grateful for my new calling.

xo Tammy

PS. Next Sunday, head over to your ward organist and say 'nice peddle playing'. I'm pretty sure it will make their day....

Grandma's Two Cents...

My Grandma's been trying to put an entry up on my blog, but she's got a new computer (a mac!) and has been having trouble with the computer. In a last ditch effort, she's emailed me her comment so I could read it and post it for her. When I read it through, however, I thought it was such a great comment that it deserved to be a post!

Thanks Grandma!
xo Tammy

_______

Hi Tammy, I enjoyed all you put into your Blog, even deciding to enter your competition, so the below are 7 name suggestions for your new addition:

1) 'Baby' is a cute, lovable name for your first. Humanizing your close escort, demonstrates a warmth that brings a bonding not metallic. Also, instead of calling "Wilsoooooon" (it is too stodgy), when 'Baby' is lost, you could call out "Baby, come to mummy". Who would ever frown around a baby?

2) The name "Hello' is friendly; it would save much embarrassment if you lost her in the car park. You could just call out "Hello" while waving your arm. It is more than likely many people would respond likewise thinking you were greeting them. By the time they found out you were not their long lost friend, you would have at least been given a greeting.

3) When I viewed your baby, I didn't see dolphin wings, I saw curveaceous waves. So you could name baby 'Wavy', while greeting her likewise always in a friendly gesture. A friendly salute.

4) If you chance to meet a frown do not let it stay, quickly turn it upside down and smile that frown away; how about naming your first child - 'Smiles' ? It might start an infectious epidemic - how wonderful!

5) When I viewed the photograph on your Blog of the two feet in some car, I thought of a good name - 'Tootsie'. It is a musical name, and you wouldn't need to call out 'Tootysie'; you could just sing 'Toot Toot Tootsie' - you do know the song don't you? What a happy thought, each time you both went out. It is an appropriate name, owing to her being the feet for your travels together.

6) The registration of baby's birth has the letters GWA on record. Perhaps this is the symbolic meaning - GRAN WINS APRIL. Now, I'm not implying that I'm going to win your car, but I am hoping that I will win the competition with any one of my submitted names. The name 'April' would be in keeping with her birth month, likewise mine is in April; therefore, GWA as depicted is appropriate if I were a winner.

7) It seems I have naturally accepted your baby is a female, and why not? Finally, my last suggestion is the name 'Bubbles' It is so fluid, so effervescent - so alive and invigorating! 'Bubbles' is just so happy, wanting to get up, up and away: Your grand dad and I called our FJ Holden 'Bubbles', with nothing ever bursting. It is an uplifting name. Do you agree?

Well there you have it Tammy, maybe you like one of these names to christen my first GREAT GRAND DAUGHTER: 'BABY', 'HELLO', 'SMILES', 'WAVY', 'TOOTSIE', 'APRIL' or 'BUBBLES'. I have named my little car 'LADYBIRD' (she is black and red).

Love from Gran xox

Things that make me smile...

I was walking (running) through the store on Saturday trying to grab several things in a short period of time, and I realized I was frowning. I made a mental note to stop frowning and put a pleasant expression on my face. Done. Check. Move on to the next item on the list. Minutes later, I was standing at the checkout and a little old lady in front of me turned around, took one look at me and then smiled - I realized I had been frowning again! It was so nice to be smiled at by a complete stranger, and I thought 'I'm going to start doing that'.

Of course, I'm going to have to conquer the frowning thing first!

So here are a few things that have made me smile lately :)

1) I was in church last Sunday, and all of a sudden a toddler up the back let out an infectious peel of laughter. I love that! It made me want to laugh out loud too. The sound of a really little child laughing is wonderful.

2) I was driving down the street on Saturday, and I saw a car on the side of the road that was piled HIGH with tree branches. I guess they'd been doing yard work. I turned back to look at the car when I'd passed it, and from the back, it just looked like a giant ball of tree with wheels :) That made me smile.

3) My family make me laugh. For Jonny's birthday the other week, Jessima (Jonny's wife and the world's best sister-in-law) and Abby had set up a bunch of games for us to play. My favourite was 'Sardines in the Dark'. It's that reverse hide and go seek game, where one person hides and everyone else looks for them, and then, when you find them, you hide with them. Anyway, we decided to play it in the dark (because we'd had so much fun playing Murder in the Dark minutes before). Micky had hidden (he was just sitting in the corner of the kitchen, but we didn't know that). Anyway, on our way into the family room, Jonny fell over onto the floor, and then about 5 or 6 of us who were following immediately behind him, all felt him on the floor, and thought we'd found Micky, so we excitedly plonked ourselves right down on top of him! We sat there laughing our heads off (not so silently), and then we started laughing even louder when someone finally said 'Is micky even here?!' We had to turn the light on to prove that we were all sitting there for no reason :) Good times.

4) Reading comments on my blog makes me smile. Especially from my oh-so-competitive siblings who are eager to win the 'international competition'.

