The plan - phase I

As mentioned in a prior post I've decided to tackle the backyard/garden/landscaping with an actual plan this year.  Today I headed outside w/ the camera and took some pictures of my boring backyard.  Granted, it is February and so you can only expect so much outside of the tropics.  All that aside here are the before pictures.  I'm hoping to get each piece set with an actual plan of attack within a week or 2 and then get started.  Updates to follow...

Boring...  Here you can see the bed I started at 38w pregnant.  It looks pretty in summer.  Already has a Camelia, butterfly bush, Japenese anenome and daylilliles.  Needs expansion and serious mulching! In addition something must be done about my raised veggie/herb beds, the rosemary that is out of control and the ugly compost piles.  Around the "playground" (as Natalie calls it) I am at a loss.  What you can't really tell from this picture is how bad our grass is.  It's bad!

Complete

This project was tough for me.  I had to start it over 4 times before I got it right and then discovered (too late) that the arm holes weren't the right size for my beefy, baby hefting arms.  instead of unraveling it again I decided to ask my friend Emily to copy me a work out DVD to target arms and will make my arms fit the sweater rather than the other way around :)  If it works she gets a free something of her choosing out of the deal!  So, its done.  Here are the photo's to prove it :)

And I would like to add that regardless of the arm situation I am feeling very proud of this.  I'm definitely getting better at this crochet thing!

I've been bitten....

Yep, it's the gardening bug.  This morning I went to Lowe's and wandered and wandered and dreamed and wandered and lusted.  I put about $500 worth of stuff into my cart and then decided this year I was going to have a plan in place before I started.  So, I left my cart (full) in the aisle and walked out with nothing more than a free brochure.  I had a momentary twinge of guilt and then remembered the years I spent working retail and dealing with full, abandoned carts and decided that life had simply come full circle.

So, here's the plan.  I'm going to take a bunch of pictures of my boring (shitty) backyard and then I'm going to figure out what to plant where and how many we'll need and what colors I'd like, etc.  Then, I'm going to shop around and find the best prices.

I am putting Jame on a mission to figure out how the heck to contstruct me a spinning barrel composter since I am TIRED of breaking my back turning the giant heap of rotting crap.  I'm going to order my veggie seeds and then once spring FINALLY arrives I am going to plant my yard silly :)

Now I'm going to go finish my sweater and ignore my dirty house!

GOAL!

I've been running on the treadmill since I turned over my new leaf just after the first of the year.  Several weeks ago I met my first goal and was able to run 1.5 miles in 20 minutes.  Since then I've been trying to get to 1.75 miles in 20 minutes and this goal has been much harder for me to attain.  Tonight(!) I finally did it :)

New goal...  2 miles in 20 minutes.  Hopefully it won't take quite so long to drag my out of shape butt to meet that mark!

Wheeeeeeeeee!

I know I said I was going to wait until I had completed a last few crochet projects before I moved on to gardening but I cannot seem to control myself.  So(!) hold on to your seats...I'll be multi-tasking here on the blog and starting today will be blogging about life, crochet AND gardening :)  To begin I have sought out some gardening blogs that I like and plan to add a new sidebar section so you can all check out the sites too. 

And I know I don't live in VT anymore....but somewhow, in a totally inexplicable way, I miss the challenge of my zone 4, north facing, hillside garden in Bristol.

I've gone and done it

I just opened the blog up to anyone to read.  We'll see how it goes :) 

I've been doing this for a year plus and the other day during the blog re-do I went back and labeled all my old posts.  While I was doing that I realized there was nothing here that I wouldn't tell almost any random stranger anyway...because, as my friends well know, I do suffer from the inability to stop talking!

So...Hello Blog World!

For Sara :)

A very dear Forever Friend had her 2nd baby on the 11th and I immediately got to work making goodies :)  I think the sweater/hat set is insanely cute and was thrilled to give it as a gift.  Natalie rightfully decided that Big Sister Gianna should get a gift too so she picked her out a princess sippy cup and a singing Happy Birthday card.  I thought it was hilarious and an insanely sweet gesture on Natalie's part.  Here's a link to Amy's blog in case anyone is interested in her musings and pictures of her insanely beautiful children.

