Life With Jules, and other stuff

My cat desperately tries to get into my room and away from my friend who lives with me. No, he doesn't hurt her or anything. He's actually very loving toward her. He also happens to be a big guy. I think that kind of scares her sometimes. Or maybe she's just playing a game. Whatever the case, she's driving me crazy. Cra-cra? Is that the term kids are still using these days? Love my Sandy to bits. I do hope she's not too overly traumatized when I can finally go back to my office...whenever that may be. Speaking of... The world has gone completely mad! Yes, I said it. And I am sure many of you have as well. Or at least thought it. This virus going around is so very bad. So very contagious. People think they're invincible. Especially the young because we are being told by the media that they don't seem to have the severe symptoms of this virus. What many don't understand is the nature of this virus. Even the medical professionals don't quite ...

Everyone's life has been upended thanks to this virus pandemic. I am not enjoying this new albeit temporary journey. I am working from home. I cannot go to my classroom to teach my classes. My cat has become more clingy. And when she's not right beside me, she's pacing. UGH! I don't know how she's going to fare when I do return to my regular office. Don't get me wrong, I love Sandy to pieces. This is my "office" buddy. Hard to believe she'll be 11 in a few weeks. In my day job, I work for the state helping veterans become job ready and employed. Periodically, I receive a magazine called GI Jobs. Well, I received an email from them today with a link listing the 7 movies to watch while quarantined. They're calling it "Coronapocalypse Now" lol. Here's the list: Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior (1981) A Quiet Place (2018) Dawn of the Dead (1978) Contagion (2011) Outbreak (1995) - no surprise this made the list 28 Days Later...

It's been a rough couple of weeks around here. On Monday, April 18th my little Abu passed away unexpectedly. He was his normal frisky, spastic self that morning. Shortly after 7 am, he scratched at the bathroom door (as he always did to get in) and then I heard a thud. When I opened the door to let him in he was laying there, lifeless. Needless to say, I was beside myself in hysterics. My poor bf, I woke him to my screaming for Abu to wake up. Abu - April 24, 2011 to April 18, 2016 - RIP Little Buddy Let me work back a little. I have PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder). I've had it since my time in the Navy. It is non-combat related, but very real. And very scary. That said, I have had cats almost my entire life. I have had cats die whether due to age, illness, or cars. I have never reacted the way I did when Abu died. My heart broke! Now I have one cat again, a 7 year old named Sandy. I've had her since she was around 12 weeks old. Abu was nearly 5; raised by me since ar...

...2013 that is! I wasn't sure if I was going to post again before the end of this year or not, but decided to share progress on "The Gardeners". If you remember, this is where I last left things. I haven't stitched on it all year. Well, this is what it looks like as of last night (when I put it up for the night): The Gardeners by Elsa Williams ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Abu Sandy to the left The cats got their flea baths tonight! They weren't too happy with me, but now I think they've calmed down. They're not scratching as much as many of the fleas are dead. Here's what my drowned rats looked: For a short while, Abu wouldn't let Sandy into my room. She growled and whined at him. I finally scared him off. Although he only went as far as my bed. Made Sandy feel a little better though. Yet he still wants to "stalk" her, lol.  

I don't have any stitchy progress to share yet. Didn't feel much like doing anything over the weekend. Too much crap on my mind. Oh well, such is life I guess! Now to the title. You may wonder what my wish is. Well, since I am so friggin' broke right now (aren't we all) I haven't been able to purchase any stitchy magazines. I am so hoping to pick up the Halloween and Christmas special issues this year at the very least. Yeah, had to let the subscription go when it expired. I'll get back on my financial footing soon enough. I just wish I could go magazine shopping. (Think Lucy here...) WAAAAAAAA! Ok, back to normalcy.  Congrats are definitely in order for the newest little Prince and his mum and dad.  I stepped on a stupid nail this morning. Yeah, that really woke me up. And my foot hurts. That'll learn me!! At least it didn't go all the way through and was on the edge of the bottom of my foot. No tetanus shot. Nope! No Way! Not gonna happen!!  ...

To all of my friends in the path of Sandy, (no, not this Sandy although she has been a bit of a “hurricane” lately) please seek shelter and stay safe! A lot has been happening in my life over the past couple weeks. I have accepted a new job and start on Nov 5th! I am still with the State and keep my benefits, however I will be receiving about $7,000 more in salary per year. I am beyond excited and a little sad. I am sad to leave all of my new friends at DOC. Although we will keep in touch and a few of us plan to still get together for card night. I am excited because it is a position working with veteran’s. This is something I have been wanting to do for quite some time now. And now for the WIPocalypse update! I worked on Coming Home for the Holidays in my SAL with Lana. I am sooo close on this one. I need to do the detail work and contact Dimensions for replacement floss.   I worked on Medallions :   I am not too happy about the new skein of floss (Aqua Clouds by Si...

