Tue Sep 02 2008 07:49 Ariel II: With the release of a third Little Mermaid video, Rachel realized she missed the second one.

Rachel: her daughter wants to be a mermaid not human?
i guess the seaweed is always green
er

(1) Thu Sep 04 2008 06:59 Stalking: The Ultimate Form of Flattery: (Breaking Dawn Spoiler Alert)

Thanks a LOT, Rachel, for getting me hooked on Twilight Parodies. Make it stop. Seriously.

and it was the best series starting with a teenage girl in love with a mysterious boy in her class that ended up with a teenage girl defending her growth-accelerated mutant hybrid baby from an ancient clan of evil vampires with her magical psychic shield that I ever read, THE END.

I couldn't have said it better myself.

ETA: I can't help myself. This is re: Midnight Sun.

Also, he still has her Snapple cap in his pocket, because Edward Cullen is a thirteen-year-old girl.

Thu Sep 04 2008 19:22 Today I: Today is the third day this week Maggie and I have stayed home. Maybe to make up for all our "long days" recently, or to prep for next week which is looking hectic. Here's what I did today.

Mowed the back yard. Worked on making a counting board book for Maggie. Cut a sign out of chipboard to decorate for Thanksgiving. Picked up some leaves. Pulled some weeds. Put 3 sets of paper packs together for Jamie. Did the dishes. Cleaned the table. Unloaded the dishwasher. Cleaned the countertops. Watered the plants. Cleaned both upstairs bathrooms. Painted Maggie's toenails. Removed nail polish from Maggie's toenails. Took an adorable video of Maggie. Got the mail. Took Maggie to the park. Mowed the front lawn. Cleaned up after the neighbors dog. Picked some free peaches. Went through the mail, including all my new coupons. Call Leonard about a suspicious package which arrived for me. Changed two dirty diapers. Changed the batteries in two of Maggie's whiny electronic toys. Chatted with Rachel. Cleaned up toys.

(3) Sat Sep 06 2008 20:52: John was home today but had to work nearly the entire day. Maggie and I made do going through her 18-24m and 2T clothes. Such a big girl! I also made some peach jam, finished a few crochet projects, and started a sewing project. And did some CC work. And wrote an article.

Oh yeah, Maggie and I also walked to the grocery store, about a mile away. It was a little too long in the stroller for Maggie, and of course, it was uphill the whole way home. The weather was nice so it was a good day for it, but I don't think I'll be doing it too often. Mostly because that store is so much more expensive than Wal-Mart. I just needed lids for my canning jars (Wal-Mart didn't have the right size) and my prescription, so it wasn't like I needed groceries.

Once John was done working I tried a new recipe and we walked to the park to play on the slides with Maggie. She had fun giving kisses through the railings.

(1) Mon Sep 08 2008 07:33 Too Close: If I were Mom and Maggie were me, I'd be coming home with a new baby today. No thanks! I'm liking the one perfectly well-behaved munchkin I've already got.

(1) Mon Sep 08 2008 16:23 Family History: Grandma June: Part 3: Maggie and I went on our usual Grandma June visit today. For some reason I had more fun than I normally do (not that it's ever boring). First of all, Maggie has learned right where the "toy drawer" is (just like me). We also brought her ride-on car today and sat in the backyard with the sun warming our backs and the kitty lying on the grass at our feet.

Also, Grandma gave me her garden rake (which I "borrowed" several months ago and haven't returned) and some crochet hooks I found (she never crocheted: one was still in the package). This worked out great since I lost my size F between finishing my frosting and sewing it on to the donut. She also tried to give me her knitting needles and the entire contents of her curio cabinet. And I won't deny that Maggie took Catwoman's car home with her.

So, for those not in the loop, Grandma is 90 years old and anxiously awaiting death. She also wishes she has more kids because (in retrospect) it was so easy. Ahem. Actual honest-to-goodness words coming out of her mouth:

Grandma June: Before I go out of this world, I want to hear you say you're expecting.
Susie: You're going to have to stick around a while then.
Grandma June: Well. I'm waiting.

I thought I would also record for posterity Grandma's description of a "game" people were playing over at John's cousin Sheryl's house. The room was dark. Everyone had an instrument. There was a screen with a show on it on a platform. There wasn't any furniture in the room. Um. It took me about 10 minutes to figure out it was Rockband - and another 5 minutes to explain it to her.

