By now, you’ll be all aware that there’s lots of thought and consideration in picking an FYBF Featured Flogger. Today I’m proud to present our 8th, Tracey from Bliss Amongst Chaos.
From riveting, highly-imaginative short stories to heartfelt posts about her family, Tracey’s writing captivates me for its effortless flow and grace.
If you haven’t yet, head over to her Facebook page to start following her and over here on Twitter.
As always, please leave some comment love and let your Floggy presence be known!
Thanksies!
Ho Ho, Oh No! The Downside to Christmas
As the festive season is finally over, I can now sit back and reflect on what a crazy time of year it is!
And it was!
For the record, I love Christmas.
The food, the decorations, spending time with friends and family, and the joy on my children’s faces as it gets closer to Santa’s arrival all help to bring the excitement of the season to the fore.
There are however, some aspects of Christmas that I would gladly do without!
The complete madness at shopping centres for a start.
Once you’re lucky enough to find a park, inside, there are literally hundreds and thousands of people rushing around looking for the perfect gift.
I actually encountered an extremely scary woman who cornered me with her trolley as we both reached for the same item. She had a look in her eye that let me know in no uncertain terms that she intended to have it. Her nostrils flared as looked at me like she was going to tear me limb from limb. I started to imagine her breathing fire and turning my body to ash, or at the very least screaming “BAH HUMBUG!!” in my face.
I retreated.
I value my life.
I wasn’t desperate for that nose hair clipper anyway.
I’m guessing she wasn’t buying it for a gift.
And don’t even talk to me about tinsel! Not only does it leave sparkly bits on the carpet, but my cat loves the stuff! Not to roll around and play with, like all the cute Christmas pictures of kittens would have you believe.
No! I’m talking to eat!
Every bit of shiny, plastic crap she can lay her furry little paws on, she swallows.
Great strings of it!
Now if that was the last I saw of it, I could cope, but when hours later she is walking around with a long, sparkly strand of tinsel hanging out her arse, I have to draw the line!
Pulling that out WAS. NOT. FUN!
Luckily it came out easily, or we would have had vet bills as well.
From that moment on we became a tinsel free household.
As much as I do love the festive season, I am glad the silliness is over for another year.
But it will be back before we know it.
1. Follow With Some Grace.
2. Sign up to the awesome Digital Parents community ( if you haven’t already done so). DP was created by Brenda Gaddi who happens to be the creator of FYBF. She’s also created 4 gorgeous kidlets. In case you’d like to know. Or maybe not. But we’ll share that info just the same.
3. Add your post URL to the linky. Please only link up one post.
4. Grab the funky FYBF button and post it on your sidebar. Help spread the blogfloggin love.
5. Visit the blogs of your fellow FYBF’ers and share the comment love.
6. Share some more comment love. It’s proven to make your wrinkles disappear…overnight. #truth
Good morning Grace, I’m here very early thanks to a 5am wet bed wake up call. The wee twin bed wetter is snoozing right here beside me still. Very sweetly.
Off to check out Bliss Amongst Chaos. Hope you have had a good week and a fun weekend is ahead.
Seana Smith recently posted..The Top Eight Websites For Sydney Families
Oh dear! I remember those early morning wake ups. Still occasionally have them from time to time. Hope you found me ok, Seana! 🙂
Tracey @ Bliss Amongst Chaos recently posted..365 Days Of Grateful – Day 8.
Yay for Tracey! Congratulations on being a featured flogger, so well deserved. This little post really made me chuckle, but Tracey has also had me in floods of tears and literally on the edge of my seat. I’d love to see more fiction (perhaps we should bring back short tale tuesday!) xx
Catherine Rodie Blagg recently posted..The list
Yes please can someone bring back Short Tale Tuesday, I am in!
Rhianna recently posted..Tank Thursday
Awwe, thank you gorgeous. Such a lovely comment!
Yeah, bring on the fiction. I just need some inspiration….been a bit lacking lately, as you can tell by my latest attempt. Not my best work 🙂
xx
Tracey @ Bliss Amongst Chaos recently posted..Henry. A Short Story.
yay Tracey!
I think I may have met the same nose-flaring woman in the lead up to Christmas. I too backed away.
See you over at your place!
Leanne @ Deep Fried Fruit
Leanne @ Deep Fried Fruit recently posted..Day 1194 – Camouflage Themed Birthday Party
I swear they’re everywhere Leanne!
Christmas turns people crazy!
