Some frivolous kitty pictures

I mentioned that Moe and Larry have moved into their own flat. They also have their own lovely kitties.

They have Pete and Oreo.

Pete and Oreo doing what cats do

Pete is a little girl cat who came from the Ex. Somehow the Ex (who isn't stupid) thought she was a He and hence the name. 

She's pretty cute

Pete is still a rambunctious kitten, but she's not going to be as big as Oreo.

Oreo is a large lad

Oreo spends much of his life sleeping. He is a big boy with a lot of tummy.

He doesn't mind being held like a baby. My kitties can't stand this.

Oreo has a lot to say, and sticks his nose into many things.

Pet me!

They are very good kitties!

Speaking of good kitties...

Theo reclining

Mine have the good life here.

Lucy is so pretty

Lucy is my decorator cat. She matches ALL décor.

They have a mighty fine life, and are wonderful companions for me.

A bit of tatting

Hello. Remember me? That Crazy Mom?

Much has happened since I've been here. 

I still live in my gorgeous flat in metro Hotlanta. I'm still kicking - yea! 

Lucy and Theo still live me me. Theo has become a tad portly. They are living the good life.

Aren't they gorgeous?

Theo is such a cutie. His tail curls into a circle!

He sometimes watches TV.

He is a funny boy

I haven't gotten Covid19, thanks to serious hiding and 2 vaccines and 2 boosters (soon to be 3). 

I've dated some guys - but I'm not right now. Not until Covid19 is really long gone. 

And....   

Some things have been bad. Pretty awful. God awful in fact.

I lost my job in early 2020, right when the pandemic started. NOT fun. Fortunately there was unemployment, and I'm frugal.

I was bored, so I made a ton of masks for my church. And then I started knitting....

4 of sooooo many...

I knitted a TON of dish clothes. Many, many dish clothes. I gave almost all of them away.

While I was in the throes of no job and pandemic, the Ex moved and decided to throw Larry out of his house. So I took Larry in and he lived with me for a while. Much longer than I wanted. Larry became embedded in my spare bedroom.

During that time, Curly developed major addiction issues and went off to rehab for 9 months. Yes, we all want our children to grow up to be addicts...

In November 2020 I got a job working remote at home, for less money than I had before. But it was a JOB and I was glad to have it. It came with benefits, a good thing.

Larry struggled with depression. But I was working, so we managed.

Curly got out of rehab in July of 2021 and moved in to my place for what was supposed to be 2 weeks, living on a blow up twin bed in my living room. So now I had 2 grown sons living with me. Moe was still with the Ex. 

And then.... 

Curly relapsed. Doing the hardest of the hard drugs.

Here's a lesson for you: never EVER have an opioid addict live with you. They will steal from you, lie to you, abuse you in every way, wreck your car, and turn your place into a flop house.

Results of Curly's addiction. Don't live with an addict.

In the mean time, I was absolutely hating my job. I had a boss from hell and was grossly underpaid.

So I started looking.

Lo and Behold, A Great Company recruited me. For a lot more money and better benefits, still working remote! With a great boss! Hurrah! I started with the Great Company in November of 2021.

And Larry (who had been entrenched and depressed) got a job working from home. Hurrah again!

In January of this year, Larry and Moe moved into an apartment 10 minutes from me. Moe is working too and they are happy in their apartment. They have cats. Huzzah for them!

On Easter, I finally was able to get Curly into Rehab again. It took his brothers working with me to force him out (it's complicated) but he actually got out and went into detox and then rehab. Larry and Moe spent a lot of time cleaning up my place and de-filthing it. It was really disgusting. But that's over!

Curly is now out of Rehab, but he's NOT living with me and he is clean and sober and is actively trying to remain that way. Thank you Jesus. 

So now I can tat. In peace. And relax. In peace.

Oh - I guess you want to see what I've been working on?

In progress...

I worked on a larger project. It's tatting in Lizbeth size 20 white.

A collar, to which I added beads. The pattern is here.

I made this to send to our newest Supreme Court Justice, in honor of the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. RBG wore collars with her robes all the time.

Here's another picture, with a US dime for size. I actually removed the loop and button closure and replaced it with a satin ribbon as I thought it would lie better. I have sent it off to Justice Jackson - I hope she wears it!

Anyhow, that's the news from the Crazy Mom! How is life for you?

And then some other stuff happened....

Dear Friends

Just so you'll know, I haven't fallen in a hole, I haven't died, I haven't forgotten how to tat.

But I have been VERY busy.

Saturday was a year since Chez Crazy burnt down. And it's taken much of the year to recover. Some things have not recovered - but I am well.

 We have chosen NOT to rebuild the house. As Moe is in his last year of high school and I've been commuting into Hotlanta for lo these many years, I've decided to use the opportunity to move into a condo in town after he graduates. For now, we're living in a little rental home near the site of the old Chez Crazy (AKA the Ash Heap).

