“Woodworking lights up my soul,” said lifelong Karns resident Kayla Cooper, who opened her business, The Crafty Cooper, in 2013. She makes inspirational signs and artwork from geometrical shapes.

“I all started when my mom gave me a handsaw that belonged to my grandfather. I started tinkering around with different things and it took off from there. I got addicted to creating things. A whole new world opened up for me and now I own just about every saw there is.”

In 2019, Cooper diversified into Flower Girl Blanks. A blank is a block typically made of wood or resin that a lathe turner will make into a pen, wine stopper, letter opener, Diamond Painting tool, or some other rounded object.

Cooper makes blanks with resin, real flowers, and wood. She said the blanks are now 95 percent of her business, shipping to 48 states and eight countries so far.

The two businesses are so successful she hired two employees and an apprentice.

The idea for Flower Girl Blanks started when she posted a video to a lathe worker’s Facebook page with about 20,000 members.

“The admin of that group took me under his wing. He taught me so much. I’m self-taught in woodworking and blank making. So I was eager to learn from him. It’s all been watching YouTube videos, doing research, and a lot of trial and error.

“I loved working with the lathe, but most of the blanks were very masculine. I wanted something more feminine, so here came the resin and the flowers.”

Cooper and her husband, Brent, have a son, Nolan, 5, and a daughter, Ansleigh, 8, She said she has to be highly organized to create and still be there for her family.

She reserves the first week of the month to fill custom sign orders. The second and fourth week are open for her to make new things and expand her product line. The third week of the month is used to fill all her lathe custom orders from her own floral blanks.

She wakes up two hours earlier than her family every morning to make a small batch of blanks. By Tuesday, she’s ready to post 100 blanks to sell on her webpage at $20 to $30 each.

“I stay organized. That way I’m making the most of my time and still able to take my kids to school, pick them up, and go to their extracurricular activities. I have to be highly organized to pull it all off. I used to fly by the seat of my pants, but I’ve learned over time that structure is necessary."

Cooper holds a bachelor’s degree in recreation administration from Middle Tennessee State University.

She said her future is bright. With the help of her staff, she may find time to do vendor shows when they come back online after the pandemic.  

Info: www.flowergirlblanks.com, TheCraftyCooper@yahoo.com, or find Flower Girl Blanks and The Crafty Cooper on Facebook.

When the COVID-19 pandemic began last year, it sparked an idea for a new research project for Phoebe Tran. Tran is a doctoral candidate in epidemiology at Yale University and a Farragut High School graduate.

Tran used newly created datasets measuring “social mobility data captured through cell phones,” she explained. These allowed her to assess the relationship between social distancing and COVID-19 deaths, taking into account local differences such as hospital proximity.

She and her brother Lam Tran, a student at the University of Michigan, used this data to write a paper published in the Journal of Medical Internet Research: Health and Surveillance.

“We found that not following social distancing, as measured through cellphone use outside the home, was associated with a significant increase in COVID deaths during the early months of the pandemic,” Phoebe Tran said.

“The key message is that practicing social distancing is really critical in helping keep COVID deaths as low as possible as we go forward.”

Her interest in epidemiology began when she took a public health class as an undergraduate at Emory University.

“On the first day of class, the professor told us that in a single day a physician can help at most 30 patients directly,” she said, “while although they would probably never get to see the people they helped in person, someone in public health could potentially improve hundreds of thousands of lives. This really stuck with me.”

Her primary research is on cardiovascular disease. She said cardiovascular complications that can come with COVID-19 have been a concern for those who study and treat cardiovascular disease. They’re also troubled by “people who are suffering a heart attack or stroke being hesitant to go to the emergency room because of fears of getting infected with COVID,” she said.

She has also written several papers on how sociocultural factors, such as race or sexuality, can affect a person’s medical care. She looked at how these factors may make someone more or less likely to seek preventive care for diseases such as cancer, diabetes or HIV.

“I became interested in health screening disparities due to things I observed during my own visits to the doctor,” she said. In her experience, medical language was sometimes hard to understand, and “certain medical history questions were phrased in a very stigmatizing way.”

She found, for example, that people in rural areas were less likely to be screened for breast cancer and HIV compared to those in urban areas.

