SpaceTricot

As I prepare myself to move out to the country, I have noticed a change in this city girl.

I used to care if a bug landed on me.
Now I flick them...***flick*** buhbye! Fly! Be Free!
I used to squeal and do the dodge and duck manuever when a winged insect flew too close. Now I just try to identify the bug. Was that a woodboring nantucket redwinged suchandsuch?
I have pulled ticks off me and simply asked...do you see a bullseye or a weirdie bump?

One change that I am not looking forward to is....
Dear Lord...I don't want to even say it out loud....

Living without Air Conditioning.

Yes. You read that right.

LIVING WITHOUT AIR CONDITIONING.

My beautiful house that I will be moving to in a matter of a week and a half...

It's an OLD house... like 100years old or something...
The backyard view

Big gorgeous Cherry Trees (thankyouverymuchfortheshade)

It's a beautiful place to spend my days with my family...but that doesn't mean I won't be saving all my pennies to find an air conditioning solution that doesn't mar the insides of the house with ducts and industrial hardware.

BUT! Lest this post make you feel sorry for me...I do have to say that just this weekend...
it was 80somethinghotdegrees in Odenton, MD and in Boring, MD it was 72nicecooldegreeswithalightbreeze. Being up north is better. Not having yonks and yonks of asphalts is good too.

Country Livin' is the life for me...

Space Tweet of the day...
"There is no way we can hold ourselves or our contractors accountable for something we can't control."
Context: Speaking about severe blizzard conditions in McMurdo Antartica.

Good Call Buddy.
Cause I was about to blame you!

Go here for the full album of the fabulous pics

Bridal Wine and Dine

Ange, Deni and Wendy (my soon to be fabulous sister in law) threw me a bridal Wine and Dine...

For someone who has NEVER had a party just for me thrown for her before...I think I could get used to it. (tee hee jenna's baby shower doesn't count)
I sure couldnt wipe the big smile off my face!

It was an occasion for Wine, Laughter and lots of Fun...

Did I mention that I am still glowing from what a wonderful time we all had?!!

It was so great to get all the people I know together in one room. It was really special.

From The left:
Tim, Deni, Ange, Ei, ME, Wendy, Bethany, Michelle and Aunt Barbara

My days just keep rolling closer to the day I will be a wife...and I am moving this weekend. MOVING. I decided to take off three days this week to finish up (aka start in earnest) and just start shuttling stuff to the house. I am trying not to stress...I don't have to be totally out until June 20...so I will have time to pack up and clean before that day!

Things left to do:
pack
turn off Cable TV and Phone
pack
transfer electric back to landlord
pack
throw out stuff that I don't want to pack
pack
haul stuff 50+ miles
clean condo
relax.
get hitched.
WOO!

So... this last week a HUGE MILESTONE was reached.

Here she was her first day of Kindergarten....

Here she is on her last day of 5th Grade....

So grown up!

Going up to get her promotion!

Look Close - Can you see her smile? I can!
My fabulous girl!

She's not letting go of that thing!

It's been a long journey...and I can't believe she going to be in middle school.

My little girl is growing up into a young lady.
Love you JMM...you are the best!

Dear Diary,

One of the things I am learning to enjoy are the little things that make life worth living.
I am living at a slower pace now.
It's good to take note and enjoy all of them.

I've never had a Dog before. Now I do.
There are many small pleasures about living with a dog.

* the welcome home wag
* good morning kisses
* always up for a hug or a pet
* never lonely when the dog is around
* stepping over him because he wants to be near
* watching him take his toys out of his basket
* when he has a bad dream and M tells him it's okay
* walks
* watching really little kids pet him
* see him play (really they do) with Carrot the Cat
* learning read his body language
* see how excited he gets when he hears "outside?"
* when he comes when I call

This is our very own Ox...Otherwise known as McLovins

That McLovins...he sits so cute - Please may I direct your attention to his feet out to the side.

He does weird things with my stuff sometimes. He loves my pear smelling deo and always manages to winkle a pretzel from me...although...don't tell M that I am not "accidentally dropping them"...and I always feel like when I am down or feeling off, he knows just that putting his head in my lap will make me feel better.
What a McLovins!

Small Pleasures from The Garden

Snap Peas and a Yummy Strawberry
It's always like a treasure hunt going out to the garden and finding a little prize!
Walking out to the garden, It's the second thing I do when I get home.
First.. I greet my boys! Miles and McLovins!!

Small Pleasures of having flowers on the dining room table.
The peonies were my favorite this spring...Big and Gorgeous.

Here is what I have on there now....

This makes me happy to cut them and put them out to enjoy.

Small Pleasures of going on an impromptu date...
Saturday strawberry picking with Miles...

One for me - one for the basket!
num num nums
I love it when he takes me on adventures...it was something I hadn't done before.
Simple small things like these make me happy.

What are your small pleasures?

Got Married!
July 8, 2009 (07/08/09)

Introducing the Mister and Missus K!

Our Reception Dinner

You can't see my beautiful aqua shoes...but they were fabulous!

Cake!

Happy.

I do have to say after taking the many roads that lead me to this man and my new family...I am so happy to have weathered every bump, pothole, detour and traffic jam.

Yay ME!

Knitting is next up!

This is what I had for dinner last night.

I haven't always been a fan of salmon.
Until my husband made it for me.

Another Home Run M!
mmm.

PS when the tweenie eats SALMON you know it's good.

When there is a lap that needs filling...
He'll be there.

When there are cold feet to be warmed...
He'll be there.

When there are crumbs to be sniffled out...
He'll be there.

if if not...there is always homemade apple pie.

