Fatal Errors, Introductions and a Picture of Me....

Whether you noticed or not, I had deleted my blog almost a month ago.  Weirdly, it didn’t bother me in the slightest, or at least that is what I thought.

I had felt that I had kind of made several fatal errors in my blogging style or whatever you wish to call it.

I won’t go into specifics on all of my stupidity, but I just felt as if I shared too much of myself.  I told you about every moronic thing that I did and do and continue to do, every embarrassing aspect of my life and shared every emotion that I felt at that moment. What’s worse is that I even told you about my love of flatulence. I mean who tells the world that they love to fart.  Good lord!

In doing so, I have really set myself up for failure you know.  I exposed myself and expected every one to be on my cheering squad.  Wow, that’s even irrational when I sit down to think about it.  Huh... *pauses to scratch head*.

So I decided that was enough of me and off I went to do my little thing on one blog, which is to post photos.  I am a photo whore.  Seriously, if I could surgically attach my camera to my face so that my eye lid could be my shutter, I would!  And then I had my other blog which is just a way for me to continue to find things that are beautiful.  So much crap these days on the news and in our jobs, I just wanted a place to go and see semi-shallow but ultimately pretty things.  Okay, I wanted to dig a hole and place my head in the sand.  I like doing that when I don’t have the control over something.

And finally because I needed more than one outlet for expression, and since I am sore and a tad crabby all the time, I started a facebook page that forces me too find something happy for the next 500 days in a row.  This is no easy feat, since today was day 20, and I had to dig deep to come up with “learning how to make a photo book of my fav pics”.  Sad huh?

I just wanted any creative outlet without using up too much energy.

Then last week, I had to reopen up Average Life because well, I had a deadline looming for the newspaper I write for and I had complete writer’s block so I wanted to scoop something that I had previously written.

And then I started reading all my old posts from last year and I kind of got all misty eyed.  Nah, I didn’t at all... but I missed writing.

So anyways, here it is: Old Average Life and Average Girl are gone.  New Average Life and Tracy are here and I want to reintroduce myself properly:

Hi, I am Tracy, 42 years old, been told I look significantly younger, or perhaps, they were just being nice.  I love to write about inconsequential things and I love to take pictures.  Am not the best at photos, but am improving daily. I am a lover of art and design and of animals.  I dig my better half and his crazy ways and am madly in love with my little pooch.  My best friend is actually my mother.  She is phenomenally amazing with the most wicked sense of humour you will ever meet and you can hear us laughing all over the place. I love driving and almost every weekend, you can find me driving my jeep down the backroads with all the windows opened and the music blasting.  We don’t have any kids, and have no desire too either, what’s the point since my brother and sister in law brought my two spectacular nieces into the world. Nothing can beat them.

I am blessed to have some of the most amazing friends in the world and fantastic in laws too boot.

My better half and I have been engaged for 5 years with no actual wedding in site.  I love him, he loves me, enough said.  Oh alright, I am just too bloody lazy to actually arrange some type of pseudo wedding.

I am addicted to jewelry, purses and art.  But my passion is and always will be, the love of nature.

And this is me:

Oh come on, you didn’t think I was going to post a full pic of me, did ya?

Enough said.

Cheers

Tracy

A Simple Contrast

For my lovely mother....

On Mother's Day I have written a poem for you.  In the interest of poetic economy and truth, I have succeeded in concentrating my deepest feelings and beliefs into two perfectly crafted lines:  You're my mother, I would have no other!  ~Forest Houtenschil

Gone Shopping

Have a great weekend!

Where do you get creative?

When you read the pages of your fellow bloggers, don't you wonder where they are typing their posts from?  Are they curled up on the couch or snug in their bed with their lap tops balancing precariously on their thighs.  Are they winging it from work and hoping the boss doesn't catch them.  Or are they sitting out on their deck pounding away on their ipad while enjoying the fresh air.  The possibilities of writing on your blog from when and where to why are endless. 

Lots of my facebook friends are my blogging buddies and I love it.  I see glimpses into their lives, and if only briefly, I feel like I really know them. They are just not a series of words on a page, but a person with a family, with a life, with enjoyment and downfalls, happiness and heartaches.  They are more than just these words, this creativity that we witness glimpses of.  They are the unbelievably soulful hearts behind creativity.

My creative moments happen in the middle of the night or in the shower, but most frequently, and unfortunately, on the toilet.  Gasp!  I must run up to my den and jot my thoughts down or they disappear within a blink of an eye.

I thought I would throw out a challenge to my blogging buddies to post a picture of where they sit and type and spew out the words that make them so unique and interesting that we are all clamoring to read their next set of words.

So, I thought I would start with myself, not that you are clamoring to read my next set of words, but the fact that perhaps you would like to know a little more about me than just what you read on this page in the blogosphere.

So here is where I dig deep:

My Desk, where I type and read your blogs...

