Velveteen Mind

Hibernation

The bunny is not dead.  I'm not dead.  Velveteen Mind is not dead.  Blog Nosh Magazine is not dead...  we're all just hibernating.

There's just something about NaBloPoMo (National Blog Posting Month) and my consequent snarky answer in GoBloMeMoFo that seems to do me in by the end of the month of November. 

Last year?  Last year I took a four month hiatus from about December 2nd on.  This year?  Didn't even make it to December.

The poor bunny.  Amazing bloggers were swooping in to save him for GoBloMeMoFo (guest posting the way through November for me in order to Save the bunny!  Save the blog!) and yet my energy fizzled so much I couldn't even hit "publish" on all of the posts the last week or so.

That bunny was beginning to look a wee bit nervous...  Giving me the beady-eye and whispering, "Um, you are going to hit publish on those posts and not miss a day in November, right?  You, uh, did say this was just a hot bath to relax my nerves, but, er, are the carrots necessary?  I'm not even hungry, lady." 

He wasn't the only one asking after my intent...

My blogging friends ask, "How are you able to just unplug and feel no guilt?"  Pfft.  It's easy.  I just turn off the computer and don't look back. 

I have plenty to keep me busy, as do we all.  Family in from Illinois, an eBay store to revamp and relaunch, a new ****** to finish up.  Life has a way of sneaking up on you, as we all know.  But I do miss writing with you.

*Hm?  What was that?  Oh, I'll tell you all about that* shortly**.  I promise. 

**And by "shortly," I mean it.  I know, I know.  You are rolling your eyes and saying, "Really?  Like how you were going to finish the second part of your wedding story 'shortly'?  Or how you were going to tell us what that weird Wordless Wednesday photo was 'shortly'?  Or how you were going to write about what you covered at BlissDom in Nashville 'shortly'?  What about that whole Twilight continuation?  'Shortly,' right?"

Yes, shortly. 

Nothing like a bit of mystery.

In the meantime (the realm in which this blog exists, let's face it), I could seriously use some encouragement from ya'll regarding my newly revamped eBay store.  I gave it a new name, a new look, and jam packed it full of goodies for you. 

Introducing...  Found Bayou!

I hope you like the name.  I love it!  I thought of it while driving along the bayou last month, brainstorming how I wanted to change my current eBay store, Lagniappe Merchant.  People never knew how to pronounce "lagniappe," let alone spell it.  This was a welcome solution.  The tagline is "eBay serendipity... found by you." 

My husband insists no one will get that.  Sigh.

I'm running a free shipping special on all Coach bags, wallets, scarves, and key fobs right now in time for holiday delivery, but if you find something else you like, just email me before payment with the code "velveteen" and you'll receive FREE SHIPPING on any purchase.  Plus some extra goodies because I love me some lagniappe* for my readers!

*You'll have to check out Found Bayou to find out what that means, if you don't know.

Hmm...  this was supposed to be a quick note to say I'm still here, just busy, and that I'll be announcing the winners of the GoBloMeMoFo prizes soon, as well as continuing to post the remaining guest posts this month (because GoBloMeMoFo!), but it seems that my writing instinct kicked back in there.

Brevity is not my strong point.

So, is it the meantime, yet?  Seriously.  Get thee to Found Bayou and buy something for the holidays!  I desperately need the income to fund a special project I'm working on that will directly result in an incredibly ferocious spike in writing from me to you, here at Velveteen Mind.  Not to mention deliciousness over at Blog Nosh Magazine.

Lots of writing.  Gorge yourself on words kind of writing.

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Save the bunny?

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Your tax dollars at work

Thank you, Megan, for letting me stop by from Not-Ever-Still Life with Girls. I'm so glad to be here!

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Now that that whole November 4^th thing is behind us, we can move past the campaigning and get down to the good part: governing.  This is a subject close to my heart, because I am a part of government: I’m a federal employee. If you’re an American, I’m your humble servant.

