Not Me Monday.......

  

Here we go again.  Yeah!!  And now it's time for that weekly fun carnival that we all love, 'not me Monday!'  Let's all join in and see what we got.

I did not get to meet my new niece this Thanksgiving and completely forget to take any pictures.  Nope I would never do that.  That so does not sound like me.  But in my defense I must say that waiting all day to see her, after cooking a complete Thanksgiving dinner for 20, I may have been just a little bit tired.  Nope I would never get tired and then forget to take pictures of my new neice.  Nope, not I.  Oh, but she is adorable, 1 1/2 days old.  YUM!!!

And sadly, I have not been contemplating 'no more blogging for me'.  Nope, definately not I.  I have not let things get in the way of me being healthy.  Nope I would never do that, and I would never, ever, ever, put midRae last on my list.  Mom's just do not do that.  Nope!!  Never, never, never.

Love to All,

midRae
PS......No health issues, just no time for me to be healty, like working out, eating right, and I have been thinking about starting to get up at 4:00am, uugggg, just to get that workout in.  What should I do?

One Word Wednesday

Serenity

Just a quick side note.  Does anyone remember Seinfeld and George's dad screaming 'Serenity now!  Serenity now!'?  By the end of the show everyone was screaming it.  That show just makes me laugh and not take life so seriously. 

But when you just whisper it.........isn't this picture just about what would pop into your head?

Love to All,

midRae

Out of Touch

This describes me at this moment in time.  At least when it comes to blogging and a little bit of life.  I am completely and utterly 'out of touch'.  And I am finding it very difficult to get back in touch. 

Work has still been crazy beyond belief, at least for me.  And life in general has gotten a little stressful, but not necessarily a bad stressful.  It's just that by the time I get home, make a half hearted attempt to make some dinner, try to workout, pick up the house a little bit, all that fun stuff, all I want to do is just sit down and not think about anything or anybody.

I'm 'out of touch'.  Unmotivated. 

As I looked at my life and tried to figure out why I feel so 'out of touch' I came around to the realization that my life is so great and amazing and I should really reach out and touch.  I need to get out of myself and into what is around me.  I need to see.  I need to hear.  I need to feel.  I need to TOUCH!

I think this time of year makes us all stop and ponder what we have and how very blessed we are.  Sometimes it just takes a little more thought with some of us, like me!  Really I am not that bad, most days I thank God for each wonder in my life, but once in a while I sink into myself, not in misery, maybe just pulling back from life to reassess what it is a I really have.  You look and you see so much of what everyone around you is so very thankful for and they let you and the world know it.  They tell you, 'I am thankful for.....'.

'Out of Touch'.

Is this me?  Most of the time, NO!  Is it OK to step back once in a while?  I don't know.  But I do know that it is time for me to jump back into life, be thankful each moment of each day for the wonders and blessings that God has given me.  It's time to take my life and love and hug it for what it is and for what I have been given. 

It's time to be thankful and to thank God.  I am so blessed and I am so amazed at what He has given me.  As the words go in a favorite hymn, 'I stand all amazed at the love Jesus offers me.'  Not the whole hymn, but just so you all know, I am amazed and I am thankful. 

I am not the most analytical person in the world but these are just a few of my thoughts right now.  It's time to step out of myself and to touch someones life.  Hopefully for the better.  I will find the opportunity.  And I will touch someones life.

Love to All,

midRae

Tidbits?

Quite a few tidbits just no time to write right now.  I am still alive and here so please check back on Sunday or Monday.  Here is hoping that I have a computer by then.  If not, I will be having a big discussion with my oldest son. 

Love to All,

midRae

News Alert!! News Alert!!

My video card has officially died in my computer, I can not see a thing, except for green lines.

 That said, I am taking a couple days, hopefully only a couple of days, break from blogging because I really should not blog from work and that is pretty much the only place I have access to a computer right now. Parts are on order, and should be received this week, for a new, improved, and much faster computer.  And this will happen, as long as I can get the oldest son over to my house the second I get the parts, he's a genius, and amazing, when it comes to computers.  Do you think that was enough of an ego boost that he will come at mommy's call?  Let's hope, and let's pray that he reads this.