See you there 🙂
xx
Tracey @ Bliss Amongst Chaos recently posted..365 Days Of Grateful – Day 7.
Great choice for featured blogger, already follow Tracey. And yes as much as I love Xmas it is certainly a good thing we get a year to recover…..even though those years seem to be coming around quicker and quicker!
Martine@themodernparent recently posted..Snapchat and Poke: better or worse for sexting?
Thank you Martine. And yes, I completely agree, it gets here faster and faster every year. Scary really!
Tracey @ Bliss Amongst Chaos recently posted..365 Days Of Gratitude – Day 6
Hahaha! Oh Tracey we also used to have a little dog that ate tinsel and then had to.poo it out, with assistance! Urghhhh! Great post.
SarahMac recently posted..Back to work at the Dream Factory, where Dreams are, um, Made. In the Factory.
Aaah, at last! Some one who understands!
Tinsel should be banned. It’s a danger to health and sanity! 🙂
xx
Tracey @ Bliss Amongst Chaos recently posted..365 Days Of Grateful – Day 5.
Yay for Tracey – very well-deserved! Christmas does indeed have it’s perils and it’s downside – I certainly wouldn’t be taking on any scary trolley wielding women either!
Kirsty @ My Home Truths recently posted..Girls Day Out
Thank you Kirsty! Although I have to say, if it was my camera bag the woman was reaching for instead of the nose hair clipper, it would have been a fight to the death 😉
Tracey @ Bliss Amongst Chaos recently posted..365 Days Of Grateful – Day 4.
I agree, tinsel and glitter are very annoying! Christmas is great, but thankfully we have a year to get over it.
iSophie recently posted..The -worst- day ever! (Bushfires)
And we need it too! It’s just a shame that year goes so damn fast!! 🙂
xx
Tracey @ Bliss Amongst Chaos recently posted..365 Days Of Grateful – Day 3.
Tracey not only shares beautiful images on her blog but she’s a great fiction writer too. She rocks, so glad featured her Gracie!
Penny recently posted..Exploring Predator Plants
Aww, thank you Penn! Right back at ya! 🙂
xx
Tracey @ Bliss Amongst Chaos recently posted..365 Days Of Grateful – Day 2.
Oh dear – I will never view tinsel quite the same way.
Mumabulous recently posted..The Weight On Our Minds
Neither did I Mumabulous!
It’s never the same coming out the other end, trust me 😉
Tracey @ Bliss Amongst Chaos recently posted..365 Days Of Grateful – Day 10.
What a scary shopper! I saw lots of car park rage at Christmas time, even between little old ladies! Scary stuff!
Wonderful featured blogger.
Happy 2013! xx
Thanks Rebecca, and Happy New Year to you too!
It’a quite startling what Christmas does to people, isn’t it? It’s dubbed the silly season for a reason 🙂
xx
Tracey @ Bliss Amongst Chaos recently posted..365 Days Of Grateful – Day 9.
Thanks for that image of tinsel hanging out of a cat’s arse first thing in the morning…
Congratulations Tracey 🙂
Francesca recently posted..I thought I loved you…
Ooops. Sorry Francesca! But the truth had to be told! lol
Thank you 🙂
xx
Tracey @ Bliss Amongst Chaos recently posted..365 Days Of Grateful – Day 8.
oh grace that doesn’t sound like much fun. I know we had Christmas at my mums and I made sure I depackaged everything before we can home so I didn’t have to deal with. lol.
Mandy recently posted..Grateful ~ Finding Joy in Friendships
See Mandy, that’s the clever way to go about Christmas! 🙂
xx
Tracey @ Bliss Amongst Chaos recently posted..Henry. A Short Story.
Christmas does my head in. All that stress & chaos for just one day (which, in my family, is often filled with a special kind of stress & chaos all of its own!). Totes get the tinsel thing as well. We’ve converted to the strings of beads. Much less mess & tres classy 😉
Née recently posted..What’s in a word?
Oh we have that family stress too, although there was less of it this year, thank goodness!
Hmmm, I might have to think about the beads. I have had them once before, but that was way before kitty cat came along. I wonder if she would attempt swallowing those? 🙂
xx
Tracey @ Bliss Amongst Chaos recently posted..365 Days Of Grateful – Day 7.
Great choice of featured flogger Grace (as always), Tracey is on my all time favourite list. Fairy wishes and butterfly kisses for a wonderful flogging Friday.