And here is my handiwork...

I got the pattern for the sweater from bella bambina and managed to confidently put my own twist on it.  The hat is thanks to String Theories and Other Whimsy and once again I put my own twist on to make it teensy and matching to the sweater. 

The pattern for this came from Vallie's Kids and once again I messed around a bit to put the butterfly in the back and the scallop on the edge to ensure that no one would look at Sara in this yellow hat and wonder if she was a boy :)

It has been a busy week!

More Oldies - 2005

These are just a few that I've been able to pick thru from 2005.  That was the year we got married so there are a ton of pictures.  I'm sure there will be more to come as I go thru and organize so that they can all be backed up and saved properly.

My bridal shower - April 2005

We're missing Leslie but I love this picture of all of the Albright Girls!

Reception - 5/21/05 - Porch, Echo Lake Inn

Stonewall's Restaurant - Honeymoon - St. Kitt's

Honeymoon - St. Kitt's

Abigail's Wedding - Portland, ME

Natalie :)

My tiny mother...

It goes without saying that Natalie is very bossy!  Lately she's taken to telling me to go to bed.  I've been able to tell her no without much of an explanation (which, knowing Natalie, is pretty impressive) for about a week.  Last night that all ended with this conversation during our post-story snuggle....

Kate: *yawning* it's been a long day.  I'm tired.
Natalie: I'm tired too
K: Okay, let's do hugs and kisses and then you need to go to sleep.
N: Are you going to bed?
K: No, I'm going to go downstairs and eat dinner and talk to Daddy.
N: But you said you were tired.
K: I am, but it's not my bedtime.
N: You always tell me that I need to go to bed when I'm tired.
K: Yes, that's true.
N: Well, why don't you go to bed when you're tired?
K: Because I still have things to do.
N: That's why you're so grumpy in the morning!  You need to go to bed so you are nicer to me & Paddy when we wake up.

Awesome.... she's right, and she figured me out and she made me feel like crap all in one conversation.  She is my tiny mother.

Patrick's latest thing!

This is how Patrick spent his whole weekend!

Time....

Kind of a funny thing about time.  It's definitely going by faster than I would like.  And I frequently think it would be so much better if it was a 26 hour day instead of a 24.  Jame just suggested that sometimes he wishes he could go back and really appreciate what it was like when you had nothing to do, no agenda, no to-do list, and nothing to worry about.  And what got me thinking to blog about this was that today I had two friends suggest they "don't know where I find the time" to take on some of my projects.  Anyway, I started to ponder how exactly I was working these things into my life.  I feel they're pretty necessary to my mental state so thats part of it.  But, I also drive myself fairly insane in order to carve out the space for things like crochet and my gardeing and this blog, etc.  So, for those that are wondering...  here's how you can go type A and drive yourself and everyone around you nuts but you'll have 25 minutes a day to do something that, Damnit!, you want to do!

1) Anything that can be done at night, should be...In the evenings (and, MOY alert - while my kids are awake) I prep the coffee maker, make my lunch, pick out clothes for the next day, pack our bags, pack the car, etc.

2) Utilize the husband!  He doesn't get enough QT w/ the kids - it's not your imagination.  Let him understand how to put dinner on the table w/ the monkey's harassing him while you take care of your work out.  that's how I do it.  :)

3) Menu prep - On Friday's (at work) I do a menu for the following week.  It's a strategic exercise in figuring out how to only cook 2-3x a week.  Yep, that's right, we eat a TON of leftovers.  So, on Sat I cook a big meal and on Sun I cook 2.  And by Friday we've usually run out of food but by then we're all usually willing to eat toast or cereal for dinner so I don't worry about it :)  Yes, its insane... I do realize I'm letting a lot of my crazy out in this post.

