Something About Me You May Find Surprising:
I hate camping. Just the idea of sleeping on the ground in a tent makes my back hurt. My idea of camping includes a real mattress and indoor plumbing. Here are a few examples:
Yes, please!
Why, of course, I'll stay here!
However, I might be persuaded to change my mind.....
Quotes to Live By:
As a writer I love the combinations of brilliant words into something powerful and true but the quotes I refer to the most are my own.
"Life is short. Love big."
Death has come often to my family with few goodbyes or peaceful exits and the brutal murder of a young cousin was life changing. When you're with someone who is amazing and makes you smile, reach out to them, hug them, express how you feel, and open your heart enough to let them know you mean every word. You may never get another chance.
"You can do this."
We are all capable of so much more than we realize. It's ok to be scared but it's not ok to just stop, too full of fear and self-doubt to move forward. Take a deep breath and believe in yourself, because you can do this!
Which movie can you watch over and over?
I've lost track of how many times I've seen Bridget Jones Diary. I relate stunningly well to her willingness to say exactly what she feels and when I've had a rough day or just need to de-stress, Bridget and a glass of wine will always do the trick. Plus, Hugh Grant and Colin Firth are rather easy on the eyes. ;o)
My favorite garden memory:
When my daughter was one she discovered that when squeezed, ripe cherry tomatoes would squirt from her fingers leaving a delightful mess. She grabbed as many tomatoes off the vine as she could reach and ran around the garden squealing and laughing, covered in soil and red pulp. She was oblivious to everything but the pure sensation of joy. It was a great reminder not to take my garden so seriously.
My daughter, age 1 in 1996
My favorite blog posts:
Two of my favorite posts are about two of my favorite guys: my son and James Bond. The James Bond Garden Tour is a piece of pure female fantasy while Growing a Man is about my son's decision to join the Army instead of attending college. While James Bond only exists within the pages of a novel or on a movie screen, as a combat medic my son is a true hero.
Thank you! I enjoyed getting to know you better! I especially like your quotes and your favorite garden memory. And I give my deepest appreciation to your son, a real American hero!
ReplyDeleteThanks! :o)
DeleteGreat post! And I'm with you regarding camping. Enjoyed it when I was younger, poorer, and had little kids (necessity is the mother of affection). These days I want a bed and a bathroom. With walls.
ReplyDeleteMe, too!
DeleteGreat to get to know you better. I remember both those posts and particularly liked the one about your son. True heroes are rare. As for camping - I can't agree more. Communing with nature does not have to be torture.
ReplyDeleteI just want to commune with my bed at night. Nature and I can hang out with each other when I wake up.
DeleteWhat a lovely post! I love the answers to your favourite garden memory and blog posts...and oh yes, I thinking camping well and truly looses its shine after 40 :-)
ReplyDeleteThanks!
DeleteI remember reading those posts you mentioned - they must therefore be in my fave posts I've read list. The image of your daughter with the tomatoes is fab - as is the photo of her looking so cute! Camping... well. We have a VW Campervan which we use to attend festivals and visit the beach. Although I am happy to sleep on a garden bed in my garden on a balmy summer evening (a rarity in England), a campervan is the nearest I will get to going camping. Great post!
ReplyDeleteThanks! The closest I'll get to camping is my hammock. :o)
DeleteI learned more about you, Tammy. I see you're very sincere person, writing about your sorrows and proud. Your son is a hero, congrats, dear! I completely agree with your words: We are all capable of so much more than we realize.
ReplyDeleteWe are mighty - all of us. :o)
DeleteWonderful post, Tammy, and truly touching. I'm with railwayparade - camping was great when I was younger but I'm just not into all the work and lack of comfort anymore (getting everything loaded, setting up tents, sleeping bags, tents getting flooded, port-a-potties (yuck!!)...). But I love the idea of camping, so I'm hoping that a trailer is in our future...I think of it as a hotel on wheels.
ReplyDeleteI loved it as a kid but the thrill has worn off. I prefer a lodge with a comfy bed and a bathroom. But a trailer might be fun, too.
DeleteThanks for sharing your favorite garden memory. It made me smile. We used to camp in a trailer, with a nice-size bathroom and a kitchen. Basically it was a hotel suite on wheels. I loved it! So I'm not into sleeping on the ground either. Kudos to your son. I remember that James Bond post.