And finally - Grandma thinks Maggie and I are so cute because I am a stay at home mom and we spend all day together and are all attached. She figures she was like that also when she just had one litee toddler Susan. But anyway, we're cute. But Maggie still needs a friend (ie. sibling).

I brought home birthday cards for myself, Brook, and Ember. But I bet mine is the only one without any money in it. Cause I'm an "in-law". (Hmm. I can't seem to find if I posted about the time I asked Grandma to come live with us. She said "that's the nicest thing anyone's ever offered. And you're not even related to me!")

(1) Tue Sep 09 2008 19:07 Uninformed Opinions: Well, I looked into politics today. I'm pretty sure that John told me that Joe Biden was running with Obama, but when Sarah Palin's site said she was having a debate with him I thought, "why?" and went to find out. At first I was incredibly turned off by the cheesy shot of him (I can't find it now, but apparently he always looks like that so take a look and you'll see what I'm talking about). But I see that he has foreign policy experience. I am very unimpressed by Palin from a political standpoint.

Since the issues I care about aren't really issues in this election, I am voting for spending money in our own country, rather than Iraq. Not that it matters, because I live in Utah.

(1) Fri Sep 12 2008 11:57 Sweet 18: Our little precious turned 18 months this week. We celebrated (along with my birthday and, vicariously, Sumana's) by lunching with Aunt Anne and Aunt Sharon at Gardner Village. It was wonderful to see both of them.

We went to the pediatrician today. The office ladies loved my purse and Maggie's candy corn pants. Maggie loved the turtles and fish, but that's about it. She was 20 lb 10 oz (5%) and got two shots - hopefully now she is flu-proof because last year was awful.

After the doctor we went to JoAnn and the nearby grocery store (to pick up some loss leaders and Eclair Cake ingredients). I bought 1/4 yard of 8 different colors of felt and JoAnn. I don't know if I will bother making fake food for her, she is enjoying playing with the felt as is. She also loves the embroidery thread I bought. They were out of white t-shirt knit, so my experimental Maggie-long-sleeved-shirt-making will have to wait. Jodi is coming over to scrapbook tonight, so I had to put my sewing machine away anyway.

(6) Sat Sep 13 2008 19:48 New-Clothes-a-Phobic: Maggie has developed a phobia of new clothes. At first I thought it was just new shoes (and who can blame her after comfy Robeez?). Then I thought maybe it was clothes Rachel sent her, or clothes that I made her. Then we broke out the next wave of hand-me-downs and she hates nearly everything.

The good news is she gets over it, one item at a time. I counted eight times that she wore her pink Croc knock-offs ($5 at Wal-Mart) before she didn't cry when I put them on. She didn't complain the third time she wore the candy corn pants, and for the most part she's stopped randomly complaining about what she's wearing hours after I put it on her.

I mentioned it to the doctor (who had never heard of such a thing) and he agrees that I should keep doing what I'm doing - distraction and "you're wearing it anyway." I should mention that I'm pretty sure it's not a texture thing. Same comfy pants in a different color = scary.

(1) Sun Sep 14 2008 19:48 Early Birthday: We had our family birthday party today. I got everything I wanted! I got $$ to spend on new clothes (seriously. need. new. clothes. Without holes.), iTunes gift cards, restaurant gift card and Amazon gift card. Woo hoo! I will be doing some online shopping tomorrow, and definitely be making a trip to Old Navy and/or Target soon to fix my holey clothes problem.

I made an eclair cake, which was entirely gobbled up. "If God woke up early and made a cake today, this would be it." Yum. Also, Ember played two songs on the piano, which was very sweet and a good experience for her.

John had to leave early to go to work (against his will and better judgement). The guy making him come in showed up over an hour late! grrrrrrr. Also, Maggie's been quite clingy/fussy around other people lately. I'm wondering if it's because poor John has had to work so much. She wailed in nursery today and kept pointing towards the door - while I was in there with her. She just wanted her daddy.

(2) Sun Sep 14 2008 20:28 Note to Self: Endure to the end… Be faithful… And, Stop acting that way!

Also: "I figure if things can't cook reliably with only a little guidance from me, they get what they deserve."

(3) Tue Sep 16 2008 15:28 Clothes-A-Phobic Update: I forgot to mention that Maggie also has a problem when I wear new clothes. I have a grey sweater I wear 250 days a year (but not the past 100) and Maggie freaked out when I put it on a few days ago.

