Shaking off the crack monkey a.k.a Dr. Pepper

So Nicole and I are giving up soda for at least 6 months.

We have dragged Frig and Blue along with us. I'm also giving up fast food for at least 6 months and cutting back on sugar. I think Nic's sister is going to do the no soda with us. We are going to do updates on everyone's progress on the podcast. If you have weight to lose or want to make any habit changes in '08 just let us know and you can join the "team".

It's Not Us, It's a Soda Free '08!

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It's New Year's Eve!

How cute is she. A true princess celebrates holidays in style. That settles it, in '08 I am getting my own tiara. I used to have one. I'm too fabulous not to own one.

Happy New Year, my loves!

I'm evil and I love it

There are no words for how hard this makes me laugh. Mary Alice in Teagan's webkinz outfit.

So perky I want to slap myself

So today is "Festivus" and there is a thread on Sybermoms for the Airing of Grievances.

I cannot think of ONE... NOTHING. Seriously Sigh I mean yes there is the usual bitching of wishing I had more of this (money) or less of that (bills) but an actual grievance, I'm at a loss.

Maybe one will come to me. Overall the feeling I have for 2007 as we prepare to put it to bed permanently is happiness and feeling very lucky.

This is our second year in a new state. We had a fresh start and while that is a good thing it is a struggle and the first year was amazingly hard. But this year I think we found our feet a little more. The kids and I are putting ourselves out "there" more in activities and making new friends. And sometimes those friendships aren't successful but it's all a learning experience. While I would have loved to cuss the dance mom I think I rose above and I'm proud of myself.

We still live in an apt that is too small for us and we have a list of wants that are a mile long, we are good and I can't complain about the petty stuff.

This year was a big step for me, in lots of small ways that I doubt many of you care to read about so I'll spare you. But I'm leaving '07 on a high note and I anticipate even better things for 2008.

*WOOF*

If you are a listener on INUIY you know about Bear Jesus (in Taylor's name we pray) well our fabulously twisted Nicole has brought Bear Jesus to life and his hemp sandals were made for walking... he's a traveling bear. His dance card is filling up fast so if you want to host our Ursine Host let us know.

http://gobearjesus.blogspot.com/

My greatest Wish for you, my friend

I hope you all have a joyous and happy holiday, no matter what you celebrate. And if you don't celebrate anything, Have a Happy last Tuesday in December!

From the top of my head to the tip of my toes I wish you Peas.

It's FAT Friday, bleh

As many of you already know, I got focused on my weight and dieted (really more like an eating program or actually just eating better) and exercised. I lost over 30lbs, which was GREAT even though I still had a LONG way to go.

Well then my birthday hits and things kinda went to shit for a while for a bunch of reasons. Basically I've given up on exercise (boo, hiss) and have been eating like shit. Right now I'm just trying to survive cmas and get to Jan 1st.

I was watching some of my friend talk on twitter the other night and thinking and I've been keeping up with my friend Walt's amazing weightloss and I've decided to make a plan. Ok obviously the exercise has to come back into the picture, there is no way around that. But on Jan 1st until July 1st I am making the declaration that I will not eat any fast food or drink any soda. I'm still trying to work out parameters... like what if we are running late from kid activties and they are getting fast food and I have to eat something or go hungry.... could I have a salad or a yogurt or fruit cup thingy from a FF place? I'm thinking yes thats ok as long as it's not a habit. I think I will start keeping meal bars in my bag to try to avoid that situation if possible.

So are you, my friends and readers, making any big New Year resolutions and declarations? If so, please share. I want to know what is important to you and I want to cheer you on. Later on in the week I will probably share my whole resolution list so stay tuned. ;)

Morning musings

It's kinda funny how little it takes to start off a morning on a good note. I got up and the kids were still in bed (always a great start!), I got up and showered, used a new shampoo and conditioner - my hair looks fabulous!, got out/dried off/got dressed and used this new hair clip I bought yesterday... It's this funky little octopusy thing that is especially good for thick/curly hair. Hey I have both of those things! ;) It works great, my hair is up and it's not pulling or tugging and hurting my head, it's not heavy and it's not ripping my curls. And viola, I'm having a great morning so far.

Sometimes it scares me how simple I am. Oh well, it's part of my charm.

Well, the challenge was accepted and I've done my best.

