Blue! Wait, Purple... No....

Hello folks.
   Ah, the crazy season of cookies and Christmas and holiday cheer is in full swing at my house. Lots of cookies. And pretty, festive lights. And somehow, during the midst of this madness, I managed to find the time to dye my hair. It is no longer platinum blonde. Now it's a warm, medium blonde, with blue/purple streaks. I tried a new brand of hair dye. It's called RAW Color, and it can only be bought at Hot Topic. I tried Deep Purple. I love purple hair.

It looks like a really pretty purple . Let me tell you something, IT LIES!!!! I died my hair yesterday, and the dye just looked dark. That is perfectly normal. The stains I left all over the bathroom looked purple (which is also pretty normal). But when I rinsed the dye out, my hair was blue. Not blue purple. Blue blue. It looks good and all, but it was so not what I was going for. Today when I washed my hair, the water was all blue, and the shampoo's foam was purple. Now the hair is slightly more purple. This dye also bleeds into the hair by the dyed section. Just a warning. So my hair is now blonde/light blue/dark blue/purple/grey-ish blonde. Fascinating combination.

Ta-ta,
Veela

*Edit*

So here is what it kinda looks like. You can't see all the colors. And I'm upside down.

I can not make a duckface. That makes me sad.

Death by Pulling Taffy

I like taffy. It is really sweet, chewy, and smooth. Taffy is cool. So, of course, I had to try to make it. Let me tell you, there is a reason people use a machine for this. Especially the pulling part... If you don't pull the taffy  it just turns to hard candy. Sure, it is delicious hard, but it wasn't what I was going for. I pulled taffy for a good hour yesterday. Ow. Arms. Hurt. By the time I was done pulling it, I did not want to do anything with taffy ever again. That is why it is in the shape of a rope in the freezer, and not like, you know, cut into inch long pieces and individually wrapped in parchment paper how it was supposed to be. That was so not happening. I don't think I will make taffy again any time in the near future. But if you, my dear reader, want to try it, use this recipe. Try it at your own risk. I have a few tips for taffy making;

1. Grease everything! The taffy is SO sticky, it will cling to anything. Don't let it touch any fabric. Or it will be furry taffy.

2. Use a candy thermometer. You really can't make taffy, or any other candy, without it. And move it around the pot every once in a while to make sure it is cooking evenly.

3. Do not wait for the taffy to become cold before pulling it. Once it gets cold, it will harden. Start pulling it as soon as it is cool enough to handle. Be careful not to burn yourself.

4. Don't do it by yourself. Pulling taffy is really hard by yourself, and it takes forever. And you will probably need a friend to restrain you from throwing the taffy at the wall.

~Veelacat

Field trip! Field trip!

Hello,
Most every school around will take a field trip to their state capitol. So it is only natural that us homeschoolers also go and take a field trip into the state capitol. Regrettably, as we live 4 + hours away from our state capitol, this was the first time I have been there. But it really was worth getting up at 5:30 in the morning to go there. We all got up around 5:30, but we weren't on the road for another hour. I can't say much about our ride. Illinois is a beautiful state, but the majority of it is prairie. It all kind of looks the same to me. Three cups of coffee and half my playlist later, we finally arrived in Springfield. It is a cute big (no way I could call it little) town. First thing we did was visit the State Capitol Building. Wow. It is just so incredibly amazing I can not describe it. I took as many pictures as my camera's built in memory would hold (which is ten. I forgot to put it's memory card in it before we left).

This is the old Supreme Court room. Isn't is beautiful? You can't see it,
but the wall paper says Justice.

 Everyone we met was super nice. And we got our own private tour.

I loved the chandeliers. They were as impressive as all get out.

I think this is the senate chambers. The carpet is all hand woven.

This is mind blowing. Our dome is taller then the one in DC if my facts are correct,
and I believe they are.

This is a tiny corner of the State Capitol Building.

Here is me. This can kind of give you a picture of how big the State Capitol Building
really is. This is only the front entrance.

We also went to the Lincoln museum, but it had a no photography policy.
Well I have a art class to attend,

Veelacat

Hello People And Possible Aliens Who Are Reading This

Good afternoon.

I think I have finally finished my break from blogging, and so I shall start posting again. Even though I know it has only been about two weeks and a half since I last posted, it still feels like it has been months. I trust everyone had a amazing Halloween? I went trick or treating with my siblings as per usual. The only thing different about this year was that one of my very best friends, and one of Angela's friends, came with us. Oh, yeah, I also finally got to wear a tiara (thank you for lending it to me, my darling sister). I like tiaras. Tiaras are cool.

I have found the perfect example of team work that I just need to share.

Fezzes aren't cool. Sorry Doctor.

xx
Veela

Black Pepper Cookies!