4) Ignore your dirty house.  Yep, it's true.  If you want to do something that you actually want to do then the toilets may not get cleaned every weekend...and the dust is just a fact of life.

5) Sometimes its okay (IMO) to be a lousy employee.  I'll say in defense of myself that I always get my work done, on time, and I do it well.  However, I also pay our household bills at work, most of my blogging takes place on Massey time, and I only schedule appts during business hours so that I can use vaca to cover Pediatrician appointments rather than my free time. 

6) Never stop moving.  Got 5 minutes?  Go pluck your eyebrows!  Got 10 minutes?  Perfect time to trim everyone's fingernails.  You get the point...

7) Bathing optional.  I am serious!  Okay, so I keep myself clean but I only shower 3 or 4 days a week now.  And I wash my hair on Monday's.  Because I am a lover of a long hot shower its just amazing how much time I save by not getting in.  So, when I'm up too late messing around on something I actually wanted to do I stay in bed for as looooooong as possible in the morning.  (don't tell Natalie who is routinely harassed out of bed and driven hard to get going every day because "we're running late" due to my being too tired to get up on time...oops, is that another MOY I just received?)

Okay - I guess that's a good general idea on "how I find the time".  I doubt it's a method for everyone but so far it seems to be working out for me.  Most of the time.  :)

Seasonal hobbies I think

Today it is gorgeous outside.  I have always loved how the first 50* day felt in spring - amazing how cold 50* is in the fall and quite the opposite in the springtime.  It's not supposed to last but its wonderful.  Anyway, its making me itch to garden.  I intend to finish up a few crochet projects I have in the hopper.  This one is the purse I almost completed before Natalie stole it, brought it to school and refused to bring it home for several days.

My next project is a light sweater for myself.  Called the Chevron Lace Cardigan.  I'm using this yarn. 

Should be interesting to work w/ bamboo for the first time.  So far it appears staticky (is that a word?)

Just completed a project and will post it soon.  :)

2009 In Pictures

I decided to steal Leslie's idea and create a Yearbook for 2009 rather than buying photo albums and printing pictures and then never doing anything with them.  Here's a rough version of what I've been working on.  I like it!  Thank you Leslie :)

Photobook - 2009!

And we're back!

I had a great time w/ this revamp!  Crazy as this sounds I'm still feeling like I want to change things again.  I think I may start another blog just so that I can redo and redo and redo until I lose the initiative or finally get it "just so" and this blog will remain for our tales and my musings.

So, I pulled the blog template from Yummy Lolly and then abused the heck of out picnik by arranging and rearranging and completely doing and undoing the graphics included in the blog template.  I had a blast.  I made the description buttons, and all the other page elements have received a little bit of my creative "enhancement".  Fun!

Now, back to work!

Work in progress

As you can see the blog has changed again :)  I have found some sites that are more complicated to load the pieces in but have some really cool stuff so I thought I'd test my mettle and decided on a theme from Yummy Lolly.  I think this looks good but obviously it's not finished yet.

Federal Gov't Blues....

There is a reason that our Gov't has a bad reputation - especially the IRS. 

So, my grouch began yesterday (President's Day) over the fact that my esteemed Federal Colleagues got several snow days the prior week and then took Presidents Day off.  Apparently *note sarcasm* there is a money shortage right now and people are out of work and we're in huge deficits and yadda yadda.  Well, seems to me that if the Fed employees got 3.5 days off due to unusual snow conditions that they could work on an unusual day to make up for it.  So there!

And...

Last year we filed our taxes and then got a very late notice from an investment house re a stock sale.  We got busy having a baby and taking care of 2 kids and working full time and life...  Turns out when you do an amended return really late and have to pay back some money our gov't charges you 4% interest on the amt you owed them. So, then you get a bill telling you that you need to pay the interest. I find this to be truly amazing in 2 ways. First - they held my money all year before they paid me my refund for '08. However, at no point did they increase my return by 4% to cover the interest. And where in the freakin' holy hell can anyone make 4% interest on any amt of money anywhere these days.  Certainly not in any bank on a term of 8 months. 