Rhianna recently posted..Tank Thursday
Thank you lovely lady! You always say the kindest things 🙂
xx
Tracey @ Bliss Amongst Chaos recently posted..365 Days Of Gratitude – Day 6
LMAO, you are so funny and such a great descriptive writer, I can almost visualise that tinsel ‘coming out’ – ICK AND OUCH!
I also hate tinsel and the mess but LOVE Christmas.
I love Tracey – already a follower, great choice of course Grace!
Happy weekend!
Emily
Emily recently posted..A mother’s guilt runs deep and is never ending
Ha ha.
Thank you for your lovely words Emily!
It was sooooo ick, I can’t even begin to tell you, and she wasn’t at all happy about about it, so I’m assuming it wasn’t enjoyable for her either! Ewwww. I shudder thinking about it! 🙂
xx
Tracey @ Bliss Amongst Chaos recently posted..365 Days Of Grateful – Day 5.
Hahahahahahahahahaha. That’s disgusting. Thanks for sharing your Christmas peeves 😀
Jenn {mountains and musings} recently posted..fitness friday :: the stand up paddle boarding edition
Tell me about it Jenn! lol
Any time 🙂
xx
Tracey @ Bliss Amongst Chaos recently posted..365 Days Of Grateful – Day 4.
I totally agree with you on Christmas. This year we didn’t even put up the tree !!!!! Maybe that makes me the Christmas Grinch I’m not sure but I just feel that there is so much hype and commercialism about it which really doesn’t appeal to me in the least.
Hope you kitty cat is OK !!!!!
Have the best day !
Me
Me recently posted..Things I Know
I’m hearing you! I really hate the way the shops start bringing everything out so early! Like the way Easter stuff is already out now! Are you kidding me? Let me get over Christmas first, please! FFS!
And yes, she’s fine thanks Lind. I don’t know what the fascination is with plastic, but no doubt it will happen again with something else 🙂
xx
Tracey @ Bliss Amongst Chaos recently posted..365 Days Of Grateful – Day 3.
I am absolutely belly laughing at your cat wandering round the house with a tinselly bum – the funniest thing ever.
I am off to have a read of Traceys blog – thanks for recommending her.
rhian @melbs recently posted..Considering career options.
Glad you found it so funny Rhian! lol
No seriously, thank you. Glad you enjoyed it 🙂
xx
Tracey @ Bliss Amongst Chaos recently posted..Henry. A Short Story.
Congrats on being the featured FYBF blogger Tracey! 🙂 it’s scary that almost half a month of Jan is already gone and yes, pretty sure Xmas will be here again soon haha
Ai Sakura recently posted..Letter to my girl #7 | Japan Travels 2012-2013
Thank you Ai Sakura. I am very honoured that Grace asked me!
You know I was just thinking that exact thing this morning! I looked at the calendar and thought to myself “Good grief, we’re nearly half way through January already.”
It’s crazy, isn’t it? 🙂
xx
Tracey @ Bliss Amongst Chaos recently posted..365 Days Of Grateful – Day 9.
LOLLlling about the tinsel in the cat’s butt …
Janet recently posted..Thumbs Down Award
I can laugh about it now too Janet, but at the time, OMG! Not one of my finer moments! 🙂
xx
Tracey @ Bliss Amongst Chaos recently posted..365 Days Of Grateful – Day 8.
Morning Grace and congratulations to Tracey! I do like Christmas…but I must say that I feel more relaxed once it is behind me. The pussy cat with the tinsel bottom conjurs up such a funny image. Just what I needed this morning! Lol I’ll be back tonight to read and comment on blog posts. I’m busily preparing to host my nephew’s 5th birthday party today! xo
Min recently posted..I Have Ranidaphobia
Thank you Min!
I’m definitely more relaxed too. Although now I have to start getting prepared for early mornings, school lunches and pick ups and drop offs again. So not ready for that yet! 🙂
xx
Tracey @ Bliss Amongst Chaos recently posted..Henry. A Short Story.
Congrats Tracey! I discovered your blog late last year and since then, I just love it! I couldn’t stop laughing when I was reading about your cat! I will never look at tinsel the same way again!
Rita recently posted..Australian Women Writers Challenge 2013
Thanks Rita. I’m very glad I found yours too!
Ha ha. I can’t look at it the same either. I have images in my head that no one should ever have to relive! 🙂
xx
Tracey @ Bliss Amongst Chaos recently posted..365 Days Of Grateful – Day 7.
Hi Grace and all FYBFers!
Firstly a big thankyou to Grace for hosting this linky and FBLS. I try to get involved in both linkies but often don’t get around to thanking you for the opportunity to share our work.
