Sprite Stitch Board!

Great big hugs to everyone! Luckily things have been going much better for us, including the weather (at least for a little while).

My only gripe at the moment is with work but I created a Linked In account and am polishing up my resume so hopefully that will also be resolved shortly.

Eliste - we had to put our 13 year old "puppy" down a year and a half ago and it still hurts, sometimes. We still make "puppy cupcakes" for his bday and eat them in honor of it (it's on Valentine's, actually).

I found this after and in many ways, it helps: "It came to me that every time I lose a dog they take a piece of my heart with them. And every new dog who comes into my life gifts me with a piece of their heart. If I live long enough, all the components of my heart will be dog, and I will become as generous and loving as they are." --Unknown

Thanks everyone.

Ally, I really like the Rainbow Bridge. Its a beautiful sentiment.
BooChocoBoom, that's a lovely quote too. I reckon it's true, too.

I think I'll pass both of them on to my mom who is pretty crushed at the minute. Loki was 17 years young, still acted like a puppy, and seems to have touched more people than I knew. He was definitely something special, and will be missed.

So none of my ranting stuff is too bad but it seems like everything happened today, and its a bit frustrating.
-I am trying to learn how to silk screen print, and after 12 attempts I've only been successful once (on my first try)
-I just got a new laptop from work, and I need to get some stuff done by tomorrow but the IT people didn't give me any access codes so its basically useless
-And finally the flash drive I store all my documents on stopped working!!! So there goes 2 years of info and data down the drain (plus all my x-stitch patterns)

Thanks for making this thread, I already feel a bit better just by doing this

I found out this morning that my cousin has cancer. It's in his liver (or kidneys, I really don't remember which because I'd just woken up), his lungs, his bones, and probably also his esophagus. His sister died of a rare form of cancer 8 years ago this month. Our uncle died of cancer a couple of years ago.

My mom told me about my cousin this morning when we had our morning skype call. She'd just gotten off the phone with her sister (not the mother of the cousin, but another sister - big family). I wanted to stay home from work but both kids are home sick and I don't want them to see me cry all day. It would worry them and they're already not feeling well. So now I'm at work trying to focus on work stuff.

I haven't really slept in too long. The girls are up all night coughing and I'm coughing myself awake the rest of the time. I'm finding it very difficult to think positive.

Siva, losing 2 years' worth of data is no trivial thing! And I know how much pressure is involved in being unable to work because your work-issued computer is unusable.

yessamaca, my condolences on your past losses and my sympathies for your cousin. I hope you and your kids get to feeling better soon.

Here's my mini-rant: we had a "warm week" (double digits F with a few days above freezing) and now it's back to barely above 0°F with snow in the forecast. Wouldn't be so bad but we are about to start our 5th month of cold and I am not used to this! I also hurt my hand on Sat night so I can't grip anything tightly which means I'll be paying someone to shovel my drive... arg! At least I can still cross stitch and play games lol

@Starrley - as someone who had a "we don't know what's going on" episode that lasted almost a month, I completely understand. I was actually relieved when I got the diagnoses - even though it wasn't good - because it meant we could take steps to address it. I hope it is nothing but if it's not do what's needed! PM me if you want to share medical horror stories.

@Siva/everyone - oh no! NEVER trust a flash-drive as your primary storage device! Try signing up for Dropbox. Similar services have saved me a lot of worry and data loss since I started using them and they have a decent free starter account.

rockinwithrammstein wrote:Which brings me back to shipping them. I keep going in circles in my head over this and it's not even set in stone yet! I hate being a worry wart. :cry:

Don't forget about quarantine issues. You have to plan ahead to avoid it. I found this information, I would double check that it's legit before you invest in it http://www.pettravel.com/immigration/Germany.cfm
If either dog is older or in ill health I might leave them behind. Traveling is a lot of stress on animals but as long as they are healthy it's usually worth it. And moving to Germany might be exactly what you need since it sounds like the base you are on now is not much fun!


@Everyone - hang in there!

kuja.girl wrote:Try signing up for Dropbox. Similar services have saved me a lot of worry and data loss since I started using them and they have a decent free starter account.

I signed up for Carbonite, partly because we needed a backup service and partly to reward them after they dropped their ads on Rush Limbaugh's show. I haven't regretted it. I use Dropbox as well, but mostly just as a simple means of communicating between my desktop computer and my tablet. I load my current stitching PDFs into the folder and then read the pattern off the tablet as I stitch.

*cue Charlie Brown "Augh!" noise* So I've already written this out before---this will be my third time---and my computer crashed. So let me try this again. If it doesn't want to post this time, then I give up lol


kuja.Girl-I have thought about the quarantine, too. I am more worried about the flight though, because I keep reading these stories about dogs dying from being so stressed during flight. Both of mine are young healthy dogs (maybe my pug is a little overweight). I love my babies... The quarantine would have to happen because from what my buddy explained to me, they quarantine ALL dogs coming in from the US.

Siva-Sorry about your flash drive, I have been there before!

Yessamaca-If I don't know what to say, I usually say nothing, so I would like to offer you my condolences and I hope that you and your family feel better soon.

Starrley-Dealing with my own medical problems, I can definitely relate. Keep us updated because I know that having someone to talk to can make a world of difference.

Thanks guys. rockinwithrammstein, you don't need to say anything. I just had to get it off my chest before I broke down at work. Now I'm at home having called in sick for the rest of the week. If your dogs are young and healthy then they should be fine on the flight. I'd only be a little worried about the one that was abused but if you can give her something to calm her down then that should be ok, right?

yessamaca wrote:I found out this morning that my cousin has cancer. It's in his liver (or kidneys, I really don't remember which because I'd just woken up), his lungs, his bones, and probably also his esophagus. His sister died of a rare form of cancer 8 years ago this month. Our uncle died of cancer a couple of years ago.

I'm so sorry for your losses and your bad news. I hope you and your family have the support you need at a time like this, because not only is it difficult for the person with the cancer, but it's also hard on relatives and friends too. I lost two of my grandparents to cancers, and both my dad and stepdad have it too. It's not an easy thing to deal with, and you probably already know this, but the best thing you can do for anyone with cancer is to treat them as you normally would any other time. My best wishes to you and yours <3

starrley, overdue PM is incoming!

RMDC wrote:partly to reward them after they dropped their ads on Rush Limbaugh's show.