Hello my dear readers,
pepper cookies... it doesn't really sound that appetizing, does it? You might think it just sounds flat out strange. That is what I thought when I first heard about pepper cookies. But really, they're delicious. My mom told me a story about how my great-great-great grandma used to make black pepper cookies, because
pepper was what was available to her. She didn't have the spices we have now. It was salt, pepper, and whatever they could grow. As no one ever wrote her recipe down, mom just told me what she heard from her mom, my grandmother, about the cookies, and asked me if I thought I could recreate them. I searched the internet for a recipe, but I couldn't find a recipe I liked. So I just used the basic proportions for cookies to make a new recipe.
Here it is:

2 1/4 cups of flour,
1/4 cup white sugar,
1 packed cup brown sugar,
1 teaspoon baking soda,
1 cup of softened butter,
1 large egg,
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract,
2 teaspoons ground black pepper,
Sugar or other sweetener to dip cup in (I used Splenda),

Beat butter for 30 seconds. Add sugars and beat until fluffy. Add egg and vanilla and beat until well combined. Add flour, soda, and pepper. Mix, just be careful not to mix it too fast or else everything will go poof into your face.

Make balls of about one teaspoon, and put on a greased cookie sheet. You'll make about three sheets of cookies. Dip the bottom of a glass in sugar, then press the dough down, dipping back into the sugar between cookies. And you really do need to use the sugar. If you don't, the dough will stick to the glass.

Bake the cookies for 10 minutes (our oven is really slow. If you have a fast oven, try 8) at 350 degrees. Move the cookies onto a rack to cool.

I hope you like them!

Love,
Veelacat

I Created A Monster.

I apologize, for I have sewn the Petticoat-Which-Ate-San-Francisco. 

It's big.

Really big.

Almost too fluffy to fit under the skirt I made to wear specially with it. When I was sewing it, I thought that I couldn't make the petticoat too fluffy. Boy oh boy was I wrong (I seem to be wrong quite a lot lately). This thing is huge... I still need to trim it, 'cause it's too long, but other then that, it's done. 

I'm much too lazy to go onto Photoshop and make this right-side-up, so it's going to stay sideways.

And this is the edge of the skirt. Very exciting, I know.

Farewell,

Veela

Hello!

Hi.
This is Angela. Valerie left her blogger account thing open to create a new post in this blog.

WRITE ALL THE BLOG POSTS.

I'll tell you this.
Valerie is awesome. And I love her a lot. And she's cool. AND YOU SHOULD ALWAYS READ HER BLOG BECAUSE SHE'S FUNNY.
Actually, I think she's funnier than I am.
:hides:
But yeah. I really like my sister. She's beautiful and sweet and smart and she has such a unique way of looking at the world.
Which is why I lvoe her.
Partly.
:)
I also love her because she's one of my best friends. For ever and ever and EVER.
:D

Angela out.
~Angela

Fluffles!

First off I just want to say congratulations to my best friend Eva (you can find her blog here) for doing better than fabulous on her showcase. You were amazing!!!! Next off to the subject of this post; fluffles!

In my family, if you don't know how to do something, you figure out how to do it. I need lots of fluffy cupcake poof for my Halloween costume (and for those days when I wake up and feel like being poofy), so guess what I'm going to be doing today. If you guessed writing my paper for history, you're so wrong it'll probably be a year before you're right about ANYTHING*. No, no, I'm going to be attempting to sew a petticoat. From a picture. I have no pattern or anything. Hey, how hard can it be? 

xx

Veela

*This is a reference from a kids' book. Something like Completely and Totally the Messiest. 

Uninspired.

Hello there,
Some days you might say you have "writer's block" if you're a writer (most authors I've talked to however argue that this is non existent), or you just can't see what shape that lump of clay should take. It doesn't matter what your media or instrument is, whether words or water colors, we all have days when, to put it simply, we're just not inspired. For me those days are pretty random. I wake up and my 5 year old sister can draw better then me, my violin sounds like a dying cat. When I feel like my art is pointless and bad I drink orange juice. It makes me feel more inspired for some reason. I don't know what it is about it, but I always feel better after drinking orange juice. Maybe it is kinda stupid. I don't really care, it's what makes me feel better.

This looks... like a cup of orange juice. Duh.

 If I think my music is going nowhere, I listen to someone else playing.



If I think my art is lacking, I look at someone else's art.

Fortitude, by Sandro Botticelli.

Haha I'll never be able to draw like that...

xx
Veela

Pie

Hello,
Do you like pie? I really like pie. Not as much as my sisters, but I do like pie. My sisters like different type of pie.

This is the type of pi Angela likes.

This is the type Christina likes.

When Thanksgiving comes around, my grandma makes pie. And then hides the pie from Christina. She has a lot of fun searching/ransacking grandma's house for pie. It's really quite funny when Chris smells the air in the hope she can sniff out where the pies are hiding (we're still waiting for the day when she finally accomplishes this).

xx
Veelacat

Costumes!