Teagan and I really did have fun doing this. We didn't make a ton but it was a good experience, She is an amazing helper! I'll detail each picture for you. Please click each image for a larger picture.




Ok here is the ornament I made for the purpose of judging. It is 100% hand made. No cutters or templates used. Just lil ol' me and a knife. Please note her festive "bow" corset and pleated skirt combo. This INUIY girl loves to party, she is ready to tell the world to SUCK IT. How can you not vote for this sassy little number?

Teagan made this Santa completely by herself. *love*


Here is a trio of smaller ornaments that I combined into one pic. The snowflake was a cutter, I drew in the lines. The bear was a template that Teagan cut out by herself, she did the ears, nose and eyes on her own too. The stocking was a joint effort. Teagan rolled all of the strips and I placed them on the sock.

Last but not least, our wreath. I think this one is the prettiest. Again Teagan was the strip roller and I braided. I think we make a pretty great team, don't you?



These are my entries in the 1st annual It's Not Us, It's a Salt Dough Smackdown.

VOTE FOR VENUS!

Challenge accepted

*UPDATE* The fabulous Frig has been pulled into the contest. The lovely Laura
has also been invited to play but today is her BIRTHDAY so she might have better things to do. ;)




Apparently my joyous spirit is rubbing off on Nicole, the pissy elf.

She has challenged me to a "Dough Off"... salt dough ornaments, that is.

Picture's will be posted to our shows page INUIY by midnight, tomorrow.

The winner will be selected by you my faithful fans! I promise I will not let you down.

Martha Stewart, I am not.

I try but usually fall quite short. lol

The kids and I made graham cracker cottages yesterday. They aren't horrid but they really aren't good either, especially compared to the pictures on Martha's site. But my kids are damn cute, as usual. ;)

Today's fashion choice

Seriously this kid cracks me up on a daily basis. We are leaving in a sec for the bowling alley and this is Teagan's look for the day. ;)





And in the funny things she says category for the day...

Teagan has a display board set up like a secret hideout with a blanket over it. She is under there with Mary Alice.

I hear some scuffling sounds and suddenly Teagan saying to MA, "You're not a kitten, you're a PIRANHA!" More noises then..."CURSES!"

Then more problems apparently and Teagan kicked MA out of the house and told her there was no more kitten home for her!

Oh and now Tea has put away the board and said... "My secret home was never meant to be, Mommy."

What a friggin night

You would think I would be used to it by this point in my life but it never fails to shock me how amazingly immature some "adults" can be.

I'm going to be unloading on tonight's podcast... grr It's nights like this that I am beyond thankful that I have outlets like my blog and podcast and msg board.

My kid could be a star and I'm planning to step out on my husband

Did I get your attention? ;)

This morning Teagan went to an open call for extras and people with dance experience for a movie Jack Black is filming here. Figured it couldn't hurt. lol There were a lot of dancers from her school and I really hope someone makes it in the movie. That would be very exciting!



I love my husband dearly, really I do. I only rarely dream of holding a pillow over his face. But that is not going to stop me from starting a torrid affair...



Oh baby, yea.. that's it!


LOL I have wanted one of these sexy little beasts for many many years and I just ordered one today from Amazon - on sale!.

I can't wait to get it and run my hands over it's smooth metal surface... oh and bake some stuff too. ;)

Christmas joy in a box.

Blah Blah, you should make gingerbread from scratch.... yea whatever. How cute are they. *love*



"Mary" Christmas to us all.

As promised...

A crappy quality clip of my daughter dancing. She is up front next to the teenaged girl.



I think she is amazing. *love*

Suck It, Charlie Brown

You ain't got nothing on my sad little plastic tree. This baby is going in the garbage Jan 1st so that dh has no choice but to replace it next year. ;)

Twittering my life away

Damn you, Nicole!

I'm addicted to twitter and it is all her fault. Do you twitter? If so, follow me = Veenus

We are recording a new episode on INUIY, Sat night. I know that's too far away for some of you but it is what it is. Sorry... or Suck It, whatever. We are going to have a very special guest and the topic will be festive. ;)

Big congrats to my oldest spawn

Cam is on the Homeschool Bowling League and he goes bowling every Wed. They play 2 games and thats pretty much as far as my info goes. I chat with other moms and serve as the taxi.

