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A Charmed Life
2007-12-03 05:19:00
For the last two years or so, I have allowed myself to openly want very few things.  I haven't dared hope for much more than what is vital. I hoped for Goose to be a healthy birth. I wanted Maguire to pass the BAR. That, my friends, is pretty much it. More than two years of devastating disappointments made me create a fairly thick skin, warted with skepticism and cautiousness. Tonight I have a red, raw spot on my calloused hide:  I want us to get this house.  I am hoping that we will get this mortgage. I am praying for this home. It's time. As I sit here tonight, I have dotted all of my i's and crossed all of my t's.  There is nothing left to do but wait.  It is officially out of my hands.  And it is killing me. So...  I have been shopping. All of this stress is making it difficult for me to concentrate on anything.  At all.  I can't seem to focus on the present, let alone even a day or two in our future, so my mind has bee...
More About: Life , Charmed

Hello. My name is Karla, and I am a procrastinator.
2007-12-01 03:29:00
Guest Post by Karla from  Looking Towards Heaven That title has nothing to do with my post topic.  But here I am at the last minute racing to Megan's to get a post up for her.  She may just wish that I had procrastinated a little longer. Just like a few others who have come before me, I find myself perplexed by the fact that I am writing on Megan's blog… What was I thinking when I volunteered for this! I am hardly qualified. Writing has never been my strong point. I have a hard enough time talking in a cohesive manner, let alone writing it out in a way that won‘t make the reader‘s head want to explode. I have an almost obsessive overuse of the ellipse. I do find it appropriate; my mind tends to trail off like that anyway. Really, it is the perfect punctuation for me. I also have a tendency to put commas in all of the wrong places or forget them all together. (and if TypePad were my blog host I'd be wearin' that "strikethrough" button out!) M...

A bunny story
2007-12-01 03:26:00
GoBloMeMoFo... such a funny title (for a funny lady!).  For some reason it always makes me think of a swear word.  Not sure why. Hi, this is Krista from Welcome to Married Life!  Let’s see what randomness I can come up with tonight to help save the bunny. I had a bunny. Actually I had two. I was in 4-H (oh yeah!) when I was in grade school.  One of my bunnies was a tortoise colored Dutch named Daisy May.  And how sad is this? For some reason I kept remembering that she was a Netherland Dwarf..., but that didn’t seem right.  So I had to go to the American Rabbit Breeder’s Association home page and look at the pictures to find the right name! Anyways. She was small and cute and I liked her a lot, but she wasn’t very friendly.  The other rabbit I had was a Himalayan. Think Siamese cat, but looking like a rabbit. And she was fat. And I can’t even remember what her name was!  She wasn’t friendly at all. So I had th...
More About: Story , Bunny

GoBloMeMoFo was a Bad Ass Success
2007-12-01 03:15:00
NaBloPoMo:  Dismal failure over here. GoBloMeMoFo:  Stellar success! If you haven't been keeping up, NaBloPoMo is short for National Blog Posting Month, during which  the goal is to post every day for 30 days.  Period. Simple.  Just simple enough that I knew there was no way in hell I could do it.  I generally post 3-4 times a week, rarely on weekends, and sometimes not even that often.  I've been known to disappear into real life for days on end, my blog left to wither and flail about on its own.  I knew that NaBloPoMo was beyond my ambitions. However, I love buttons, I love social networking (sort of, well, eh), and I love challenges.  I also love to cheat because seriously, I'll follow their rules when the blog police show up on my virtual doorstep to enforce them.  Hence, GoBloMeMoFo was born. Jennifer at Playgroups Are No Place For Children coined the term.  Fussypants designed the wicked buttons and dreamed up ...
More About: Success

