A Room with A View

So, I'm giving up. No more projected reading lists!! I can make lists all day, but what does it matter?!?! I cannot follow a book list to save my life. There are just way too many books to read, and not nearly enough hours in the day!

I just finished A Room with A View, which was definitely not on my reading list. But, I'm one who takes cues from good writers. There's a blogspot I read regularly, although I will not disclose whose b/c it's embarrassing, and if this person recommends a book, I will at least check it out. As I've said before, if someone writes well, I tend to trust their literary taste. In this case, it was definitely a great recommendation! Room with a View was a book I wanted to read a long time ago, and completely forgot about it. So, after reading the 600 page Owen Meany, I was in the mood for something a little less ambitious and time-consuming. I'm really trying to keep to my "finish a book a month" resolution. Rw/aV is a little over 200 pages. Perfect.

I'm not good at description, so I will list a few things that I think sum it up...
1. Jane Austen-like humor and wit
2. coming-of-age
3. spot-on characterization, and I would almost guarantee that you could compare every character in this book to someone in your own life, which makes it all the more amusing

For the first time I actually laughed out loud while reading a classic. I mean, there are parts in Pride and Prejudice and others that made me laugh inside, or smirk a little to myself, but I literally laughed out loud an extended laugh!!

Belated Birthday POst

Since some of you (ahem, Jackie) didn't get to come to Reese's par-tay... I want to share what an amazing job my mom did with decorating. Plus, I have pictures of the infamous dead-duck punch.
My mom is so talented in the area of home decor, and entertaining. Although she would completely argue that point, you can see proof by looking at these pictures! This is obviously NOT a genetic thing because I can barely visualize what kind of picture frame would look good on my wall!!
Here's the main food table that my mom set up... But to my credit, I did display the food. =)


Here's the punch. Look closely... See those tiny yellow floating blobs? Deceased baby ducks. No wonder noone drank it!!


This was my best contribution... Reese's cake. Although the actual cake part was a sugarless, disgusting excuse for a cake, it sure looked cute! Stacey did help me place the Skittles around the outside. Actually, she went a little nutso. I think she was actually SILENT for about 1 minute while placing the skittles. It took a lot of her concentration. But as you can see, it was totally worth it!

TV Talk

Okay, so, humor me.
I try not to let a lot of my conversations revolve around TV, because I already realize that I watch too much TV. To talk too much about it would just be... too... much. =)

But, I need to talk for a bit about it. So, throw me a bone here.

1) Already blogged about the Oprah episode... Read my previous blog to this one and RESPOND!!!

2) Grey's Anatomy - The final episode of the Ferry Boat trilogy melodrama. I was so seriously disappointed with the ridiculousness of tonight's episode. To even act as if Meredith would be killed was lame. To throw back to my early college years "As if!" I had a lot of questions, though, about how they would wrap this up. Not good. I'm so tired of Izzy and her over-dramatic, weepy, inappropriate and unnecessary (not to mention selfish) tirades. I had almost had it with her during her freakout over the Denny situation at the end of last season, but it was such a great finale that I couldn't hold it against her. Plus, I still liiike her. But this season the girl has completely driven me out of my mind. No normal person acts like that, and if they do, they don't have friends like she does. I love Callie and George together, and if she keeps up her attitude towards Callie, I will really take issue with her - even more than now. ALL THAT TO SAY, the most redeeming moment of the show tonight... Let me rephrase that. The ONLY redeeming moment of the show tonight, was when Denny and Izzy passed by each other at the end. That single moment made up for the entire show. She may drive me crazy this season, but she used to not... And I loved Denny.

3) American Idol - LOVE the blonde, beatboxing guy (Blake I think), and the guy with the funny off-tempo-dancing-dad. That's about it for the guys. I'm okay with the guy who looks like Hurley off of Lost, I think I could like him more later on. On to the girls... WOWZA!! I love Melinda Doolittle. Not only for her amazing, amazing voice and sweet temperament, but because a friend of mine was her roommate in college in Tennessee... So I was already asked to like her. =) I, obviously, love Lakisha. That performance at the end of the Girls Show was OUTSTANDING. I really like Stephanie and Jordin... I could really go on and on! The girls were awesome, really. The girl that got kicked off, Nicole, had a great voice, but her weird movements and funky intonations were a killer. It was so difficult to listen to her, but you could tell she doesn't always sing like that, and she is probably normally great. The girl from Jersey HAS GOT TO GO!!! It is an insult for her to be on that show with all those girls who are so amazingly talented.