Hello!
I'm so excited- it's time to start making Halloween costumes! As the queen of indecision, I've already made up my mind as what I want to go as and changed it several times, but I think the winner is Alice, from Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. Of course I want to dress my 18 month old brother as the White Rabbit as well (keeping the bunny ears on him will take some serious skills, but I'm 100% sure he will be adorable). We might make it a bit more authentic because I probably will be chasing him around all night.
xx
Veelacat

Stupid Things I Do #[Sorry The Number Was So Big It Made My Brain Explode]

Hello my dear readers,
I have not abandoned you. I just have had no want to post. Ah I'm sure you all missed me like crazy, so you have my most sincere apologies. Haha just kidding... I need to take a break from blogging every once in a while.
I am well known to my friends and family for doing notoriously stupid things that people will talk about for years to come. I try not remember such occasions. But I do little stupid things that make people go, "Oh Valerie....". Such as wearing sunglasses indoors while I'm at the computer (I'm wearing a dashing robins egg blue pair at the moment).
Just thought I'd share that with you all.
xx
Veelacat

Barbie Has Bad Hair Days Too!

Hello,
I know, you didn't think it possible did you? But Barbie really does have bad hair days! Here is the poof, er, proof:

Yes, I know technically this is Barbie Belle, but who cares.

Personally I am glad my bad hair days never get this bad. I don't know what on earth my sister did, but it really is spectacular (and I really hope she doesn't do whatever she did to her own hair. Or my hair). I mean, look at her bangs! Wow. I don't know what else to say about this. But she isn't as bad as my cousin's Ariel Barbie. She got her head shaved. Well, at least Ariel could fit through the doll house doors.

xx
Veelacat

Blue hair?

I'm sorry to say I haven't been on blogger much lately. Partly, you know, 'cause I was on vacation where there was no freaking internet connection. Yeah I think that's all I need to say. I looked at the poll I have on my blog and boy it seems like people want me to have blue hair! And blue hair is awesome- some of my very favorite anime characters have blue hair.

I love Hideki Hinata!

So blue it is. 

xx

Veelacat

Thank You For Not Squishing The Turtle.

Before I begin I would like to say I do not mean my best friend, who's nickname is Turtle. I mean the animal. Okay? So anyways. We live on a very busy street, and yesterday right in front of our house, some guy got out of his car, stopped traffic, then spent about 15 minutes helping a huge turtle cross the road. Thank you person. That was very nice of you.
xx
Veela

Share The Waffle Love!

Today my friends, is National Waffle Day. 



This day should really be more well known. I mean, waffles are AMAZING! I should know- I had them for breakfast. Did anyone else celebrate this fabulous not-a-holiday-but-really-should-be-one? Shame on you if you didn't.



My dad doesn't cook much. As far as I know, he can only make freezer pizza, mac & cheese from the box, noodles, toast, and waffles. And that's like it. His waffles are actually better than my mother's, and that's really saying something (note to self: get dad's waffle recipe).

Okay this necklace is just adorable. 

Waffles are extremely easy to make and don't take that many ingredients. And they are good for any meal- breakfast, second breakfast, elevenses, lunch, afternoon tea, dinner, supper, midnight snack- waffles are the way to go. And they're adorable!

Strawberries do taste excellent on waffles. But waffles taste just as good with just butter and syrup or plain! Or you could eat them like Hatsune Miku- chocolate, strawberries, ice cream, banana, fresh cream, mint, mango, and of course it isn't complete without spring onion sauce! But personally, I'm just going to stick with strawberries.



Have a happy National Waffle Day, and for goodness sake, eat waffles. Leave the pancakes alone.



xx
Veelacat

Blog Awards!!

Thank you Cat and Stacey for nominating me! I'm just now getting around to doing this post because I am very lazy (at least I'm admitting it!). So here it goes. 

The Belle Blog Award

Aww, thanks. So here are the things you have to do when you get this one.

1. Write three facts about yourself.
2. Answer the questions the tagger asked you.
3. Tag three people. You can't tag the person who tagged you.
4. Write three questions for them to answer. 

Okeydokey.

Three facts about myself

1. I like to read cookbooks.
2. I love lollipops.
3. My middle name is Marie (not Obnoxious, like Angela will tell you it is).

My Answers to Cat's questions

1. If you could drink tea (or coffee or hot chocolate or.... unicorn tears) with anyone ever, who would it be and why?

Hm, let me think here.... I'd have to say my pen pal Grace. Why? It's simple. She's been my pen pal since we were both four, but I've never freaking met her! Yeah that's going to be added to my bucket list...

2. What made you want to start blogging and what makes you keep blogging?

I saw my mother change the background on her blog, and I saw a background I liked, so I wanted to get a blog so I could use it. I just hate it when bloggers will randomly stop their blogs. So I don't ever want to be like that.

3. If you had to listen to one song for the rest of your life, what song would it be and why?

Hirari, Hirari, by Hatsune Miku, Such a pretty song...