John thinks maybe Maggie is just a hand-me-down snob. I bought her some pink elephant pajamas and a kitty Halloween shirt at Target yesterday, and she was perfectly happy to wear the new shirt with some new black pants today.

(6) Thu Sep 18 2008 19:42 Happy Birthday, Blog!: It’s been nine years since the gummy shark and I made our presence known on the World Wide Web. Not many people can say they’ve been blogging for nine years (I only know one). I didn’t really start writing until 6 months later, and judging from my short, reassuring entries, this was at Mom’s insistence. You know, since she never called. In the past nine years, I’ve gone from 2 readers to 7; pretty impressive considering one of the original two has since died.

Nine years is a long time. My blog has seen me through 13 moves, 3 boyfriends, 56 roommates, 5 countries, 15 states, 2 internships and 9 jobs (plus temp stuff, writing, and being a mom). It was there for me during the deaths of Danny, Grandma Jessie, Uncle Larry, Grandpa Dalton, Grandma Rosie, Mom and Jellybean. It saw my brother and two sisters-in-law get married (figuratively speaking, in Leonard’s case (especially since apparently I didn’t blog about it)) and my siblings both move thousands of miles away. I’ve had one wedding, one marriage, one pregnancy, one baby and one awesome husband.

I now have three blogs, so I've hopefully become better at blogging in the past nine years. Thanks for the 18th birthday present, Leonard.

Sat Sep 20 2008 12:04 No More Two-Teeth: Maggie officially cut her third tooth yesterday. Yes, it's true. My 18 month old has three teeth.

She also learned two words (besides "dada" and "bye-bye" (which sounds suspiciously like "dada")): "bubbles" and "no". She just says "no" because it's fun to say not because she doesn't want to do anything. So far.

Other fun Maggie facts: She is obsessed with stop signs and points them out everywhere she goes. Sometimes when she is crying and I can't figure out why, it's because her shoe is coming off.

Mon Sep 22 2008 20:01 Typical Monday: I really didn't do anything spectacular today, but I feel like blogging. So here you go.

Worked in the morning. Maggie and I went to visit Grandma June. It was raining, so it wasn't a terribly exciting trip. I brought a piano book so I could play her some non-hymns. When we got home, Maggie ate a terrific lunch of peas, cheese cubes, yummy balls, texas sheet cake, pear walnut muffin and puffs. Then she took a three hour nap.

During Maggie's nap I did some more CC work and painted in the garage a little. About the time she woke up I started on some Christmas presents for Rachel. Then I vacuumed and made potstickers for dinner. John got home pretty late so we took Maggie on a ride on her car to get the mail, then bedtime. Now I am relaxing. Sigh.

(2) Fri Sep 26 2008 09:58 Be the Best Susie:

We each do the best we can. My best may not be as good as your best, but it's my best. The fact is thatwe know when we are doing our best and when we are not. If we are not doing our best, it leaves us with a gnawing hunger and frustration. But when we do our level best, we experience a peace. - Marjorie Hinckley

(2) Sat Sep 27 2008 20:04 Fall Activities: We had a busy day today. Maggie was up all night again. She's decided to let her fourth tooth - a molar - come out. Crazy girl. John finished getting the primer on the garage walls, then we went on a hike to Donut Falls. It was supposed to be a ward hike, but we beat everyone there. We had to carry Maggie, but it was a lot of fun.

Maggie slept in the car, then we went to Cornbelly's corn maze at Thanksgiving Point. Tasha had called and said they had coupons to get in for $1 today! This was the best corn maze I've ever been to. There were so many fun activities for Maggie and Colette to enjoy. We took lots of pictures, and John took lots with me in them too!

As soon as we got home I hurried and changed for the General Relief Society broadcast. Everyone I know had tickets and we don't have a stake center, so I was actually quite surprised to see someone I knew there, a new girl in the ward. I had fun talking to her and I got a lot out of the meeting. I really enjoyed President Uchtdorf's comments on the inherent, divine desires to create and show compassion. I wish the congregation got to sing more at Conference though.

(1) Mon Sep 29 2008 18:35 Bleh: I woke up feeling terrible this morning and spent the morning throwing up and crawling around to take minimal care of Maggie. Lucky Maggie was much better behaved today. She watched a lot of Wiggles and Baby Einstein and took a good nap so I could nap too. I feel a little better now and I was able to accomplish a couple of the things I needed to do today, although John had to get the lawn mowed. He left work at 4 to come take care of me. My legs are sooo achy.