The Thong Song
2007-11-30 04:24:00
Guest post from Janet at From the Planet of Janet: Yo, bunny lovers everywhere. I am your hostess for the day. Let me just say up front that I'm a guest posting whore. I'll guest post anywhere, any time, for anyone. Given the opportunity to write ANYWHERE but my own blog ... I'm there! So today ... I am here to save the bunny from NaBloPoMoFo-dee-oh-doh anihalation anhialation anialation a fate worse than death. Yeah, so now that I have your attention, let's talk, yeah? I want to talk about thongs. No, silly people, not those things that my 13-year-old daughter, the Roo-girl, wants to wear under her way-too-tight skinny jeans to avoid panty lines. What we called thongs back in my day (when dinosaurs roamed the earth) are these: Yes, I know. We now call them flip flops. And they are, of course, everywhere. I remember some of my friends called them zorries "back in the day," but in my house, they were thongs. Just thongs. So in addition ...
More About: Song , Thong

What's Wrong With Me?
2007-11-29 03:06:00
Guest Post by PunditMom I have  grand plans.  I have plenty of ideas.  I make lists.  I get myself geared up. And then I can't get started.  I have book ideas dancing like visions of sugarplums in my head.  I have a vision of a house that's neat and tidy.  I fantasize about finding a way to get the family to the dinner table together with something a tad more nutritious than pasta with sauce from a jar. Then after I do morning school drop-off, and maybe run an errand or two, I get home and immerse myself in my office and get stuck. Sure, I can crank out the blog posts.  And there's satisfaction in that.  I'm a writer, after all, and there is the immediate gratification of seeing my words out there in the bloggy-sphere.  I'm even getting noticed a little bit for it, so that satisfies my ego. But I've got to find a way to snap out of my funk and find another path.  I don't want to stop this, but my life needs ...
More About: Wrong

My Imaginary Friends
2007-11-28 03:37:00
Guest Post by Megan from Sorta Crunchy One might think that a little girl who is the oldest of four would have no need for imaginary friends. But oh, gentle Velveteen readers, one would be wrong. I didn’t have just one imaginary friend, I had many. And actually, they weren’t so much imaginary friends as they were an imaginary audience. They like to sit and listen while I narrated my day to them. As I got older, they would follow me around while I went on walks or rode my bike or did household chores. I would explain to them, step-by-step, exactly how to get the mirror in the bathroom sparkling clean. They hung on my every word because that is a very fascinating subject, and I have a very fascinating way of explaining things. And now I am going to tell you something that I feel terribly embarrassed and awkward and clunky talking to my friends and family about, and yet somehow feel completely comfortable revealing now to a roomful of strangers . . . I still ...
More About: Friends

In Sicily, Women Are More Dangerous Than Shotguns
2007-11-27 05:09:00
Guest Post by Deb from Missives from Suburbia I possess just enough vanity to beg Megan for a guest slot here.  However, I'm not so vain that for one moment I would think Velveteen Mind and Missives From Suburbia share any crossover traffic, because she is a high-priestess of blogging, and I... well, I could only hope to be one of her minion as I cut my teeth on this mighty medium.  Suffice to say, even though GoBloMeMoFo is kicking my patooty on my own blog, I couldn't resist the opportunity to hog a little of Megan's spotlight.  (I'm about as subtle as a ham and cheese sandwich in real life, too.)  So thanks for putting up with me today.  I promise she'll find someone more talented tomorrow to fill in for her. Until then, you're stuck with me, and the most fascinating thing happening in my life right now is a move.  Yep, we're moving from St. Paul to Minneapolis.  Exciting, no?  Kind of makes you want to run right over to my blog ...
More About: Women , Sicily , Dangerous

Show Me the Money!
2007-11-27 05:00:00
Holy crap. Two counter offers later and they accepted our offer. Now we just have to get a mortgage. Holy hell.
More About: Money , Show , Show Me the Money

see what happens when you let just anyone in the door....
2007-11-12 05:03:00
Guest Post by Wendy from Let the dog in! Um, hi.  Is this thing on?  thump, thump Megan decided that I could Let the Dog In over here at her house, so here we are.  Becca's paws are a little muddy.  Do you know where she keeps her vacuum? Well, anyway, we're here to discuss a topic near and dear to my heart (and yours) -- boobs. A friend (male) emailed me this article suggesting a new use for a baking sheet and a bowl of warm water. No, we are not making pizza dough. We are measuring our boobs. Oh, it's all scientific like and stuff.  With a valid purpose--better bra fit.  Some scientist figured out how various amounts of displaced water equal different bra cup sizes. Not that I am against better fit.  It's just that 30 years into this bra-wearing deal, I have come to acknowledge that bras just don't fit boobs.  Or mine, anyway.  Or not for long, like five minutes.  Especially after decades of walking briskly and ye...
More About: Door