Vent over.  I think I'm going to pay my bill and revamp my blog to take the edge off my headache that has been building all day.  Blog revamp is fun stuff!

Some oldies - 2003 & 2004

I took all our photos off of CD and saved them to our computer 2 weekends ago.  I'm planning to upload to snapfish and then stick them on our external hard drive for double the safe keeping  :)  Here are some of my favorites from 2003 & 2004! 

Engaged!  Camel's Hump, Huntington, VT.

Addison Co., VT

Oh how I miss this house!  And snowshoeing out our back door.  Bristol, VT.

Forever Friends - Girl's Weekend - Bobcat cafe, Bristol, VT

Pucker Up!

Smoochy Smoochers

Last week Patrick started puckering up and making kissy noises.  It was very sporadic and I could never get him to do it.  This morning I was nearly late for work because he & I spent a good 15 minutes just staring at eachother and making smooching noises.  It was the most fun I've had with him in a good 2 weeks and it was great.  Eventually he got bored...I'm not sure I ever would've stopped!  Will try to get video :)

Signs of Love

As I mentioned Natalie picked out flowers from her & Patrick and Jame got me roses :) 

In the morning on Valentine's Day Natalie & I made cookies for Jame.  Paddy slept thru all of this gift giving...  He was in a snit again this weekend. 

Natalie can not keep a secret!

On Saturday afternoon Jame took Natalie out to get me some loot for Valentine's Day. They came home w/ flowers. Roses that he'd picked out and a basket that she'd decided on. They are beautiful and smell terrific. Then he said, remember the rest is a secret. She immediately confessed that she DEFINITELY wouldn't tell me about the tootsie rolls. LMAO! Then she whispered, I got you a Snow White card. Honestly, she is the funniest thing ever when it comes to this stuff. Last year she walked into the house and did the exact same thing.

Future Blackmail & some cuteness :)

Last snow we had was about 6" and it was a sopping wet mess because it rained (poured, really) for several hours in the middle of the storm... and so it was really no fun to play in.  You can see the kids were a little sad...

And here is the best future blackmail ever :)  I was changing his diaper and he escaped and went straight for the remote!

On Blogging...

One of my favorite things about this world of blogging is finding other blogs.  This morning my friend Prachee sent a link to another blog over a very cool "teacher gift" idea.  As I read on I discovered the woman has a fabulous sense of humor and was crafty as I dream I could one day be.  So, I've decided to keep track of her too.  I've linked to Just A Girl so you can enjoy it for yourself if you're so inclined.

***  side note for you technically fabulous folks out there.  I would like to update the html in my favorites links so that when you click on them it opens the page in a new window.  Anyone know how?

Goddess of Creativity and Homemade Valentines

I bought Valentine's for Nat & Paddy's friends & teachers last weekend and was dismayed by the price and quality and how few cards you got for the money.  Then I decided, damnit, I can do better....I simply lack time!  Well, yesterday VCU closed at 9am and my only real task was to stay here to get a grant out the door.  So, while I was waiting for all those pieces to come together I made Valentines.  Thank you Massey for 'donating' the supplies :) It started out as a pure experiment in time wasting and then I decided that they actually came out pretty well.  I found the patterns for the hearts online as well as the adorable bear graphics and I was off and running!  Jame, I think, was truly impressed and gave these the high praise of "this is what a Valentine should be" so that was nice too! 

When I got home last night I fully expected Nattie to scoff at them since she never likes anything I make for her (note all the crochet I've done and she refuses to wear) but she loved these.  We personalized them for her friends and she was very excited to hand them out at her party tomorrow.

Last one for today...I think ;)

Mr Paddy has his 6th tooth.  He popped it thru yesterday.  My fingers and toes are crossed that this was the cause of all his grouch over the last few days because he's been driving me bananas. 

Now if we could get him to use those toofers and eat some real food so his Mom can stop w/ the spoon feeding!