Nonetheless, “I’m hopeful that things will improve in the future,” she said. Knowing about these disparities means “we can work to reduce them, such as through targeted health promotion efforts, and with the introduction of sensitivity training for public health and medical professionals.”

Phoebe Tran still uses things she learned at Farragut in her studies at Yale. She remembers in particular a human geography class that “taught me so much about the importance of sociocultural factors and how these factors drive human behavior on a large scale.”

Her favorite high school memory? Student government lock-ins. “It was really exciting to get to explore the school at night and also a bit funny how places like the gym seemed a little spooky after dark,” she said.

For life coach Katie Billings, helping people achieve their dreams brings joy to her own life.

“I love bringing inside-out transformation in people who are somehow stuck or overwhelmed in achieving their goals. Seeing that joy spark in their eyes is just everything to me.”

Billings started as an academic tutor working with kids living with attention deficit disorder, anxiety, bipolar, and a number of reading disorders. She said she enjoyed giving her clients strategic tools to achieve their goals.

When the tutoring company closed in 2018, she said God opened a window for her to become a life coach in earnest. She found a mentor and began her training at the Professional Christian Coaching Institute.

 A life coach focuses on setting and achieving goals, while a therapist’s focus is on mental health and emotional healing.

Billings’ clients are those who are somehow stuck in their relationships, careers, hobbies, or life in general.

“I often get clients who say, ‘I’m not sure what my life is supposed to be, but this ain’t it.’ I listen deeply to their words and their tone. Sometimes they say I want to focus on X, but they keep talking about Y. I’m able to help them hear from themselves what’s going on.”

Billings draws on her own life experiences, having overcome depression through coaching tools and therapy.

“I was sick of how my depression was affecting my relationships. I prayed one day for relief and God revealed to me that I could choose joy, I could choose to live differently. I started being more mindful. I learned how to stop my mind from spiraling by interrupting the thought and replacing it with a positive thought. I overcame depression within a few months.”

Billings gives three actions for success, saying “God comes first. I start my day with prayer and I end my day with prayer.

“Watch what you think. Choose joy each and every day, cultivating your thought life. Concentrate on those things that are lifegiving for you.

“Be highly present. Make sure your mind is fully present in the moment.”

Billings earned a bachelor’s degree in English from UT in 2014. She is pursuing accreditation from the International Coaching Federation.

She lives in Hardin Valley with her husband, Alex, and her cat, Hobbes.

Her hobbies include running, hiking, cooking, reading Jane Austen and Shakespeare.

“Being outside is lifegiving for me. It brings me joy, so I make sure to spend some time outside every day, weather permitting, and I definitely read every day. I did my undergraduate thesis on Shakespeare and I still love to read him.”

Billings has speaking engagements at the Christian Student Fellowship at UT on her calendar. She is writing an e-book and continues to grow her practice.

When Dominique Davis says she’s just an average mom trying to entertain her two young daughters, she sounds believable.

Then, when she let it slip that one of her friends calls her “Dom-unique,” that conjures up a different perspective.

Davis established her platform out of necessity a year ago. Since then, “Create Imagine Play” has become a go-to social media staple for many Knoxville moms — and beyond.

“When the pandemic shut down everything last March, I was with our two daughters 24/7,” said Davis, referring to Charleigh, 5, and Henleigh, 2. “I wanted to avoid them having too much time on the TV and their tablets. So I came up with crafty ideas to keep them busy.

“Then, my friends would post what they were doing on social media. That’s all I was doing, so I decided to post it. Those posts got a lot of interest from moms in the same situation.”

That was the grassroots beginning to the premise of her social media interaction, but it didn’t even get a name until several months later.

As a contributing blogger for knoxvillemoms.com, she put a name to what she does — “Create Imagine Play” — in October.

A native of Madisonville, Tenn., Davis graduated from the University of Tennessee-Chattanooga in 2009. She came to Knoxville for a job and got married. When she and her husband, Jeff, welcomed Henleigh to the world almost three years ago, she decided to be a stay-at-home mom.

“I don’t like to sit inside and stay home,” said Davis, who has lived in Powell since 2012.

“I’d go insane. We’d go to the zoo, the Muse (Museum) or have play days at the parks. When all that ended, we had to find something to do.