Casa K's Paella...

and our secksy in house resident chef, M

He is the BEST cook...I NEVER cook. SERIOUSLY.. packaged box/frozen dinners have taken a financial hit in the last year...hamburger helper is so 2008.
Sorry, Betty C. and Chef Boyardee.

Our resident obstacle courses... always underfoot when M is whipping something up in Kitchen Stadium.

M...who also knows how to keep the romances alive...

after all what is better than roses on your piano?
heh. heh. heh.

This is a clear indication of when you know your 6th grader is aware of the recession.

I remedied this today.
But how is that for "using what you got"??
**hand cramp**

let me tell you about my latest obsession... National Parks. (thanks Ken Burns!)
I saw that week long documentary...and wow.
Somehow after thirty hours of watching it on the telly, I got national park fever and we went to Harpers Ferry
Something about aquiring/stamping the park passport and watching it fill up...it GETS me! stamp stamp stamp!

The girls clambered on rocks and trees.

We only ended up with one wet foot. M and I were white knuckling it while they were up on the tree...
Someone may have inherited my apprehension of heights and falling into cold water.
I like the direction provided to the faint of heart...lets just go up that way...
skootching on yer butt up a log...ugh. Scary!

But, closer to the bank, courage returned!

They apparently make leaves bigger in Harpers Ferry. This one was particularly Blog Worthy

Yikes!
I was expecting to find some sort of tree nut the size of an ostrich egg with a leaf that big.
This was my view for most of the trip...I guess I am slow

A sign that echoed what I had been saying all day.
Tweens are notoriously clumsy...especially when they are eating, walking, bickering, looking about, and not listening to their parental unit.
I made this one pose with the sign so I could say...
See I told you! Now eyes in front of you!

Here is M - probably herding us toward the exhibits. Tweens love to dwindle and dwaddle.

I'm getting good at these! My freakishly long limbs do come in handy!

happy newlyweds...
Next excursion...we are going to DC... there are 4 stamps to be had in the district and I am going to get them.

This past weekend I went to Georgetown with these fine ladies...

Tanya, Donna, and Ei

What would we do without our PDAs?

I think it went like this...
Synchronize iphones/Blackberries!
Right, where are we now?
Ooh I got a text!

My favorite text was the "what are you wearing" sent by tanya at many given points during the weekend.

We had a fine old time!
There was yarn shopping, regular shopping, SWISH dinners, and cupcakes...

There *may* have been a small mishap with my lovely cupcakes...but they tasted FABULOUS just the same.

We stayed at the Fairmont Hotel in DC...and it was a lovely place to rest and recouperate.

Even with all this cavorting about...I've managed to get 2 items knitted and off the needles.

I finished the 2nd pair of the fingerless mitts - with plenty of yarn to spare!

and I knitted a sweater for my GUS.

This is the Cowl and Howl pattern from Stitch and Bitch...I took a little cowl off the howl. . I also added a hole for his harness for when he takes me for a drag. He has so much energy!!
PS that coke can is empty...but he is always looking at me (see below) and I had M distract him with something that smells tasty.

here he is in his favorite spot..curled up anywhere he can find on me.

Although this morning, he elected to stay in bed with M. When no one is looking, they are best buds.

This last weekend I got to go to my first Bar Mitzvah.
Hubby and I got to get all gussied up!

As I had RSVP'd and knew it was cocktail dress.

I have decided as one of my resolutions this year
I will change out my wardrobe with Classic Elements.
Having a Little Black Dress became my obsession, and this was my first occasion to wear it.

I found this Vintage 1960s Black Velvet LBR on EBAY.
I won it for $6.91
It is in PERFECT condition.

I even got to use my velvet jacket

Hubby got into a suit...

and off we went...
he even disco danced with me.
HEAVEN!

Twas the night before Valentines Day... it was perfect.

Helll-o SNOW!

In Boring, Maryland we have had a total of 60 inches of snow in about 2 weeks.

That is about 3 inches shorter than me.
I have discovered that when it comes to manual labor, I am a supreme snow shoveler.
I have shoveled about 50 yards of driveway (with hubby) with ~3 foot of snow twice.

First priority!!
Hubby making the poop path for the dogs...
Dogs and snow not a good combination for bathroom times.

Ox is not a fan of snow.

Here are the snow dunes we had in our driveway.
These are beautiful,no?
Amazing what 40 mile an hour winds can create.
oh yeah...to the far right is my honda.

There will be no bbq for a long time to come.
See the Grill?

Gus got in on the fun in his little parka!
Pugs don't like the cold without a coat!

This you can see is mother nature having a laugh.
No sooner did I dig my car out...
It was covered again.
Snow: 42" Heather: 0

Can you Dig it?
This had been cleared just a day ago.
I could see driveway before Round two.
When I see this picture, I can smell the icyhot, oh...the complaining muscles.

What do you do after all that work?
Nite Nite!

Spring has sprung in Boring, Maryland...

The GusMan is out and about among the bees and the buds...

"Beez? Did you say Beez, Mom? Wherez?"

I've been knitting socks socks socks lately. Three pair in about 3 months. Not too Shabby.
These were knitted for my grandma...
Summer and winter socks for her!

All superwash. Super easy. Super Special for my Gma.

Here are my latest...
Knitting at the airport...

Completed!!

Colinette jitterbug...
Made for this lovely bestie of mine, my darling Ange.

modelled by her...

My little girl who isn't so little anymore...
Shiny faces for Springtimes

Hubby likes to pick me fleurs...

"beez? wherez are the beez?"

Tuckered out...

Happy Spring!