Raige Creations

This great reminder helped me get out of bed yesterday. A wonderful quote from my hubby, knowing I was grumpy and overwhelmed with life, as has been the Modus Operandi these days.  I was having a difficult time finding the motivation to get up and start yet another day of stress, worry, uncertainty, and  chores. Who wants to get out of bed for that? But he wisely reminded me we have a goal, we have something to look forward to. And we are one day closer to getting there. Some days, he knows just the right thing to say.

I always wish I could cook ahead, make several meals to either freeze or put in the fridge to just heat up on the days we are strapped for dinner. I am known for stressing about dinner, so this would make things so much easier on me, and thus everyone. But I rarely have the time or ambition to make more than the meal for that night. Often we eat dinner late because it takes me a long time to find the motivation to cook at all. Hubby complains that I don't cook all the time, and all I can say is, "Well, you married an American Girl hun. You knew what you were getting into!" But now, this girl is fully embracing her Crock-Pot ! Well, I am proud to say that last week I cooked 3 days meals in one day! Thanks to my Crock-Pot , I was ambitious enough to clean and season chicken enough to throw in there for the next two days. That day, I relied on an updated, clearly fast-cut American style, recipe of Chicken and Noodles.  It is an "American Busy and Unmotivated Mom...

I Try. I try to be fashionable usually, be cool and roll with the punches, but what comes out is mostly soccer mom, middle age comfort clothes. Today, when hubby complained that it is a 'Macy Gray Day', (because he is freezing cold - story below) and I have a short sleeve shirt on with no jacket, I sometimes have to roll my eyes and silently mumble to myself. (By the way, it was in 65 degrees out when he said this. That is cold to him, a Caribbean Guy stuck in the middle of the US.)   At least it brings back a great memory of why we call cool days Macy Gray Days.  Macy Gray in a rockin' jacket. Why do we call it Macy Gray Days?  Because of this rocking funky cool jacket Macy Gray is wearing in this picture.  Sounds crazy, so here is the story. When we lived in the Caribbean, we once made a trip to Miami in January. We didn't bring any cold weather clothes, after all we were going to be in Miami where it is usually in the neighborhood of 80 degrees fahren...

Sounds like the title of a story, and very well could be. But today, it is simply the caption of the photo I found the while going through my computer pictures. It was taken from far away, as Red Tailed Hawks are rather skittish around us humans. I honestly didn't even notice the squirrel when I was taking the picture.  The Hawk and the Squirrel This photo was taken right in our yard, this view is from the kitchen window.  I often get lost on pictures. I enjoy reminiscing, I wonder why the time goes by so fast when I see pictures of the kids past birthdays, and wonder WHY I took some pictures..... I am not sure why I took this picture.....  and then  congratulate myself on some great shots!  The Praying Mantis in a Jar 1. (great shot 1) The Praying Mantis in a Jar 2. (great shot 2) I should have been working, updating spreadsheets, but instead I got lost on photos. It is a nice vacation from the present sometimes. It is a nice thought of t...

Listen to the whispers of your heart....... There are opportunities where you least expect them to be....... All you need is one reason.........

Well, if you want to sing out, sing out And if you want to be free, be free 'Cause there's a million things to be You know that there are And if you want to live high, live high And if you want to live low, live low 'Cause there's a million ways to go You know that there are Chorus: You can do what you want The opportunity's on And if you find a new way You can do it today You can make it all true And you can make it undo you see ah ah ah its easy ah ah ah You only need to know Well if you want to say yes, say yes And if you want to say no, say no 'Cause there's a million ways to go You know that there are And if you want to be me, be me And if you want to be you, be you 'Cause there's a million things to do You know that there are Chorus Well, if you want to sing out, sing out And if you want to be free, be free 'Cause there's a million things to be You know that there are You know that there are You k...