“I was always figuring out some sort of craft, experiment or activity that they could do. I’d send the girls downstairs to play while I put it together upstairs.”

Davis is emphatic to say that what she does is hardly unique, though her friends may disagree. She leans on www.busytoddler.com and other websites for ideas. The big difference is that she’s not trying to sell any products. She’s more of an independent resource to judge what works and what doesn’t.

There are definite activities that get the thumbs-up from Davis and some that aren’t worth the time or the effort — at least through the eyes and interests of her two little girls.

Davis is a big believer in Play-Doh sensory kits. She’s even gotten to the point where she can make her own and can share the recipe.

“My girls could create scenes and use their imaginations to play out a story,” she said.

“After a while, I try to change the theme so it doesn’t get boring.”

Her daughters love the movie “Frozen.” Really, how can “Frozen” ever get boring?

Anyway, there’s also kinetic sand that will maintain the attention of a couple of little ones for a while.

“It doesn’t mold with the consistency of Play-Doh,” Davis said. “It’s fragile, but it feels good.

“I tried making it once and it didn’t turn out. It’s not so messy that a vacuum can’t handle it.”

“Any crafts that involve gluing, cutting or coloring,” she said. “They’ll work for two minutes and say, ‘I’m done.’ It wasn’t worth my time getting it set up.”

Davis said she has had success putting together a maze of cardboard boxes that offered a challenging course to crawl through. Then there’s the outdoor activity of letting the girls write on the house windows with special soapy markers then have them wash them off — and, the windows are clean.

“If you’re a mom, you should just try these things,” Davis said. “See what works for you. It can be overwhelming at times. Live and learn. Just don’t stop trying.”

What on earth does “dying to the world” mean?

I’ve been reading "The Art of Dying Well," by 17th century Jesuit Robert Bellarmine, and plague was heavy then, as it is now.

Near the end of his own life, Bellarmine asked, “How does one die well?” 

His first thought? “To die well, one must live well.” 

His second? “To live well, one must die to the world before dying in the flesh.” So what does this mean?

Part of my job as a pastor is to baptize and bury and give counsel all along the way, so I care about this question. Also, my father is dying. 

For a year, COVID has cast a pall over everyone, an increased sense that life is more fragile than we like to imagine. It’s also made it hard to visit aging parents, especially in care facilities, out of state.

Yesterday, Dad’s doctor said he’s nearing the end phase of Alzheimer’s. So how does one die well, and is there anything I can do to help?

Help, which I’d like to share, came to me from scripture in Bellarmine’s preface. “The perverse are hard to be corrected, and the number of fools is infinite” (Ecclesiastes 1:15). 

I laughed out loud at that but couldn’t remember ever seeing it, though I read Ecclesiastes often. I find the whole thing funny, all our misguided effort compared again and again to “striving after wind,” like a running, scriptural fart joke, letting the literally proverbial air out of our pretentions. 

So I checked my Bible (NRSV), and it’s, “What is crooked cannot be made straight, and what is lacking cannot be counted.” That’s pretty different!

Turns out, it’s a split between scholastic (more Catholic) and humanist (more Reformed) traditions. And help, for me, came from a margin note in a 1560 Reformed translation.

“Man is not able by all his diligence to cause things to go otherwise than they do. Neither can he number the faults that are committed, much less remedy them.” (On wordhistories.net, under Alphabetical Index, miscellany, see On Biblical Translation.) 

A lot of things go the way they go. There can be accountability, but some things can’t be fixed. You have to start where you are.

In a sense, if you’re blown about by worldly desires, merely reacting, you’re not really alive. You’re hungry, you eat. You’re angry, you act out. It’s automatic. You’re like driftwood, tossed on the sea. 

Dying to the world, setting impulse aside, places a gap between stimulus and response. You’re free to choose. You’re not just an object, but a choosing subject. You’re alive. So somebody can hate you and you can love them. Someone can annoy you and you still serve them. 

My dad’s simple faith, but more, his simple faithfulness, a lifetime spent caring for others, has always exemplified this for me. 

I think he and God have got this. It reminds me too, I want to be like him. And with him while I can.