:)

Snow Rant...

The snow started here around 4am and the roads are absolutely atrocious. Its a very greasy snow and its coming down on top of freezing rain. Nothing here is closed. So, I got to drive to work with the crazies and all the school busses. The only thing I didn't see on the roads were sand/plow trucks. This place is so friggen stupid. They close everything before a flake has fallen and days after the roads are in fine shape...and today when there is actually a reason for things to be closed absolutely nothing is. The best part is that they put all the kids on the school busses and then half way thru the route called a 2 hour delay so they sent them all home and then will send them all back out again in 2 hours. Can you sense how insane this stuff makes me? Common sense, people! Use some! I did okay in the Subaru but I hate driving the kids around w/ all these num nums.

On the upside here is a snowy view from my office :)  Pretty!

Complete(ish)

Here is the purse I started a few days ago from this pattern. I ran out of the red yarn right at the end and decided the Raspberry might be cute. I decided to give a try to 2 backgrounds. The lighter backgound gives a better idea of the colors and the darker seems to show the pattern. And then of course, as predicted, Natalie took it immediately upon seeing it this morning. She told me she does not want me to put a ribbon on it and would prefer a flower so I'm going to make one and attach it. I think I will find an equally bright, 3rd color for that and will post pics when its really finished. :)
The best part of this is that I have made that kid 2 sweaters, a poncho and 2 hats. She refuses to wear any of it. I make myself something and she steals it immediately.

Disclaimer...pics taken w/ cell phone so sorry for the quality.

Dear Complexion,

Why do you hate me?  Why, every morning, do I wake up with a new and disgusting pimple?  Why do I suffer with icky acne now?  Why do you frustrate me with bright red cheeks, a dry/peeling nose and an oily chin?  When I was a sweet, young thing you were as fresh and pretty as could be.  Rarely did a pimple mar your perfection!  What gives? 

I'm putting you on notice...  I'm in my VERY late 20's and damnit, this is unacceptable!  Now clear up!

Sincerely,
Kate

Natalie this morning

Yesterday Nat ran out of her kid flavored toothpaste so I gave her a tube of grown up paste (mint) on condition that she brush well and not need constant reminders to do a good job.  She is in love!  This morning she barged in at 4:50 to ask me if she could brush her teeth.  LMBO!

Mid way thru our morning routine she said the following...  "Mommy, today I brushed my teeth and got dressed and then I remembered my socks, underwear and shoes and then I put my shirt on the right way and, and, and, um, then I'm going to forget to make my bed today and Patrick is trying to knock his lamp over and um and and um can you please put cheerios in my goldfish snack before we leave and then I think its going to snow today.  Mommy, I'm going to forget to make my bed."

Could she be cuter?  I love how she remembered to tell me that she was purposefully going to forget to make her bed...twice...right in the middle of her typical stream of consiousness style conversation that requires no input from anyone else.

couple o' things

Its supposed to snow again tomorrow. Messy snow but I'll take it. :) The Govenor has already declared a state of emergency. As my young friends on FB would 'say' SMH (shaking my head).

And... I started a new crochet project last night. Then I unraveled it and started again. And again. Here's what I'm tring to make. Its called Nordstrom's Hobo Bag. I'm currently using a yarn that is a similar deep red but if I continue to unravel and start over I'll wreck the yarn and will start over with a new color. We'll see how it comes out.

Sweet Natalie!!

This morning Nat came bouncing/running/charging into the bathroom while I was getting ready.  She was so excited and proud of herself because she'd made her own bed.  I hadn't mentioned it to her, or asked her to do it...and had no idea that she'd been thinking about it.  She straightened her pillows, tucked in Irwin (crocodile) and blankies and pulled the covers all the way up! 

We had lots of high fives and snoochy smoochers and I am just incredibly proud of her.  She's so grown up these days!

Fun! Fun! Fun!

Anyone wonder where Paddy got his gorgeous eyes?  Thank you handsome husband :)