The Other Half of Things

Last night after watching some of my favourite movies (The Fall, with Lee Pace; Hot Rod, and Lars & The Real Girl) and sewing my exciting new Zombie (Owl)ie I drifted off to sleep.  Sometime in the night - I'm thinking not much after falling asleep - something slammed into my bedroom window.  The one directly over my bed.  I was startled awake, but was more concerned with the fact that my very full of claws Alley Cat was freaking out and was very near my face. 

And though whatever hit the window was rather loud I assumed had anyone thrown anything dangerous it would have come through so it must have just been the cats. They like tojump from the old stump out the window to the roof.  Even cats miss sometimes, right?

I immediately fell back asleep and thought nothing of the disturbance.

When I awoke I rolled over in bed and grabbed my phone to check the time.  8:00 am.  I grinned and rolled back over.  Another check at 9:00 and then felt I would regret sleeping any later than 9:44 am so I got up.  It was a little chilly in the house (practically impossible since we don't have AC) so I slipped my robe on and headed to open all the doors and let in the fresh morning air.

When I opened the front door, however, I saw something to take my breath away. 

You may recall a few months ago when a decidedly vicious windstorm blew over half of the tree in the front yard.  Eddie and I joked about whether or not to remove the other half which would most likely land directly on my bedroom and thereby end the awkward situation of us living together.  We decided the tree was old enough that the root system probably had it balanced out quite nicely.

Apparently the inside of what was left of that pine tree, however, is actually very rotten.  And over went the tree. 

And only by the grace of the universe and those lovely guides who have some invested interest in me did the tree fall so perfectly as to land NOT directly onto my bedroom roof, thereby running the longest branches through the windows directly over my head.  Instead it courteously fell in the very narrow path of three feet between my bedroom and the neighbors lawn.

And, of course, that slamming sound was actually the branches hitting my window.. You see, I don't normally have such a piney view of things..

And then you can kind of see the windows on the side of my bedroom through the length of the tree...

Being a little emotional about whether I am alive or not, I must admit after snapping these pictures I walked inside, sat down with a cuppa and let loose many thankful tears.  The less concerned party in the house sat and stared at me and simply stated, "It wouldn't have killed you, you know. Although that would have made things easier."

Well, it probably wouldn't have killed me, but I can think of many things it could have done, some involving my health and some what little is left of my sanity.

So today I am a bit more sure the universe has some plans left for me yet, and I am very thankful to all those wonderful things keeping an eye on me.

xo

How to be Alone

Please take a moment to watch this very peaceful and inspiring poem and then continue on reading


A friend shared this video with me.  It moved me to tears.  I truly love time alone (strange for such a chatter box, I know).  It has been too many years with too few really alone moments.  When I was discovering myself I spent a lot of time alone.  And in contrast, when I was losing myself I was doing so with someone at my side.

I spent time alone in my one bedroom apartment.  Reading, writing, having solo dance parties, drinking tea.  I used to go to movies alone.  Just certain movies meant to be enjoyed without the need to worry about what the person sitting next to you might think. I loved grabbing my purse (with a book always in it) and running out to lunch.  Something so wonderfully decadent about reading alone with someone to serve you whatever you want. 

Remembering these things makes it seem so very odd that I have not done them since before Aurora was born. I used to hop in the car and travel for hours alone.. to some strange diner and enjoy the local shops.  I was slightly adventurous.

I am trying to be again.  But I am also trying to be more involved with people.  There is a difference between being okay with being alone and being scared to be with others.  I'm trying to find that balance of happy alone time and happy social time.

I have been blessed to have wonderful friends with so many wonderful opportunities for me to enjoy myself.  I have also been blessed to meet many a new and interesting people with whom I hope to become better acquainted.

I am making this wonderful piece of art one of my mantras. And I hope that my practicing at being adventurous alone will translate into being happy and adventurous at all other times in my life.

What are your favourite alone activities and what are your favourite social activities?  Perhaps I can try them out..

Stocking Swap

The lovely Queen of Chenille, Selina, is hosting the Great Stocking Swap of 2010 (see that lovely little badge to your right).  Click it... you know you want to.

I am excited to say that I have signed up.  You have a little time left.  Deadline is this Friday (but she's in the land of Oz, so if you're a yank like me you probably better sign up by Thursday).  It is a secret swap.. which makes it tricky and, oh so much fun.  I can't wait to stalk my partner and come up with a lovely little stocking to send her way!  What a wonderful way to prompt us into the Christmas spirit!

