I've Moved!

Well sort of, not really exactly.

I'm still at http://vdogblog.com but now self-hosted on Wordpress (like a big girl! as Dawn said) thanks to a sweet St. Patricks's Day deal on Dreamhost and the loving friendship of Mrs. Flinger who made the transfer for me.

Not sure how all the feed settings are right now, but you should be able to remain subscribed through my feedburner feed.

VDog & Little Man will live on here in posterity, but make sure you come check out all my new nifty features at Wordpress! You know, when it's like, all set up and stuff. Still working out the kinks. Crackerness, you know.

Unlike most people, I actually really like Blogger and it's ease of use, but the inability to have the email address of all my commenters, lack of 'trackbacks' and a few other cool things finally outweighed my love of idiot-proof-ness here at Blogger.

Hasta la vista, baby!

VDog's Shreddin' Her Oakland Booty

So...two years post-partum and I actually look WORSE than two weeks post-partum. And I'm totally not kidding. I look like I'm five months pregnant, when in fact, we are trying to conceive baby #2 (allegedly).

It's no joke when I call myself LAfaceOAKbooty -- Baby Got Back, it's true. Behold:

Junk in the trunk

Yes, I am one of those rare people who's arse actually goes out from the back AND from the legs. It's amazing I ended up marrying a white guy.

This is my plan for the 30 day "Shred:"

Eat sensibly - oatmeal and fruit for breakfast, whole grain/protein/veggies for lunch and dinner. LOTS of water. Fruit for snacks, and occasional treats.

I will attempt to consume fewer alcoholic beverages. But come on, I'm French by marriage. Wine is like water. See above. Snort.

Starting tomorrow, I will follow the Level 1 Shred program, since, well, I didn't get my act in gear and the DVD arrives tomorrow (and we don't have a Comcast DVR).

Today I kicked butt around the house and completely rearranged the living room furniture (two couches, two side tables, one coffee table and one train table (believe me, I KNOW)).

My ultimate *weight loss* goal is to lose 30-35 pounds, but for right now I'm aiming for 25. NOT in a month.

My ULTIMATE goal is to live healthy, every day. Motherhood has gotten my workout/healthy mojo out of whack, and I aim to get it back.

Please join me and my other ShredHeads on this journey!

Cross posted at Room 704.

I Went to BlissDom and All I Got Was Licked and Groped

And got stuck in an #elevator. But we'll cover that later.

I met got licked by famous people...

VDog & Redneck Mommy

Fell in love with this girl (and not because she groped me)...

VDog & Anissa

Met these lovely ladies...

The Caffeinatrix & Mother Bumper

Reconnected with my bloggy soulmate...

VDog & White Trash Mom

Had a sexy movie star photo taken of me...

Fell in love with another girl....

Shash & VDog

Was surgically attached to these two beeshes...

Mrs. Flinger & Dawn

Met a chick as crazy as I am...

VDog & Sugar Jones

Got confused by bathroom signs...

And got stuck in an elevator with 12 other women and sweated up against these walls...

And in true Cracker fashion, I need to hit publish before this post is actually done. Because if I don't, this thing is gonna come out like, three years too late.

More to come if I can muster it up.

I totally stole these pictures from Anissa and Shash. Because this Cracker "Photographer" didn't bring her camera. (WHAT?? I had to fly, like, A REALLY LONG WAY.) (GEEZ.)

**Ok i have to add more links later because I'm super late to a Dr. appt. WHEE! Check back later for more! k, luvs ya bye**

Ah Bee Blah Blah Blah

Titi does the ABC's from VDog on Vimeo.

Back to vlogging...a year later. Oops.

Hope you enjoy my cute munchkin ball.  If you don't know the Little Man's real name, I would love it if you guys tried to guess it from his nickname ("Titi" - what his girlfriend started calling him, and incidentally, Warrior's nickname at the same age as well! It means Tweety Bird in French.  Warrior claims that it was because he was so blonde as a child, but I say that it's because his head (and Little Man's head) is the same shape and size as Tweety Bird. LOL).

What's the prize? I don't know yet, but I'll think of something good. Some linky love for sure, and maybe (just maybe) I'll start using Titi's real name on the blog. Cuz, well I don't know why.

Also a question for you Mac gurus -- is there a way to 'show desktop' like on my old Windows computer? I would luff that.

Finally, A Winner

Finally, A Winner

Something So Small

Over Thanksgiving, Warrior, Little Man and I went on an unplugged vacation. We were out where the stars shine bright and the milky way is indeed, milky. There was no cell phone reception (NO iPhone!! ACK!) and no internet at the home we stayed in.

