potpourri

We took a little Memorial Day trip to the cemetery to visit my grandma and grandpa. It was yesterday so not technically on Memorial Day. Danny kept pointing to headstones and asking, "Who's under there?" Then I'd read the first name and he'd repeat it as a question and with a lot of emotion in his voice, as if every time it was such a surprise that What'sHisName was buried there.

Who's under there?
Henry.
En-weee? Who's under there?
Mary.
Ma-weee? Who's under there?
Stanley.
Dan-weee?

It's funny the first few times. After that, not so much.

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We took a little Memorial Day trip (actually on Memorial Day) to another cemetery with Aunt Nancy. I like this picture. It looks like Aunt Nancy should be saying, "Sweep here! Now! Sweep!"

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I've got some stuff to say about the blogger conference I attended last week. I'm not ready to report yet. It's all floating around in my head and I can't seem to figure out how to get all my thoughts organized. Is there a statute of limitations on this kind of thing? It might be July before I get it all figured out. I can't even promise that it'll be worth the wait though.

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My mission president's wife passed away on Tuesday. I attended her funeral yesterday with my mission buddy, Rachelle (but I still call her Sister Waite...even though she's married now and I really should just call her by her first name since we've both been home from the mission for 15 years). I cried my way through three kleenexes. I knew I should have brought a hanky instead.

I'm glad I got to sit by another mission buddy who reminded me of the time that we told some other sister missionaries that we knew how to sing "As I Have Loved You" in Navajo. We didn't really though. All we did was sing it in Spanish but leave off all the consonants. That takes talent, people. It was fun to remember that and giggle a little bit before the funeral started.

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I wish there were fireflies in Utah. I feel like my kids are missing out.

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I woke up at 5:00 this morning scratching a mosquito bite with my toenails (because the bite is on my ankle). I couldn't stop and couldn't go back to sleep so I got up to go to the bathroom. I wiped a blob of cortizone cream on the bite. Then I wondered if that's what I should have used so I read the directions. That meant that I had to turn the light on and that hurt my eyes and made me more awake. I don't know what time I finally went back to sleep. I couldn't scratch anymore because now there was ointment all over the bite. It still itched though. All the itchy feelings seemed to spread to other places on my body and I was suddenly wanting to scratch everywhere. I know that I eventually fell asleep because I was rudely awoken a little before 7:00. Someone had let Danny out of his room. That's a no no. And now the mosquito bite is itchy again.

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Cate and I were goofing around with Photo Booth on my computer last week. She didn't like this one at the time. I don't either. Check out my quadruple chins. I showed the picture to her again today. I pointed to that little hairy blob on my pillow and said, "Who's that?" She said, "Hair."

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My friend Marion wrote about a cool gadget on her blog this week. It keeps track of how much you eat and sleep and move and lots of other stuff. I would have loved to have one of those right after Danny was born. It would probably be pretty depressing to see how much time I spent not sleeping and not moving (because of the feeding and then not wanting to move because if I did he'd wake up) with that darling little newborn of mine.

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I think my cat, Mr. McScratchington (otherwise known as Scratchy), has super powers. Almost every night, within one minute of Dan and I getting settled in bed, Scratchy scratches on the back door to be let in. It's amazing. How does he know? Better yet, why don't we just check the back door one minute before getting into bed? I don't know the answer to either of those questions. I do know that I'm pretty sure Scratchy has super powers.

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I found two new flavors of M&M's for Dan's mom to try. Any guesses what flavor's in this bag?

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Dan asked Danny how preschool was on Thursday. He asked him if it was fun. Of course, Danny said it was not fun. Then he added, "Some of it was fun. Most of it was not fun." Kind of reminds me of the conversation I used to have with my dad at the end of almost every school day. How was school today? Fine. What'd you learn? Nothin'. That exact exchange of words, every day, for years.

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Cate has been singing a lot lately. Dan's been teaching her the Sunbeam song. I've been teaching her the Happy Family song. I'm pretty sure that she's been combining the two. Here's how it goes: Uh Daddy....Uh Mommy....Uh Danny....Uh me....BEAM! I love love love love love it! (And yes, this past week she learned how to say Danny and Mommy...instead of calling him Daddy and me Mama.)

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Cate plays Star Wars with Danny now. He gives her the red light saber usually. She smacks it against his saber. Then she turns around in a circle and smacks his again. Then she turns around in a circle again and smacks sabers. I'm pretty sure she learned the turn around thing from watching Dan play Star Wars. He's got some fancy moves. After she's smacked sabers a few times, she drops hers, flops on the floor on her belly and says, "I die." Lovely, huh? If anyone is still trying to figure out what to get her for her birthday, girlie stuff would be appreciated. Lots and lots of girlie stuff.

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Cate saw me in my apron one day and wanted to wear one too. I pulled out this one that Grandma used to wear. She loved it (Cate did...maybe Grandma did too). Another birthday gift idea for Cate: a Cate-sized apron. If I knew how to sew I'd be right on top of that one.

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I found a pink sippy cup that has been missing for weeks, maybe months. It was under Cate's carseat. I have no idea how we've managed to ride in the car all this time and not smell it.

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I'm excited for the new season of Top Chef to start on June 16th. I've been watching Top Chef Masters but it's just not the same. I wanted to buy this onesie for Cate when she was a baby. I didn't though. That might have been taking my obsession with the show a little too far.

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There's a kid in Danny's preschool class named Matisyn. She's never going to find a keychain with her name on it when she goes on band trips to Panama City Beach. Don't her parents know that?

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I really want to bake some of these cookies (or someone else could bake them for me and just let me eat half of one). I'd also like a muffin top pan to bake them in (that's a big hint hint for anyone still wondering what to get me for my birthday...you've got less than 2 weeks). And by the way, the Amanda mentioned in the post about the cookies is from Auburn, just like me. War Eagle!

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I took Cate to McDonald's this afternoon. The lady at the register actually spelled my name correctly, unlike last time. And Cate spilled chocolate milk all over her shirt, just seconds after I told her to be careful and not spill it.

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I drove the truck around town for two days this week without the new '11 sticker on the license plate. I had the temporary registration papers printed off the computer but I was still worried I'd be pulled over. And with my luck, I would have been pulled over when I had 4 kids in there with me, one or more of them thirsty, tired, grouchy and/or begging for McDonald's. It didn't happen. Thank goodness.

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I watched the National Spelling Bee while I was at the gym last night. I forgot my headphones so I couldn't even listen to it, just watch. One of the contestants was 11. If she had won, she would have been the youngest winner since 1942. I was actually watching when she missed her word. My favorite spelling bee moment happened back in the summer of '08. I remember watching it live. Go see for yourself. It's good for a laugh. Yes, a laugh. At the National Spelling Bee. Trust me.