ReplyDeleteI can handle a hotel suite on wheels. :o)
DeleteGreat post! I'm a camper but I have a camper on our truck now.Equipped with a little toilet and sink !! Yippee!! But we haven't camped this year as everything is burning up around here and we need new brakes. They are sitting in the garage just have to be installed-easy for me to say! Love getting to know you better, it's so true, life is short and can change in a blink. I did not know about your son and read your post. I found it very moving. He is a very brave dedicated man. Much like his parents I suspect. Such a cute pic of your daughter! Enjoy your last few weeks of freedom!
ReplyDeleteThanks. :o) My son's a keeper. I'm really proud of him. :o)
DeleteThanks for the reminder to watch "Bridget Jones's Diary" again. It's one of my feel-good faves, too. My blood pressure and optimistic attitude are improving just thinking about it. Sorry about the family passings. Unfortunately, that has been my experience too often lately, as well. I know this life is temporary, but it's tough when so many goodbyes happen unexpectedly (and yes, the expected ones, too) in such a short period of time. I love all your posts, Tammy, and your memory of your one-year-old daughter is so sweet.
ReplyDeleteIt was fun going through the baby pictures to pick that photo. I thought you might relate to this post. :o)
DeleteThis post resonated right down to my toes. Except for the kids part, as I have none. Guite wonderful.
ReplyDeleteThanks. :o)
DeleteA smashing post and lovely to get inside your head a little more/ Oh....I'm with you on the camping, I like a bed and plumbing too!
ReplyDeleteSorry to hear of the tragic death in your family, your quotes are brilliant and really get to the heart of things by knowing what's important in life!
Oh...Bridget Jones films are fab, the fight scenes always have me laughing. What a sweet memory of your baby daughter and awwwhhhh....bless your wonderful son, you must be so proud of him.xxx
Thanks! I like the fight scenes, too! They're so ridiculous. Death is a sneaky bastard, that's for sure.
DeleteNice post. I camped for many years but always inside a vehicle of some type with a bed and a bathroom. :-) Sincere thanks to your son for his service to our Country.
ReplyDeleteThank you :o)
DeleteWhat a wonderful post! If you were closer, I'd give you a big hug. But I don't have time to fly across the country - I have to go find a copy of Bridget Jones Diary to download.
ReplyDeleteI'd hug you right back!!! :o)
DeleteAlways a joy to visit and read your posts, and now we get a bit more about you....loved it. I'm a secret no camper myself...whoops the cat's out of the bag now for sure.
ReplyDeleteJen
Fortunately no one in my family likes camping so there's no pressure to go. Yay!
DeleteAww... sweet little baby...
ReplyDeleteThanks!
DeleteGrowing a Man is one of my favorite C.M.posts as well! I'm sorry for your losses. Camping in a tent doesn't sound like a good time to me either. A trailer could be fun but I like the options you showed even better!
ReplyDeleteI remembered talking to you about that post and thought of you when I was writing. My favorite camp site is the top photo. :o)
DeleteNice to learn to know you better Tammy, hmmm camping with James Bond might change your hate for camping. I have to say I love the differences of spending holidaysm, so I love real camping in a very small tent but not always, for I also love staying in a posh hotel or in a log cabin far from the madding crowd.
ReplyDeleteYour own quotes are great and I love your garden memory, can imagine how your daughter looked like covered with soil and tomatoe pulp.
You can be proud of your son.
Wish you happy gardening!
Janneke
I do agree that if James Bond is in that tent, then I will be, too! ;o)
DeleteI do so enjoy your blog, and I loved getting to learn a little more about you! I have been trying to get my husband to go camping with me for years, but he has the same views as you on the matter. What an adorable garden memory about your daughter! I remember the James Bond post, but only now just read Growing a Man. I think I got a little dust or something in my eye... *sniff!*
ReplyDeleteThanks so much! That post does cause our eyes to suddenly start watering.
DeleteAlways fun to read more about my favorite bloggers, and once again I see we have something in common. I don't usually like watch movies a second time, but 'Bridget Jones' Diary' is one I can watch again and again. Nor do I like camping. I went on too many camping trips as a teenager with my parents--give me indoor plumbing any day! What a sweet photo of your daughter. This reminds me of my next-to-youngest grandson who always likes to pick tomatoes when he comes over, mainly, I suspect, because Grandpa has taught him it's okay to throw away any that aren't quite perfect. There's usually a trail of smashed tomatoes on my driveway after he's been here:)
ReplyDeleteAt least he's easier to find if all you have to do is follow the tomatoes. :o)
DeleteAs a kid, I could never understand why my mom so hated camping. Now I do. Every little thing you reveal about yourself makes you more and more likeable.
