Well, it is almost Christmas time and lots of things have happened since I last blogged.  I signed up for (and subsequently withdrew from) my next university class.  (I will explain that shortly.)  I haven't touched a needle to cross-stitch in about two months now - I think I got stitcher's burnout.  LOL

 

Things have been a bit hectic in my personal life lately, and with everything that has been going on & will be going on I just realized that I was neglecting my course.   I chose to take a withdrawal at this point so that it doesn't mess up my GPA if I get a chance to continue work on my degree at a future point.

 

I am not going to blog about the "hectic" - if you need to know, you already do.   

 

My present I got myself for passing that geology course has proven to be HIGHLY addictive.  LOL  I now have a level 60 Night Elf hunter (plus a few alt characters) in World of Warcraft.  I am having huge fun with the game - I am such a game geek.    Plus, it is really fun to make friends with people all over North America.  LOL

 

I better get going, my rice is beeping & I have to make it into something special still.

 

Smiles, Jules

Well, I have been super busy and have totally forgotten to blog.  Which is too bad really, since I find it therapeutic and it would be a great stress relief to vent on here.

 

I am busy getting caught up on my stitching.  It had to get put aside while we did our unpacking since all the boxes had a layer of what can only be called soot all over them.

 

I finished up a model stitch about a month ago and it is now released so . . . go to www.crosseyedkat.com and check out "Signs of Spring".  I stitched that.  :)  I am super excited as this is my first model that I will have my name on the pattern for.

 

I am trying to bust my butt to get back on track with my robins & stitching exchanges.  It is easy to keep up with the Secret Fairy exchange, since I just have to spoil my little pixie.  LOL  I really hope the goodies she is getting this month.  I can't wait to see what my Fairy got me - I know it is on the way now to just remember to breath until it arrives.  Hee Hee.

 

I had better get back to that stitching or I will never get caught up.  I have to get things in order before September 1st because I start my next university course then.  I am going to start a second one on October 1st to see how it goes doing two at once (time & stress wise).  I figured if there was a one month gap, at least the mid-terms and finals would be offset a bit.

 

Blog again soon.

 

Smiles, Julie

We went out for a bit of a drive yesterday.  It was so nice out that when we got to the park, we decided to go for a bit of a walk (mainly to burn off some of Braden's energy).  While we were walking, I was climbing on some rocks and noticed a plant that looked like kitty willows.  On closer inspection - IT WAS kitty willows.  I even have photographic proof of it.  LOL  (MSN wouldn't let me put PUS*Y Willows, so I had to substitute kitty.  LOL)

 

Mind you, I can put that proof up yet since I am still waiting on the cable I need.  But I do have it.

 

We saw several other kinds of flowers while on our walk too.  Many of them seem to be on different types of moss that are currently in flower.  Some of them were extremely small & delicate.  It is really neat to find such pretty flowers in such a "barren" place.

 

I also discovered a whole lot of garnet in amongst the rocks.  And I mean big grape sized crystals of it.  We are going to go back and chip a few out.  I want to make a piece of jewelry with the garnet we found (not polished - but still in rough form) as a keepsake of our time here.

 

We discovered a little hidden beach on our walk.  You could actually walk right down to the ocean so . . . I have now officially "been in" two oceans in my life.  LOL  Okay, so it was only my fingers but it IS the Arctic Ocean and there was still snow & ice in the area (not to mention an iceberg floating in the not to far distance).  It was VERY cold.  And interestingly, a lot less salty than the Atlantic Ocean.

 

Smiles, Julie

I have added a new photo album to my blog called Nunavut photos.  It is a bit of a mix - some of the scenery around here and some of the carvings we have bought locally already.  There are more photos to come, but they are on our camera and we are waiting for the cable to download them (that is with the movers LOL).

 

The ones I have put up were taken with a camera Mark borrowed from the office.  And yes, the flowers are from here - the are close to the cairn you will see in two of the pictures.  I have more pictures coming of local flowers (need that darn cable).  I have seen about 5 different types so far and they are just starting to bloom.  They are all very tiny and delicate but very pretty too.

 

I got my mark back from my tutor on my course project tonight.  He gave me a 55% which really was very generous.  Especially since, technically, he could have failed me on it.  I totally forgot to put in my bibliography in my rush to get it handed in before midnight - which could have meant an automatic zero for plagerism.  Thankfully, he sent me an email to tell me to be more careful in the future.  They are supposed to take a very strong stance against plagerism.  He said he realized that it was an unintentional mistake on my part (probably since it arrived at 11:58 p.m. on the last day possible).

 

I promptly replied to him and thanked him for letting me know of my mistake.  I honestly hadn't realized until he sent that email that I hadn't done it.  Tells you how fried my brain was by that point - I am normally SUPER careful.  I am the type than when I footnote something, I triple check (at least) to make sure that I have put it in my own words instead of quoting verbatim from my source.  I am really thankful that he didn't fail me on it.

 

After getting my mark, I added up all my marks for the course (based on their weight) and if I figure right, I got a 74-75 on the course.  Which means, I got a B.  HURRAY - my average remains the same.  And yes, I am VERY happy to have a B average at a university level.  An A would be nice but I am very proud to be making B's - especially as it has been 13 years since I graduated high school and over 10 since I last attended university.

 

Now, if only my gift to myself for passing would get here.  I bought myself World of Warcraft to celebrate - I have been waiting for forever to get the game and figured this was the perfect reason (plus I have high speed now instead of dial up so that is a bonus).

 

Off to get some sleep, I am really tired this evening.  I think I am finally starting to get back to my normal routine.

 

Smiles, Julie

Well, I felt absolutely horrid first thing this morning.  Thankfully, my sweet husband let me sleep until almost noon (very unlike me).  When I finally pulled myself out of bed I did feel a lot better.

 

The day took a HUGE turn for the better when I went on to my school page to see if the course I want to take next is available.  (It is.)  I checked my grades again while I was there  . . .  and my final exam mark was posted.  I got a 75 (HURRAY HURRAY) so I really am done my geology course.

 

Now that I have no school stuff to do, I am actually going to get some stitching done.  I am about half done my model stitch and will be working at that most of this weekend.

 

It isn't like I have anything else to occupy me (when Braden doesn't have my attention - obviously).  I swear I am going loopy without having the tv for background noise.  It is really surprising how deafening absolute silence is.  LOL

 

Heading of to make some x's.

 

Smiles, Julie

Well, I just finished my project and got it sent off.  I ended up having to email the graphics for it separately because they were making the file to large when they were in the project text.

 

I am just happy it is done.  At this point, I really don't care what I get on it.  I just didn't want to take a zero for it.  Plus, I have figured out that with my new midterm mark, even if I just pass the final with dead on a 60, I will pass.  And that is without any mark for the project.

 

So, that course is DONE.  (Assuming that I don't have to rewrite the final - keep fingers crossed for me.)

 

I am signing up for a history course next.  I have three more core courses in history that I have to have for my major.  I want to get them done so I can move on to my elective history courses which I can gear to my interests.

 

I am off to give my brain a very well earned break.

 

Smiles, Julie

No - I am not quite done my project yet.  Although I have finished all the sketches for it and have part of the text written.

 

Nope - I am happy dancing because the grade for the midterm I had to rewrite just got posted.  I got an 81!!!!!  I can't even begin to say how happy I am about that.

 

Seeing that I did much better on the rewrite has given me a bit more drive to actually get this project done - so I am heading back to it.

 

Smiles, Julie