The three people I tag

Cupcakes, from Just Pretend The Rainbow Sparkles (sorry, she has a private blog)
Pearl, from Magic Pearl Heart
Anna, from -SUNDAY-PANCAKES-

And my questions for them

1. If you could meet anyone you wanted to in modern time, who would it be and why?
2. What's your favorite ice cream flavor?
3. Do you think you would survive the Z. A.? Would you want to? 

Well that took a while.

This award is so pretty!




The Versitile Blog Award

Yay! Thank you Stacey! 

1. Nominate 15 bloggers who are new to blogging (2 years or less).
2. Tell the nominated bloggers that they are nominated.
3. Share 7 random facts about yourself.
4. Thank the blogger who nominated you.
5. Add the award to your blog.

I... I don't know who to nominate!!! Wah... so, if you're new to blogging, and if you want to take this award, please do!

You *points to random person* You are nominated!

7 random things about me

1. My favorite color is pink.
2. I like roses.
3. I like fish.
4. Being underground terrifies me. 
5. Halloween is my favorite holiday.
6. I really enjoy writing letters.
7. 7 is my lucky number! Haha...








XX
Veelacat

My Favorite Books: Part 2, Witches & Wizards

Hi,
I just woke up so this post might not make much sense. But whatever. You can deal. A few days ago I posted My Favorite Books: Part 1, and they were just my favorite books in general, but I'm bored right now so I decided I'd do a post on my favorite books about witches and wizards.

Harry Potter, by J.K Rowling.

This series is amazing in general (but my favorite is the third). I don't think I need to say much
 about these books. Virtually everyone has read them or at least heard of them/seen the movies.
If you haven't read these, your life is not complete.

Witch & Wizard, by James Patterson and Gabrielle Charbonnet

I started reading these on a whim. I really liked Maximum Ride and Daniel X, so I tried reading these.
Like maximum Ride, these books are funny and full of action and snappy come backs. The characters
 act how you'd expect a normal person to act. I really liked the ending to the series.

Plain Kate, by Erin Bow

First off I'm going to say don't read this book unless you want to read a book that will make you cry.
Okay so I don't know if it would make you cry, but it sure as heck made me cry. But then I cry at a
lot of books so I guess that's not really saying much. The villain for this book was amazing-
by far my favorite character- and had very good motivation. And the cat, Taggle was his
name if I remember correctly, was just so adorable! I did not like the ending one bit
whatsoever and I really wish a squeal was made.

Howl's Moving Castle, by Diana Wynne Jones

I saw the movie before the book, and for months it was my favorite movie.
I only read the book because my little sister insisted that I did. I thought that it couldn't
possibly be better than the movie. Boy was I wrong. The book is way better than the movie,
and that's saying something. I really like the world where this book takes place. There
isn't a single character in this book that I don't like.

And that's all. Do you people like the book posts? 

I'm going back to bed now.

xx

Valerie

Eating Yogurt With Yoda While Doing Yoga

Hi!
The title is a bit of a tongue twister, isn't it? A long time ago, probably around 5 years now, a yoga instructor came to my old Girl Scout troop to teach us yoga, and I told Kenneth. As he was about 3, he just kept repeating "Val's eating yogurt with Yoda while doing yoga!". It was adorable.
I really do enjoy yoga. I just started doing yoga again 2 or so weeks ago. This time Ken has started doing it with me. We invited Chris, but she just laughed. Then proceeded to shoot me with the Nerf gun (who shoots someone with a Nerf gun while they're doing yoga, seriously!?). Okay I admit, we do kinda look like dorks, but it's so fun I don't really care all that much.
xx
Veela

My Favorite Books: Part 1

Hello there,

I really like to read, and most of the time I will have my head in a book. One of my friends asked me to suggest some books to her, so here are some excellent books. If anyone has any recommendations for me, please share! 

Scarlet, by A.C. Gaughen

This book is Robin Hood with a twist. It's very exciting, and fairly realistic setting wise.
Unlike most Robin Hood stories, the main villain is not Prince John. The only part he plays in
the book is to set off the chain reaction that causes the people to be over taxed.
This is probably my favorite book, and the only thing I don't really like about it is that it's written in bad English.

Eyes Like Stars, by Lisa Mantchev

I really enjoyed this book. It was a bit of a slower read for me, but  every bit of it
was interesting. All of the books in the series are good- and all a bit sad- but this one,
the first one, is my favorite. It's a lot different then any other book I've read. If you
like acting, theaters, and the like, you very well might like this book. And if you've
ever wondered what would happen if characters from different stories met, you should read this book.
What I don't like about this book is that the ending makes me cry. Every time.

Silver Phoenix, by Cindy Pon

This is a very interesting story which takes place in a setting quite like China. One
of the reasons I really like it is that monsters form Chinese mythology often appear. They're
a lot different from Western myths and legends, and it's a nice change. The main character, Ai Ling,
is very brave and makes a lot of choices that I never would, but she often is the only character who is able to
think and get her and her friends out of whatever trouble they've gotten themselves into. I don't like some of
the choices she makes in this book, and I think the ending is a bit incomplete, but the second book fixes that.

