Monday, August 11, 2008

Ode to Kroger

Dear Kroger, you're my number one
You make shopping lots of fun.
The store is always nice and clean;
I prefer to buy food that is pristine.

There are lots of employees to work.
Their Kroger duties, they do not shirk.
Monday, Tuesday, any day
help is there to show me the way.

Stop & Shop could learn a thing or two
about customer service by watching you.
A person to scan my groceries, another to bag my stuff,
another brought it to the car--all without a huff!

I can always find a cart.
You're more convenient than the mini-mart.
The selection is wide, the prices are good,
I'm so glad you're in my neighborhood!

I can find what I need right in front of me,
specialized ingredients for any recipe.
The shelves are always fully stocked.
I love you, Kroger--you rock!

Thursday, August 7, 2008

Emma at 21 Months

I have been neglecting my parental duties in blogging about my brilliant offspring. As I have not made the effort to search for the cord that connects the camera to the computer, and as I have not taken any pictures lately anyway, I will instead make a list showcasing Emma's sparkling personality.
1. Emma will put herself to bed, as long as she has her two "gankies" (blankies), her hippo, and her two Shadows (one, a black stuffed poodle that looks like the actual Shadow, and another one, a small stuffed polar bear, who somehow resembles a black poodle). Upon waking, she insists on taking all of these items out of the crib and brings them with her to the couch, where we drink milk and watch the news.
2. She has taken to giving me commands. Most often she'll say "Come?" and gesture in the direction she wants me to go. Hmmm, wonder where she picked that up?
3. She loves to "gee gook", or read books. Probably 50 times a day she will come to me with that request. I fulfill it about half the time.
4. She is obsessed with all things outside, but most especially the slide and swings. Another popular request is "Side? Wing? Slide?" I've taught her a new expression in my responses to her lately: "Hot" (as in, it's too hot to go outside, you'll burn your tush on the slide). Emma will often request to go on the swings in some of the most random places, like the pool or the middle of Target. She is becoming quite good at navigating a new playground by herself without me showing her how to do it.
5. Emma loves the pool, but only if she can do it by herself. This has led to the retirement of her boat, Toddler Speed Racer II, in favor of one of those tank tops with the built in inner tube. It only took her one day to figure out how to stay upright in it. She doesn't seem to mind getting dunked in water at all.
6. In a bizarre twist, lately she has eschewed the bath in a fit of rage, kicking, and crying. I can't understand how she can love the pool so much and hate the bath so much at the same time. But alas, playgrounds and pools necessitate baths.
7. I am constantly surprised by how much Emma remembers. New words and expressions only need to be taught once, and whenever I mention my brother Tyler, she makes a face like he made with her when we visited in June. Hooray for long-term memories!
8. She is very affectionate and will often pause in her busyness to give hugs and kisses. If she finds me sitting cross-legged on the floor, she will hug my back. She makes out with any stuffed animal, and even has a penchant for kissing random, real dogs around our apartment complex. (I never let her get close enough for lip-to-fur contact). She will gladly oblige if you ask for a kiss.
9. Emma loves music and will dance at anything from 90s pop to MoTab (the Mormon Tabernacle Choir, for those of you uninitiated). She will sing with help and her favorite songs are "Itsy Bitsy Spider" (gotta love songs with hand motions) and "Old McDonald."
10. Like her father, she is a picky eater and mostly sticks to her 4 personal food groups: gogurt (yogurt), dried cranberries/raisins, bananas, and carbs in any form, but particularly those that are the most processed. Occasionally I can get her to eat what I'm eating if I eat at the same time (which doesn't happen often, because I'm usually not hungry at 5 pm), and make loud exclamations of "Yummmmmm."

While she can throw a tantrum with the best of them, she continutes to be unfailingly pleasant. Sometimes it worries me what the next one will be like (no, that is not an announcement in any way, shape, or form). We love her to pieces!

Tuesday, August 5, 2008

Live from Texas

We made it to Texas without incident and are now semi-moved in to our temporary apartment. We've been by our house, which is coming along nicely and will probably be ready sometime in October.

Some random thoughts/observations on the moving process and adjusting to Texas suburbia:

1. Movers make the whole process relatively painless. Probably the worst part was the 2 hours it took to clean out the fridge and the oven (yeah, it had been a while). Dave, however, assures me that we are never moving again.
2. It's refreshing to see actual teenagers work in teenage-type jobs (ie, fast food).
3. Suburbia rocks. Instead of passing a ghetto bodega on my way home, I pass a 7-11. Hooray for cherry Coke slurpees!
4. Ten days of triple digit heat sometimes makes me think I accidentally moved to Arizona. But (as much as I hate to admit this) it really IS not so bad without the humidity.
5. We have been swimming at least 3 or 4 times a week, and in just 2 days Emma learned to stay upright in her brand new inner tube tank top.
6. Real church builings echo and Emma is louder during sacrament meeting than I originally thought.
7. There is parking EVERYWHERE! And it's FREE! And the spaces are large enough that I'm not worried about anyone (even those HUGE trucks that everyone drives out here) hurting my car!
8. Four teenage boys sitting the table over from us in Chili's the other night said grace before they ate their meal. I've never seen that anywhere but Utah. It's nice to live somewhere where people don't think you're an idiot if you believe in God. (Though I doubt that I, personally, will be saying grace in a restaurant any time soon...)
9. I own enough books to fill 2 large (for an apartment) closets. And I already bought 2 more books since we got here. (Don't tell Dave...)
10. I'm happy to be here, but I've been a little bored since Dave started work. I'm trying not to spend money and I don't know too many people yet, so it's off to the pool again!