5) Our backyard makes me smile. It's so green - I love it. On Saturday it was really windy - I LOVE the wind - and it was rainy (my FAVOURITE weather). I was very happy looking out the kitchen window at it, and I even wandered outside to enjoy it.

6) I was driving home from work on Friday night listening to a radio show that's hosted by two very funny guys. They were up to their latest antics, and I suddenly realized I was sitting in the middle of not-going-anywhere traffic, laughing my head off in the car by myself. That made me happy :)

7) Watching home movies of Reuben make me happy. My favourite to date, though, has been the running around a band-aid video :)

8) Remembering my holiday to Perth with Jenny makes me smile. We had such a wonderful time. Jenny, remind me to send you a copy of an article I read in the Readers Digest the other day, about a women and her friend who went to a day spa but didn't know 'what to do' and did everything wrong - it was totally us!

9) Watching my Mum laugh about silly, silly things when she's really really tired, makes me laugh a lot :)

See? Lots of reasons to not be frowning in the grocery store! I'll work on it ;)

xo Tammy

Judge's feedback to date....

Isn't this fun?! :) Those are some great suggestions.

Right now, I'm leaning towards Errol and Tallulah (notwithstanding Jonny's "Two dollar hooker" concern). I think they're both pretty great.

Flipper, Dolly and Jolly (honestly Jonny!) are all OUT! because I hate the dolphins! (I'll let you all know how the blow-dryer thing goes...)

Emily's comment makes me think that 'Wilson' might actually be a good name for a car too - then I could yell 'Willllssooooonnnnn' whenever I forget where I've parked it in the carpark (which happens ever so occasionally...)

Now Jenny, I'm all for remembering the prophets, but what if the car breaks down and I get annoyed with it? or I go weeks without washing it? I don't think I could handle the guilt!

Justin - were you actually suggesting that I name a car 'Monty Python's Flying Circus'? I'm not going to say 'no' just yet (it's a rather intriguing suggestion), but I'd like a little further information on where you were going with that thought... haha!

And now Jess: Please tell me how to pronounce 'Rawgnild'.... I don't know if I like it or not, because I can't actually say it out loud ;) Maybe spell it out for me like they do with people's names at the back of the Book of Mormon... Jenny, dido on the 'Cessel' suggestion. Should that be pronounced 'Cecil'?

I've decided this competition will close in 3 days by the way, as every competition (especially prominant international ones) should have a deadline, so keep the suggestions coming!

And Mum, that means you're going to have to get a blog login within the next two days...

xo Tammy

PS. Abby. I'm not having a blonde child. If I get one, I'll assume there was some kind of mistake made 'up above' and donate the poor thing to you and James....

Name that car!

Last week, after a year and a half, I finally bought a car! Yay!

For the last year and a half, I've been driving my brother Michael's extra car. Now, I know it's not normal for someone to have an 'extra car' but Micky did, and it's been very convenient :) He had a car, he bought another car, and just as he was about to sell his existing car, I came home. He very kindly said 'Drive my extra one until I sell it, or until you get a car' and here we are - a year and a half later!

So finally, last week, after a year and a half, I bought a car! Yay!

Now, it's nothing flash, just a small second hand car, but it had low mileage (which is apparently important) and it's only a four cylinder (which apparently means I won't have to spend much money on Petrol) and Jonny (the brother who came with me to make sure I didn't buy a dud) said it looked 'clean under the hood' (I'm all for cleanliness) and last but not least, it's a cute little car (which was my criteria).

Now, the car only has ONE problem - it has these horribly ugly dophin decals on the side of the car (as you can see in the above picture). I thought 'really? dolphin decals? That's a shame I liked this car... I guess I'll have to look for another one'. But Jonny said it was a stupid reason to not buy an otherwise perfectly good car. So here I am, stuck with dolphins on the side of my car. *sigh* I'm sort of hoping that sometime soon they'll get stuck in tuna nets and I won't have them on the side of my car anymore.... *gasp*

Now, I'll figure out how to get rid of the dolphins, but I need your help to name my car. Every good car needs a name so that instead of 'I'm going to take the Lanos' you can say 'I'm going to take Grover, or Toby, or Nellie' etc. So far, the only real name I've come up with is 'Flipper' and since I'm trying to move away from the dolphin thing, I need a different name.

So let the games begin! Take a look at the car, and send me your name ideas. I don't have a 'prize' as such for the winner, but just think, I'll announce that your suggestion was the winnning suggestion, and then you'll be able to say that they won an international competition!

Woo-Hoo!

Can't wait to hear you ideas :)

xo Tammy

Ppsssstttt!

I wrote a comment in my last post....

xo Tammy

Does this work?

Okay, this is just a test to see if:

a) This posting thing works, and

b) If anyone will read my blog and comment.

SO if this works, and you plan to read and comment on this blog, then leave me a comment! (one with lots of encouragement, so I actually post again!)

xo Tammy