Kiki Strike: Inside The Shadow City, by Kirsten Miller

6 really talented and curious girls living in New York City  discover a city under New York. This is
just a really cool book. I love all the cool inventions and ideas they have. If anyone thinks a
bunch of 12 year old girls can't make one of the most important discoveries of the century and
keep it hidden, this book shall prove them wrong. I honestly can't think of anything I don't like
about this book.

xx

Veelacat 

Nevermore.

Ohmigosh I am so excited!
If you have read the Maximum Rides, you probably know that today the last book will be released. If you haven't read them, I highly recommend you do. They are really fabulous. Although a lot of the characters *coughcoughFangcoughcough* get on my nerves, the books are really exciting, and Max never fails to crack me up. I really can't wait to see how the series ends. And it is a good thing that it's ending.



(But what's with Max's hair being silver? I thought it was... well, not silver.)
~Veelacat

Ice Cream Song!

Hello again.
This song is just so adorable I had to post it! The original is Hatsune Miku's Melt. This one is the parody done by KAITO. It is in Japanese, but this PV has English subs.





Isn't it cute?? Poor KAITO. It doesn't matter how old I am, it is always sad to me when ice cream falls.
xx
Veelacat

Goodbye, Fritz

Warning: This is not a cheerful, happy, or in any way pleasant post. 


 My dog died. His name was Fritz. He was about 7-8 years old, and the biggest German Shepherd most people I know have ever seen. We adopted him 2 years ago from a shelter, and we think he was abandoned. We used to joke that he was part horse. It was a complete surprise when he died last night. He was fine earlier that day, bouncing around the yard like the idiot he was. He was fine, then suddenly he couldn't walk and started having spasms. Mom and dad had to carry him to the car in a wheel barrow. The vet said that he either had cancer or heart failure or both, and he wouldn't last the night. He was in a lot of pain. So we had to have him put down. Mom gave me the option of saying goodbye to him, but I didn't want my last memories of him to be him dying and in pain, so I didn't say goodbye.

Traveling.

Hey peoples,
Do you like traveling? I know I sure do. Someone I know just left for Germany a few days ago, where she'll be a transfer student. I'm a little bit jealous, I admit. I've never been out of the USA. I think it'd be a lot of fun to go to Europe. I hope to be a transfer student in a few years. Angela and I want to travel the world once we're both done with school, so that's part of the reason every few weeks I decide to try to learn a new language besides the language I take for school (Japanese). That's why I'm trying (and failing) at the moment to learn Hindi. Why Hindi? To be honest I have no idea. It just sounds awesome.
Yay I'm so excited, because in just 2 days I'll be 13! And 5 days after my birthday, it's my little brother's birthday. Actually he's having his party right now... I'm hiding in the house where there's air conditioning. But now mom brought the ice cream out. Instead of cake, Kenneth wanted make your own ice cream sundaes. So that's what he got.
Goodbye,
Valerie

I Love Birthdays!

Hello again,
I'm almost 13 (9 days and counting!), so happy birthday to me! I had my party a few days ago. It was really small, just two friends sleeping over. But it was pretty fun. We watched Bride and Prejudice, which if you haven't seen, it's really awesome. Lot's of pretty outfits and people randomly breaking out into song and dance. We also decorated cupcakes and played Truth Or Dare (hand sanitizer became my best friend after I had to wash my foot in the toilet while singing Girlfriend by Avril Lavigne). Sadly one of my best friends couldn't come. So I decorated a cupcake for her. Then I ate it. Sorry! But wasn't it pretty? 

And of course, what's a party without styling everyone's hair in strange hairstyles?

This was a lot of fun.

My hair! (I dyed it again)

Aren't they marvelous? We used a lot of hairspray, teasing, and spiking glue. They still didn't stay up for more then 5 minutes. Which is probably a good thing. 

So long,

Veela

Nightcore Is A Good Way To Stay Awake!

Hey!
I am so exhausted I've gotten unbelievably hyper and everything seems hilarious. I'm also babysitting my lil siblings. That's probably one of the greatest contributing factors to my being exhausted. Another may be that for the past 3 or so hours we (Philip included) have all been dancing around the living room like crazy to nightcore music (aka, music that's been sped up and put in a higher pitch. I swear vocaloid nightcore causes brain damage! But I love it). Yeah the living room is kinda trashed now..... And mom just came home. Ooops.

Geeky TV Shows Have The Best Music

Hi,
As I come from a family of geeks, it should come as no surprise that virtually all the TV shows I watch are what some might call geeky (I simply call them awesome). And they all seem to have really cool music. Here are some examples:


Numb3rs



What did I tell you? Awesome music!

Warehouse 13



Pretty music. Okay, this is not the intro I like- the one for Season 2 is my favorite, but this is the only one I can embed. The season 2 intro is here.