ReplyDeleteAwww!! Thanks! That feels good. :o)
DeleteI enjoyed this post.....very wise words to live by.
ReplyDeleteYou can try camping out in your back garden first, you'd still have the comforts of home.
Maybe I'll just look out the window before I go to bed. ;o)
DeleteVERY Nice new header....you and I have a lot in common Tammy. The last time I camped, I crawled out of the tent on my hands and knees with my family in hysterics all around me because I looked like death warmed over. (Just hand me my damned cup of coffee PLEASE.) The photo of your baby girl at 1yr. with the pink pot on her head is precious. I was saddened by the death in your family, at least that is what I understood. My mantra these days has been: "Love everybody you have left like Crazy!" And I do. There have been so many losses. You must be very proud of the man you raised. I loved what you wrote. May he be safe and whole and come home to you often. Love, Susie
ReplyDeleteI am very proud of him. It was a hard choice but he knew it was the right one for him.
DeleteRight on, Momma, in every way.
ReplyDeleteThanks!
DeleteThese were wonderful and I love the first idea about camping in the tropics...paradise....I have outgrown camping in a tent! Your daughter definitely had the right idea to have fun in the garden. And a proud momma you should be...your son is a hero! Wishing his safe return to you!
ReplyDeleteThanks! She's a fun-loving kid who spent a lot of time getting dirty when she was little. :o)
DeleteYes on camping!....
ReplyDeleteHave fun and I'll wave from my hotel window!
DeleteCamping ? I'd rather stay home any day! It's just not fun! Lovely , honest post with so much I can relate to . I loved your James Bond post too!
ReplyDeleteThe campfire is nice and I love the smell of the woods but a well equipped camper trailer is the closest I'd ever come to camping. Nothing about a tent says 'safe and secure' to me. I prefer walls and a door that locks.
ReplyDeleteHi Tammy. I will say that even though I don't know your son, I'm very proud of him for what he's doing. I hope he finds his job as fulfilling as we find it important. I'm no camper either and that woodsy cabin is as close as I'd ever get to sleeping on the ground. I love the story of your daughter squeezing cherry tomatoes. It reminds me of just yesterday and the tomato mess on my shirt which happened after I foolishly (like a one year old) grabbed and gobbled a 'Brandywine' straight off the vine. But boy was it delicious! I always love your posts!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Grace! He has a totally different perspective on life than many people his age. I'm really proud of him, too.
DeleteHello Tammy girl ... This was a great post and a bit of an "insider" to your madcap brain ? LOL
ReplyDeleteCamping was fun as a girl but OMG as I grew older even as a teenager .. the thought of sleeping on the ground (even with as many air mattresses as the princess and the pea ? .. just say NO ! haha
Excellent movie to unwind to ... now I am fixated on "The Theory of Everything" about Stephen Hawking and his wife ... it is wonderful and I am so glad I read his "A Brief History of Time" .. I can see where it came from now.
Your son ... choosing that particular job in the army, is such a heartfelt choice ... you should be proud of him for that.
I have to say being a military wife for so many years though ...and knowing what it can cost .. my heart goes out to you in other ways.
Having said that ... you are so right to enjoy every bit of life like your adorable daughter with squeezing those tomatoes ... that is too cute to believe ! ... So for now on I think the phrase "Squeeze the tomatoes out of life" is my motto ! LOL
Joy : )
I love that phrase! My father was career Navy, my husband career Air Force, a cousin spent 20 years in the Marines, and my son is in the Army. My grandfather even attended the Coast Guard academy. We've covered all the bases. Madcap is a good word for me. If I were a color, I wouldn't be beige. :o)
DeleteNo, you certainly wouldn' t be beige, Tammy. You' d me more like one of those kaleidoscope thingies . Camping , yuck! I have never camped in my life.and never intend to. Comfy beds and plumbing are the necessities in life. How peverse to deprive yourself of them and call it a holiday.
ReplyDeleteLove your tomato - squidgeing daughter and you must be very proud of your son.
Hi Tammy, I don't do camping either, that first picture is certainly one of my (many) ideas of paradise - it's not possible to garden on sea-water so I wouldn't feel the need to pack a fork and spade with me!
ReplyDelete