Congratulations Tracey! Totally well deserved, love your work 🙂
Look forward to reading all these great blogs today 🙂 Have a lovely weekend folks!
Cheers xx
Sabeen @ Mumchic recently posted..What Happens When You Look Fear In The Face?
Hi Sabeen, and thank you!
There is definitely a lot of great reading to be had! 🙂
xx
Tracey @ Bliss Amongst Chaos recently posted..365 Days Of Gratitude – Day 6
Ew to the tinsel. Ew ew ew!
Emily recently posted..There is a species of bee named ‘Euglossa bazinga’
You’re telling me Emily! Let’s just leave it at that, shall we? 😉
xx
Tracey @ Bliss Amongst Chaos recently posted..365 Days Of Grateful – Day 5.
Thanks for your lovely tips on how to spruce up a cat’s arse with some festive sparkle!
Ha ha! That’s one way of looking at it Twitchy! 🙂
xx
Tracey @ Bliss Amongst Chaos recently posted..365 Days Of Grateful – Day 4.
Simultaneously gross and funny. I’ve pulled a few odd things out of our dog’s butt too – she was very fond of chewing children’s toys so some brightly coloured plastic has made its way thru a couple of times.
Rachel @ The Kids Are All Right recently posted..Important things my kids will learn these holidays
At least it made it all the way through Rachel! Have to be thankful for small mercies 😉
xx
Tracey @ Bliss Amongst Chaos recently posted..365 Days Of Grateful – Day 11.
Lmao at the tinsel in the cats butt. That would have been funny when you discovered it. Well I would have laughed out loud if I found it.
Lucky for us we don’t get the christmas rush as we don’t celebrate. We avoid the shops as much as possible too.
Salz recently posted..Hot Hot Hot!!!
It wasn’t funny at the time Salz! In fact it was disgusting. I think I gagged rather than laughed! But I can laugh about it now though 🙂
xx
Tracey @ Bliss Amongst Chaos recently posted..Henry. A Short Story.
A very worthy choice Grace!
And Tracey, OMG, pulling tinsel out of a cats butt? That really is one more reason I am adding to the list to not have any more pets after our last guinea pig dies!
Kylez @ A Study in Contradictions recently posted..Things I’d Forgotten that Suck About Being Pregnant
Thanks Kylez!
I know!! Tell me about it! lol
Aww, no pets? Really? Even with the tinsel incident, I wouldn’t be without our pets. I would rather just get rid of the tinsel 🙂
xx
Tracey @ Bliss Amongst Chaos recently posted..365 Days Of Grateful – Day 12.
Ah yes, Tracey is a great writer. I reckon she should rename that cat Tinsel Butt 🙂
PS: You were featured! In my dream last night that is. And only special people appear in my dreams. I can’t remember all the details, but I was off somewhere with a friend, and then it morphed into a Vlog party and you were rocking it. Lol.
Danya Banya recently posted..Hundredth Post!
Thank you Danya!
Lol, she did get a bit of a nickname for a while afterwards, but only when my kids weren’t around. Didn’t want them calling her ‘Sparklearse’ as well 😉
xx
Tracey @ Bliss Amongst Chaos recently posted..365 Days Of Grateful – Day 11.
Thanks to Grace for introducing you, Tracey. I’ve been a with AWOL from blogging a while and am always amazed at how many bloggers are out there whom I’ve never met. Lovely writing and stories. Congrats on being an FYBF featured blogger.
Veronica @ Mixed Gems recently posted..Wordless Wednesday – December 2012 Snapshot
Hi Veronica, and thank you for such a lovely comment!
Yes, there seems to be new blogs popping up all the time. I have trouble keeping up too 🙂
xx
Tracey @ Bliss Amongst Chaos recently posted..Henry. A Short Story.
Congratulations Tracey! Very well deserved! Love your writing. I completely understand why tinsel is banned from your house 😉 Poor cat! x
Mama Stylista recently posted..‘Made With Love’ Amber Teething Necklace Review & Giveaway!
Thank you Mama Stylista!
Poor cat?!? Poor me too I reckon. No one should have to do that! lol 🙂
xx
Tracey @ Bliss Amongst Chaos recently posted..365 Days Of Grateful – Day 9.
Oh Tracey, I agree! There’s not much worse than a sparkly Cat’s arse and I applaud your tinsel free household! Love this and congrats on being a featured flogger! xx
Shari recently posted..Homemade Coffee Ice-cream and it’s fructose free!