A Few Things I Love About Lindsay

I was thinking about the time I wrote what I love about Jim, and I thought, "Why not write what I love about my kids? There are so many things I can say about them--they're so fantastic!"

Things I Love About Lindsay

1. She's got a big heart.

2. She's very smart.

3. Her eyes twinkle when she smiles.

4. She has the cutest dimples, just a little down from where you normally see dimples--so special!

5. She is the best Big Sister I have ever known!

6. She loves playing dress-up, something I enjoyed as a child.

7. She's a very good dancer.

8. Lindsay is always willing to make sacrifices for people, especially for her sister, Josie.

9. She is very forgiving.

10. She doesn't hold a grudge (something I could learn from).

11. She is patient.

12. She loves to sing, and she does it well, even if it's songs she's made up herself.

13. She's a friend to everyone.

14. She doesn't like watching movies or shows where someone gets hurt, physically or emotionally, even if the person getting hurt is the "bad guy".

15. She's extremely empathetic.

16. She's willing to try new things, even when she's pretty sure she won't like them.

17. She'd rather play independently than hang out with someone who's not necessarily treating her well. (i.e. rather than "taking it")

18. She truly loves reading (something I think/hope she gets from her mother).

19. She's very creative.

20. She's artistic.

21. She loves to write and make up stories.

22. She stands her ground when it's something she truly believes in or feels strongly about.

23. She tries to find the best in everyone.

24. She's a girly-girl.

25. She's in no hurry to grow up.

26. She has good values already.

27. She behaves well when she knows she should (e.g. in Church, in restaurants, etc.).

28. She comes off as shy to people who don't know her that well.

29. She's not so shy at all!

30. She can talk your ear off--much like her mother would at that age.

31. She's very photogenic.

32. Lindsay comes up with great make-believe games.

33. She is willing to defer to other people's ideas.

34. She is very free with her praise for others.

35. She's 100% sincere with her praise.

These are just a few things I am able to come up with off the top of my head. I have been blessed for just over 9 years with a beautiful, sweet, loving girl who brings Sunshine to the cloudiest of my days. Thank you, God, for the gift you have given me in Lindsay!!!

Hannah Montana

I've got a million other things I should be doing, and this is actually kind of "old news", but it's still something I want to talk about... I haven't posted for so long!

Okay, Hannah Montana. I absolutely LOVE little Miley Cyrus and her alter-ego, Hannah Montana. I think she's adorable, sweet, wholesome, and the kids just love her. She's very funny and her fellow cast-mates (including her Dad) are great, too. She's obviously very talented, and if you saw her on the Oscars, you know she is very poised as well (she tripped on her dress, but didn't let it fluster her one bit). Pretty good for a 15-year-old.

Here's the thing: She recently went on tour with The Jonas Brothers (little hotties that they are), and her tickets were sold out in a matter of seconds. The tickets were, of course, horrendously priced. I can't imagine how much of the ticket sales she (rather, her Dad, as manager) will actually see. Little girls (and boys) everywhere were crushed not to be able to get tickets to see her. Well, in an effort to soothe these poor losers who missed out, Disney, in their infinite wisdom, released a movie of the concert, including behind-the-scenes stuff and backstage stuff. How fun, right? Super cool, right? No. Y'know why? Because a) the movie was only in theaters for one week. ONE WEEK?!? And b) tickets were $15 in advance (per person), $18 at the door. Come on, people!!! I think it's absolutely disgusting (not to mention degrading) to put such a high price on the little girl and to expect kids and their parents to pay it. And let's be honest, in today's very competitive society, you know there were plenty of people forking over their cash in another attempt to provide their child with everything they wish for while simultaneously securing bragging rights to lord over the other soccer moms. "Well, I know it was pricey, but my little Ashley just LOVES that Hannah Montana and I hate to tell her no. After all, she DID do her homework every day last week... So I took her to see that movie. My daughter is worth it!" Puke! Please! I mean, my kids are worth so very much to me, too, but let's get real. They don't need that!!! Disney is turning Hannah McCyrus into a machine. She's an innocent little girl!