Here is a collection of random thoughts I would have Twittered (maybe) had I been able to Twitter. Enjoy:

(Thanksgiving Day 2008)
BACON!!

Waffles, coffee (baba)

Chill out.
Into town for Groceries.
Choo-choo train in store.
Dropped groceries.
Went to water to walk on bluffs.
Back for lunch.
Titi nap (that's the Little Man's nickname)

Mom & Dad cleanup & bird prep

Drinking hot chocolate out of a bowl, because the mugs here are SO TINY!! While Warrior does the dishes.

(Later)

This is definitely a Cracker house.

I LOVE MY BOYS!!!!

SCORE! Brand new Herbes de Provence in the spice rack!

A FOX!! So awesome! (In the yard.)

(Even later)

OH MY GOD THE FRIDGE SMELLS LIKE TURKEY

"My pants are going nowhere." -Jack Johnson

GLove is SO HOTT

We need an HD sound system.

These thoughts are embarrassing.

(Later still)

On Myopia
Alt. On Being Myopic

The Art of Unplugging
Alt. On Unplugging
[ideas for guest post for ZoeyJane]

~ ~ ~
Random enough for you?

Finally Some Photos

I haven't done Weekly Winners in a very long time, and this post won't actually qualify, since they are not all from this week, so I won't be linking up.

Let's start with the cuteness:

Strike A Pose

Somehow this one reminds me of BurghBaby

Hat

Busted Lip

Poor booboo

Making A Basket

LOVE the Curl

Gimme Some 'Tude

Experimenting With Self-Portraits:

Mirror

Laptop

So there's the last two months in pictures! Looks exciting, right? ;)

It All Started Out So Innocently...

(Better settle in kids, it's a long one (by VDog standards).)

I had posted two times in one week. Two times!! Not only in one week, oh no! In two days.

I knew it could quite possibly be a mistake even as I was hitting the "publish post" button. VDog just don't publish two times a week, people. So I got cocky. I thought to myself, 'wow! Now I have the rest of the week to slack off!' blog wise, that is.

So I went about trying to be a good housewifey and mama. Dishes were unloaded. Laundry was done. Outings were had.

This same week was the week that the GranCracker left after a two week stay. She had been cooking dinner every night (AWESOME and gourmet n shit!) and was watching the Little Man every morning so that I could take a shower. Cuz honestly? Mama V don't get showers more than two times a week either. Gross, I know.

So we're trottin' along, accomplishments stacking up, and then it hits me...the big bad depression. When really, what did I have to be depressed about? My life is actually really really good and I have a ton to be thankful for.

BUT, I have been prone to depression before and lived through deep dark recesses of time where sometimes I couldn't even get out of bed. Times where I wouldn't go to school for a week, or two weeks, and I would just cry. Or sleep. Or feel sorry for myself.

Because I DID have reasons. Reasons to feel worthless. Reasons to feel not good enough. Never good enough. Reasons too deep and dark for VDog's Blog, so let's just say four years of intense therapy made things much, much better.

And yet here I was, hit by a Mack truck of hormones and genetic predispositions that I couldn't do anything about. I've always had a reason to be depressed, and this Fall, I really felt like, "SHIT! I've got a great life and I STILL feel depressed?? WTF?"

Dawn asked if there were any emotional minefields for me in September. Well there's one personally big one, and then there's the Country's big one. There's what Dawn and I have come to call "Dead Dad Day" or "Dead Dad Anniversary." That's the beginning of September for me, and then, of course, there's the 9/11 Anniversary.

9/11 happened my Senior year of College. Warrior got me out of bed, and I sat, sleepy-eyed, and watched the horror on our television screen. It took a few weeks to sink in, and once again I fell into a depression and skipped two weeks of school. The only reason I ever return(ed) is because I, ya know, kinda cared about my grades and graduating 'on-time' and stuff.

Now I'm thinking it's pretty ridiculous for me to think that I can get away from years of serious depression without having some sort of relapse. I got through all the worst times in my life without medication because both my therapist and I felt, well, I had serious reasons TO be depressed. I probably could have felt better a lot sooner WITH some meds though.

So here I am now, feeling magically better, but still considering that magic pill. Will it make me more effective as a person? Will it let me handle stress more evenly? Will it make me less VDog?

Another thing I've realized is that when I'm continually surrounded by more people than just the Little Man and Warrior (e.g., GranCracker's visit), I get a HUGE let down afterwards. It's happened to me a couple of time before, and I know now that I need to watch out for THAT minefield as well. I'm learning that I truly enjoy being more social and when that "village" disappears, I get depressed.

