Just thinking out loud now...

some possibilities:
What is the source for the timer clock?
What is the prescaler value?
Did you properly enable the timer interrupt?
(with the 12f683 it is the PIE1 reg)
INTCON reg setup correctly?

I can't remember exactly why right now... but at the end of my timer interrupt service routine I had these two lines, which clears bit 0 of these two registers. I think it clears the interupt flags so that when the "ENABLE" statement is hit(at then end of the interrupt handler code), it does not immediatly, falsely, re-interrupt.

Code:
intcon.0 = 0
   PIR1.0 = 0
These are just my musings and I too am a newbie at this stuff
If all else fails then write a small snippet of code that just tests one portion of your code to try and narrow the problem down.

Do not forget to make the chip .pdf manual your best friend... you must, must, must read it! (a section at a time) go to the section on timers and on interupts and see what it tells you.

That, in my opinion, is really the BIG difference between the versatility of the PIC micros and of something like the basic stamp. The PIC has much to offer and therefore much to configure correctly.

Good luck
Dwight