...So far...

Let us not forget that Britney Spears was once a product of Disney.....

Update

I haven't written an update (with pictures) for quite a while.... We've been so busy. Our niece, Jamie, got married four days before Christmas, to her True Love, Wayne. Jim did one of the readings. Both our girls were two of four flower girls in the wedding. It was a lovely ceremony, and the reception, held at Chez Hay, was tremendous!

Lindsay was radiant, getting her hair done!

Josie enjoyed her first trip to a real beauty salon, as well.

(Apparently, since my hairdresser works out of her home, it's not a "real" salon!)

Aren't they all such little darlings!

Then, of course, we had several Christmases to celebrate (with my folks, Jim's folks, our own, plus one in Columbus with my maternal grandmother). Before AND after that, we celebrated Donovan's first birthday. We did it twice because his Godparents were in town for the wedding, but they were leaving for home on Christmas Day. So, since Donovan's actual birthday is December 27th, we had an early celebration so the Godparents could attend. And just to sweeten the deal for everyone, we had it at Valentino's. (My brother-in-law has a number of places he has to visit each time he returns to Nebraska: Val's, Runza, and Taco John's.)

The Elmo cake was one of Donovan's gifts from his Godparents.

"Still not quite sure what all this frosting is for....."

"The things I go through for this family!"

Then we celebrated Donovan's actual birthday as a small family, just the five of us. Donovan didn't seem to mind eating cake twice!

Now that he's naked, he's really getting the hang of it!

"Mmm, yeah, this is fun!"

"How old is Donovan? One year old!!!"

Then, of course, there was New Year's Eve. We rang in the New Year at 10:00. Are we lame, or what? Lindsay turned 9 on January 5th, and she had a few girlfriends over for her first birthday party... three friends, a cousin, and her sister. They had a good time, and Mom was able to score her a Hannah Montana cake for the occasion! Josie lost her first tooth and was paid a visit by the Tooth Fairy.

Lindsay, Morgan, Anna, Katelyn, Sara, and Josie

"See, Mom? Can you see where my tooth was?"

Donovan got his first haircut--Jim and I took turns hacking away at him. That night, it seemed like Jim had done the most damage. However, the following morning, I decided I couldn't leave well-enough alone, and I chopped off some more above the ears. Yikes! We've got a walkin', sort of talkin' (Ned-Flanders-Speak--"deetle, deetle, deetle") little boy keeping us happy and occupied; two girls in Brownies, wrapping up cookie sales; and temps at seven degrees below zero! No snow-days lately, though. (Bummer, man!)

God in our e-mails

I am pleased that I continually receive e-mails from people saying, in various ways, that we should keep God in our pledges, on our money, even write about Him (e.g. write "in God we trust" on the back of the envelopes we send out). I love that so many people I know want to keep God in our thoughts, in the forefront of our brains, and even in our actions. The fact that I get so many of these e-mails means that people know where I stand... that God is a presence in my life that I acknowledge and am grateful for.

But isn't it interesting that we keep sending these e-mails to the same people? I mean, it's a little redundant, isn't it? Maybe I shouldn't even say this... I don't want to make you all think I differ from the common point of view--I don't! It just seems that we're not going to accomplish much more than self-congratulatory head nodding, the occasional "right on!" or "amen!" spoken (or even shouted) in the comfort of our own home. I notice we all say "Don't use those new golden dollars, because 'In God We Trust' isn't on the front of them (it's on the edge, where it'll get worn off quickly, &/or people won't even see it)", or that thing about writing on the backs of our envelopes, or sign this e-mail petition to keep God in the Pledge of Allegiance, or whatever. We're all so concerned about letting people know where we stand, but we're all in agreement.....