As for my last post, I want to thank you all for your wonderful, supportive, helpful comments. My issue is that I keep having that hold-your-breath reaction, even though it is no longer founded. When someone asked me if Little Man was two months old when he was five months old, it really hurt me since I felt like he was getting to look more age-appropriate. I guess that is just sticking with me, and frankly, it sucks. I know that the way to get over it is just to have it keep coming up and examine the feelings until I'm good with it and it doesn't come up anymore.

I know this because I've done it before and it's how I've dealt with most of my issues. I just need more time. Like ZoeyJane said, I've got a few more years to milk this whole preemie thing.

There's more to say, but maybe I should keep it for next week. (HA!)

Thank you all for your love and support, it means the world to me.

...But He Was Two Months Early

I still catch myself wanting to say that, 'but he was two months early,' twenty-one months later.  Is it an excuse? A reason? A justification? Do I feel the need to defend my son to others? (Or is that really just defending myself??)

Are they thinking that he's behind, or slow in some way?  It still stings a little, this whole preemie thing.  I almost never acknowledge Little Man's prematurity anymore.  But the feeling and knee-jerk reaction to do so is still there, ever present in my mind when the possibility of comparison comes up.

This is still hurting me. But it's not hurting my son.

*****

If you couldn't tell, VDog has been living too much in her head, and not enough on paper. Or blog. Whatever.

I know this is just a tiny tidbit, but it's all I've got for right now.

*****
Many, many heartfelt thanks to Miss for blogsitting for me.  She rawks, and you should all go tell her so. :D

I Love the 80's

My claim to fame, or one of my reasons for notoriety, amongst my (mostly 6+ year older than me) friends is the fact that I was *barely* born in the 70's. That's right, folks, VDog *just* made it into the world in time to be born in 1979. Two weeks to spare, even.

So why in the heck am I writing a post about the 80's? To gloat that I was but a wee lass while many of you got to come of age during the most awesome-est decade EVAH?? No, because CityMama had a whole week (or so) of '80's themed posts, and I felt inspired.

Here's a few of my favorite things from the 1980's:

Toys: Care Bears (I loved the one with the heart), Cabbage Patch Kids (I always wanted a preemie one and never got one; however in real life I DID have a preemie, strange, right?), My Little Pony's, my super awesome boy's BMX dirt bike (I could be a tomboy like that).

TV/Movies: He-Man (I have the POWER!!!) and his not-quite-as-cool counterpart, She-Ra, The Smurfs, the aforementioned Care Bears, and then moving on to super cool shows like Full House and Perfect Strangers. My older sister and I LOVED watching Dukes of Hazzard and The A-Team when our parents were busy minding our two younger siblings.

One of the first movies I saw in the theaters was Return of the Jedi. Our whole house was seriously obsessed with Star Wars. (Oh Luke, he's SOOO cute! *swoon*) We had the tapes of Star Wars and The Empire Strikes Back, so even though I was only six, I had seen both prequels numerous times before I learned about Ewoks.

Music: While the rest of you, I'm sure, were listening to some super cool New Wave music, I was listening to KIIS FM (home of Rick Dees in the morning).
I dove head first into Debbie Gibson, Tiffany, Martika (oh yes I did), and eventually, New Kids on the Block. Joey was my favorite. Of course, Madonna was there, but she was my BFF's fave, and you CAN'T have the same favorite singer. Like, fer reals.

Clothes: And then there was the leggings. And stirrup pants (PLEASE tell me you didn't wear those). The legwarmers were HAWWWT. As were the Jelly shoes. Don't forget the Guess? Jeans and jean jackets (but DON'T wear both at once!).

Then, of course, there was the Aqua-Net necessary Wave Bang hair-do:

Don't even try to hide the fact that you lurved your Aqua Net, too.

Why did YOU love the 80's?

The Ring Baby

This week Cracker #4 and her betrothed (heretofore called Cracker #4.2) got married.

I did the Bride's makeup:

(No, that wasn't any pressure AT ALL!!)
(Girlfriend NEVER wears makeup, so the challenge was to have her look HAWT without everyone being all WHOA! You're wearing MAKEUP!!)

The Crackers #4 looked so IN LOVE


The Little Man was the Ring Baby. Without a pillow. Or rings.










He had a lot of fun.




Holla at yer gurl




They danced to that song from Juno.

It was an awesome Wedding, and I couldn't be happier for the Crackers involved! Congrats to Cracker #4.2 and Best Wishes, Cracker #4! We love you!!

