Goofin' Off During a Crazy Summer

I can't believe how fast this year has been going by. I have so many things on my plate and am always missing my blogging friends. I know at some point things will calm down, but it will be bittersweet. As always, working on my quilting and cross stitching is my sanity saver.

I'll give a few updates on my projects before I let you in on what's been going on with the Goofin' Offs.

First up is updates on my large Disney Cross Stitch project:

Mickey and Pirate Friends as of 02/23/2018

Mickey and Pirate Friends as of 08/02/2018

Back in May I started a new quilting project for Project Linus. Although it doesn't use any Disney fabrics, I have changed the original pattern to use up some blue scraps. I honestly thought I had taken more photos of this project, but I guess I was mistaken. It's assembled with black, white, and assorted blue scraps.

To start with, here is a picture of all the black fabric cut out.

Black Fabric Pieces All Cut Out

Below are the first sub-units starting to be assembled. Notice the beautiful glass rose from Beauty and the Best in the background? My nephews gave it to me for Mother's Day this year. We just so happened to be at Disneyland at the time, so it has a lot of extra special meaning for me. 

48 Sub-Units:  A+E (and a beautiful glass rose)

48 Sub-Units:  B+A+E

24 Sub-Units:  (G+D+D+F) combined with 24-Sub-units (B+A+E)

To do a quick catch-up on what's been going on the past six months with the Goofin' Offs:

I have been busy working my transcription job and starting work as a travel consultant. As I continue to find what I enjoy and don't enjoy about being a travel consultant, I think I may at some point change from a travel consultant to a travel planning blogger. I do finally have a website up and running. So far the most-visited page is the page where I keep a list of major sweepstakes that are free to enter and offer grand prizes of travel.  You can find it here.  After all, who wouldn't want to win a free vacation from likes of Disney or Coca Cola.

In March the Goofin' Off family used our cruise credit from our cruise that was canceled last fall. It was a 7-day Caribbean cruise aboard the Oasis of the Seas ship. We enjoyed all the activities this ship has to offer. You can see Mr. Goofin' Off certainly took time to enjoy them all.

Mr. Goofin' Off on the Zip Line on the Oasis of the Seas

Mr. Goofin' Off Climbing One of the Rock Climbing Walls on the Back of the Ship

Mr. Goofin' Off Taking a Nap on the Balcony

We purposely chose a cruise leaving from Port Canaveral so that we could sneak in a few days at Disney World. We had a few days left on our annual passes and really wanted to show Goofin' Off Jr. the new Pandora area. It was a whirlwind few days. 

Goofin' Off Jr. and Mr. Goofin' Off Waiting for the Bus at the Resort
To Take Us to Disney's Animal Kingdom - Pandora, World of Avatar

Disney's Animal Kingdom:  Pandora, World of Avatar

April came and went and was uneventful but extremely busy. I was working and putting together the basics of my website. I'm not sure on some things, but I'm definitely getting better at web design. 

May came with a trip to Disneyland.  Mr. Goofin' Off, myself, and my two nephews went for a quick trip. For the record, my nephews are in their mid- to late-20's, so no little ones on this trip. We had a great time and indulged ourselves in a few dozen (yes, that really is dozen) Mickey Mouse beignets and a number of churros. It was actually a bit chilly for the time of year in Southern California. We didn't mind because it made waiting in lines much more bearable. 

Churro at Disneyland with Cocoa Powder and Chocolate-Spiced Dipping Sauce

May came and my dad had to have a hernia operation. My mother had been having stomach problems and the test results came back while my dad was still in the hospital.  It was stage IV pancreatic cancer. She has chosen not to do chemo because of the side effects and the fact that it would only prolong her life a few months. 

June was a month of adjusting to a new normal. Mr. Goofin' Off and I go over to my parents' house every Tuesday for dinner time with them. We let my parents choose what they want to do. The first month, my mother wanted to go out to eat. At this point, we are bringing dinner over to them every Tuesday and just enjoying time with them. 

July started out with Mr. Goofin' Off coming down with pneumonia...just three days before he was to leave for India. His company has him helping set up a new office in India. The doctor put him on some strong antibiotics and gave him the clearance to travel, so he was off to India for a week. As you can imagine, I was really worried about him while he was gone. Luckily, he came home much healthier than he left. The end of June had lots of extended family come up and spend time with my parents. We had a great time catching up. I had two nephews stay with us during that time and really enjoyed having teenage boys around the house again. I have some pretty awesome family! 

August is here and so much going on. I try to attend at least one appointment every week with my mother's hospice workers. She is really slowing down and sleeping a lot. It's hard to leave my parents sometimes when it's time to go. Mr. Goofin' Off and I are headed out to a conference next week. It was all scheduled before we got the news of the cancer. I am grateful that I have a sister coming up from Salt Lake City for a few days followed by my brother coming up to help at the end of the week. I can rest a little more easily while I'll be gone.

Enough of my ramblings. You are now caught up. Even though things are crazy busy at times, I am grateful for each and every moment of it. I'm looking forward to catching up with all my blogging friends. You all bring such a positive energy into my life.

Linking Up With:

• Needle and Thread Thursday at My Quilt Infatuation
• Can I Get a Whoop Whoop at Confessions of a Fabric Addict