THAT'S ALL!
Niles needs my attention. =)

TAKE ACTION!

Over the past few months, I have had Oprah set on my DVR every day. I don't always watch, but if it's a topic that I feel interested in or strongly about, I definitely watch.
I just finished watching yesterday's show about kidnapping and pedophilia. It was a heartbreaking show. Literally, it has gotten me so fired up and so frustrated with America's inability to really punish these sick criminals.
It's too much to talk about in one blog, and honestly, I am pretty emotionally drained from watching!! BUT, I am certainly going to take action in one way that I can. There is an act that the National Coalition of Exploited Children was pushing called the Adam Walsh Act. Basically, it would mean consistent, country-wide laws forcing much harsher penalties and restrictions on the offenders. On Oprah.com you can search for the Adam Walsh act, and it gives you a few links for how to contact your Congressman and your Senator to write them and encourage them to enact this law.

I know most of the people who read my blog have children and would be as heartbroken as I was watching Oprah's show yesterday. You can actually watch the episode on her website. Anyways, I would really encourage you to at least send these letters to our government. Or at the VERY least, go and watch this episode on oprah.com, and I promise you, you will want to actively respond as soon as possible.
Here's the link to the letters:
http://search.oprah.com:7782/search/search_results.jsp?querystring=ADAM%20WALSH%20ACT&fromSearchPage=yes

I seriously encourage every mother, every parent, every adult (period!) to take action. This is not something we should be sitting back and just praying won't happen to us. We have to do something to ensure the safety of our children and grandchildren, and the children of our entire world. This is not an issue that goes away for them... It's an experience that, in some form, stays forever. Why should the criminals get any less than a lifetime as well?

Currently loving...

My new iTunes playlist!!
1. The Sweet Escape - Gwen Stefani
2. Smile - Lily Allen
3. Another Saturday Night - Sam Cooke
4. Raspberry Beret - Prince
5. Fix You - Coldplay
6. Girls Ain't Nothing but Trouble - DJ Jazzy Jeff/Fresh PRince
7. Grace Kelly - Mika
8. Fidelity - Regina Spektor
9. Speed of Sound - Coldplay
10. Cupid - Sam Cooke
11. Little Red Corvette - Prince
12. It's Not Over - Daughtry
13. Bling - The Killers
14. What If - Coldplay
15. It Could Happen to You - DIana Krall
16. These Words - Natasha Bedingfield
17. Hide and Seek - Imogen Heap
18. Till Kingdom Come - Coldplay
19. My Happiness - Powderfinger

I'm also loving my book... A Room with a View! I know. It was never on any booklist that I wrote about. I think maybe the whole "booklist" is merely a way for me to justify making one more list. I'm a big "lister". It's my 73rd thing. =)

LOVING THAT I GOT FIRST FREAKING PLACE in my 5K age/gender group yesterday!! I'm not sure how this happened, but I started my timer on my iPod right when we started the race, and I stopped it at the end (obviously). Well, there was a minute difference between my iPod and the clock at the finish line! WEIRD. I'm going with my iPod time because that was a minute less than the clock. Either way, I still won first place - a plastic picture frame with a blue piece of paper that says "1st place age/gender group". It doesn't even specify what ages or what gender!! Of course, it WAS the cheapest 5k I could find.
What I think is interesting is that at the bottom of my "plaque" is that well-known verse, 2 Samuel 18:23. You know, the one where Ahimaaz says to Joab, "Come what may, I will run." Oh, you don't know it?!?! For shame.

Reese had a good time at the 5K as well... Her first solo swing ride (at a real big girl's park!) after mommy was finished.

And, here's some cuties... just for good measure.

Walking and Running is all the rage

So, my girl has been a bit of a late bloomer when it comes to things like sitting up on her own, getting her stinkin' teeth, and walking. And she still drinks out of a bottle, no matter how many times I offer the sippy cup. She is a stubborn little angel - I don't know where she gets it from, honestly!

So, I have trained myself not to try to push her to do something before she is ready. Even though most kids are walking by their first birthday party... that's okay. Reese, you just keep on crawling, honey. Mommy feels no pressure at all. =) But seriously, I hae really been okay with realizing that some kids just take a little longer to do things, and that's fine! FINALLY, at her birthday party on Saturday night, she took two steps towards me!! I don't think she meant to do it because we all started freaking out and she would NOT do it again. Daddy missed it, so that was kind of a bummer.