I worked for a LONG time to get the final list to the insurance company on the contents of the home. I have to tell you, this is not for the faint of heart. Think about listing by name every SINGLE item in your home, the brand name, when you bought it, what you paid for it, where it was located. Ugh. Fortunately I had enough sense to hire a Property Adjuster to help me - they were able to help build the claim and work with the insurance company to get the maximum value for me.

We have some bare minimum furnishings in the home, just enough for us. I don't know what I'll need when I move to a condo - I'll get those things then.

But we DID get some kitties! Moe begged and begged, he was missing kitties so bad.

This is Lucy.

And this is Theo.

They were fostered together and play nicely. They are very close in age, but not litter mates. They sleep with me. And Moe is happy.

Larry is happy living in Florida. Curly is out on his own in an apartment nearby, selling mobile phones. Moe is doing whatever seniors in high school do. I'm happy in my job. And DH....

Oh dear.

That's where this gets complicated.

After 28 years of marriage, DH and I divorced. It's quite complicated - but the end of any marriage is. DH The Ex and I remain on very good terms; I'm even on good terms with my MIL. He's not a bad man, and I wish him no ill. But I could no longer be married to him. And frankly, the fire made divorcing him easier for me.

Funny how things happen, isn't it?

Anyhow, I'm moving on with my next phase of my life. I haven't tatted much, though I did teach at Tat Days 2014. I'm doing a bit of photography. And I'm looking into dating (which is SO weird!).....

So folks, I'll be back, just on an occasional basis. Wish me well, won't you?
 

And then This Happened...

I was going to tempt you with some tatting I've been designing...

Or tell you about the lovely gift I got from Wendy...



Lovely tatting! So pretty!

Or even tell you about the terrific place I went on a business trip, staying at the Biltmore Estate..



My room at the Inn on Biltmore Estate

But then this happened.

 

And if you're wondering - yes, that's my house. On fire.

 

Here it is now.

It's a total loss. Nothing is left. The house had been almost 3000 sq ft, plus a full basement. And lots of stuff in it.

 

But there were good things.

 

First - no one was home. This happened Friday morning, I got the call about 9:45 am. I was at work, DH was out of town, Larry lives in Florida now (he's really upset but is ok), Curly was at work, and Moe was at school. So no one was in the house, and we are all safe.

 

And we have insurance to cover us. The insurance company is putting us up in a hotel, has given us a decent advance on expenses, and is finding a house for us to rent while we are out of our home.

 

Plus all my friends, family, neighbors, and church family have jumped in to help, bringing money and gift cards and food and clothes and we have many offers of furniture and appliances for us. Folks are falling all over themselves to help us.

 

And my employer is being so great and supportive during this. My boss's boss insisted on following me home to make sure I was ok, and told me not to worry about work until I got things situated.

 

So, in many ways we are so very lucky.

 

But we lost all the pets.

 

It was 11 degrees F (-11.5 C) that morning, and we had all the animals inside. We are responsible pet owners. But now all our pets are gone.

 

 

My Cisco.

 

 

Mr. Vader.

 

 

My beautiful Lily.

 

Plus the dogs - Rocket and Abby,

 

and Curly's kitten Daisy.

The boys are sad. I'm sad. But we have to comfort ourselves knowing that the smoke probably got to them, and they just went to sleep. They didn't suffer.

They were darling pets. They will be missed beyond words.

We will be ok. God made me a tough lady who keeps her head in emergencies. Do not stress over me. We are being cared for. We will be made whole again.

We will be ok. Really we will.

I needed new flooring in my kitchen. Guess I'll get it now, huh?


PS I've already bought two shuttles and some Lizbeth. You can't keep a good tatter down!

Happy New Year And..

What the heck have I been doing?

I have been tatting, just a little.

This is an earring set done for a friend, my own design. The HDT is Coral Reef size 40, by TatsKool.

I've been working like crazy at my new job. It involves a lot of contact with folks hither and yon, such as London and Cape Town. (Really!) One of the benefits of my new job is having my cell phone set up (on the company dime) so that I can call any place short of the moon with no special charges. It's great!

But talking to folks hither and yon means dealing with them in their time zones. Mine is GMT plus 5 hours, or Eastern Standard Time. So I have to talk to people at odd hours.

Here's a picture I took of the sunrise - taking while I was both driving to work and on the phone with the London office. It was lunchtime in London.

(Don't worry, I use a headset. I have a very excellent driving record.)

Anyhow, I've been working my TAIL off! Lotsa hours! Working on weekends! Video Skyping with my developer in Hyderabad! Conference calls with people in Brazil and Paris and Toronto! Working through lunch! Staying really late! On the phone with London before 7 am!

In short, not much time for other stuff. Like tatting. Sad face.

But - the folks at my company are super nice and the office is in a great location. And it pays really, really well! Woo-hoo!

