Raige Creations

 I can hardly believe how long it has been since I added to my blog. I often open a tab, create a new post, and watch the blinking cursor tempting me to type something. But it blinks in vain. I sit there, my mind blank. Mind you, it is not blank any other time. In fact, I have written many a great post in my head while laying in bed at 1am or 2am, after a 2 or 3 hour nap on the couch. But the minute the cursor blinks, great words and ideas disappear. I wrote this blog many months ago, but never thought it was quite ready to post. Plus, I had to ask my friend if I could post her picture. We had both been so busy we didn't get to talking about that, or even swimming much. But here this is, I am sharing now because I finally asked and she said sure! The sad part is, we were chatting because she is moving away. And I said, " NO!!! - What will I do without my Swim Buddy!?!? Oh, by the way I have this blog....." So much like the original night I wrote this , I am sitting here o...

Almost finished with my first ever 2 week vacation, and I finally am unwound and reminded of life without work taking up all my thoughts and time. It took more than a few days to unwind. And more still to tackle some things that I had let slip. I don't know what it was that gave me the motivation to do that 2.5 mile walk (with hubby!) this morning, not rushed. Then I did 30 minutes of yoga after the walk, no rush. I also wanted to get a swim in before the dreaded grocery trip that was needed, but not as dreaded as usual because I wasn't in a big rush.  I had spinach and sugar snap peas and almonds for lunch, with a nice lime in my water - healthy! (It makes no difference that this was all that was left after throwing out the rest of the rotted spinach - it sat in the fridge untouched for a week and a half.)  Lunch - better than it sounds, especially with a little poppy seed dressing A short rain shower delayed me, and I leisurely started some laundry. Then, for the first time ...

I have been full of sour moods lately. I didn't even realize until I started scrolling through my FB rantings.  And, apparently I really have been ranting. My comments without a picture are the most telling. I guess mornings have been rough. Luckily, some old humor found me. Thanks hubby, that one still makes me giggle. Still, it has been a rough road, for over a month apparently.... But, little rewards are helpful. I sure hope the next month and a half gets better.  On a more happy note.  Today is Mango Day.  I got some leftover jars ready to hand out / sell. And pulled some Mango from the freezer for popsicles and smoothies.  Today is not the day to make more jam. After the several weeks I have had, I am taking it a bit easy today. Just some happy popsicles, please. Even just the smell of mangos lifts my spirits. I have been sneaking tastes as the mango defrosts. The first smell literally made me smile. The first taste reminded me life ain't so bad really....

Another Monday, another week of what the heck will happen this week? source And we are just floating around waiting for the next WFT moment. I say, it is time to enjoy some Modest Mouse then and we can all float on together. Alright, already, we'll all float on, alright Don't worry, even if things end up a bit too heavy We'll all float on Alright, already I kind of love that the video has the band in a little puppet show, moving around with magnets. Being controlled by someone. Read into that what you will, I sure we could draw some real life parallels. And then there are the sheep. All singing along, as we float along. Perhaps another real life parallel can be found here. But I won't be drawing or finding any parallels today, it is Monday after all. Asked about the song in an interview with The A.V. Club , Isaac Brock , the lead vocalist and guitarist for the band, said that he consciously intended to write something that felt more po...

Well this year I am trying it. A Good Things Jar Good things jar. Strategically placed. For years we have seen this idea, but I bet no one has really ever done it. Well, okay not no one, but really, do you know anyone that has ever done this? Just do a quick  Pinterest  search and you will find a bunch of Jar Ideas. Source - Pinterest I never have started a jar, but always thought it was a good idea. This year, I finally put one out. Strategically placed next to the fridge, on top of our antique medicine cabinet, in plain view. (a photo of my mothers now in the background, near our duct tape because you never know when you will need duct tape, and emergency flashlights and candles which we need more than you would think because the power goes out that often. Ah island living.) I still need to put scraps of paper near it with a pen, so it is easy to add the good things. All in an effort to ensure this year, setting the tone for the next decade, will be differe...

As if I was actually writing a book.....I am not..... but still consider it a new chapter that has just begun, even if only metaphorically speaking. A new chapter in my little book of life. Source: Pinterest I have embarked on a new adventure, I have embraced the magic of new beginnings. I started a new job. It is a job I really wanted, and was so happy to get. Though, driving in the first day, I was...well there is no one word the word for the feelings. I felt so many things: I felt a little worn out, like ' Here I go again having to start over '. Then switched to ' I am starting something exciting .' Then felt ' How strange to have this new start, excitement like I was just out of college starting a new life '. Then the doubts. ' Can I really do well at all the many and varied aspects of this position? Some I have not done in a long, long time, and some not quite to the depths that is required of this position! Can I really do this? ' Th...

Source Funny how you start thinking of time, how fast it goes by and things like that, when you are celebrating 26 years of marriage. We celebrated that milestone yesterday. The talk was mainly - ' wow, we have spent over half our lives together ' - and things like that. Also - ' It hasn't always been easy, but here we are ' - and things like that. Because it isn't easy. Life isn't always easy. Sometimes it is darn hard. But, we stuck it out thus far, and being that some of those darn hard times were more than darn hard, we figure we may as well stick it out another 26 years or so. Overall, we would say we have lived our lives together pretty well. And are looking forward to many years to come, living pretty well. Life, if well lived, is long enough.