Please don't leave me in my time of need, and if I find a little extra time at work, or can beg some computer time from the middle son, I will happily send out a new tidbits post and update on the computer and I may even be able to get some new photo's up of tailEnd that I took this past weekend. Wish me luck.


Love to All,

 midRae

Not Me Monday........

  

MckMama is back.  Yeah!!  Awesome news and prayers answered for Stellan.  And now it's time for that weekly fun carnival that we all love, 'not me Monday!'  Let's all join in and see what we got.

 

I did not learn some great and exciting news this past week that I am not sharing with all of my blog friends, at least for a month or two.  Nope I would never decide to leave you all hanging for a while.  Nope I would never do that. 

 

And I did not sign up for college this past week and have to call my high school to get my transcripts faxed over to said high school, and I was not completely embarrassed by the thought that when I graduated all records were still kept on paper.  Nope I would never let something like that get to me.  Nope, I am completely secure in my age and at my age.  I promise, NOT!!

And I did not have some great and wonderful 'not me Monday' post for the past two weeks that I am not going to link to here and here.  I would never link up like that.  Nope, definitely not me!

I hope everyone has a great week. 

Love to All,

midRae

Transcripts?

I went online last week and applied to SUU here in Cedar City.  I hadn't heard any thing back from them so I called today and they told me that they needed my high school transcripts.  WOW, this could be tough. 


You see, I graduated a long, long, time ago and the year I graduated my high school received its first computer, so this tells you that all of my records are paper, not digital, and SUU needs them faxed to them.  Now I only want to take a few classes on photography right now, not get a degree, so exactly why do they want those old things and will they still take me if I have never taken the ACT or the SAT?


I called my old high school and explained who I was and what I needed and they said, 'Give us a number to call you back at in case we are unable to find anything.'  So, what do you think?  I wonder what SUU will do if my old high school is unable to find my transcript?  And seriously, how old do you think this makes me feel?


And you know what I just decided, it sure doesn't feel that long ago that I graduated.  I swear I am still only 20, at least on the inside, the outside is showing a little wear.  Just ask midMan, he feels the same way, that is until we try to hike 10 miles in one day or stay up past 10:00PM, then we're pushing it.

Love to All,

midRae

Photo Shoot #2

So, OK, I had my second photo shoot, still feels weird saying that, ever! And I have to say that it didn't turn out too bad. They were such a fun family and there really wasn't that much confusion.  They worked good together as a family and were really understanding with me.

Here's the whole gang, count them, Mom, Dad, Daughter, Son, two horses, and four English Bulldogs.  We had a few other challenges during our time together, including me being so new to this and still learning.  Add to that the wind and we were shooting the photo's a little bit earlier than I would have liked, just because I hadn't figured out the time change yet and I didn't want to run out of light.  Also, I think I need to learn to be a bit more assertive in placing people and telling them where to stand, how close, and please smile.  You know, all that stuff that photographers, not me yet, tell you to do.

Is this young man not the cutest kid you have ever seen?  And isn't that the 'Let's see what kind of fun/trouble I can find to get into' look?

 

Sweet sister was all about the horses.  She actually got the brown one, he was a wild mustang, when he was 5 months old and has trained him to accept a rider.  What love and talent she has.  Oh, and tailEnd thought she was really cute, too bad he was too shy to introduce himself.

 

I think this one is my favorite, yup, one of the dogs slipped in.  It all just worked out really good.  I know the lighting could be better along with people placement and getting them all to stand closer, but overall I think they turned out OK.  I am going to work on the editing, too. 

Wow, so much to learn and figure out.  Wish me luck.

Love to All,

midRae

One Word Wednesday

Self-Sufficient!

Hot Wings!  Yummy!

Love to All,

midRae

Veterans Day

Our Veterans will never forget

What they’ve done for our country.

NEITHER WILL WE!