And just a few of the books I read

mostly on Italy, mostly on dreams I have....

I surround myself in art as I just can't get enough

of the talents of others....

Sometimes I sit on the other side and pay bills....

And I try to surround myself in the things I love

but mostly, I try to remind myself that actually Living Life

is important

And sometimes I need the beauty of the talents of others

to remind myself that creativity

comes from our souls

much like these beautiful wall vases

But mostly, I just need place that inspires me.

So now you know where I get creative

I wonder, where do you?

Bird on Her Head

I woke up to a wonderful suprise this morning.

My very talented blogging friend, Joanna, created a wonderful whimsical painting for me incorporating her ideas on what my Average Life means to me.  I just told her the things that I loved and gave her complete carte blanche.

Today she finished, I was utterly thrilled and don't be surprised if you find this eventually becoming a permanent fixture on my blog.

If you get a chance, check out Joanna.  She is a textile and mixed media artist who left the States seven years ago to pursue her dream of being an artist in Athens, Greece.  In fact, she just had a major exhibition there.  Go Joanna Go!!! Anyway I adore her and her talent and she is completely lovely.

You can find her and her talented self here:

Joanna Chrysohoidis Gallery

Bird on her Head blog and

Etsy Online Store

Happy Weekend to You!

I want to wish you all a happy weekend.  I am taking just a couple of days off from the computer as I think I am coming down with something.  You know, cold hands and feet, hot face, sniffles and crazily fatigued.  I thought it was hayfever, but I think I am wrong on that. 

Maybe I am just having sticker price shock from all my Etsy purchases.  Good grief I went crazy.  Just like a kid in a candy store (yum candy)... Oops, no candy for me! Oh well, it's all for the ones I love any way, well most of it.  

If you want to check out what I have bought, just go to this other blog of mine: as i dream it.  Prewarning to all men, everything I bought is pretty girly, I must say.  Well, I am girly (most of the time).  Maybe some day though for the guys, I will post pics of my tool box which could rival most men. *she says proudly*  What can I say, a girl who wears heels armed with her drill!

By the way, I am really very sorry if I haven't gotten around to reading and commenting the past week.. As I say this I owe big apologies to Sherilin, International Woman of Mystery, Mynx, Yvonne, Deborah, Katsidhe, Frisky Virgin and many many others.  This has been a pretty bad pain week for me and I have been combatting some nasty headaches and lots of swelling and feeling terribly guilty over not visiting your blogs. You guys are all so good about commenting on my blog. I hope to be back on my "A" game next week. I am very sorry about that, because I have really missed reading your blogs!  Which reminds me, has anyone noticed what a great commenter OT is from Make Daddy a Sammich.  That guy really rocks in the comment category and I think it should be noted.

Anywhoooo.... I hope your weekend is spectacular and full of nothing but the utmost of happiness, because you all deserve it.

Cheers for now

Tracy

xxoo

It's Coming............

I knew it was coming the moment I woke up this morning.  I could see it in the air today, fresh and crisp and beautifully scented and my nose was twitching and my eyes were watering, and I let out the odd sneeze. Did you smell it too?  Did you get a chance to see it, revel in it, enjoy it and memorize it.  I did.  Me and my hayfever and I couldn't be more happier.

Because, it was in it's glory and in my yard nonetheless.  Yup, It's Spring and she has finally arrived!

Even Fred is happy about it! 

(See the shadow of my rather large head told ya it was big!)

AAAAAAA AAAAAAAAA AAAAAAAAACCCCCHHHHOOOOOO!

Could someone please pass me a tissue!

Yup, even with Kleenex stuffed up my nostril,

I still couldn't be more happier!

THE BOBBLE HEAD STRIKES AGAIN!

Well I am off to get my passport issued tomorrow for my upcoming trip to San Fran.  As I was filling out my application, I got this idea in my head, wouldn’t it be great if we were allowed to photoshop our passport photos.

On Saturday, I went to get my rather long hair chopped off a bit followed by getting my passport photos done.  As you know, I have a big head.  In fact, my better half calls my head: “a big HEEEEEEEEED!” On top of that, I have the mother of all hair.  And there are two things you need to know about my hair.  If I don’t semi straighten it, I look like this:

If I straighten it too much, well then I look like this:

I am either a walking advertisement for a terra cotta vegetation housing unit, or I am the human equivalent of a bobble head.

Needless to say that my lovely stylist straightened my hair so much that it looked like uncooked spaghetti noodles.  So with time ticking and an appointment looming over at the photographers studio, this bobble head flew in to have her passport photos taken all the while forgetting to take a moment to primp.

Unfortunately, the woman was so busy at the photography store that she rushed me in, sat me down and clicked the photo in under ten seconds and ushered me out the door before you could say “Bob’s your uncle”. 

And on Monday when the photos were ready and my better half picked them up for me, he handed them over with a slight smile and said “nice Heed honey”.