If you have a creative bone in your body (and I'm sure most of you do) I do hope you'll join.. who knows.. maybe YOU'LL be the lucky person I'm going to stalk!

xo

Exercise and impromptu dance parties

It has become clear to me how many ridiculously healthy people I am around.  It is usually annoying, especially whilst doing my heavy breathing and staggering up stairs at work, or trying to enjoy a glass of wine sitting in a perfectly comfortable chair.  So in an effort to continue to lose weight AND to feel less like a lazy alcoholic (because let's face it.. if I'm going to feel like an aloholic I want some muscles to beat up people who comment on my drinking habits) I have taken up running.

Okay, not really.  I have taken up small increments of jogging.  I have accomplished two (that's right TWO) very early mornings of this intermittent jogging/walking efforts.  This is so I can reach my second major weight loss goal (only 9 lbs away) and annoy people who interrupt my drinking by joining them during their jog.

Of course, my legs hurt very much (in that good way) especially after sitting at a desk for a few hours pulling obnoxious data reports.  So in an effort to relieve the pain in my legs and to enjoy some time with Aurora, we planned an impromptu dance party.

Having officially heard Britney Spears "Circus" a total of two times and having to admit half way through the first time how much I enjoyed the lyrics we decided it apropos (and fun) to have a "Circus" theme.  So We picked out our outfits (dresses, of course), accessories and busted out the all important makeup.

I did my makeup - because I enjoy doing so. Apparently so does Aurora; she did her own.  We both have a talent for it, me thinks.

And, if you take a moment to listen to "Circus" I believe you'll find the words fit our photo taking egos just perfectly....so...

You must also have the right music so our playlist included such favourites as:

Queen "Another One Bites the Dust"

Michael Jackson "Scream"

Lady Gaga "Bad Romance"

Eurythmics "Sweet Dreams"

Shakira "She Wolf"

And many other delightful dancing tunes, but these should be enough to get you started as you pull in some of your favourites!

I hope you have a dance party soon!

Let me know if you do

hugs, kisses, and dramatic photography

Forever Your Girl

I miss your laughter.  And that insistent tone to your voice.  And the way you always kissed me goodbye, held me tightly and then looked me in the eyes and said, "You're my girl.  You know that?  You're my girl." And I miss how stubborn you were.  And how you believed anything was possible for me.

It's been a year.  How can it have been so long?  But you know I've been working hard and things are getting better.  But it doesn't make me miss you less.

So I'll leave you with one of my favourite songs.  It reminds me of you.  Aurora loves it, too, and we sing it a lot at bedtime.  I miss you, Grandma.

Another day in the sun...

Okay.. with Aurora registered for school and starting on the 30th I've been a bit antsy to buy school supplies.  So today we had a fun expedition to one of my favourite stores and we picked up some goodies...

Like glittering #2 pencils I just know her teacher is going to hate and lovely monster covered kleenex boxes.  I did NOT let her buy the pocket folder with the vampire mouth on it (even though we both really wanted to we thought it might be a little too much for the private Christian school to handle). I laid out 6 pocket folders (all really cool and even one with owlies on it) for her to pick from; they were all so awesome we decided she should probably pick two so she had a back up.  I have to admit I'm pretty pleased with the outcome (although I would have picked the batman/joker and owlie folders)

(I have no idea why the picture is turned.. it isn't on my file.. and I've uploaded it 3 times and I quit)

And then we came home and sunned ourselves.  Okay, I sunned myself while crocheting new kitchen wash clothes, while Aurora played bubbles and paint and had a dance party to Pandora's Lady Gaga Station.

Oh, and then we busted out the camera and our egos came out to play

And now the sun has sunk behind the house and a breeze has picked up just enough to make it comfortable.  

I'm going to go back to crocheting while I can still see a bit.

xo

(OvO)

My Creative Space

Please visit the lovely Creative Ladies at Kirsty's!  Lots of wonderfully inspiring things happening there.

I have been creating.. promise!  But it seems the world has been conspiring against my posting over the past month or so.. no internet, or no computer, or no camera, or all my things upstairs with A sleeping, etc.,   BUT  today is all comes together (although Blogger's new photo upload is doing its damnedest to prevent me posting pictures - I've cheated and posted everything to FB and am grabbing from there.. so take that blogger)!

First, I have, as always, been working on the craft room.  It amazes me how much crap.. umm, I mean fabulously crafty materials, I have managed to cram in this teeny tiny quarter of Aurora's play room.