Think of our Veterans and Active Military this Veteran’s Day.

Pancakes Again

My mom can pull the mix right out of her head and make these huge, pan size, perfect pancakes.  My kids get thrilled at the thought of going to my mom's and having pancakes, they are a bigger draw than Grandma and Grandpa.  My mother-in-law makes them with a mix and they always turn out so good, small, round, and a little crispy on the edges and she can do this while camping, something I have never dared do.  Both very different but loved by my boys just the same.  I, on the other hand, have struggled, and I mean struggled, my whole adult life to make a good pancake.

I have tried my mom's way, my mother-in-laws way, my sister's way, and the instructions on the side of the box way, to no avail.  I just could not get it.  My pancakes would always turn out to be just doughy disks, and not really tasty disks at that.  Until I came up with......are you ready for it......STEPS!  Steps for midRae to make a decent pancake.  And here they are.

Step 1:  I can only use an off brand mix.  I have tried the brands and they just do not work for me, we revert back to the doughy disks.

Step 2:  Vanilla!  Yes, vanilla.  You should try it, it just does something to pancakes and we can no longer live without vanilla in our mix.

Step 3:  After I mix up the mix I let my batter sit for about 20 minutes.  For me this is very important.  It gets the batter all full of wonderful air.  With my pancakes, air is good.

Step 4:  I make sure to heat my pan up to 300 to 350 degrees.  I use an electric fry pan so I wait until it heats completely up and then switches off.

Step 5:  Add oil to the pan and spread it around.  I make sure to get everything good and covered.

Step 6:  Three pancakes per pan.  No more, no less.  Otherwise they get burned or not done.  I have figured out my fry pan and it has one corner that will turn everything into a burnt crisp.  I try to avoid that corner, every time I use the pan.

Step 7:  Be patient!!  I am by nature not a patient person so this step is really hard for me.  They smell so yummy that I just want to hurry them along.  I do believe that making pancakes has turned into a study in patience for me.

Step 8:  When they are bubbly in the middle and a little bit dry on the edges flip those little disks.  And then leave them alone.  Patience.

Step 9:  I then admire what patience has given me.  My version of perfect pancakes, at least my idea of perfect pancakes.

Step 10:  Savor.  And then just scarf them down and enjoy. 

I think I gain about 2 pounds each weekend from eating pancakes.  After so many years of being unable to get a decent pancake they have now turned into a Sunday morning tradition at our house.  I take that as a big complement from the boys and midMan. 

Yummmmm.  Pancakes.

Love to All,

midRae

Not Me Monday.........

Here we go again.....that wonderful blog carnival from McKMama that we have all come to love and enjoy, "not me" MONDAY!! Come and join us, the more the merrier.  And please, please, pray for McKMama and her little guy, Stellan.  They are dealing with some medical issues, related to Stellan's STV, and really need all of our prayers.

Let's see, now what did I not do this past week?  Hummmmmm.............not so sure that I've got anything, except....

I did not get completely pulled in by baked goods, again, and eat 4 cinnamon rolls last night.  I would never let myself do something so crazy as to just completely throw willpower out the window and just go for it.  Never!!  And I did not totally enjoy every single little crumb.  I would never do that.

And I did not decide to let the family fend for themselves for dinner, after eating the cinnamon rolls, just so that I could stay out of the kitchen which is turning into my scary place.  Nope, I would never ever have my family fend for themselves.  Seriously, it's only maybe about once a week.  Really, I promise.

And I would never skip workout time this past week, I only got two hours in, because of life and the family.  As I have said before, I never let anything interfere with 'Rae Time'.  Never, ever, ever!!

I also did not do a photo shoot, I feel so fake saying that, this weekend with Mom, Dad, Daughter, Son, two horses, and four English Bulldogs.  Nope I would never take on something that could go so wrong and be so crazy.  I would never do that. (look for the photos later this week)

So that's it for me.  We probably won't be able to link up with McKMama, but I wanted to put my 'not me's' out there for the world to see.

Love to All,

MidRae

I Won A Prize.