I don't feel like I'm getting this out quite right. Let me try again.


How many of us are sending those e-mails to the people we know (don't we all know at least one or two) who are atheists, or at least don't "practice" their religion as fervently as the rest of us (who are OBVIOUSLY in the right)? I have to admit, I don't. I forward those e-mails to all the rest of you who send the same stuff back to me. I only send those e-mails to the people I won't... um... offend. (You're right, it IS an outrage that mentioning God and His importance in our day-to-day life would offend someone, but isn't this the country where we're supposed to be free to have whatever opinion we want?)

So what's the point here? I feel like I'm waffling back and forth between two different arguments: I don't forward those e-mails to people who really "need" to see them--the people whose minds the e-mails are supposed to try and change. But I'm afraid of offending them. And I believe that one of the things that makes this country great is that they have every right to be offended by those e-mails. So while part of me thinks I should be forwarding them, not just to the active God-lovers in my life, but to the people who they're really directed to--the "lost"; the other part of me says "who says those people are 'lost', just because their values are different from mine?"

Do you see why I'm in a rather constant state of confusion?

Self Portrait ... Sunday

Okay, it's been exactly a month since my last post. How awful is that? No matter. I need to focus on the future, not on the past.....
Here's the thing--my Mom said she enjoys reading updates on the kids and the family and my day-to-day life, but what she really looks forward to on my Blog is my actual "writing"... things I put down that are meant to either be me venting or something that's going to inspire you, Dear Reader, to think about whatever I have to say. Well, I don't know if I'm going to get anything so grand written down tonight, but I do mean to get on here and NOT do an update on family.
My cousin, Bridget, used to do weekly posts called "SPT", which I correctly guessed to stand for Self Portrait Tuesday. (Wasn't so hard to figure out after reading her blog a few weeks in a row, noticing that the first one was an actual physical picture of her, and the next two or three were very introspective.) I liked the idea, but have not ever really rolled with it myself. I think she was getting topic suggestions from someone else (I could research that a little further, but that'll be for another entry, if at all). Anyway, here's one I've kind of been thinking of for a while:

Several entries ago, I posted 100 Things About Jim (nice, mushy stuff about Jim) and I got great feedback on it! Before that, I'd posted My 100 Things (just general things about me). I was thinking I should post what I don't like/would change about myself. However, I felt that listing 100 of those things (though not necessarily hard to come up with!) would seem very self-deprecating. So I decided that coming up with ten would be both gentler to my self-esteem and easier on you, Dear Reader.