I have had nice holidays - all the Stooges were here for Thanksgiving (tho Larry couldn't come for Christmas). Thanksgiving was fun and restful. Larry is doing well in Florida, seems happy. He's been enjoying Growing Facial Hair and came home sporting a goatee that dragged his chest. He got spaghetti sauce in it immediately when he came home - yuck!

 

This week Larry sent me a picture of himself. The goatee was longer, and he's now sporting a Mohawk. The caption of the picture was "I pity the fool"!

Pretty awful.

Moe and I traveled some during the Christmas holiday, driving 500 miles each way on various interstates. We noted several things on the road.

• Most folks living in Ohio seem to own RVs. 
• Lots of people from Ontario do too. 
• There are rude drivers on the road - and those of us from the South are generally not part of that group. 
• Some of the RV drivers from Ontario want to OWN the road! There was one (driving an enormous late-model RV & pulling a car) that seemed to be going 80 mph most of the time.

Moe drove part of the time. He did ok - only tried to kill me once. That was when he took BOTH hands off the steering wheel to eat a hamburger, allowing us to lurch across the center line on I-75. I made him pull over immediately. New rule for Moe - no eating and driving.

Lily liked Christmas. She was very excited about the mess. (That's Moe's stuff.)

Santa Paws brought the Kittahs a present. They love this.

Hope your holidays were happy....

What's up at Chez Crazy

Sorry I've been absent lately. Things have been busy at Chez Crazy.

Moe turned 17. How is that possible? He was a baby just the other day.

He used to look like Cindy Lou-Who's brother.

Little Moe, who used to be so cute and sweet, is now almost 6 feet tall. He wears size 13 men's shoes. He is LARGE.

Moe had specific requests for his birthday gifts. These were his specified needs:

• A replacement mp3 player for his crappy broken mp3 player - does not need to be an Apple product.
• 2 cans of Spam.

"If I get these, I'm good!" he told me. What's a mother to do?

Of course he got these little things, plus a few more things which he was very pleased with. What a good boy!

The big news at Chez Crazy is related to me. After many months of on-again, off-again job hunting, I have finally landed a terrific job! I start Monday working at an international business consulting firm. I'll be supporting their internal Accounting functions (I'm an IT geek). The pay is really outstanding - I feel like I've won the lottery! And bonus - some international travel! Probably a week per year in London, maybe other places. Woo-hoo!!!

Many at my old office are sad to see me go. And I've been there for some time - 7.5 years is really a long time in the IT world. So I'm being thrown a little party today and having a big going-away luncheon tomorrow. It's really nice to know that you've been appreciated.

Want to see a few things Larry's come up with? His Superheros have rock bands!

Blue...

And Red.

I don't know who won his battle of the bands.

I leave you with my little sugar maple in my front yard. If you look carefully at the top, you'll see a wren puffed up on a branch.

Palmetto Tat Days 2013 - part one

A good time was had this year at Tat Days. If you are a tatter and you have never been to a tatting convention, find your closest one and sign up for it as soon as possible. It is SO worth it!

OK - now on to the fun.

Since I live in Hotlanta, I'm usually designated to head to the airport and retrieve some folks from out of town. I'm happy to do this, and I get to have a great visit on the way up to Toccoa GA (the site for Tat Days). This year I picked up Nina and Vicki. Nina came from the Big Apple, and Vicki flew in from Ottowa, Ontario. That would be in Canada, eh.

We stopped at The Varsity, naturally. Moe was very jealous when I told him about it later. He loves Varsity food. Yum!

Nina was very good and had a chicken salad - but that didn't stop her from requesting - and receiving - some of my yummy home-made onion rings. Nom nom nom.

Vicki had me order for her. "I'll eat anything you order!" she declared. So I got her 2 chili slaw dogs, onion rings, and an FO. That's a kind of milkshake flavored like an orange creamsicle. And she ate every bite.

So we headed up the hill and got there in time for the teacher's meeting (all of us taught), and then time to  meet and greet all our friends.

And folks, this is one of the very BEST things about a tatting convention. The people you meet are so wonderful. You make lifelong friends. You think I'm exaggerating, but it's the God's truth.

Another great thing about a tatting convention is Vending. Yessiree, being able to lay hands on thread and shuttles and books and all the great stuff you need - there's nothing like it. And no shipping charges! Here's an overview of vending. Zig-Zag Corner was our main commercial vendor.

And some oh-so-yummy-delicious hand dyed thread sent by the talented Jess of Tat-ilicious. Can't you just taste those colors?

And here's a spread of hand made shuttles, all made by the GR-8 Shuttle Brothers. And Randy was there teaching classes too!

Another fun thing about these conventions is you usually see a display of tatting people had done. This time, it was a competition with a number of categories, like most creative. Here you go....

Love this Godzilla!

 
Gorgeous doilies and snowflakes.

A great collar and more.

More doilies. This was quite large and beautiful.

And this lovely dragon, knight, and fair maiden, all tatted by the lovely and talented Martha Ess! You can tat this if you get her latest book!

But wait! There's more - in the next installment!