But first, a message from our sponsor: I would like to take a moment to WELCOME my newest followers. Over the past couple of days, I have noticed 4 new followers to my blog. And now, the rest of the story! I picked up Colon (aka Breast) Cancer Awareness Ribbons the other day and did some more stitching on it. I finally decided on DMC 820 to represent the solid dark blue color. Here is where I left things:   I am happy with my color choices, after switching up a little bit. Here are the colors I am using (all DMC): Variations 93 & 121; 3841, 820. Oh, and I have to share pics of the kiddoes with you. Remember this little guy? Well, look at him now! Sandy and Abu both have birthdays coming up. Sandy will be 3 and Abu will be 1 – on the 24th!!! Yup, they were born on the same day. Until next time…

I couldn’t resist sharing my Sandy with you: This one really loves to burrow under blankets. She must be cold! Afterall, it hasn’t hit 70 today and it’s been windy. Just a little cold snap. And of course, a couple of pics of my little man, Abu: I had to zoom in for the second shot as his “lipstick” was showing, little perv! LOL He’s gonna be an “It” come Friday!

I got my issue of the Nov/Dec JCS in the mail today! I have to say that there is at least 1 design I am totally in love with: Sampler of Psalms!!! I have been wanting to stitch a Sampler of the 23rd Psalm specifically, it’s my fave in the entire Bible, but haven’t found one to my liking. I asked my dad to draw some motifs for me, but haven’t been able to convert to a pattern. Then I saw this issue and I really want to stitch the Sampler in it! Sooo, I am gonna ask Santa for the floss and fabric needed to stitch it and I may have a new start in January. In other stitchy news, I have been doing a little stitching here and there. I have no pics to show yet, mainly because I haven’t loaded them into my laptop. I do, however, have some pics of my Sandy. She has been spending more time with me lately. Saturday night, I decided to take some snapshots of her: the Latest JCS is here!!! ...

 Yup, Sandy and Abu spent part of the afternoon napping together yesterday! When I saw them laying like this I couldn't resist getting some pictures. If you look closely, you can kinda see where the scar is from Sandy's big surgery. She's recovering well, playing with Abu, and being a typical cat again. Now, if only her voice would come back to where it was before all of this mess, lol!

I seem to have lost my way. My owner misses me something fierce and she is probably crying her eyes out waiting for me to come home. You see, I punched out the screen, AGAIN , and decided to take a stroll. I have been gone since around 6pm Thursday evening. I am sure my family is looking for me, but I am having too much fun! I hope they aren’t mad. ******* Yes, that is my Sandy and she disappeared on Thursday evening. She has never ventured away from our home, typically staying in the carport whenever she punches a screen out. She gets into trouble when she does that. This time, she took off and I haven’t been able to find her. Everyone says “She’ll come back”, but I am not so sure. I miss her so much. I cried myself to sleep last night and probably will tonight too. It’s especially hard since my dad goes in for another round of chemo on Monday and will be gone until Wednesday night. Sandy ...

Thought I would share some pics I took of my cat the other night. She’s such a ham! Sandy VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

Well, I could have said “Another Crazy Finish” for the title but I opted to do something different. “ACF” seems a bit redundant at this point, LOL! Anyway, I finished stitching Colonial Williamsburg Gardens Sampler last night and I am quite happy with it. Here are a couple of pics:   This is where I left off on Friday night when I finally stopped. I was sooo close, but getting tired and had to be to work early in the morning. With that said, as I was putting things away and taking my nighttime medication (cholesterol) I dropped my cup of tea. What I thought was going to be a before midnight bedtime turned into an after midnight bedtime. I spent about a half hour cleaning the spill on the floor (iced tea in a tumbler cup), changing out of the wet clothing I had on (most of the tea hit me or the floor), and then going through ALL of my WIPs and cleaning them or laying them to dry. Fortunately, those that were hit in the fabric were hit in areas that are not going to be vis...

I managed to finish up The Siesta last night, well all but the French Knots. You may or may not notice where I placed my signature, but if you look closely at the lower left side of the bird cage you should find the year and my initials. Here is the completed (for now) piece: I also took some pics of my Sandy sleeping: She is so adorable – when she’s asleep! LOL…Seriously, I love my cat and she knows it, but she tends to go a bit overboard with the biting and scratching STILL. I hope she outgrows it soon because I don’t think I could stand to lose any more skin, haha.

Let’s start with the grounded cat. Yes, you read that right, Sandy has been grounded indefinitely. You see, she loves to climb on the screens out in the screen room. She usually manages to just get a small hole punched out near the bottom corner. Yesterday, however, she managed to make the hole a bit bigger and well: Yes, that is almost the entire section of screen punched out from the top!!! She was laying out in the carport when grandpa got home (I was busily working on my computer oblivious to what she had done) trying to find a way back in, LOL! When he came in with her, he shut the door. That’s when I came to see what was going on: And this is where she was laying. All I could do was laugh at her and my dad and the whole situation. She sure is a stinker!! Now, Silver Springs also has some stinkers, but they are beautiful anyway. Here are some more pictures from our recent visit there: Silver Springs VIEW SLIDE SHOW ...

Got a little backstitch in on the second ornament. I have been so tired the past few days and it’s only gonna get worse! LOL…but, I do love the holiday season. My sister made a couple of these today: If you want to see some of the other things we do at our job, click here . If you like what you see, “Like” us! It took a little bit of effort to convince our boss this was a good idea to try! In kitty news , I decided today that I need to take Sandy shopping for a sweater. She has been getting quite chilled by the temps here as of late. So much so that she finds it necessary to get under the comforter AND quilt on my bed to sleep. Poor thing is gonna freeze in Michigan in a couple weeks. And don’t forget to enter my giveaway ! I am closing entries on December 31, 2010 at 11:59pm. Spread the word!!!