(An extra special thanks goes out to Cathy at McCathy's Tub for letting the Little Man borrow Quinn's fancy pants outfit! w000t! to you, girlfriend!! xoxoxoxo)

Guy Smiley

One Curl Rules Them All



Half & Half



Keepin' it Real



Cute Game Show Host



My Ovaries Hurt

Unveiling My Neuroses (aka, The Cracker In Me)

Yesterday's post may have been a wee-tad overly dramatic. Ahem. That's what happens when you get stream of consciousness then push "Publish Post."

In addition to my flair for the dramatic, I also have a slew of other neuroses. Shall we get right to it?

1) I have self-diagnosed attention deficit disorder. I can rarely finish a task without coming back to it (save diaper changes and other must-do-now kidlet related tasks).

-When I actually get up the nerve to clean the house, you can guaran-damn-tee that I won't finish unloading the dishwasher before I go wipe down the coffee table, then change the laundry, while picking up and dropping things off randomly around the house.

-This annoys Warrior to no end, shaking his head and sighing at me, because he's actually good at cleaning AND he manages to stay focused and finish each task one at a time.

-It's almost as though I can't finish a task because the thought of what I'm doing (i.e., actually CLEANING, something I'd rather NOT be doing) is too much for me to bear - so I need to break it up into small bits so that the task doesn't seem so ominously LARGE.

-I get distracted by shiny things, loud noises, and the sound of my brain ticking.

2) I'm a yeller. I was the designated loud person in my family growing up, which had it's rewards and punishments. I loved calling all three of my siblings to dinner, but at the same time, I got spanked for yelling up the stairs once when my brother was a sleeping infant. I can kind of get that now, but holy hot hell, can you say mixed messages?

-I have for the most part curbed this behavior over the years, mostly at Warrior's insistence, because he don't roll like that. I DO NOT want to be The Mom That Yells At Her Kid.

-Sometimes this behavior slips out because...

3) I can be a bit of a hot head. There are times when a rage sprouts up inside me and it takes everything I have to keep it down. Blow ups DO still occur, but on a much smaller scale than they used to.

-I was the Queen of the bottled-up rage as a teenager.

-Now I don't bottle it up (much) and have extricated toxic people from my life to help facilitate this. (I've also worked on it in therapy and stuff.)

4) I have had anxiety of the "I'm not good enough, I'm not smart enough, and gosh darnit, nobody likes me" variety.

-Occasionally the evil voices of self-doubt still spring up on me when I am least expecting them.

5) I have had anxiety on the social functions/crowds/panic attack spectrum.

-My first panic attack was when I was 16. I was Christmas shopping with my older sister at a Wherehouse Music store when it all got to me - the lights, the warm store, the people - and I had to get the eff outta there as my heart was pounding, my breathing became rapid and my head started spinning (NOT literally, people, geez!).

*
I'm already losing my focus here (actually I've been back and forth on this post for an hour now, so...), I JUST realized my coffee is in the microwave (I found peas from last night in there when I put my coffee in), and...wait, what was I saying again?

Oh yeah, this edition is closed. For now. I can't promise more of them. But, I WILL NOT BE ASHAMED OF MY NEUROSES. (Even if they ARE slightly embarrassing.)

Thanks to all mah Crackah friends for your support yesterday. I DID find the marker, and Little Man DID get in a (fairly) good nap. Life could have sucked more, that's for sure.

Impending Doom

Do you ever wake up and just feel, in your heart of hearts, that the day is just going to be a complete and total housejob*?  And despite your best feeble efforts to have an attitude change, your heart still races ever so slightly when you think of the impending housejobs?

Today I feel like I've got too much to take care of and too many people to make happy.  I know everyone makes their OWN happiness, so why I feel like I can affect the outcome of other people and at the same time housejob my own is most likely what people call irony.  Only it's probably not REALLY irony just what people think irony means.

Confused yet? So is my brain right now.  The thing that is getting me most (besides the fact that I probably won't get a shower in today) is that quite likely the Little Man's nap will get farked for one reason or another, and I can barely stand the thought of a day without a good nap. Also, there's a marker missing, and I can't stand just having the cap sitting there mocking me, saying, "neener, neener, bet ya can't find my mate! There's TOTALLY gonna be washable brown marker all over EVERYTHING by the time you find it! HAHA!"

That is all.  Carry on.

*A housejob is another way of saying clusterf*ck, everything's effed up, going wrong, turned out wrong, or is JUST NOT RIGHT.

Wordless Geek

Wordless Wednesday

10 Things I've Learned from My Son