What did you think about the election? Thrilled? Devastated? Or C), one of the above plus just really happy that it’s all over? I’m not a political appointee or anything that fancy, so it shouldn’t really affect my employment. It’s possible our agency head might depart; he’s a political appointee, after all.  The one sure change we're expecting is that the very large portrait of President Bush in the lobby will be swapped out for one of Obama.  I’ve worked at this agency for nearly five years; that’s five years of entering beneath W’s knowing gaze, his eyes following we servants as we lower our gazes and salute. (Just kidding about the salute. (Most days.) Not kidding about his eyes following us. It’s like his eyes have been borrowed from a Hogwarts portrait – I swear they move about.)

 

I work at an agency that is mostly famous for One Thing. I have absolutely nothing to do with That Thing. That Thing, in fact, and everything related to It, are not even in the same building as me. They’re in our fancy/symbolic downtown DC facility. I’m out in our flagship suburban facility, which looks much less ornate and much more like what you’d expect of government:  gray wallpaper, lengthy procedures and regulations, and many soft-shoed humble servants treading up and down the halls. The gray wallpaper: getting grayer, and a little peely at the seams.  The procedures and regulations: getting lengthier.  We don’t even refer to them by subject, just by number, usually, as in “I’m just trying to make sure this is 783-compliant.” (For example.) The servants:  there really are a lot of us (maybe 1,000?), but I don’t really know how many. We need a Facebook for Feds. We don’t have it, though, because just try to pull up Facebook, I dare you:  you’ll get the red internet screen of Violation and Doom, because Facebook falls in the category of “personal file sharing and storage.” Somewhere, there’s a regulation for prohibiting those.

Match Game GoBloMeMoFo Style

Guest Hoster, not Poster here. 

It's Linda @ Short Pump Preppy. 

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We play a little game on my blog called Match Game Monday...I thought we'd play it here today for fun ...oh, that's me next to Richard.

Why yes, I know you're digging Gene's microphone...me too!

(editor's note--  click on the movie now because the music makes it so much better!  feed readers, you are missing out so click through to the site!)

You fill in the blank...no one has to match.  We just have fun.  And since it's Megan's blog, of course the fun is at her expense...m'kay?   Oh and you might want to cue the music now.

Give me your best answer to this:

That Megan from Velveteen Mind is seriously losing HER mind.  She even uses a 'Guest Poster' when she B*L*A*N*K*S !

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Linda is a SAHM of 3 teens, handing out cupcakes and latte daily at Short Pump Preppy. 

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Secrets

Guest post by Kate Anonymous from Kate Uncensored

Let's talk secrets.  Many of my readers have remarked how lucky I am to be able to blog about whatever I want, anonymously.  There is a freedom I have that many do not, I realize this.

When I started blogging in 2003, I had a personal blog that only friends and family had the address for.  That lasted oh, about 4 weeks.  I felt stifled, as what I mostly wanted to blog about was, shocking, my friends and family.  I wanted an outlet to think out loud, or in print as the case may be.

A few months later, I started blogging again.  I was going through infertility treatment and had found a community of women and men who knew exactly what I was going through.  Soon after reading them, I realized I could go from journaling in a book on to the web. 

So I poured my heart out.  My blog was a daily journal of going through testing, treatment, loss.  My readers followed me through a roller coaster of trying drugs, going to the ER (from which I posted) DNA and genetic testing.  They supported me when I found out my husband was sterile and when I discovered he was physically unable to produce an erection.  When I had less than a week to get together money for a state grant cycle, they loaned and gave me money.  They rallied around me while I started the IVF process, and as I waited to find out whether or not it had been successful. 

When I broke the news of my cancer on my blog - I was truly touched by those who sent notes, flowers, news articles.  I told them before I ever told my husband or my family and friends, because I knew I had to start telling sometime, and I felt telling might be easier if I practiced first in writing.