Well apparently Cam is an actual member of the USBC Youth organization. Sweet! today he was awarded an official patch for bowling a 120 game. Yay to my son. *love


The girl child was in rare form today, she has the best sense of style. Not "best" as in everything matches etc, but best as in it doesn't and she loves it. Her outfits are so her, nust be that artsy blood in her.

Today's ensemble was very 80's inspired, which I love. The picture poses were all hers. You should see the "good ship lollipop" ones I didn't resize. lol She's a ham.

WTF, COLD!

yes, I'm so bored I'm talking about the weather. piss off


It's cold here... well cold for the south - you know how that goes. It's 35 right now (ok that's not just south cold so shut up), I looked it up. lol It says high of 63 today. Friday is supposed to be a high of 80. This up and down is getting old because I can't even clear out the girl's closet. Bah

Oh a happier note, we are decorated for Cmas. Our tree is up and we have lights outside and inside the apt. We are going to be making more paper decorations - snowflakes etc. over the next week.

I have 6 toys to complte for orders and then I need to get Frig and Mr.Bee their toys from our podcast contest. Busy Busy

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Ugh, I'm one of "those"

Sigh... well I embrace it and acknowledge it so that has to count for something.


Tonight was Teagan's first performance of the month, she will have 3 more before Cmas. It was at the Festival of Lights in our city and they were on the main stage. Now all of the beginner dancers are very cute and they look adorable no matter how well they do but...

You knew the but was coming right? Of course you did.

My daughter is amazing. No really, I swear. She is so good. I wish you all could see her. I need to get a digital recorder so I can get a clip to upload. She really seems like a natural and she loves it so much. She does practice all the time because she just loves doing the steps.

One day she might be on a BIG stage and we can say we knew her when. ;)

No way, I think I might know wtf I'm doing!

Ok well that's not EXACTLY true but we can pretend. lol

I'm actually getting my programs back on my comp after the "trauma" and I'm at least 90% back to normal.

Today after much frustration and mental cussing I figured out how to get my podcasts back and get them on my ipod.

Now of course that means I have to go to the each individual websites which is kinda tedious but it's better than nothing!

Testing 1-2....

I'm trying out ScribeFire, a supposedly really cool add on for Firefox.

Sorry to say that so far it seems pretty sweet. That means I can blog every little thought in my head now from any site, no matter what I'm doing.

Again, I apologize. ;)

But here is a cute picture, just for you.



Awwwwwwwww. Little Mary Alice was 6 weeks old yesterday.

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OMG Squeeeeeeeee

Yes I really just did that... I swear!

Would I lie?

So my partner in podcasts, Nicole just linked me to this AMAZING site with tons of freaking adorable free blogger templates.

Suck My Lolly

I love, adore and wish I could wear them all. I want to be her bff but I may have to bitchslap Nic to get a spot in line. ;)

So admire my new "dress" and go get your own, you look like crap. I only tell you the truth because I love you. *smooch*

In a word... Craptastic

Yes, faithful readers that pretty much sums up my week.

It started off early in the week at the girlchild's dance lesson. Another mom,a mom I thought was a close friend, went postal on me and it was not pleasant. I walked away and a few moments later she followed me to yell at me some more. Sigh

So I ended the night in tears feeling like a moron for being so frustrated.

But Friday was my birthday so the week got better right?!??

Um, no. lol

Thursday my tower decided it was no longer going to boot, not even in safe mode. (is there anything I can do to save that machine?) So I grabbed my backup tower but it needed an operating system so I install an obselete version of Ubuntu (linux) on it and after hours and a near mental breakdown I am online again only at maybe 30% capacity.

I can't install any programs so I'm itunesless, skypeless and just all around out of the loop.

BUT at least I am here, kinda.

If the comp dying Thursday wasn't good enough girlchild woke up with a fever and was pukey... ALWAYS FUN! Bleh

So on my actual bday, dh had to work long hours and I didn't see him. I had no cake, no dinner... nothing special and birthday like. Big Sigh

Nic and I recorded a show, she called me on the phone, but the quality was shit so it had to be redone. We re-recorded last night and hopefully it will work out ok and the birthdaycast will be uploaded in the next few days.


Ok enough of the mopey crap, hopefully the next blog will be back to your regular Venus. ;)

It doesn't pay to be cute in this house

Because this is the kinda crap that we do to you...

New order filled and I'm a huge sucker!