John Tirro is pastor of music and campus ministry at St. John’s Lutheran Church. Info: sjlcknox.org.

More:Tennessee's NCAA tournament trips have been plentiful but unproductive | Mike Strange

Thinking back almost two years, Lila Hampsmier wishes she could have hired herself to get through a rough patch.

A private duty pediatric nurse, the 2012 Lincoln Memorial University graduate who lives in the Powell area wasn’t prepared for the rigors of postpartum. After her son Wyatt was born, she struggled with the mental and physical transition that goes along with a new baby.

Without family nearby to help, Hampsmier can see now that she battled with postpartum anxiety for nearly eight months.

“Not enough sleep, chores around the house just add up,” she said. “I needed some help.”

That’s why Hampsmier trained to be a postpartum doula.

A postpartum doula is there to help the new mother navigate through this uncharted territory. Whether it’s lessons on breastfeeding, advice on how a baby should sleep, or just watching the baby while mom treats herself to a shower, the doula is an extra pair of hands and a resource for some tough questions.

Hampsmier said she has to pack away her medical training when she enters her role as a doula. She’s not there to treat or assess, she’s there to help — especially during a pandemic.

“Sometimes mothers will struggle with their health after having a baby,” Hampsmier said.

“In these COVID times, family members may not be able to help like they normally would. That’s where a doula could help.

“Someone in that role might be able to identify mood disorders that others might overlook. They could notice behaviors and thought patterns and suggest they be evaluated further.”

Hampsmier is in the infancy of this new launch. She trained with workshops over four weeks as well as evaluations in different circumstances. While the training has been completed, the certification process may still take a while.

Certification is just a bonus for someone to take the role. It’s not mandatory.

On-the-job training has been helpful for Hampsmier. She has learned how important communication can be in such a relationship.

“It’s important for me to learn the client’s expectations,” she said. “Learning communication techniques is important. I’ve learned about asking open-ended questions.

“Finding evidence-based answers to the questions the client has is a big part of the job. There are a lot of opinions on the Internet. Finding those that are backed up with evidence and facts is what I need to do.”

Anything from breastfeeding tips to the baby face-sleeping to co-sleeping in the parents’ bed are issues that Hampsmier has had to research.

She said the same motivation that drew her toward nursing is the calling that has placed her in the realm of doulas.

“I’ve always wanted to serve others in their time of need,” Hampsmier said. “I want to be able to empower new parents.

“Self-care is so critical for the new mother. You can get so wrapped up in the newborn that you forget about yourself. I’m there to make sure the new mother remembers to do something they enjoy.”

Hampsmier said doulas typically charge anywhere between $20 and $35. A normal shift can be anywhere between four or eight hours.

To contact Hampsmier, go to her business page of Facebook: @gentlecaredoulas.

Carol Z. Shane, Shopper News

Marianne Wilson’s wish for everyone these days is to “become active in your garden. After the year we’ve been in, we need the beauty and color and plants and birdsong and spring peepers!”  

Wilson’s love of nature, and the beginnings of her business, Wilson Garden Design, can be traced to her Corryton childhood. 

“We lived on four acres and Daddy farmed about three of them, all food. I was a tomboy — always running around on the farm. I was Daddy’s shadow.  

“He would get bare-root strawberries and put them in buckets of water; we’d plant them and there were strawberries as far as the eye could see. And digging up potatoes was like digging up gold. 

“Mom canned everything; during the winter we would continue to eat our harvest. It was great to grow up that way. I was hooked!”  

Though Wilson's craft is geared more toward flowers, food is never far from her mind because she’s an expert on the tiny flying, crawling, creeping army that keeps the grub growing. She knows that if we give beetles, flies, bees, bats, butterflies, moths, wasps and hummingbirds what they need, they and the plants they pollinate will thrive. 

“Certain plants draw certain pollinators — for instance, beetles want something cupped or flat, like a magnolia or daisy. Wasps, which eat harmful insects, like something cone-shaped that they can grab on to.”

Starting with a “mood board,” Wilson uses her extensive knowledge to create landscapes that not only benefit the critters, but also combine colors and textures in stunning ways. It’s a real science, sorely needed in a time when pollinators are in drastic decline. 

