tlc's Random Life

The family has figured out how to get anything they want from me. They learned this and used it against me last night.  Everyone knows my baby girl is expecting and since the day she told us about it I have quite literally given her and/or done anything she wants. She is spoiled like that anyway being pregnant made it 10x worse.   Last night all the kids came for Sunday dinner and some pumpkin carving, while trying to get dinner on the table she says "do you have the ingredients to make some cookies?" Of course I do was my answer. And I started mixing up cookies. Because baby wanted cookies baby is getting cookies. After getting some cookies in the oven we got ready to eat dinner and Stephen comes walking into the kitchen and asks "your making cookies for Brittnie? I said yes, he starts laughing Britt says "You are going to give yourself away." I am looking at them a bit confused at first then it hits me. I have been manipulated.  They figured out how to ...

I work for an ambulance company and my department is responsible for cleaning out the ambulances after the crews end their 12 hour shift.  Medics & EMTs are notorious for forgetting things on the trucks and nothing really surprises me anymore.  Today when I got to work this tin was sitting on the counter and honestly my first thought was "Why are there Christmas cookies when we haven't even had Halloween yet?"  I inquired about the tin, who do they belong to, where did they come from and what have you, even opened to verify that it did in fact have cookies in it.  Because let's be real, how many times have you opened a tin like this hoping to find cookies but was disappointed to find something other than cookies?  I laughed and made a comment about how there were actually cookies still inside.  Manny (a co-worker) said that another co-worker brought the tin in from a truck and when he left it asked "Who put cookies in the sewing tin?" I don't know wh...

I have been gifted many cups and mugs over the years.  Heaven knows I have bought more than a few of them myself. I never really think about it when I'm making a cup of coffee which one I'm using but just now this morning I realized that this one, yes this one here is special. It was just a sweet gift from a co-worker oh so long ago and let me say, that is what prompted this story and this flood of memories today. I worked in a billing office for Tulsa Radiology when my girls were little. Britt was only one when I left there. That is what stopped me in my tracks today, this simple gesture of a going away gift years ago. I am a little saddened that I don't remember the girl that gave it to me, well not her name.  I remember conversations we had (she worked at the desk across from mine) we knew some of the same people from my home town.  I remember that she had beautiful long straight dark hair, but I cannot fish her name out of my memory for nothing. Anyhow this morning...

  Every year for the past several years I have done my best at keeping a planner with all my quilt business stuff like social media posting schedules, when quilts were due, quilt store sales, shop hops, client meetings and lots of other things.  I tend to keep several personal things in it as well. I was on track with 2020 until February when my world stood still.  My family took a truly hard hit.  Those of you that know me know my dad past awayon the 29th.  I know we all heal differently and it has been crazy hard on everyone.  My quilt business has suffered as well. The planner that I bought for 2020 (photos above) sits in my sewing room closet in a large ziploc bag of other things that were in my backpack that I used to carry to all dads appointments.  I used waiting room time to do quilt business and hand stitch embroidery.   I have not touched neither of those things except to put them away since he left us. 2021 will be difficult for the first couple of months of that I am sure. ...

Growing up this dish was a staple at our house.  Moms favorite food I would say.  Her version of Spanish rice, a recipe taught to her from her mom & grandma.   Growing up many different people had it & loved it with the exception of a few (the one little girl Sally that dumped it in the floor & hid it with her plate🤣).  Man was mom mad.  Over all though most everyone that's ever eaten it liked it.  Now the rice above may look like my mom's Spanish rice,  only one thing is different...I used the instant pot (not the insta pot, the one we have isn't that name brand) but let me tell you...I LOVE IT!  It belongs to mom & dad, they only ever used it a few time because mom doesn't like it.  She says it makes the food taste weird.  It doesn't that is her just being resistant to change.  Since bringing it to my house (because my parents live with me) I have been using it every chance I get.  Today I made her recipe in the instant pot & let me tell you i...

I wore this old apron yesterday while serving beans at the benefit we had in my dads honor.  To most people they seen an old, stained, ratty apron that made me look like an old lady.  To me and dad we seen a little hint of grandma at his benefit and when we reached the goal we were hoping to meet he said to me "it was grandma's apron huh?"   Yes it sure was.  She was watching all her friends and family come together when it was important,  setting aside our pride & differences to come together for a common goal.  I wore that apron with pride yesterday and every time I put it on. (Though not often because I want to keep it as long as possible) I have no idea when she got it and I have no idea when exactly I got it but was I given a box of her old fabric and such once and it was stuffed inside the box.  I was already all in my thoughts of her and all she meant to me (the oldest granddaughter) when I came across this precious gem.  It smelle...

Well hellooo.  I know, can you believe it?  I am posting on the blog. Here we are the first day of 2019.  I still can't believe how fast this past year flew by.  I am learning that when you get older the years seem to fly.  Never really believed it until now.  My girls are adults, I've been married for nearly 25 years...it really does seem just like yesterday I was a kid living at home. I know I've said in the past "I'm going to post blog updates more often, blah, blah, blah" but lets be real here I am a bit forgetful & I get sidetracked easily.   I'm likely not going to post any more often than I already do but that's ok. 2018 was a pretty great year, busier than it seemed while I was in the thick of it.  Made some new friends, lost some old ones sadly.  Had a few adventures visited some countries outside the US.  Heck I even started building a small business & with that business created 17 quilts in one year. (That ...