One benefit of a new walking path. It has been a long several months without my walking or running. I got bogged down with stress, and found getting out to do my morning runs, or even just walks, to be completely stressful. That isn't what they started out as, and not at all what they should be, so I stopped. Completely stopped. Running and walking was stressing me out, the totally wrong way to go about it, so I stopped. I knew that doing things that were causing more stress, rather than helping, meant it was time for a change.  It makes sense and seems logical, but in reality it is quite difficult to make such a sudden change when it is something that started off so good, so right, and then over time turns into not so good, and so not right. It happens slowly, yet the change we need must happen immediately. Another benefit of the new path. After some time off, and still feeling the stresses of the rest of my life, I decided one day, after a days work, to go out in th...

It is tough when you start the week already behind. Story of my life these days....so today this song popped in my head. Listening to good music always helps me get through when I am working with stressful things. I did have some inspiration from a great new radio station  here. They play some great rock-n-roll that I haven't heard on the radio since we moved here. I have been hearing Candlebox , Collective Soul , and some great old  G-n-R , to mention just a few.  So even though I have already started the week far behind, at least I have great music to enjoy while I stress. It does help take my mind off of it a little. It reminds me of enjoyment, beautiful things, good times. It sometimes reminds me of easier times, and reminds me that things will get better. This stress won't last forever, we will find a better way. We have done it before, and we can do it again.  Good music always help shift our mindset. I need to listen to more of it! Do you listen t...

Handblown glass has always intrigued me, the process being one that looks incredibly difficult to me. Not to mention the heat and danger associated with this art form. Even calling it an artform can be a cause for debate, because of it's functional capabilities and scientific knowledge that is necessary to make even the simplest and most functional pieces. But creativity has a major role in it as well and that cannot be discredited in the final piece.  Without going into too much history, debate, or critiques, I want to share some of the very beautiful creations my daughter got the chance to make as part of her senior project needed for graduation this upcoming year.  The snake (in the front above is a zig zag of glass with a curious head)  is what they start with, in the torch class, to get a hang of working with glass. Then the pendant, just above the snake here, where she got to add color.  All work done in this class was done with a torch. The Hot Sh...

I have on our message board on the fridge Thankful Thursday, to remind us we need to be thankful. Sometimes, when we remind ourselves that there is so much to be thankful for, the stresses and difficult times are just a little easier to get through. But we also need to realize when we are hanging on to something that is holding us back, we need to let it go. So let go of the stresses, uncertainty, the things that keep us stagnant. It is no fun to be dragged, that is not the way to move forward. Do you have something that you are hanging on to? Will you be able to move forward if you let it go? 

I LOVE roller coasters.  Well, perhaps I should say I used to love roller coasters. I haven't actually been on a real one in years. I loved the excitement, the expectations of that giddy feeling in your stomach, then the thrill of the motion. A wild ride, a few minutes of actual real fun. Then the ride slows to a halt, you find you legs and step off onto solid ground and venture off to find the next bit of fun.  This was what amusement park rides normally are like for me, well except for the ones that spin in two different directions and then around and around. THOSE make me feel like if I don't get off RIGHT NOW I am going to get so sick and perhaps die. I downright panic that I can't get off, and that makes it even worse, because the ride still no doubt has several, very long drawn out minutes left. No wonder people associate life with roller coasters. We can find our timeline of life events (not to use FB lingo, but what other way is there to say it?) filled...

Though I didn't get to blogging during the week, it was one full of recovering (working over 30 hrs in 3 days with the Bele Chere Festival going on) , planning, month end close and working. Today it occurred to me that I really should take at least one day, or even just part of the day, to enjoy the simple pleasures. Although life changes, and there are difficult times, it is these simple pleasure that remind us what is important.  Yes, I have mentioned before enjoying the small things , taking notice of the beautiful life around us.  But today it occurred to me, as I am working and planning some more, that I really need to enjoy the simple pleasures much more than I have been. The stresses have taken a much larger part of my existence, and the pleasures have been too few and too far between. It is easy to let these things fall by the wayside. We are busy, we are stressed, we have deadlines, bills to pay, work to do, kids to worry about, house to clean. The days go by...