And of course, the old favorite, Buffy the Vampire Slayer.



It's so sad when I ask someone if they watch Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and they say in reply, No, what's that, is that a new show? No. It's really not.
These are my favorite, music wise. Do any of you people watch these shows?
xx
Veelacat

"'Be what you would seem to be....'"

"-Or if you'd like it put more simply- 'Never imagine yourself not to be otherwise than what it might appear to others that what you were or might have been was not otherwise than what you had been would have appeared to them to be otherwise.'"
~ The Duchess, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, by Lewis Carroll

Bloodthirsty Camp Songs!

Hey guys, what's up?
I just got back from camp a few days ago, and let me tell you, I am so glad that camp ended when it did! I won't say any names, but there were a few girls who for some reason just hated me. That made for a lot of drama. I actually ended up switching cabins because of it.
This was probably one of the worst weeks to go to camp with it being one of the hottest weeks of the year and all. As a result, we had 5 hours of swim time on average. So my hair is now green. And not on purpose.... for once.
Back to the title.
I don't think anyone realizes just how bloodthirsty Girl Scout camp songs can be! Take the Little Green Frog song, for example:

Er-ee went the little green frog one day,
Er-ee went the little green frog,
Er-ee went the little green frog one day,
And his eyes went er-ee too.


Honk-honk went the big red truck one day,
Ker-splat went the little green frog,
And his eye didn't go er-ee anymore,
'Cause he got eaten up by a dog,
Arf arf!


Poor, poor, poor frog.... First few times I refused to sing this song.
Next song:


Going swimming do-do-do-do-do,
Going swimming do-do-do-do-do,
Going swimming,


See a shark do-do-do-do-do,
See a shark do-do-do-do-do,
See a shark.


Baby shark do-do-do-do-do-do,
Baby shark do-do-do-do-do-do,
Baby shark.


Mommy shark do-do-do-do-do-do,
Mommy shark do-do-do-do-do-do,
Mommy shark.



Daddy shark do-do-do-do-do,
Daddy shark do-do-do-do-do,
Daddy shark.


Grandma shark do-do-do-do-do-do,
Grandma shark do-do-do-do-do-do,
Grandma shark.


Grandpa shark do-do-do-do-do-do,
Grandpa shark do-do-do-do-do-do,
Grandpa shark.


Lost a arm do-do-do-do-do-do
Lost a arm do-do-do-do-do-do
Lost a arm.


Swimming faster do-do-do-do-do-do,
Swimming faster do-do-do-do-do-do,
Swimming faster.


Lost a leg do-do-do-do-do-do,
Lost a leg do-do-do-do-do-do
Lost a leg.


Going down do-do-do-do-do-do,
Going down do-do-do-do-do-do,
Going down. 


Happy shark do-do-do-do-do-do,
Happy shark do-do-do-do-do-do,
Happy shark.


That's the end do-do-do-do-do-do,
That's the end do-do-do-do-do-do,
That's the end.


Ouch. This song does not portray sharks realistically (and it has way too  many do-do-dos).
Moving on...

Mary had a little lamb who's fleece was white as snow,
And every where that Mary went,
She threw it out the window!
The window,
The window,
The second story window,
High, low,
Low, high,
She threw it out the window! 


Noooooo! Why? Why? Why Mary!?!?

These are all real camp songs that we sung at camp.

~Veela

Nothing much to say besides Goodbye.

Hello.
Wow it's been a while since I've last posted. I've been pretty busy. Do you think the summer is relaxing? Think again! It's really not. Especially if you have to drag your sorry little butt out of bed before eight in the morning so you can go to swimming lessons. On the morning of our endurance swim, I honestly don't believe I was fully awake until at least the third lap. So glad swimming lessons are over. Until Monday. Then at Girl Scout camp, I get to "learn to swim" again. Like I haven't already graduated swimming lessons or anything. Do you people like swimming? I enjoy it, as long as I don't have to do so many laps in so little time.  I'm leaving Sunday, so goodbye.
xoxo
Veelacat

Fibich and pictures!

Hi.
So I was going to upload these pictures, like, a week ago. But I couldn't find my camera. I found it maybe 5 minutes ago. Anyone want to guess where it was? It was, *gasp* put where it was supposed to be! No wonder I couldn't find it. Anyways, here are the pictures:

Philip loves having his picture taken.
I had my violin recital Saturday, and Angela filmed me playing, and I think I did pretty well. I'm glad I'm done with that Sonatina, it was getting a bit old. It's amazing how different a song will sound with the piano. Sorry for the bad quality video.





Like it?
xx
Valerie

After the zoo.