I wish.  But to day it seemed like the case.  You see, these two gift cards have been sitting around on my vanity for who knows how long.  I know that every time I straighten things up I think to myself  "I need to throw these cards out.. but I'll check them first" and I get sidetracked and forget. I notice them every day and occasionally I think I'll take those with me to work and check them today only to forget them on my way out of my bedroom.  Today however I remembered them. Why?  I have no idea I just did.  And boy am I glad I never just threw them out.  The Walmart card has a whole $6.29 on it probably left from me buying a card to get fuel at some time or other. The Starbucks card has a whopping  $10 on it (it's like gold) however it will barely get ya one drink there but 10 bucks just sitting there collecting dust.   You can bet your last dollar that I would have never left a 10 dollar bill sitting there that long. ...

Hello, my name is Tammy and I am a fabriholic (is that even a word?  It needs to be a word) No for real though, I always go to the fabric store with the intent of only purchasing what I need to work on the current customers quilt and I always leave with extra fabric because "oh my gosh look at this it would make a perfect gift for (enter any name here)!"  And of course I have to get no less than 2 other coordinating fabrics because what kind of quilt can I make with only one fabric cut?  Today I went in for 2 yards of black fabric to finish up the top I'm working on and nothing else... I did really great.  There are so many amazing fabrics right now with spring and Memorial Day right in front of us.  But I held strong.  Touched them matched a couple but put them back and headed to the check out. Woah!!!  Wait I do need another one of those (a sweet little trible jelly roll)...I bought that one last time and well I can't make anything decent sized w...

Around this time last year I was in the sewing room a lot using a lot of fabric starch to get the fabric nice and crisp for sewing to get the best possible seams.  After buying a couple of bottles of Best Press fabric starch (around $7.00 for a 16oz bottle) I decided that there had to be a less expensive way to get the results I wanted.  So I called on every crafty (and not so crafty) gals trusty old friend Pinterest. Typed in a few key words... Starch Fabric starch Diy spray starch Diy starch And before I was sucked into a wormhole that has me completely sidetracked I found several home recipes for what I was looking for.  There really are a lot some using corn starch some using vodka.  I went with one of the many with vodka in it.  No not because I wanted to sip it occasionally.  But mostly because I didn't believe it would work. I made a trip to the local spirits store and got the cheapest bottle I could find (less than $7.00 for a small bottle) a...

Yep, that's right.  Another trip around the sun has come and gone, here I am still all talk and no writing.  This past year really just slipped right on by.  Not without notice though but defiantly without any stories written and shared here on the blog. Out on a date with my guy☺ We have had such a busy year, my baby completed her senior year of high school and is enrolled in college beginning the next step of her life.  She will be moving to her dorm sooner than I'd like.  Val has finished college and is about to begin her career in a field that she has always loved.  They both had milestone birthdays that required major celebrating (18 & 21) where has the time gone?  They are adults.  I could not be more proud of the adults the hubby and I grew.  With the girls going their own directions we have been spending a ton more time than usual together and it is nice.  It's like our dating days all over again only that awkwardness o...

It's true.  I love writing.  Maybe not everyone loves to read what I write, but I do so love writing.  The thing is I have this full time job thing and it seems to get in the way of all the good writing time.  OK well that may just be an excuse and not even a good one but it is really the only one I have.      I work this crazy 12 hour night shift with these crazy days at work.  It seems that when I am off work I am running a thousand different directions.  I never know where the time has gone to when it is time to go back to work.      But here is what I am thinking of trying.  I have started a list of things I would like to write about and share with you.  Yeah I know, it is mostly stuff going on in my life but also stories.  I like short stories.  So my blog is going to take a bit of a turn.  I am going to write.  I will be writing true stories and fiction stories.  I will s...

I got a phone call this morning shortly after Britt left for school, I figured she had forgotten something again, this happens about once a week with her...poor thing just like her mother in so many ways.  She didn't forget homework or permission slips but rather she forgot to turn the heat lamp off that she has on her baby chicks.  She asked if I could run out and turn it off because it would be warm today and despite my asking if she wanted baked chicken for dinner she insisted that I please turn the lamp off.  Of course I would.  After all what are moms for right? While out there I noticed they needed fresh food and water as well but I was unhappy with what she has been feeding them from.  So I headed to the shed in search of chicken supplies.  I know we have them, this isn't our first go round with chicks, we've had several.  I checked the small shed where all the feed use to be kept but turned up nothing.  So I wondered over to the big shed ...

about 6 weeks old Those of you that know us have probably had a chance to meet our most recent fur (grand) child Magnolia Jane, Maggie Jane, Maggie May, Magpie, Maggie moo she kinda has lots of names really.  She belongs to Miss Britt and let me just say I got in tons of trouble for allowing Britt to bring her home.  And sometimes I question myself as to what I was thinking when I told her I would talk dad into letting the dog stay. 1 year old Let me go back to the beginning.  We had taken Britts friend Chriss home after an Ag event.  While there he asked if Britt could come see his dogs babies.  Of course I said sure and for the record as she was leaving the truck I did say "don't even ask we are not taking one home with us"  Well she did ask and I did let her bring it to the house with us.  I did however the whole way home panic about what Stephen would say.  I knew he was going to be mad, he was going to tell us to return the dog to...