Formerly perennial manager at Stanley’s Greenhouse, she started a workshop series on pollinators for the general public there and nurtured a growing interest in the topic. 

“When I started the campaign they’d ask, 'what’s a pollinator?' They didn’t even know the word.” Soon people were coming in, bringing their ideas to run by Wilson.

“I started to work with them on their designs. I would go home and do a ton of research.” Wilson retired from Stanley’s in 2016 — she’s still very close to Monte, son of the founders — and has been full-time on her own ever since. 

Wilson credits her parents with her entrepreneurial spirit — dad Frank started his own hairdressing salon, Craftsman Coiffures, and has since died. “Best friend” mom Laverne still lives in Corryton and runs Set in Stone Sisters, offering vintage images of Knoxville and East Tennessee on coasters and other products.  

She’s encouraged that people want to do better by the bugs, and her schedule stays packed.

“I really emphasize education when I work with clients. I want to teach them about their land, their plants, their garden — how it all works together and makes a difference.” 

Find out more at wilsondesigntn.com and instagram.com/wilsongardendesign.

Need a logo or funny saying printed on a T-shirt, hat, coffee tumbler or apron? Chances are Nancy Greene can whip it up for you at her new Halls store, M&D Creations.

“I just started it to have fun,” said Greene. “I printed shirts for painters, other trades shirts, and landscape companies. It is nice because I can do a one-off design on 20-40 shirts, hats, or aprons. It is a great way to personalize a gift or promote your own business.”

Greene said she started "Nancy Fancy" out of her small two-bedroom Halls home using her first Cricut machine.

“I have been doing crafts for my entire life of some sort or another and when I started doing this with my Cricut, it just morphed into this,” she said, indicating the full workshop space at the rear of the store.

“I can also do Sublimate (heat transfer) on vinyl and I am just starting to use my white toner printing — it widens the ability to print on any kind of shirt,” said Greene.

Turnaround for orders is usually three to four days.

“I have most everything in stock, and sometimes turnaround is a few days or even just a few hours,” said Greene.

M&D Creations — M for Mother and D for Daughters — is run with the help of Greene's daughters, Tabitha, Paige and Amanda Skaar.

Tabitha Skaar makes custom dog treats and toys under the label Big Boy Biscuits.

Paige and Amanda make bath salts, scrubs, bath teas, homemade natural bug spray and even personalized crayons for their small business, Skaar Sister Crafting. They sell their handcrafted items in the store.

“We have 12 makers that bring in their craft and skill that is much different to mine,” said Greene. “We try to keep it as one single product item so there is no competition. This has just been my dream for a long time, I can have something fun and help other people grow and start their own businesses.”

Each of the makers accept custom orders. “If a customer wants a crocheted gnome, a picture frame or a tumbler in a particular color I have gotten to know the makers on a personal level and know what they can make or can’t make. Our pottery lady has only been in here for a few weeks and she has already had a couple of custom orders.”

M&D Creations has attracted attention from customers visiting their neighboring businesses. “They say they can’t wait to shop here and that they have been looking for unique presents they can’t find in a big box store,” said Greene. “One customer came in and said she will be ordering T-shirts for their regular girls’ trips.”

M&D Creations is at 6828 Maynardville Pike, in the shopping center behind Taco Bell, a few doors down from KARM. “We painted and hung fixtures in mid-January and we were open by the 5th of February,” said Greene.

A grand opening event is planned for April 24. “We want to let the world know we are here. We will have food trucks, giveaways, prize drawings and some special cookies," said Greene. “It is just going to be a fun day.”

In the future, Greene plans to offer painting and craft classes where people can come in and design their own T-shirt or tumbler.

M&D Creations is open 10 a.m.-7 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday and closed on Sundays and Mondays. Follow @mdcreationshalls on Facebook for hours and new products.

It’s Women’s History Month, and one of the most fabulous women in town is Eugenia Almeida, the Argentinian immigrant and artistic visionary behind A New Hue. 

“We do concrete, plaster, stencil, faux finishes,” Almeida says of her company, begun in 2014. “We do walls, ceilings, floors. Many faux finish companies are small — just one person. We do it big!”  