Hello.
     The zoo is a strange place. Very strange. I think it's just as interesting if not more so to watch the people that go to the zoo, than it is to watch the actual animals. And today was a very good day for people watching, because it seemed like every single school decided that today would be the perfect day to go on a field trip to the zoo. This made animal viewing a bit harder. But most of the field trips had finished up about one, so we had plenty of time to go see all the giraffes, hippos, wombats, and tortoises that one would ever want to see.
     I don't want to see another giraffe, hippo, wombat, tortoise, or whatever for a long, long, long time. I don't ever want to put shoes on again. Or tell anyone not to chase geese because they will bite (surprise, surprise). I don't actually really want to do anything besides eat dinner, read manga, and play D&D.
Goodbye.
Veelacat

Is this book reading challenge unreachable?

Hello folks.
I know a lot of people this year are doing a reading challenge. It looked like fun, so I challenged myself to read 700 books this year.
I just now realized that it's a completely unreachable goal.
Let's just add that to my list of blonde moments, shall we? If anyone reading this is doing a reading challenge, how many books are you hoping to read?? And should cookbooks count (for some strange reason, I absolutely adore reading cookbooks)? I know this is a short post, but I don't have much to post about at the moment besides this, and the fact that I have a huge recital coming up. Yikes.
xx
Veelacat

Moushiwake arimasen!

For those who don't speak Japanese, I am very sorry. I really did mean to start posting regularly. But, as always, I forgot. I remember historic dates better then I do posting. Although to my defense, the computer did crash, I do have a huge test coming up that I've been studying for, and I've got my biggest violin recital of the year coming up. But there has still been time for me to post. I just haven't. Instead, I've spent my free time reading manga and cookbooks, playing Sims 3, and drinking tea. Quite productive if you ask me.

I've also been trying to figure out what to give my brother for his birthday.

What do you give a one year old??? 

I've decided to make him a cake. Who doesn't like cake (besides Angela)?

xx

Veela

Well, I might be slightly cranky...

Konbanwa.

If you read my last post, you know that I tend to get in a bad mood if I'm tired. Well, I also get into a bad mood if I'm sick. Yeah I was sick this week. So basically, I just stayed in bed, learned how to draw manga (I am so bad at it, it's funny.), and listened to Hatsune Miku (If you don't know who that is, look her up. She's awesome). It got boring pretty fast.

Another reason I may be slightly cranky, I ripped a hole in the seat of my favorite jeans. I didn't know I did. My little sister noticed, but did she tell me? Noooo. Instead she let me go out in public. With a big hole in my pants.

And the third reason for my crankiness, my shoulder rest broke. Again. My mother dearest got me a really nice shoulder rest for Christmas, and about 2 months afterwards, I was playing violin at my lesson, and my shoulder rest broke. The wood literally cracked. So we sent the shoulder rest back, and we got replacement. Yeah it broke in the same way. So now I'm back to the good old Kun.

But I'm not all that cranky anymore. I'm no longer sick, Angela said that she could help me make my ripped jeans into a skirt, and I got a new shoulder rest. I'm also going to go see a play with my best friend in a hour or two. :) I've heard the play is really good, and I know one of the actresses. So goodbye, sayounara.

xx

Veelacat

Victory.

I love sleep. Who doesn't? Sleeping is awesome, and when I don't get enough I turn into a cranky witch. People with even a little sense know to avoid me when I don't get enough sleep. I have Western Civilization on Wednesdays, and since I procrastinate, I almost always end up doing my homework late Tuesday night. Mother dearest insists I go to bed at 11:30 no later, so I have on more occasions then I like to admit ended up working on homework at the crack of dawn, and- I really hate to admit this- in the car on the way to class. I should seriously stop procrastinating. But tonight, I finished my homework in record time. I finished at 8:27. So yay me, I actually get to sleep more then 5 hours!
Yeah I'm going to go to bed now.
Oyasumi,
xx
Veela

Making muffins with Jell-O instead of eggs!

It sounds weird (well it is weird). And kinda gross (it's actually quite tasty, believe it or not). But it did make a better binder then egg, and gave the muffins a nice fruity flavor and a interesting color. My little sister said the muffins were, and let me quote, "Pinkalicious". Pinkalicious or not, they were fun and easy to make. And everyone likes them. That's why there is only one left now. Sayonara, Pinkalicious muffins!
Besides making muffins, I've also been working on turning this cute-but-old-lady-ish denim shirt/jacket thingy into a vest. It's coming along pretty well. I was going to cut out the design on my zombie ballerina costume, and sew it on the vest, but it can't be washed. So no. I am not going to do that. I dislike spot-clean clothes. I'll post a picture when I finish it. If I ever finish. I have a knack of starting something then never going back to finish it.
xx
Veelacat

GS Camp.

Girl Scout camp. It's really quite fun, if you know what to expect and come prepared. I'm going to GS camp again this year with Angela and Christina, and we've figured out some basic guidelines for going to camp. Just thought I'd share them with ya 'cause I'm nice that way.