Ok well it probably isn't a secret but it is something that has been handed down from grandmother to mother to daughter to granddaughter in my family.  I have tried and tried and tried to make my mother's homemade flour tortillas.  And have failed more times than I care to count.  She never measures anything and I can't seem to cook a single thing without following a recipe and using good measurements. A few years ago my momma taught Val how to make them and she does great but she is nearly 20 and staying home to make flour tortillas is not something that is at the top of her list.  Today mom and dad are over visiting and we are going to have dinner this evening and needed the tortillas.  Mom was determined I was hoping to learn.  So as she was not measuring her ingredients I was taking them and trying to measure them out before she added the next ingredient.  I thought I had finally figured out how to measure her tortilla recipe.  It lo...

Most people would say the middle of the night while you're sleeping.  And yeah, I kind of agree with that except I don't sleep during the middle of the night very often due to work so sometimes dreams come from the middle of the night while you are trying to keep yourself awake to keep your night schedule going.  Just the other night I was staying up so that I would be able to sleep during the day before work and was flipping through the TV struggling to stay awake when I came across the very tail end of a movie called Wild   it has Reese Witherspoon in it.  It's about a woman who felt her life was crumbling around her and she decided to hike alone to clear her head and find herself (well at least I think.  It was just the end of the movie so I'm not too sure.) Thanks to google I have learned that this movie was based on a true story that was written by Cheryl Strayed.  My long time rule is that if a movie is based on a book you must first read the book (m...

For years now I have asked my immediate family (hubs, kids, parents, brother and his family.  Eleven of us total) if we could for just one year do a homemade Christmas.  Where everyone give and receives homemade gifts.  Not homemade by someone else and given as gifts completely homemade by each family member...this past Christmas they all agreed!  For Christmas of 2016.  I can not even express how excited I am about this. Everyone knows I love to sew and my dear brother made a comment a few weeks ago about not being surprised at Christmas because everyone was going to get a blanket from Tammy this next year.  I laughed.  He thinks he knows me so well but the reality of it is I have several months to scour over pinterest to find just the right gifts for each and everyone of them.  And though some are crossing their fingers and praying daily that they will get a new quilt (Janae) not every person will.  Today I did start work on one of my ...

For as long as I can remember I have always wanted a convertible Mustang.  When I say a long time ago I mean before I ever got my drivers license and I'm old so we all know that was a long long...long time ago.  But God had other plans for me.  I married at 20 and by the time I was 21 I had a baby and another at 25. So needless to say a mustang was not a practical car choice for us.  And well with 2 girls the budget wouldn't allow for one either.  But fast forward some years and I mean fast forward because it really does seem like yesterday that my girls were babies.  Life has changed so much, my babies are both nearly grown and though they are not out of the house they are however never really needing me to chauffeur them from here to there and back again.  I am no longer that softball equipment toting mom with girls, bats, balls & gloves spilling out of every car door.  It's for the most part just me going to work and having a little fun w...

It's no secret that I like to use the creative side of my brain often.  Most the time I am being creative in the sewing room with quilts of just about any color and design.  Sometimes however I will be scrolling through Pinterest  and find something that begs to be made that isn't sewing.  And that is exactly what prompted this latest trip to town for "crafty supplies".  I work nights and sometimes on my nights off my brain doesn't want to sleep no matter how hard I try, so on this night when I wasn't even near sleepy I went to town and gathered a few supplies I did not have on hand. (Sewing stuff I'm your girl, other craft stuff forget about it) Back in March Stephen and I celebrated 20 years of marriage and our girls threw us the sweetest party with our friends and family in attendance.  Part of their decorations were balloons floating with pictures of the life we had built hanging from strings on each balloon.  Now I know I have mos...

Or soda, I don't know what you call it and in most of my adult life I have called it soda.  Don't ask why, I don't know.  Here in the middle of Oklahoma I have been made fun of for it for years.  But it doesn't matter what you call it, it is bad for you.  I won't bore you with quotes from medical studies and such you know all the bad things they say about it just as well as I do.  For years and years I have been quite proud of my ability to say I have never smoked cigarettes or ever even tried any kind of drugs but the truth is, that is true for the most part. I have always been grossed out by cigarette smoke and never felt the need to try any type of drugs.  But ya know what?  That sweet sugary liquid that most people are chugging down every single day is just a legal kind of drug.  You get addicted to the ingredients in it just like you would any of those other things.  I have been drinking soda nearly all my life and I am now at this cr...