This is the baby that tried very hard to keep me from finishing my order last Thursday. She is 4 weeks and luckily for her - damn cute. ;) Meet baby Mary... the kids named her. I think Mary is a crap cat name but oh well it's not like cats learn their name or give a shit about you. lol *insert hate mail from cat lovers*

















The order WAS finished though because I am the awesome, duh. lol These little guys are headed off to Canada, eh.

My other hobby

Well this one is a little different, even for me...


I have a podcast. Are you all scratching your head and saying What?!?

If you don't know, a podcast is like an internet radio show. Some have themes and others are nothing more than the ramblings of a person with too much time on their hands... guess which mine is? ;)

It's not mine alone though, I have a co-host. A partner is snarkiness as it were.

Nicole from purpleduckie and I do this podcast every week. Sometimes we stay on a topic, kinda , but usually we just ramble and bitch. lol The content and our mouths are EXPLICIT so if that type of thing offends you, this is NOT the show for you.



It's Not Us, It's You!


We have recently been in the new and notable section of the itunes store under podcasts/comedy so that has been very exciting even if it means nothing. We are easily amused. ;)

This is our itunes summary so it should give a good idea of what you are getting yourself into if you decide to listen. Don't say you weren't warned.

It's Not Us, It's You! is brought to you by partners in snark, Nicole and Venus. Upon meeting at a infamous parenting board the two quickly realized that had far too much in common. So if you are ready to follow the journey of two heathen homeschooling alterna-moms while they bitch, mock and just generally bs their way through life in the bible belt then you are in the right spot.

Ok so you know I've been playing around with the sock toys for a while

But it is officially a business! I take orders and have a logo and everything!! How crazy is that?

Here is one of my newest designs

She is heading out this week to JAPAN!!

Dino is going with her.


I recently made this little guy too and I think he is pretty adorable.




This is my fabulous logo, I love it so much I could kick my husband out and canoodle with it all night. Rarrr

Well you've just about seen everything...

My newest side craft, my crafty area.... hmm what else is left... wow wonder what it could be?

Oh yea....

ME!

Here I am working away in my corner on an order. :D

I rarely ever get in front of the camera so consider yourself lucky. lol

Do you ever wonder about other people craft areas?

I do and I don't think I'm alone...

Here is my disaster corner. Our townhouse is not huge so I had to eek out a little space where I could. It works... for now.

The picture is huge so here is the link...
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v318/VenusP/Craft/craftcorner.jpg

ok I have pattern books, scissors, stuffing, socks - the drawer to the right is all socks, ribbon and felt (which is spilling out after my daughter rummaged through it for a project). There is my button box on the floor. I have paper for drawing patterns, and then other basics - phone, lamp, hard candy, thread.

I know it's not glamorous but it's where the sock magic happens.... ooooOOOooo

Well here is the thing...

You have missed a LOT! I'm going to try over the next few blog posts to catch you up on my life and all of the stuff I have going on. Let's start with current events and move backwards. ;)


I made a ring pincushion (pc). My old pc was a pita and when I would stick a pin in it, it would usually slide away which meant I needed two hands and when you are sewing that is annoying.

So problem solved and I recycled. So eco!



Isn't it cute? I wanted to use cute fabric but all I have is felt and socks so... there ya go. A circle of fabric, glue, soda top and hair tie was all it took.

Since I'm on a roll...

PUMPKINS!!



My owl














Cameron's puking masterpiece



















Teagan's very first pumpkin. She poked and carved it 100% by herself. *love*

And while I'm updating...

Cameron (11) and Teagan (7)

October 2007





































Ok I was going to put a few more pictures up but blogger is being a butt so it'll wait. :)

Venus waste an hour but what else does she have to do?

Ingredients to make Candy Corn, yea.. or yuck depending on your pov







Step 1













boiling the sugar, corn syrup, butter, vanilla













Teagan playing with powdered sugar











Mixing pwd sugar into pan












starting the coloring process












Teagan coloring the dough









A candy corn strip!





Almost done...















Candy Corn






Ok so I wasted an hour of my day, big deal. My kids can have a sugar high while they carve pumpkin and my daughter thinks I'm awesome for one more day of her life... it's a fair trade.


Link to the recipe I used...
http://www.epicurious.com/bonappetit/blogs/editor/2006/10/homemade_candy_.html

Socktastic

My newest friend...

The mock sock Cheshire Cat, Chester.