10 Things About Me That I Would Change
1. I would be more motivated, in general. I have a tendency to want to stay home, do as little as possible, nap frequently, not strive hard to accomplish anything. I could probably be classified as an underachiever.
2. I would listen more, rather than waiting for my turn to talk. Quite often, in little e-mail surveys, I list--as one of the things I dislike about myself--that I interrupt people. Along with that, even when I don't interrupt, I'll find that I'm just waiting my turn to speak, to insert my own little tidbit or anecdote, whether it's necessary or not. I wish I was better at simply listening to people speak and absorbing what they have to say.
3. I would lose weight. I know, the key is to eat healthfully, exercise, and be happy with who I am. But I'm being honest here--I'm happier when I'm thinner. Problem is, I've been quite a bit heavier than I'd like to be for enough time now that I worry my body is used to being this size. (Rationalize, rationalize, rationalize, right?) A big part of my problem is that, for YEARS, eating has been an emotional thing for me. Y'know the saying, "Some people eat to live, some people live to eat." I'm in the latter group. Exercising and eating well are definitely things I'm working on, but I'd like to be thinner, too. Plain and simple.
4. I would be less guarded. I know that sounds strange, considering I'm sitting here, opening myself up on a Blog for all to see. But I truly believe that I hold things back from people. I let them tell me all they want about what's going on in their lives (and seriously, I sometimes feel like I've got the word "shrink" tattooed on my forehead!), yet I rarely tell more than surface stuff about myself. I don't know why I'm like that. It's not like I have these major, dark secrets. I just don't always feel comfortable opening myself up to most people.
5. I would have a better balance of patience and loving firmness with my children. Sometimes, I feel like I can't say "no" to them ever. Yes, you can have a snack. Yes, I'll buy you a "treat-treat". Yes, you can watch TV. Blah, blah, blah. But then I feel like I fly off the handle over the tiniest little infractions. I feel almost mortally wounded when I "slave" over some new meal and nobody wants to eat it. I yell, I beg, I plead, I threaten, and nobody will eat it. Then I get super mad and start enforcing major punishments.... but I'M a picky eater--wouldn't you think I'd be more understanding when my kids don't like something? Things like that... I wish I was more patient, yet more consistent when enforcing rules.
6. I would have gotten a teacher's certificate when I was in college. How dumb was I? Majoring in English, but not going into Education? There was no law that said I'd HAVE to teach, but at least I could have put my degree to some use if I ever decided that I WANTED to!!! (But no-o-o-o, I was going to be "a writer". Wonderful.... How much have I written so far, ever? Nada! Zip! Zilch!) I realized about five years out of college that I would have maybe enjoyed teaching kids at the high school level, but by then it would've cost kind of a lot and taken another two years just to get a teacher's certificate. Dang-it!
7. I would have made more of the time I had in Chicago. Don't get me wrong--I had a great time when I was living there, and I feel like I benefited a lot from the experience. I saw a lot of cool stuff, I had a lot of wonderful visits from friends and family, I did things I would've never been able to do in Nebraska. But my whole reason for going--for joining VISTA--was to help others. I was put in a position where a VISTA volunteer was actually not needed. So rather than ask to transfer to a position where I could be helpful and useful, I just coasted. Sure, I did a few things at the counseling center I was assigned to, but it was mostly stuff like babysitting, re-vamping the resource library within the facility, attending meetings that I had really no business going to, and doing a bit of public speaking. I also watched a lot of movies when the boss was out and the other counselors were free, I wrote a lot of letters (this was before e-mail), I read a lot (well, I don't regret that--much of my reading was done on my commute), and I even took naps at work now and then. Neat. Real impressive. Why didn't I ask to be relocated so I could actually HELP somebody?
8. I would have stuck with band during my last year in high school, so that I could have tried out for the UNL marching band. I said that my reason for quitting was because the marching band didn't have clarinets and I hated playing alto sax (clarinets were added to the marching band, I believe during my sophomore year, but it could've been when I was a freshman), but the real reason I quit was because the new high school band teacher and I DID NOT get along. I should have sucked it up and continued on. If I didn't join the marching band, maybe I could have been in the symphony or something. I really miss playing now and I was really quite good, if I do say so myself.
9. I wouldn't have spent so much money on shoes. I know that sounds silly, but I didn't ever realize that a person's feet grow during/after pregnancy. Maybe it doesn't happen to all women, I don't know. But my feet grew after Lindsay was born--they grew a whole size! I had to get rid of over 30 pairs of shoes, and I was VERY into those shoes. I mean, I didn't spend $400 on Manolo Blahniks or anything, but still, I LOVED my shoes. Giving up that many shoes was painful!
10. I would have picked the right numbers on the Powerball when the jackpot was in the $300 million range. Tee! Hee! I'm mostly kidding. Obviously, we never have that kind of knowledge ahead of time. And what do I need with millions and millions of dollars? It would probably ruin me to have that much money. But it sure is fun to dream about, don't you agree?

Well, that's all I can come up with, luckily. I suppose I should have said I'd list nine things, but I enjoy putting that fluff one at the end.
By the way, I see that Bridget is still doing SPT... if you clicked on the link to her Blog (above) you'd see that too. Thanks, Bridget, for once again being my inspiration!
Until next time,
xoxo
tt