A couple months back I entered a contest.  With this contest you needed to go visit the featured blogger on Dancing Barefoot on Weathered Ground and then leave a comment on the featured bloggers post letting them know that you were visiting from Dancing Barefoot on Weathered Ground.  Real simple and it was fun.  I found a lot of really cute, amazing, and inspiring blogs this way.


So when you left a comment you were entered in the drawing for, I think, three different prizes.  And I won!!!  Whoot! Whoot! as my oldest son would say.  Now I am sure you are all wondering where on earth I am going with this.  Well..........

I won a prize, for participating, from Lynnette, who resides at Dancing Barefoot on Weathered Ground, and she lives back east, which means that she lives on the east side of the Mississippi River.  OK, so the prize I won is from another Lynette at Janey Mac Press, who lives 45 minutes away from where I live.  I picked the Dandylion's which are shown next the the couch on the upper right corner, except for mine are a little bit smaller.  Her stuff is really cute and you should all check it out.

This may not seem all that interesting or blog worthy, but I really thought it was quite an unusual occurance.  What are the chances of me, midRae, participating in a contest hosted on a blog that has a home many many many miles away, like thousands, winning, and the prize being located just right in my back yard?  Figure the odds on that.

Love to All,

midRae

PS.........I'll post a picture of my prize as soon as I pick a wall to put it on.  I am so excited!!!  :)

HALLOWEEN! (at old folks houses)

As you all are aware, my three sons are pretty much all grown up.  The oldest has married and moved out, the second works full time, has a sweetheart, still lives at home, and is his own person, and the youngest is tailEnd, whom you've all met.  So how in the world would I have anything to post about when it comes to Halloween, other than the fact that midMan and I handed out our candy to the 15 Trick-or-Treaters that we had, then we turned off all of the lights and went upstairs to watch a movie, just midMan and I.  And we all know you guys really don't want to hear about our boring night anyways.


But look!!!  I do have a few photos, nothing grandiose, but a few photos just the same to share.

My sweet middle child concentrating really hard to get that make up just right.  He loves the holidays and I think he looks forward to them all much more than he ever lets on.  He will always be my sweet, wonderful, middle Dayt.

Here is sweet Dayt with his cute sweetheart, Shannel.  They both love cookies and cold cereal in a cup, with milk of course.  And they both love to spend time with Shannel's nieces and nephews, they took them Trick-or-Treating on Halloween.  What fun they always have in most things that they take on, they truly do love adventure.

And of course we have tailEnd.  Yup, this is his costume.  Took some major imagination on his part, NOT!!!!  He wasn't going to go out Trick-or-Treating but when his friends came to the door, he sucked down his dinner in three bites, grabbed his pillow case, and ran.  And of course we didn't see him for the next 2 hours.  They hit the Trunk-or-Treat at the church and then they managed to visit each and every house in our neighborhood, and I promise that is quite a few houses. 

When tailEnd finally made it home he tried to weigh his candy, it wouldn't work with my scale but he did have a pillowcase halfway full.  He dumped it out and then proceeded to pick out all of the really good chocolate candy and left us with lots of Smarties and Suckers.  Oh, and this morning I grabbed a pack of Candy Corn that was in his reject pile and decided he was really smart in rejecting the Candy Corn.  I think it had to of been from 10 years ago, it was hard as a rock! 

I guess that's what I get for having no will power lately. 

Love to All,

midRae

One Word Wednesday

FLAMINGO'S

What?!  In the mountains?!

Love to All,

midRae

Honest Scrap Award

Whoa, who would have guessed it?  My new friend at Planes, Trains and Automobiles and the Things That Make Up Days, has awarded me with the Honest Scrap Award, which is given to others whose blogs you find brilliant in content and/or design, or those who have encouraged you.  What was she thinking?  But I think she's really great and you all should visit her.