I have managed to let go of a lot of things I have been telling myself for years I'll use.  That lovely green sign - made by my friend Debi and bought for me at the Earth Day fair by my mum - says "Use it up, wear it out, make it do or do without".  I think most of us in the crafting/upcycling land live and die by this motto.  It also means that some of my drawers were filled with scraps of paper (of a usable size) that I have had since HIGH SCHOOL.  I won't tell you how long ago that was.. but if you are keeping SCRAPS of paper over double digits you either need to USE them or RECYCLE THEM!  And I have done just that.  Some of you may start twitching - so cover your eyes - but I got rid of 6 boxes (and not small boxes) of scraps, fabric, padding, paper, etc. Okay, uncover your eyes.   And no need to fret TOO much because I obviously still have Plenty (and this isn't even any of my (owl)ie making things).

The saddest news about decluttering was tweaking the shite out of my back.  Which now twinges horribly, especially when I try to look down (anyone want to volunteer their massage skills?).

But because the attic craft room is 100+ degrees in the summer it is hard to spend much time in there except in the early morning.  So I have once again moved into bins and cauldrons and into the living room.

Working on bits for upcoming fair (Taste of the Harvest), like mushroom and pumpkin ornaments.

And I have finished a large amount of the custom order of (Owl)ies!

And because it's vacation time we are also making sure our pancakes are creative...Aurora requested As and Bs and I required a shout out to my homey Harry Potter.

Staycation

To start my staycation right Aurora and I were fortunate enough to be able to head to the mountains (just a couple of hours away) for the weekend.  We had a bit of a late start, which may or may not have been a good thing.  Aurora had quite a few mini-disasters before we got out the door (even as we headed out the door).  One, it proved she is my daughter and suffers from lack of coordination; two, it enabled us to stop at the store and stock up on bandaids before the trip (which came in handy).

We had a quick dip in the lake before checking into the much desired hotel.  Having checked into a hotel called the Hunt Lodge it shouldn't have surprised me to find the entire lounge covered in dead animals.  I tried to ignore them, but Aurora was a bit freaked out about them, too, and couldn't stop exclaiming loudly how horrible it was that someone killed ALL those animals and STUCK THEM TO THE WALL!?  MOM WHY WOULD ANYONE DO THAT?!  Well, trying to be unbiased, but not at all a fan of sticking dead animals to the wall myself, I explained that some people like to hunt and they keep the animals to show how great they are.. or... I'm not really sure WHY they do it, so maybe I should just be quiet.  Which I'm sure all the men in the lobby much appreciated.

After a quick rinse Aurora and I threw on our best mommy/daughter attire and proceeded to take a lot of photos wherein we laughed a lot and took a lot of fuzzy photos, but enjoyed a few model moments of which we are both so fond.

And had a pleasant dinner with some friends and alumni while Aurora played Bocce and had a couple of other girls with whom she could play. At least until the conversation turned to politics - at which point I was happy it was getting a little dark and I had a child with me (AKA "Ejector button").  We each ordered a small cup of ice cream and hiked back to our hotel (which ended up being a LITTLE further then I thought it was but we made it back just as it was going to become uncomfortably dark and our feet were tired of walking in flip flops).

Aurora and I made a quick sojourn to the lovely saline pool (the walls surrounding which were also covered with dead animals - including a rhino head of all things).  And then back to our FREEZING room and cartoon network.

Our next day was filled with magical things, like bears, spoons and lakes.

(photo courtesy Aurora)

s

Aurora, happily, has acquired my families talent for spoon balancing.  Although she will make an Olympic sport out of it because she can go from sitting in her booth to under the table to the other booth and back to sitting without touching or dropping the spoon!  For her lack of coordination I am in complete shock.  It has been suggested she has a magnet in her nose (undoubtedly put there by the aliens).

She turned into a mermaid at the lake, and I even was granted the Best Mommy title for helping to bury her.  She quickly de-trenched herself and then did the cutest sand dance on top.

Aurora and Frances made a sand sea turtle cake, or something or other, with the special imported sand (Aurora combed other areas of the beach to make the mixture just right).

I think many of you will not believe I entered the frigid water, but I did (for a few moments, anyway) and I have proof, which is the only reason I would post such a picture!

And then it was time for lunch and to head home.. windows down, music blaring and more funny pictures.  And only one injury.. sustained by me as I tried to roll Aurora's blanket in the car window.  1.35 seconds after yelling at Aurora to hold the blanket "HERE! So you don't roll your fingers in the WINDOW!" at which point I rolled my damn fingers in the window and now have a lovely blood blister.

Hope you had a lovely weekend too!  We've missed you!

xo

(OvO)

A little shameless self promotion and vacation

On top of the 12 custom (owl)ie order for a friend's wedding in October...

I have  received a custom order for 11 (owl)ies! 

And we have (owl)ies living in Uruguay and Australia AND because I have more than 15 sales I can no longer be considered an "undiscovered" shop..

WOOT! 