But LAST NIGHT, folks, she literally took four big steps to me!! Daddy saw these and as she let go of the couch and started her wobbly way, we were both sitting, breath suspended, until she landed in my arms. It was total silence while she came over, and then we broke out into huge laughs and I even cried! She was soo cute doing it, and while we were clapping for her she had this huge smile on her face, and she of course had to start clapping for herself as well. It was so precious. But doesn't she know? Angels don't walk, they fly!!! =) (hehe)

Onto Mommy's walking and running progress... I am running my second 5K tomorrow!! Me and an old friend from high school, also named Lindsay, are doing the Heart Walk sponsored by Jay's Boot Camp, and then we are driving across town to run the Martin Luther King 5K. It was supposed to be held in January but was rescheduled due to inclement weather. I'm really excited. I'm also thinking of joining the Lake Grapevine Runners and Walkers club. hahaha... Who would have ever thought I would want to do something like that!?!?! Not me, that's for sure. But the good thing is that they run on Wednesday and FRiday mornings, which are my boot camp off=days. So that means I would get a definite workout in every day of the week but Sunday. And they do have a running group on Sunday as well... so even that is an option!! Of course they generally run an average of 8 miles... I may fall short. Hopefully someone else will be able to turn around at the 2 mile mark!!

Now if I could only get my diet in gear.... Don't be fooled by my links to healthy eating websites. They are just for show. =)
Fo' sho'

He liked it! He really liked it!!

Okay, remember in my Exhausted post when I went off about how crappy my essay was I turned in??
Well, I went to class tonight and asked my professor about my paper. He gave it back to me, and, in front of the whole class, said,"Lindsay, you were one of the only three in the class who got a perfect score... just wanted to let you know." Very matter of factly, and then he continued on with his teaching!!

I GOT A 25 OUT OF 25!!!!
I was shocked. Actually, I was giddy for the rest of the class. I couldn't sit still!! I felt like I was on a high, and I was trying so hard to keep myself from smiling the whole time. You don't have any idea how much that paper had been weighing on me for the last week. I was so frustrated with my seeming failure, that to be vindicated is utterly FANTASTIC!!!

My first exam is next week and at this point I still have an A plus in the class, so I have a lot of studying to do before then. Wish me luck!!!

Exhausted

This past week, aside from throwing my little girl's first birthday party, and the additional small family get-togethers to celebrate the same, was EXHAUSTING! It felt so long and tiresome. My poor girl has had a sinus infection. We took her to the doctor to get her antibiotic, and thankfully, it is helping. But I swear, bless her heart, if I have to straddle her and stick that snot-sucker up her nose while she screams her head off one more time... I will literally throw myself off the balcony into the painful sharp-leafed bushes below. Because that would even be more comforting than having to strongarm her while she's twisting her entire body away from me, green goo pouring from her nostrils, and a flood of tears streaming from her eyes! It's been a rough week.

To add on to the frustration of Reese's sickness, I realized on Tuesday that I had just invited 65 people to a party that I had THOUGHT a lot about, but done nothing for. EEK! I knew my theme would be rubber duckys, and I knew the colors, but beyond that I was stuck. Thankfully my mom is a party-thrower extraordinaire. She did an amazing job decorating the table (or tablescape, if you're a Sandra Lee watcher) for the cake and the punch. The only sad thing was that my brilliant idea for having a blue punch and putting little rubber duckys in it, was somewhat of a bust. The punch I used was a baby blue ice cream punch, but I didn't realize that if you're using ice cream you SHOULD NOT use ice as well!! So, I completely watered it down, plus, the ice cream turned into this funky looking white foam floating in the blue punch. To top it all off, the little ducks I had bought decided to topple over, instead of float upright. So, it looked like a weirdly white spotted blue pond with a bunch of dead baby ducks. Not exactly the look I was going for. But at least people could capture the idea I was trying to attempt.

The party was a HUGE success!!! Reese, who had been grumpy, tired and drained from her ongoing sickness and antibiotic-infused state, turned into a complete ham at all the right moments. For starters, I bought her a silly paper tiara, like the ones you buy for New Years Eve, and she kept it on the entire night!!! PERRRFECT.
Then, when we brought her cake out and everyone was singing, she got a huge smile on her face, and started clapping her hands!! MORE PERFECT. (Especially considering the few other times she had been around this scenario she started bawling her head off)
When we presented her with her sugarless, flavorless banana cake (which of course I topped off sugarful, yummy strawberry frosting), she dug right in, and immediately started smearing it all over her face. She made a huge, stinkin mess, and was so good at it, that she got it all in her eyes, eyelashes, bangs, everything. She had on a frosting-mask!
To top it all off, I FORGOT TO BRING A BACKUP OUTFIT!! What was I thinking?! What kind of mother am I?!?
So, the poor little girl, looking so adorable all night long, had to borrow a t-shirt from her good buddy, Carson Watts. We left on her pink pantyhose to afford her some shread of girlyhood. She looked a mess. Wet bangs, a boy's t-shirt, and pink tights... But she still looked cute.