This award comes with some rules as well:


1) You must thank the person who gave the award and list their blog and link it.
2) Share "10 Honest Things" about yourself.
3) Present this award to 7 others whose blogs you find brilliant in content and/or design, or those who have encouraged you.
4) Tell those 7 people they've been awarded HONEST SCRAP and inform them of these guidelines in receiving the award.
 
My '10 Honest Things' about me:
 
1.  I have a love/hate relationship with blogging.  I love the fun of it all and how crazy it can get, but sometimes, just like this weekend, I hate to even look at a computer.
 
2.  I really really hate to shop for clothes.  Just give me jeans and a t-shirt and I'm set.  To bad the bosses don't like my idea of what's best for midRae.
 
3.  I love to serve my family.  I have this thing, that if they are not happy I am not happy.  I really need to work on that.
 
4.  I have a really structured and boring life.  I plan each day and if you throw something in there that I have not planned on you will make my head spin and the evil midRae will rear her ugly head for about 30 seconds.  Then I get it all under control.
 
5.  I secretly wish that I could be a stay at home mom.  The only problem with that is that all of my children are pretty much grown.  Can I just be a stay at home?
 
6.  I have the uncanny ability, most of the time, to just know what is wrong when things break down.  My midMan just hates this and I try really hard not to say 'I told you so." to often.
 
7.  I loved watching tailEnd play football and would be totally excited if he decided to play next year.  Right now it doesn't look like he is going too, and I won't tell him because I don't want him to play if he doesn't want to.
 
8.  I love taking photos but I have so much to learn and I am so afraid of taking college classes to get that knowledge.  It's been a really long time since I was in school and things have changed and college is so much more that high school ever could be.  Oh, see another thing; I've never been to college.  Do I really want to start now?
 
9.  I am an eternal optimist and I am so happy that I am.  I love to find the bright side of everything.  The only problem with that is, that I try to make everybody else see the bright side, too.  Too bad that doesn't always work or go over very well.  Some people just need to be not so happy to be happy.
 
10. I really hate for my house to be dirty, but I have really slacked off this past summer, and I really need to get on it, like big time, before Thanksgiving, because I think I may have at least 15 family members at my house this year, and that does not include my kids or there sweethearts.  Whoa, what did I get myself into?
 
And that, my friends, is the Honest Truth.  Maybe a little to much honest truth for me.
 
 And now to nominate seven other bloggers that totally rock my world.
 
1.  Creative Catharsis
2.  Billy & Sherrie Carpenter Family
3.   nienie
4.   Overstuffed
5.  We're Glad! Are You?
6.   Dancing Barefoot on Weathered Ground
7.   Confessions Of A CF Husband
 
Love to All,
 
midRae 
P.S.  I really do wish I could have nominated more great and amazing friends.  Maybe I will figure something out to recognize all of the wonderful people who have touched my life in so many ways. 

Not Me Monday.....

Sooooo......as you guessed, it's that time of the week again and it looks like McKMama is dealing with other, more important issues, namely her baby boy Stellan.  Please pray for Stellan, they need us all right now.  So please join me on my 'not me' Monday.  We can't link up but we can visit the ones we know.  I'm sure we all had one of those weeks were we did not do any of the following.

This is my cute baby Zoe, and I did not strip down and take a shower with her just so that I could get her really clean.  I would never take a shower with a dog and then I would never tell the blogging world about it.  Definitely not me.  And I would never submit her to endless picture taking knowing she is terrified of the flash.  Nope I would never keep trying to sneak up on her in a million different ways.  Nope, not I.

And I did not completely fail at working out this past week.  Nope, I would never let anything take away from my personal time, that one hour a day that I long for.  Nope not me, and definitely not women all over the world.  We would never put ourselves last.  Never, never, never.

And I did not eat 4 donuts at work on Friday.  I would never throw all semblance of my good health out the window, along with my workouts, and just bask in the unhealthness of 4 donuts in one day.  Nope, not me.  And then I did not post on my Facebook that the donuts had won.  Nope.  I am too much of a private person to ever share that with the world.  I have too much will power to ever let this happen.  This is so not me.  I promise, it really isn't.

Love to All,

midRae