A Birth Plan that Works
2007-11-11 04:45:00
Guest Post by Lyssa from FuseMomsI am absolutely addicted to A Baby Story.    It’s not because I like to witness the miracle of childbirth.  It’s not that I adore seeing a beautiful baby enter the world because, seriously, babies tend to look like old baseball gloves just after they have traveled through the birth canal.  And it’s not that I secretly wish I had another buttercup to hold in my arms.  For the love of umbilical cords, I am so over that phase in my life.   I am devoted to the show because I LOVE to watch first-time mothers-to-be, who are adamant about having a drug-free birth.  I am so pro-epidural that I inquired about mine during my first visit to the OB/GYN after I realized I was pregnant.  I hold no ill will towards women who do not believe in epidurals.  I just suggest that these gals leave the doorway to relief open, just in case they find that another human being exiting their body is a tad bit painful.   O...
More About: Works , Birth , Plan

What's In A Name
2007-11-10 04:51:00
Guest Post by Maureen from I'd Rather Be Blogging... When Megan asked for guest-posters, I was sure I wouldn't be up to the task.  I mean, I've never done this before.  Heck, I have a hard enough time trying to come up with something un-stupid for my own blog, never mind for someone else's. Oh bugger, what if I drove away her loyal readers with some trite diatribe that no one found interesting, informative, or funny? What if I included words like "trite" or "diatribe" that made me sound like a pompous twit? What if I was so bad, I would forever risk being refused entrance into the Bloggers Secret Society? (What, there IS no Bloggers Secret Society?  Oh, sure there isn't...) Then I realized that I really wanted to squat over here not only because Velveteen Mind is one of my favorite blogs to visit every day, but that Megan and my daughter share the same name (well, it's Daughter's middle name, actually).  How could I say no t...

The Best Laid Plans
2007-11-09 04:44:00
I am pissed.  At myself.  I can't post anything eloquent tonight, so if you are looking for velveteen, move along.  This is some threadbare. The best laid plans... That's a line I just wrote on a post over at my eMoms at Home channel, eBay Selling for eParents.  People, I am nothing if not full of plans. I am also full of sh*t. I had a beautiful post for today, loaded with pictures from my Mary garden, which I finally finished last weekend.  Unfortunately, I am not in the mood to write about flowers or mothers of saviors. Have you noticed that I've been a little scattered lately?  Lost my focus?  Stretched too thin? Yeah, ya think? Maguire is working 7 days a week, 12 hour weekdays and 8 hour weekends.  The holidays are coming and I am swamped under eBay work that is yet to be finished.  Hell, yet to be started.  Pants's school seems to have some kind of activity every week for which I have to deliver the equivalent of a ...
More About: Plans

Why NaBloPoMo Scares Me
2007-11-07 23:36:00
Guest Post by ~JJ from Gaining Balance! One reason. I can’t commit. To much. Well, I’ve committed myself to my husband and my daughter but that pretty much spreads me as thin as I could possibly get. I can’t do much more than that. And it’s the first commitment I have ever made. And stuck to. So far. Wish me luck. So you see, NaBloPoMo or as we like to affectionately call it here in these ‘rebellious’ parts GoBloMeMoFo, scares the living shit outta me. I blog to release some stress in my life. I blog to vent and get some crap off my chest. I have also learned in these few, short years that I blog to connect. With others, like me. And of course, I have connected in the name of NaBloPoMo. As the “bad seeds” of the blog world. The rebels. The non-committers. And I love it.  However,  I couldn’t possibly join in on the daily commitment of blog posting at my place. Which is why I have agreed to help the Velveteen out. This commitment seems to s...
More About: Ares

