I have no idea why I seem to randomly choke nowadays while eating or drinking, but I'm going to chalk it up to pregnancy. Either pregnancy or I'm sick.

But seriously, I tried to swallow water yesterday and ended up spitting it all over myself due to choking. Obviously, I've missed my former calling as a professional dolphin. =)

So, lately, I've been feeling flutters and kicks that are the baby.

You may think I'm insane because I'm only 13 weeks and 5 days, but I'll just politely smile at you and continue onwards. These flutters and kicks respond when poked. They do not like sitting next to my nebulizer when I use it. If you think my intestines are going to have a fun time kicking me after listening to my nebulizer vibrate, then I think you don't know a thing or two about intestines. =)

I could go on and explain why I think this is the baby, but let's leave it at the fact that my fibromyalgia makes me extra-sensitive to pain of any kind, both inside and outside my body.

And the baby, dear creature that it is, has definite preferences. This amazes me more than anything, honest to god. So, in the interest of posterity, and because I'm tired and have eaten too pasta, I shall list them for you. =)

What the baby Likes:

• Lentil soup
• Ice cream
• Sweet things, but not all sweet things--ice cream appears to be a favorite lately, which I suspect is due to my blood sugar spiking (No, this doesn't explain the lentil soup--your guess is as good as mine.)
  

What the baby doesn't respond to:

• Strangely, all other types of soup! =)
  
• And pretty much, everything else I eat

What the baby does not like:

• Nebulizers
• Not so fond of poking
• Kneading on my abdomen by Zoe, while she is nursing, which is how we first discovered that I could feel the baby; it kicked Zoe back! For the record, I was sleeping while I was being nursed on, so I got woken up by strange flutters and Zoe combined.
  

I try very hard not to be snarky, but there are times that I can't help it. This is one of them. =)

Seriously though, I just got this in my e-mail via LinkedIn. We won't even address how STUPID it is to even try to query through LinkedIn, but to query when I very obviously have not worked as an agent for over a year is bordering on ridicule. I know I should probably update my LinkedIn profile, but I can't be bothered; I don't really like the website, and anyway, who the heck doesn't google the agent that they're querying? This guy, obviously.

"I have a hot literary property straight out of today’s NY Times headlines. In 2003, I designed a Stuxnet-style attack on the U.S. and used it in the just-finished novel, Web Games. There is a window of opportunity here for an alert agent who can line up an agile publisher. More details at LiorSamson.com. Get in touch.

--Larry Constantine (Lior Samson)"

Mr. Constantine, you are truly not cut out for the publishing game.

I am completely and totally thrilled to announce that I'm pregnant with my first child! =)

My husband and I will be expecting the baby on July 25, 2011--to understand the brilliance of this timing, you must understand that my brother is getting married on July 17, 2011, I am one of three bridesmaids, and we must all hope and pray that I do not go into labor at the wedding. That said, we are so over the moon about the baby that I wouldn't change a thing. =) =) =)

And without further ado, an ultrasound picture! In order to get this today, at 12 weeks and 1 day, it took a full forty minutes because my baby is apparently stubborn and totally wouldn't get in the right position that the technician needed. The tech had to keep poking on my stomach, and the baby was like, "I'd like to sleep now, please stop." But out of the whole roll of pictures she printed out for the doctor, this was the very best. =)

I agree wholeheartedly with absolutely everything in this speech, and regardless of your political affiliation or likes or dislikes... I think it's something that you must watch in the wake of the attempted assassination of Gabrielle Giffords.

I've been greatly remiss in keeping you all updated with what books I've read in 2010, so you'll have to forgive me for merely listing things--we are in 2011 already! I'm sure I've got one or two books lurking around that I simply haven't found yet; I'm currently excavating them off my night stand and bedroom floor. =) Once I have them all figured out, I'll put up a final list and summary.

47. MATCHED by Ally Condie

48. FIRE: TALES OF ELEMENTAL SPIRITS by Peter Dickinson and Robin McKinley

49. WOMEN IN MEDIEVAL JAPAN by Haruko Wakita

50. BRING DOWN THE SUN by Judith Tarr

51. HALF WORLD by Hiromi Goto

52. MOCKINGJAY by Suzanne Collins

53. MAYBE THIS TIME by Jennifer Crusie

54. ALL CLEAR by Connie Willis

55. PEGASUS by Robin McKinley

56. HOT GIMMICK, VOLUME 4 by Miki Aihara

57. THE TALE OF GENJI by Murasaki Shikibu

58. THE STANDARD BOOK OF QUILT MAKING AND COLLECTING by Marguerite Ickis

59. A GIRL’S GUIDE TO KISSING FROGS by Victoria Clayton

60. IF I STAY by Gayle Forman

61. ONCE A WITCH by Carolyn MacCullogh

62. A CHRISTMAS PROMISE by Mary Balogh

63. BIG GIRL KNITS by Jillian Moreno and Amy R. Singer

64. THE MAKING OF HAITI by Carolyn Fick

Ok, that finishes up the part of the list that was in Word document form and is thus strangely formatted. Continuing on...

65. KILLASHANDRA by Anne McCaffrey (reread)
66. CRYSTAL LINE by Anne McCaffrey (reread)
67. CRYSTAL SINGER by Anne McCaffrey (reread)
68. THE NEW MOON WITH THE OLD by Dodie Smith
69. A TALE OF TWO FAMILIES by Dodie Smith
70. THE TOWN IN BLOOM by Dodie Smith
71. THE FORBIDDEN ROSE by Joanna Bourne
72. TROLLS IN THE HAMPTONS by Celia Jerome

73. THE IRON DUKE by Meljean Brook

This book I want to talk about because I feel like it's ... travesty is not the right word, because I enjoyed it ... but it's not *right*. Ms. Brook is a fantastic worldbuilder, and more importantly, she can tell a damn fine science fiction story. Her characters are real, her world shines through the grime, and the plot worked, for the most part. I like her writing too, which I can't always say of all authors. Where the book fell totally flat for me was the romance. I can understand a romance being there; I'm cool with romance; see all the books above that are romances, which is a genre that I love.

But in emphasizing the romance over everything else, as well as the sex scenes (which bordered on gratuitous), Ms. Brook did her book a great injustice. I know that this is the story she wanted to tell, and that this is the book she wanted to write; I totally get that. I just think it's a crying shame that she declares on her website that she'll never write something that's not a romance--it's selling her talents and her abilities short to limit herself to one genre.

(More books to follow, but I'm being instructed to consume chicken soup now by my husband. =)