Almeida came to the U.S. 36 years ago with the first three of her five children and her husband, Raul, who was pursuing advanced degrees at UTVMC. She spoke Spanish and French, but no English. 

“It was very difficult. When you are an immigrant you need to belong. Even when our roots are in another place, we need to extend ourselves.” She learned the language as she made her way in her new country. 

When her youngest child entered elementary school, Almeida, whose parents were artists, found herself wanting to fulfill her own artistic calling.

Having painted “anything and everything” in friends’ houses, she began to study other techniques and mediums. When her husband traveled for veterinary conferences, she went along, learning plastering in Italy, France and Spain. 

Her first large local job was for the Knoxville Chamber of Commerce. Word quickly spread about the plaster/concrete artist who could seemingly do the impossible on a small or large scale, and in 2017 the women’s boho clothing store Altar’d State came knocking. The store’s West Town Mall location features A New Hue’s “wall of prayers,” and their association continues. 

“Having a family-owned business is magnificent. I am a woman in a man’s business — construction. And I’m Hispanic! Sometimes on a job site, they will ask who my boss is. I say, ‘we are!’ Or who owns the company. I say, ‘I do!’”

She says she has not felt discriminated against, but admits — with a sly grin — that “sometimes I need to bring doughnuts.”  

She and her crew have stayed busy throughout the pandemic, creating interiors for Ancient Lore Village, the South Knoxville event space set to open soon.  

Plans for the rest of the year include working with Centro Hispano to reach out to the children in her company’s Lonsdale neighborhood.

“In spring or summer I’m going to have kids from age 6 to 12 come in here and they’re going to put on suits and shower caps and we’re going to do a mural. On this building! It’s going to be phenomenal!” She also wants to give the kids projects that they can work on at home. “Something that they will look forward to.”  

Like everything else, A New Hue shut down last March to observe the initial pandemic protocols. But except for that, “we haven’t had a week that we were not working in all this time. We are extremely blessed.” 

Sarah K. Ramsey has been busier than ever since stepping away from her role as media specialist at Central High School last fall.

“I worked at Central since 2013 and ran the Fountain City Strong program, did the PR for the STEAM Camp and other duties that extended beyond the regular library role,” said Ramsey.

“After Emma Walker’s death we shared tips for healthy relationships with our students during Mental Health Monday,” said Ramsey. “It was a bit of ‘life school’. Studies show college students are more academically prepared and less emotionally prepared. We really wanted to prep our kids with the emotional intelligence they need to succeed in the next level.”

Ramsey shared resources with teachers and students as part of a whole course focusing on healthy relationships, anti-bullying and anger management.

“We had a positive behavior initiative for in-school suspension,” she said. “They walked through a lesson on managing anger and emotions and a reflections activity to learn through their behavior.”

Ramsey’s initiatives and programming expanded to Gresham Middle School, Richard Yoakley School and Bearden High School.

The pandemic, said Ramsey, was the push from the universe to take a leap into full-time life coaching.

“I had been doing it part time for two years,” said Ramsey. “I only have two clients in Tennessee. I have tons in Canada, Australia, Scotland, Hong Kong. It’s the ‘Wonderous Woman’ program and I help people reconnect with what is right in them, to become toxic person proof.

“You can fight gravity, but you will be just jumping and working really hard in the hopes that someone will change,” said Ramsey. “Instead of wondering, ‘Why they are this way or treat you this way?’ It is actionable thinking — ‘Who am I going to be? What choices am I making?’”

Ramsey said that as a toxic relationships expert, she is a star at helping people to connect the dots, break old patterns. She points out new strengths so that people can get unstuck more quickly than they imagined possible.

“I won’t just tell you that you deserve better, I give you the tools to help you do better," said Ramsey. “So you can become your own best problem solver and decision maker."

Ramsey self-published her first book, "Becoming Toxic Person Proof," through Lionhead Publishing in mid-February. It has become a No. 1 new release and best seller in multiple categories, and Ramsey has recorded her audiobook edition and is releasing it this week.

Ramsey produces five podcasts a week. The goal of the Toxic Person Proof podcast is to "help women remember how amazing they are after enduring pain at the hand of a toxic partner, parent, coworker or friend."