Vote Fussy in '07!
2007-11-06 20:11:00
I'm thrilled to be the first to keep the bunny from meeting such an unfortunate demise! OK, guest squatters, you're up next. I have set the bar way low for y'all. No where to go but up. I'm here, shamelessly, for votes.  What?  You haven't been hit by my brilliant marketing campaign yet?  Sheesh! My little blog, Fuss ypants, is a finalist for Best New Blog. One of my 5 readers must have been a judge. Oh, you want to go vote? Sure, go ahead, I'll wait. ~whistles, twiddles thumbs.~ My desperate call for votes all began with the help of my homeboy, The Donald. (I could so win in Worst-Photoshopped-Blog category!) I offered up some eye candy! I went to the ends of the earth to find more votes. Jack Bauer made threatening calls on behalf of Fussypants. I explained that it will not be pretty if I lose!   So, how is my little blog doing in the polls? It ain't pretty, y'all. I have a whopping 5% of the vote. I am now in the Denn...
More About: Vote

GoBloMeMoFo 2007!
2007-11-05 18:40:00
Save the Bunny.  Save the Blog. GoBloMeMoFo 2007! The lazy blogger's response to NaBloPoMo. ************ The response to my call for guest bloggers for GoBloMeMoFo* has been great so far, but there is always room for more!  Not convinced, yet?  Still think you can go all NaBloPoMo on your own and don't want to play with us?   Your refusal to guest mini-blog at Velveteen Mind could cost a bunny its, well, see for yourself...        Do the right thing.  Guest post here during the month of November.  No way in hell I can NaBloPoMo by myself.  But together, we can... Save the Bunny.  Save the Blog. Brief recap of the full guidelines (ha.  "guidelines" is tongue-in-cheek, I promise): Any blogger. Any content. Any length. Any time. You'll get a non-PETA-friendly button (take as many as you want from the button page!) and a spot on my GoBloMeMoFo page.  I'll also cross...
More About: Omemo

NaBloPoMo is Beyond Me. Guest Mini-Bloggers, anyone?
2007-11-04 12:17:00
See that badge?  The one up there that has been taunting me on other people's sites, promising to be so much fun and make me uber-popular?  I finally caved. Except this time, I know there is no way in hell I'll be able to do it.  You see, the rules for National Blog Posting Month (NaBloPoMo) more or less state that you just have to post every day for the month of November.  That's it.  So simple, I'll surely be able to screw it up. We all know there is no way I can post every single friggin' day for a month.  Not to mention that I'm going to New York City in a couple of weeks.  Aaaaaawwwwww, yeah, suckas!   Without the kids.  Or the husband.  I am magic!  But I digress... into every mother's dream... Damn that cat.  Okay, I'm back. Here's where you come in:  Want to play NaBloPoMo but don't think you can keep up, either?  You can play here! Since there is no way I can do the ev...
More About: Mini , Bloggers , Guest

A Sense of Home
2007-11-03 18:32:00
Squatter Guest Post by Natalie from The Mommy Chronicles ********************** What is a home? Is it the place you lay your weary head? Is it a place filled with memories? Is it a region, and not an actual abode? Do you feel like you are home when you enter your house at night? I feel like that some days, too. But not today. Today I feel like a wanderer, a Nomad. When I say today, I mean this general time frame. As in this month year decade. Anybody who knows me knows that I’m suffering from stability withdrawal. I have recently become a single mother and I’m a lifelong apartment dweller. For those who may feel disconnected from the whole lease/rental situation, I have compiled an actual list of things I had to initial before my new home was officially mine. 18. Environmental Indemnification: To the fullest extent allowed bylaw (I didn’t miss a space, they did), Resident acknowledges that certain materials containing potenti...
More About: Sense , Home