As I opened the little packet, my jaw dropped to the ground, because in my haste, I forgot to take off my red jacket which was over a purple sweat shirt.  And this is what I saw staring back at me: a bobble head with spaghetti hair, with her roots showing and wearing the colours of a future member of the Red Hat Society:

Well, thank gawd the passport is only good for five years, right?

I wonder if they will even let me cross the border! Here's hoping!

Until Next Time.

Hopeful

The last six weeks of my life have been bliss.  Twenty-five pounds lighter and waking up with more energy than I can remember in the last 9 years. I felt like I was soaring.  I know, it’s hard to explain.  But I felt limitless and was breaking out in song in my horrific tone deaf voice every morning.  Oh sure, my better half was putting his hands over his ears and wincing every time I hit a high note. But behind his wince, he was smiling nonetheless by my jubilance.  I was giggly and goofy and was dancing all thru my house, which is no easy feat since my house is tiny and my butt is not!  In fact, I was wiggling wherever I was going. Of course I took out the odd nick nac with that swinging patooty of mine, and I even think that my loveable pooch and better half were bulldozed into the odd wall now and then, but I didn’t seem to care. It was just plain wonderful to feel that way. In fact, “It” was fantastic and amazing.

Unfortunately, “It” has become the operative word.  I woke up Sunday with a wicked fibromyalgia attack.  I knew instantly the moment my eyes opened.  My body was heavy and thick.  My legs felt like cement, and the moment I moved, my body started to throb. I felt like I had been run over by a semi or at least being used as a speed bump for several cyclists. 

I suppose if you get to the crux of the matter, it is my fault.  I knew something was amiss on Saturday.  I felt just a tad sorer than I had in weeks, but I was so stupidly obsessed with getting my 45 minutes of exercise in that instead of listening to what my body had to say, I power walked around and around and around and around my neighbourhood like a silly dog trying to get it’s tail. I’d like to blame it on my ipod.  Filled with the music I love, I pounded the pavement until every ounce of me was vibrating. I was panting hard and I knew my body was hurting but I just didn’t care, the music was pouring thru me and I was loving it. And now, I am paying the price.

When I got up today, I realized that I was even worse than yesterday and it took me over 3 hours to get ready this morning, as I am just that sore.  Then to top it off, when I got into work some retro song by Mister Mister from the 80's was playing and I instantly had a flashback of me riding my bike in my teens with my walkman on blasting that song.  I saw me as wild and free with no pain and then I moronically started to cry.  And here I sit with stupid swollen eyes and no mascara or eyeliner left on my rather large alien head.  Boy I have a large head!

Oh well, I suppose some days are just going to be like that. In the meantime, I know that there are pain free moments, as I just had six blissful weeks of them and that makes me..... wonderfully hopeful.

Until Next Time.

A Year of It's an Average Life

Yesterday marked the one year incarnation of my very Average Life... I wasn't sure that I wanted to even mark the occasion since really in the last 4 months I have been so on and off again with my blogging which is no secret to all of you. But after thinking about it, I thought it deserved to be noted, as blogging for me has been a year of learning about myself. A year where I put myself out there.  A year where I found out more about who I am than ever before.  Good, bad, funny and ugly, it's been all documented here for everyone to read. From the lowest painful raw moments to my more humorous moments, it really has just been all about my average life.   

So too mark the one year since it's conception... I thought I would share with you the headers and banners of my blog for the last 365 days!

So without further ado, here they are, in no particular order:

Look #1

Going for the Romantic Look

I got all caught up on some other blogs about

romanticism and how pretty they were

and I tried desperately to emanate them!

Look #2

Loving my Lavender look

The fact is, I just loved these photos when I took them.

Look #3

In my Shopping phase

This didn't last long, I mean I like to shop

but that is not what my life is about

(well at least not every day!)

Look #4

Finding a bit of Italy in Canada

just another reason to post more of my pics,

yes I am a tad camera happy!

Look #5

Going for Serene

and definitely NOT one of my favourite looks!

Good grief, what was I thinking!

Look #6

Juggling my Life

The one that I felt best described me

(and DEFINITELY my very favourite look!)

why didn't I keep it *pause to scratch head*

Look #7

Reflective on the Fall

I really did not like this on. Yuck!

Horrible huh?

Look #8

In the Mind of Tracy

(be glad you are not a part of my mind, or my purse for that matter!)

Look #9

Feeling introspective

I stole this from another short lived blog that I had

called One Woman's Mid Life Crisis!

Look #10

one that I loved but took way too much space

as a header - it only lasted 2 hours on the screen and

in fact the red gave me such a headache

that I needed to pop an Advil!

And Finally

Look #11

although not my final look

as it is starting to bore me!

Who knows what the next look will be,

but I am kind of looking forward to the change.

Because, Change is good.

It keeps you interested in what you love to do!

So, which one do you like?