She had a MILLION presents! We had over 50 people at the party, so there were plenty of gifts for her to open and it took a good 20-30 minutes. Her first present was from Niles' mom. It was the sweetest, white rocking chair, and she LOVED it.
EVEN MORE PERFECT!!! She even kept throwing her head forward to try to get it to rock back and forth. It was adorable.
Who knew a rocking chair could bring so much joy?! She was very generous and decided to share her seat with Carson. He did, after all, loan her his t-shirt.




Reese had a terrific time at her party. Surprisingly, I think even most of the adults had a good time as well!

So, here's the bummer of the week. Not to digress, but I MUST get this off my chest!
I had to write a 50-word paper. Understand, that means 3 sentences basically. Now what girl can write a concise, clear, pointed article in 50 words! NOT ME, that's who. The title for the essay was "Life is...". Yep. Life is. Now, if you can blow my mind with 50 words about what life is to you, feel free. My frustration is in the fact that I proceeded to turn in an extremely disappointing, underwhelming, non-concise paper. I hate that. I feel like I did less than my best, and did not make a point worth making. It's so frustrating, in fact, that I'm warring with whether to write my professor and let him know how ashamed I am with my work!! It's humiliating. I got so analytical with those 50 words that I couldn't get past my basic point and try to expound on what I wanted to say. I should have used the fact of only having 50 words to think of how to ARRANGE my thoughts, and my points in the best way. I did not do that. ARGH!! I am so bugged by this.

But I have now vented to the general public. I feel better. Thanks for listening.

This Time Last Year...

3:00 pm, Feb 8, last year... My water broke
4:15 pm... I was admitted to the hospital and they determined I was in labor!!
6:30 pm... I finally got my epidural! The most painful part was when I felt the fluid go into my spine and hit the nerves. I shudder to even remember that part. But within seconds, I was feelin no pain and watchin the Grammys.
8:30 pm... I felt a lot of pressure, and knew. Reese was coming!! The nurse told me I would probably be pushing for about two hours.
9:00 pm... OUT SHE CAME!!

Jacqueline Reese Holsinger
6 lbs. 7.7 ounces
19.5 inches

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MONKEY!!!!!!

Better birthday postings to come...

Countdown to ONE... Part SEVEN

Wow. I've been a little lazy on blogging lately. My baby's birthday is THURSDAY!!!
WOW!
The poor girl has been getting her teeth and getting my old cold from two weeks ago! The monkey has snot running down her nose, right into her mouth. She refuses to sit still for me to use the nasal aspirator (that is such a new mom term... basically it means "snot sucker") and throws her head from side to side. I basically have to sit on top of her, and put one arm between her arms and face, and try valiantly to get her to keep her head to one side! I know this sounds like I'm torturing her, and I'm sure if she could speak to me about it, she would not use nice words. But the girl cannot breathe!! Last night she was so stuffed up that we could hear her breathing in the baby monitor. Watching her beg for us to hold her all day and continuously refuse her bottle, because she can't breathe well enough to eat, has been extremely sad. What is a mother to do?!?! I hate giving her medicine, because I would love to use a little more "organic" technique rather than forcing Tylenol down the side of her cheek every few hours. But, I've been giving her vitamins for weeks and while they seemed to be working, apparently their longevity did not outlast the cycle of sickness going around our house. Thus, doctor's visit tomorrow, 11:15.

ANYWAYS, This will be my final Countdown blog!
December and January.
If you read this blog with any regularity, you've seen most of the Christmas pics... or at least the super-cute ones. But I'll try to find something new.
These last few months have been amazing with Reese. She has learned so much. She claps her hands, stands up on her own, shows off her little nubs o' teeth, and can give you a high five. I have thoroughly enjoyed this age, and I can only imagine what this next year holds in store for us. I'm so excited about all the new things she will learn and the personality she will be developing. She's a power-house, people! Watch out.





And, yes, I did enter her photos in a baby model casting call.
I knew you'd ask.