I'M DISCOVERED

How wonderful and exciting

and I just love my (owl)ies and little felt goodies

I hope you do to!

And I am currently enjoying a little bit of a vacation/staycation.  Although I maybe popped into work this morning to check messages and emails I am OFF! 

We had Aurora's interview for Kindergarten today... She did her testing last week.  As she is a few months too young to be allowed in public schools we decided to try private and guess what?  We're IN!

I just printed out her little Kindergarten list. And I have to admit, reading over the 2 boxes of crayons, 2 boxes of kleenex, 1 box of #2 pencils, I got teary eyed.  And I can't wait to take her school shopping.  Do all women love school shopping?  Or just women who love office supplies?  Every fall I yearn to open boxes of crayons and smell them, or buy unnecessary and highly decorated 3-ring binders and folders (preferrably lisa frank or ones with cute boys on them).

And I finally get to indulge myself and Aurora.  I can't wait to see what she picks out!

For our mini-vacation we are headed a couple of hours away into the mountains to go swimming in the lake, do some hiking and join some alumni for dinner. We are being spoiled with a hotel room (which Aurora is so excited about and cannot stop talking about and play acting about -"You be the hunny, and I'll be the mom... 'kay, hunny, time to go to our hotel.  Oh! Where is it? I took the wrong turn.'"  hmmmm, I apparently get lost a lot).

Hope to remember the camera so there are semi-decent shots instead of my on the fly phone shots :)

Hope you are all well!

(OvO)

xo

better than magic

Once again, Megan, my amazing hairstylist has worked her magic.  I can't recommend her enough - honestly.  And trust her.  She knows what she's doing. Our conversations regarding my desire for change generally go something like this:

T: I would like something different.

M: what were you thinking?

T:.....................................umm, well I think if we went a little shorter?  I mean, I don't know, what else can you do with it? 

M: well, how about if I do [insert amazing mind reading capabilities of all the cool rock star hair styles you want but aren't sure how to say]?

T: yes, let's do that.

And yesterday she wanted to switch my hair up for impending fall-ness.  And she says, "how about this amazing violet with different shades of reddy-violet?"

And as she's mixing in the corner I hear her sweet voice say, "Tracylea, can I do a before and after?"
I respond, "yes." And her next question is, "Tracylea would you like to be in a magazine?"  I respond, "yes."

Because who doesn't want to be in a magazine (especially someone who is an ego maniac)?  So hopefully I won't get bumped by some other cool before and after because I would like to tell the world I've been in a magazine. 

But my after is pretty frickin' sweet (this is not the picture.. she has those)

And then because I felt like a rock star we went out....

And stayed out a bit too late for a weeknight, but had a blast (and even ran into some "kids" from my hometown) and hung out with some old friends and some new friends.

Another Monday Almost Over

Swim lessons seems to be a success.  Aurora has been graduated to the next level half way through because she is part fish and today she got to practice diving. 

One of the main reasons we know she is mine was her first attempt diving into the deep end, which was a lot like slipping on a banana peel and contorting into a matrix like Trinity kick before going belly first into the water.  Fortunately, she was at the FAR end of the pool since I laughed so hard I snorted.  I am allowed to laugh because I am one of the most uncoordinated people on the face of the planet - and thanks to that I never learned how to dive.  She did much better her second and third attempt.  She loves the lessons and doesn't want to leave and I will definitely need to invest in a Y membership.

The Ra-Ras have arrived on campus ("Gimme a 'L', Gimme a 'O', Gimme a 'U', Gimme a 'D'").  It's my last camp of the summer and I must admit I'm trying not to get too excited to be back to my normal routine soon.

Last night a bunch of us girlies were treated (through a lovely gift) to an evening at Shakespeare Festival.  We saw Oscar Wilde's "An Ideal Husband".  As expected it had all of Wilde's wonderful wit and snarkiness.  It was also filled with reminders why I have no desire to marry-ever.  My favourite character was the confirmed bachelor.. but unfortunately even he married in the end (but at least it was to the best girl character in the play).

I am looking forward to the Shakespeare Festival opening "The Woman in Black" which I want to see very much this season. 

I am happy to say one of the greek chapters at the College asked me about orders of (owl)ies for new member gifts!  WhOOT! 

AND am also very excited that I was emailed today about a commissioned piece of art (I order from one of our VERY recent graduates after seeing her Sr. project) that is almost finished! I am not entirely sure what it will look like as I left size and material up to the artist - I just put a maximum price on it. It will be lovely, but I'm not going to say anything else about it until I get it in my hands and can post a picture of it.

And after that brief update I must take off as my kitteh, Alley, is wanting to play fetch (yes, really).

xo