Life With Jules, and other stuff

Only a few more hours to enter my GIVEAWAY !!! Spread the word! Also, there are a few other GREAT giveaways happening right now. Check out my side bar --->

This year started out with returning home from a short vacation to Michigan. I was hopeful that 2011 would have lots of good things in store for me and my family. My best friend got married and had her first child. We welcomed another little one into our extended family (my sister’s newest grandchild). My cousin and his wife had their 2nd child. All seemed to be heading in the right direction. Someone else had other plans. As many of you know, my father was diagnosed with Stage IV Colon Cancer on April 2nd. From that point on, my life changed completely. I have spent the greater part of 2011 in tears, stressed out, dealing with Bell’s Palsy, battling depression, almost losing my cat, other family drama that won’t be mentioned in this blog, and am ending the year with an Upper Respiratory Infection. Focusing on the positive has been difficult for me this year. I lost my job ~ no huge loss to me ~ in August, but have since found gainful employment with the State of Florida in the Dep

I wanted to post a quick update on Woodrow Wilson: I am still planning to finish this piece by year’s end! I really don’t have much more to go. I want to also extend a BIG WELCOME to my newest followers!!! I hope you enjoy your visit to my blog. Don't forget to enter my Giveaway . I will be drawing the winner’s name on January 1st. And please feel free to spread the word! I leave you with a couple of pictures. The first one is of what my kitten, Abu, did to me yesterday when he took a flying leap toward my desk: Yeah, that hurt a little bit! And finally: MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

I have to give my 13 year old niece props for singing a solo for her Christmas concert this year. She really does have a great voice. Be kind, she was so very nervous so she sang off a little bit in spots. Plus, I noticed the pianist was off in a couple of spots. Overall, I am so proud of her!!!

I love the questions this week! The hostess decided to make them Christmas related. Here are the questions: Questions: 1.Wrapping paper or gift bags? 2.Real or artificial tree? 3.When do you put your tree up? 4.When do you take your tree down? 5.Do you like eggnog? 6.Do you have a nativity scene? 7.Favorite Christmas Movie? 8.Favorite Christmas cookie? 9.Where will you eat Christmas dinner? 10.Angel, bow or star on top of your tree? 11.Most annoying thing about this time of the year? 12.Do you like Fruitcake? 13.What are you most excited about the holidays? 14.Do you open presents Christmas Eve or Christmas Morning? 15.Will you still be wrapping presents on Christmas Eve? --------------------------------------------------------------- And my answers: Questions: 1.Wrapping paper or gift bags? Wrapping Paper 2.Real or artificial tree? Artificial 3.When do you put your tree up? Usually Thanksgiving weekend, but de

For a couple of days now, I have been toying with the idea of starting off 2012 with a Giveaway! I have a few ideas in mind, but thought I would make this one extra special ( seeing that I haven’t hosted a giveaway in quite some time ). I won’t bore you with any mundane rules as this will be open to ALL of my followers! I am going to call this “A Few of My Favorite Things” Giveaway. There is a reason and it is the song of the same name, lol. So, tell me, what are a few of your favorite things? Do you have a favorite designer? A favorite style? How about a favorite fabric or floss? I know you have a favorite candy and I am willing to bet it is chocolate, but can you be more specific?? Now, the above questions are just to get the ball rolling. I will draw the winner’s name on January 1, 2012! Good Luck~~~

Well, I spent a little time with Mr. Wilson last weekend and thought I would share my progress: I have been sick all week and finally went to the doc yesterday. I have an upper respiratory infection. No big surprise! I seem to get one every year, lol!! I have been ordered to rest for a few days so I think I will be spending some quality time with Wilson again this weekend. It would be great to finish this piece over the next couple days. Next week we find out how the chemo treatments worked on my dad. He has his follow up CT Scan on Tuesday and results on Friday. Hope y’all are ready for the big holiday celebration next weekend! I know I’m not… ~~~ Until next time ~~~

That’s what I want to stitch out of the latest issue of JCS! Especially Naomi Elizabeth . The first page I opened to was the one showing this design and     I    F-E-L-L    I-N    L-O-V-E !!! I love blackwork to begin with. The first piece I did was so fun. But seeing this design (p42) got the gears in my brain rolling around with color schemes, LOL! I definitely will stitch this a few times I think. So, for 2012, I may start a couple of large projects: Naomi Elizabeth Sampler of Psalms and maybe 1 other. We’ll see how it plays out. I do know that I have 36 ornies to stitch during the year too. I made a list of how many per niece/nephew. That’s a lot of ornaments! I had my sis look through the older ornament issues to mark those that she thinks appropriate for each of her grands. No stitching so far this week. I am trying to come up with an idea to stitch for one of my cousins who recently was permanently placed in a nursing home. I want to do something kinda small

O Sparty tree, o Sparty tree Your Green and White delights me! You’re Green when summer days are long You’re White when winter goes by slow O Sparty tree, O Sparty tree Your Green and White delights me!

Christmas in Michigan tends to be interesting. What with the snow and ice covering the ground, trees, houses, and anything else in sight! One particular Christmas, however, was especially interesting. I am reminded by a fellow blogger about a Christmas season where a cat found himself enveloped by a Christmas tree: Now, while Chris’s cat may have been causing mischief, my mom’s cat, Casper (name is rather fitting), decided he would nestle down for a nap. I woke up one morning to find him in the tree. I wasn’t looking for him. I just happened to see that white spot surrounded by green and ornaments, LOL! I mean, can you imagine?!?! And would you believe that he got into the tree, very near to the top, and out of it without harming a single ornament!? Now that is one smart cat!!! He was quite content, I might add! On the stitchy front, this being the first weekend of December, it is time to once again pick up the CH4TH SAL with Lana over at A Joyful Stitcher . For those who are