Traci’s Blogs

Traci has written a blog a week for many years. Use the search bar to find topics of interest.

Happiness & Joy Traci Kanaan Happiness & Joy Traci Kanaan

Good Golf Carts Come To Those Who Wait

Our beloved golf cart of three years needed serious help. The paint was chipping off, the support for the back seat was broken, and we blew out the Bluetooth speakers. It rattled and shook when we drove it. The estimate to fix it was $6000, or we could buy a fully loaded new one with a warranty for $9000. We opted to get a new one.

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Happiness & Joy Traci Kanaan Happiness & Joy Traci Kanaan

The Magic of Fairy Lights and Kiddie Crafts

A few weeks ago, I went on a vacation with several of our friends, and one of the ladies bought some wooden race cars and fairy light kits for anyone who wanted to do them. Memories of all the arts and crafts projects I did as a child came flooding back. I was an only child, and my mother was always looking for ways for me to entertain myself. I remember doing paint-by-number kits, making pot holders with a weaving loom, various jewelry-making devices, a pottery wheel, and building rockets and car models.

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Happiness & Joy Traci Kanaan Happiness & Joy Traci Kanaan

The Cloud 9 Collection

If you want to master a sport, you have to consistently practice the skills to excel at that sport. If you're going to master an art form, you have to consistently practice the skills to excel at that art form. If you want to master happiness, you need to consistently practice the skills to excel at being happy!

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Happiness & Joy Traci Kanaan Happiness & Joy Traci Kanaan

Choosing Which Memories You Keep

I had to put down our glo betta fish, Macauley, Monday night. Doug and I found him in an abandoned house two years ago, floating around in a dirty little aquarium. Doug was listing the house and was so busy taking pictures that he didn't even notice the aquarium sitting on the kitchen counter. I did, looked in, and saw the sweet little neon yellow guy with big black eyes staring back up at me. I don't know how long he'd been there.

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Happiness & Joy Traci Kanaan Happiness & Joy Traci Kanaan

Disconnecting from Constant Perfecting

Add my "perfectionist tendencies" to this mix, and now I'm cooking with a recipe for disaster. It's easy to tell myself, "You're never going to learn all that music." "You don't have the piano-playing chops you had in college, what makes you think you can play this now?" "These pieces aren't that hard. Why are you having so much trouble getting them?" "You can sing for comedy, but can you sing seriously?" "Your voice after that thyroid surgery 10 years ago isn't the same.

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Happiness & Joy Traci Kanaan Happiness & Joy Traci Kanaan

Binging on Christmas Movies

My to-do list at any given time has 150-200 items. With the holidays approaching, this goes up exponentially! My body needed a break. My husband, Doug, turned on the TV, and we were binge-watching Christmas movies before I knew it. We watched A Christmas Story Christmas (sequel to A Christmas Story with Peter Billingsly), Four Christmases (Vince Vaughan & Reese Witherspoon), and Candy Cane Lane (Eddie Murphy).

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Happiness & Joy Traci Kanaan Happiness & Joy Traci Kanaan

Thanksgiving and Gratitude

Thanksgiving is a holiday that has become synonymous with gratitude. But how did this happen? The tradition of Thanksgiving dates back to the 17th century when the Pilgrims celebrated their first successful harvest in Plymouth. They invited the Native Americans, who had helped them survive their first year, to join them in a feast. This was a time of giving thanks for their blessings, thus setting the stage for Thanksgiving to be associated with gratitude.

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Happiness & Joy Traci Kanaan Happiness & Joy Traci Kanaan

Birthday Bash vs Birthday Crash

I just completed my 54th trip around the sun last week. This birthday was a "simple pleasures" birthday. I took the day off of work and spent quality time with my husband, running errands. One of our "errands" was a trip to the Pinball Museum in Tarpon Springs. I love pinball! We played pinball for hours, did window shopping, and then headed home for a lobster and shrimp dinner. We had friends over Friday evening for a birthday party and cocktails. It was just perfect.

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Happiness & Joy Traci Kanaan Happiness & Joy Traci Kanaan

When Life Gives You Two Pianos, You Make Musical Lemonade

Earlier this year, I found myself with 2 pianos. I tried selling one, but no one was interested after 6 months on the Facebook marketplace and another online dedicated piano listing service. I decided to keep it and moved the second piano to my home. What, exactly, does one do with two pianos when one can only play one piano at a time? You make musical lemonade.

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