What a race! The Flowers Sea Swim , a very well done event, this year is the 27th year it has been going! I trained a long time for this, since January. All through training, I simply wanted to just be able to swim a full mile without stopping. And at the start, I realized just how hard that would be. But, after months of training, I knew I could swim that far, even if I did stop to get the mouthful of water out of my mouth, or massaged a cramp, or slowed to get a better look at the fish. So the day came, and I wanted to swim it faster than I had in every training session. I was excitedly nervous. The weather was beautiful, even if a bit hot. The ocean was calm and a few clouds gave us some relief from the sun sometimes. Me and my numba! Never so proud to wear J16! Especially after I got my number painted on me! I felt so good, actually, with that number on. It was official now. Now, I just had to stash my stuff - they had a shuttle to take our stuff to the finish line....

This is a song that has been playing in the background of my mind ever since hubby got me on this Collective Soul kick. A beautifully written song, musically and lyrically. The meaning, the general consensus writes, is about the shallowness of life. After doing everything, buying everything, life has no meaning. Do I have a long way to run - to find the meaning of life. Read more interpretations here. I guess we are continually searching for meaning, for satisfaction, for happiness. Society would like us to be continually consuming to find these things. However, is that where we will find it? I think not. Admittedly it has taken a long time to come to this conclusion. I guess I have been running' for years. I am not saying I have solved this by any means, but certainly I am not 'running' like I used to. I am more content nowadays with what I have, and try to enjoy each moment and the little things. I am now sauntering along quite happy. Maybe too heavy for a ...

I had never tried a treadmill before. Yes that is right, never. I was always the "nah, I prefer walking outside anyways" type, even though I had never really had access to such things as treadmills. But, now I DO have access, and I tried it. Treadmills these days are much more tech savvy than they used to be. And I am not very tech savvy. So the first day I tried one, I unsuccessfully linked to the workout app recommended. I decided to just start and try again at the end of the workout. There were workouts to choose from, but being my first day and a bit strapped for time, I just picked a time and speed and went for it. A bit boring. No. Really boring. Just keep staring at the wall? Look out the window at the parking lot and office building...wow. Riveting. I kept going, looking at the screen at some generic path with computer generated people I was passing. I noticed a cord hanging there, after sufficiently bored with the path and computer people. Thinking, ...

A surprise suggestion, this song was. I asked a friend-who-is-family for some ideas, as I wanted to do a Music Monday this week, but was having trouble picking a song. Just didn't have any that felt right at the time. So this friend, who by the way is someone we (hubby first actually) 'met' online. Communicated for quite a while before actually meeting in person. But you just know when you click with someone and we are going on over 8 years of friendship, I believe, though it feels like we have known each other forever. She has been a wonderful addition to our extremely small circle of friends. She is 'auntie' to my kids, she is who I vent to almost on a daily basis via messages, she is always willing to listen unconditionally. And that, my dear readers, is hard to find these days. She became family. Source So after complaining I was not inspired by any songs, she said she would see what songs came on over dinner with her Mama, and give me some ideas. Her Ma...

Do you ever have days where you feel like you're just one puzzle piece short? Just not quite all there, not quite finished, so close, yet so far? And then you just can't FIND that last piece! We had that day two days ago. And are plagued by it. We were coming along nicely on the puzzle . The one we started 2 weeks before, with inspiration from my recent trip . We worked together on it, and were having a great time. As we got closer, the more excited we were to be done. Nearly Done! photo courtesy of Raige Creations And when all that was left was the flowers, we noticed that one pesky hole was left in the upper right. What the heck happened to that last piece? No clue. Did it come missing one? Did one get thrown away with the bag the pieces came in, I really don't think so. Where is that confounded last piece?!?! photo courtesy of Raige Creations We looked under couches, tables, in the laundry basket, pockets of clothes we thought we may have worn and ...

I got this idea in my head. I thought I should try to find one cool thing a day, or write what I am grateful for each day. So I started snapping pictures. Random, things I thought were cool or interesting. Because life has always got interesting things happening if we just take notice. This week, a list of random things that caught my eye. I found a lizard living in a little plastic guy we found on the side of the road. The plastic guy sustained an injury getting blown off the porch rail, but it seems to have worked out because now he is open for business as a Hotel for Lizards . See this little lizard hanging out on the 'arm porch'?  Great for taking in the scenery. Then the lizard just turns around and goes up inside the head when he ready for sleep, or hiding. Lizard Hotel We were visited by this great Old Arnold bird, what they are called here. They are in the cuckoo family of birds , and make the coolest sounds. Perhaps named after an area of the island, or ...

It can be a tough decision.  We can so easily be pulled out of a good mood, right? But decide, and stick with it. Decide to be in a good mood. I believe you find it is worth it.