“My podcast is globally one of the top performing mental podcasts,” said Ramsey. “I share ‘5-Minute Miracles’ — have a problem to solve and share some options to take action.”

Other podcast episodes feature expert interviews. “I am proud of a diverse audience, but it is not diverse in purpose and helping people really clear their thinking."

Ramsey also writes the "Sarah K. Ramsey Bounce Back Better" blog and runs the "Finding Love and Success after a Toxic Relationship" online challenge.

“When I tell people you can do scary things, I need to be doing scary things,” said Ramsey, who spent just six weeks preparing to compete in the Mrs. Knoxville pageant. “I won in August, and was a finalist in the Mrs. Tennessee program. My first swimsuit competition was at 37 — after two 9-pound babies and competing against 23-year-olds who had been married six months."

Ramsey said the journey was another opportunity to lead by example. “I teach people to overcome confidence issues,” said Ramsey. “It allowed me to explore a situation I am uncomfortable in and learn how to thrive in it.”

It’s still dark outside when I hear the bedroom door creak open. I look at my watch. It’s 6:15 in the morning. “Is that you, Simon?” I ask, still groggy.

“It’s me,” he says. “Can I watch TV with you and Babba?” I lift the covers so my 5-year-old grandson can crawl into bed. “I’ll get the coffee, you turn on the TV,” my husband says, handing me the remote. 

Five minutes later, 2-year-old Clara bounds into the room, all smiles and crazy morning curls. “I awake!” she declares. Then she walks over to my side of the bed.

“I want my Yaya,” she says, arms outstretched.

“I want my Clara,” I say in reply.

My husband and I look at each other, coffee mugs in hand. “Fourteen hours until bedtime,” he says with a grin. I laugh. “We raised three kids. Surely we can take care of our two grandkids while our daughter gives birth to our third. How hard can it be?” I say, casually tempting fate.

I make waffles while my husband fills sippy cups with water. “I want milk,” Simon declares. “I want milk,” Clara parrots, gleefully.

After the beverage switch, Clara hands me her plate. “I don’t like waffles today. I like toast.”

“Thirteen hours until bedtime,” my husband says with a laugh.

After breakfast, we decide to take the kids to the park.

Clara wants to dress like a ballerina unicorn princess. I find a unicorn dress and a purple tutu. She adds pink leggings, sunglasses, and pink water shoes. “You look perfect!” I say, with a smile.

“I want a different unicorn dress,” she says, crinkling her nose, sweetly.

Ninety minutes and six costume changes later, she’s ready for the park.

But Simon can’t find his shoes. And he needs a Band-Aid for an invisible cut. Then it’s snack time.

Undaunted, I pack healthy snacks and sippy cups. “We’ll have a picnic!” I announce, happily. I take Clara’s hand; my husband walks with Simon.

“I’m hot,” Simon moans. “I’m tired,” little Clara says with outstretched arms. 

“Let’s see who can get to the park first!” my brilliant husband suggests. We all run to the playground, but then the kids are too tired to play. Daunted, we turn around and head back home.

“It took us nearly two hours to get ready and we stayed five minutes,” I announced to no one in particular.

“Nine hours until bed,” my husband replies.

At home, Clara rides my back horsey-style while Simon plays bingo. We paint kitten figurines and spill glitter all over the kitchen. We read books, and write books, and talk about Pokemon. We learn Clara’s favorite word is “why.”

“Why do you have a sweatshirt?”

“In case I got cold.”

“Why isn’t it pink?”

The dogs jump in the backyard pond to chase the Koi. The cat eats a lizard. Clara changes her clothes again. Simon recites Pokemon facts while we serve carry-out on paper plates. We play the floor is lava until it’s time for PJs and bedtime stories. 

At 8, my husband throws himself into bed. “What are you doing?” I ask. “The kids still need to brush their teeth.”

“I’ve been counting down all day,” he says. “I told you; it’s my bedtime.”

I laugh and throw a pink tiara at him.

Later, while he sleeps beside me, I replay everything in my head. It was a lovely tornado of a day. A perfect storm of chaos and wet kisses. I’ve never been so tired in my life. Or as happy.

Leslie Snow may be reached at snow column@aol.com.

More:With four board seats open, TVA could use new leadership | Victor Ashe