1. Be a early bird! Okay, if you're not a morning person, now is a good time to start being one. You will be woken up at 7:00*, and will be expected to be on the road by 7:15*. This does not give you that much time to get up, get dressed, wash up, scrub-a-dub teeth, brush hair, if hair is long, put hair up, find shoes and at least semi-clean socks, put sunscreen on, make your bed, find your water bottle, hat, and anything else you might need later that day, and drag any cabin mates who refuse to get up out of bed, and shove some shoes on their feet. It shall make you life a whole lot easier if you get up a half hour earlier.

2. Avoid any meat served at the cafeteria. Especially the chicken (or salted cardboard. No one is really quite sure which one it really is). Most of the food is bearable, but not the meat. Ick.

Mother dearest is kicking me off the computer, so bye!
xx
Veela

*These times will vary depending on which camp and program you're going to, and how far your camp ground is from the cafeteria.

What a lovely summer day in... March?

*Happy dance* I finished reading the Western Civilization textbook! That thing was 979 pages long, and I am DONE reading it. I'm really happy about that. But now I just have new, different reading. Which hopefully won't take that long to read.
Anyways, today is so warm it's just ridiculous. Hard to believe there was snow here a few weeks back when we're all running around barefooted. And eating ice cream. Man, can't March make up it's mind about being warm or cold? I have to stick my hand out the door just to know whether to bundle up in sweaters or go out in a tank top and shorts. It has though been nice enough lately that I've been able to go take my violin and go play outside. If you don't play anything, or haven't ever tried playing outside, it is amazing (when your music doesn't fly off your stand and land in the mud).
xx
Veelacat

Site sales: a way to torture Girl Scouts.

Site sales. I dislike them very strongly. Disliking them is a passion of mine. I mean, we bundle up in hats, scarves, gloves, coats, and blankets, go to a store, and sit outside in the cold at a little fold out table telling people that we're sorry but we don't sell chocolate chip cookies and we're all out of Thin Mints. Maybe some people consider this fun, but I really don't. At the end of the site sale, we were literally screaming at people to buy cookies to support their local freezing Girl Scouts. Okay that bit was actually pretty fun. But I still don't like sitting outside in the cold.

I have green hair! It's almost the exact same shade as my nails at the moment... no, I did not dye my hair to match my nails. No, I did not dye my hair to match the stripes on my skirt. Here is a tip for any of you guys who ever plan on dyeing your hair a neon color; if you wear anything that's even remotely the same color as your hair, be prepared to be asked by everyone if you dyed your hair to match whatever it is that you're wearing. I dyed my hair with Kool Aid this time (I do not want green tinted hair for months, thank you very much). So my hair smells like Lemon Lime Kool Aid. Right now I'm debating on whether or not I should get bangs. I used to have bangs when I was like three, but I grew them out a long, long time ago.
xx
Veela

Warning: sister has scissors!!!

I let Angela cut my hair. I had long hair. She hacked at it with scissors. I lost a lot of hair. Goodbye, my hair. Oh how I shall miss braiding you into fancy braids, and tossing my hair to hit someone in the face. No longer shall I be able to put my hair into beehives that are nearly impossible to get out. And no more shall I wake up with crazy bedhead that takes forever and a day to get out, or spend hours in the bathroom combing Manic Panic through my long, long hair with a toothbrush.
Haha, sorry, I just had to do that. I actually really like my new 'do. It's adorable, and quite a bit shorter, but that just means I'll use less dye when I dye. And I have NO SPLIT ENDS at the moment! I hate split ends. Holy bananas do I hate split ends. But moving past the whole hair cut thing, I have three violin performances coming up. Yay! One is my homeschool group's talent show, one is a violin workshop, and the last is my big once a year recital. Don't know what I'm going to play for that one.
xx
Veelacat

*Yawn*

Man am I exhausted.
Why, you ask? Because I stayed up until 4:30 this morning at a friend's birthday slumber party. Happy birthday Kate! And I'm just going to warn you now, I am too exhausted to put together more then a few sentences that make sense. So just expect sentences that make little to no sense and you'll be good. Maybe I wouldn't be so tired if I didn't spend my day before Kate's party at my little sister Christina's party trying to help little 9 and 10 year old girls to put glitter on scrapbook pages, and not the floor.
But the slumber party was fun. Well, fun if you're the type of girl who likes Studio Ghibli movies, vegan ice cream, nail polish, doing makeup, truth or dare, prank calls, and hide-and-go-seek in the dark. Which I am. At the beginning of the party things were semi calm. As it went on, things just got crazier and crazier. Uh, that's why I have blue eyebrows, if you were wondering (thanks Laura!).
xx
Veelacat

The impossible happened....

I never thought this day would come.
I just can't believe it.
After all these years, for the first time...
My sister cleaned. No folks, you didn't misread that. My sister freaking CLEANED! Christina doesn't clean. Ever. We share a room, and I'm always the one who cleans. Whenever I start to clean, or ask Chris to help clean, she runs off and hides. I got really tired of this after about two years. So for the past four or five months I just didn't clean. Our room looked like a hurricane hit it! You literally couldn't see the floor there was so much stuff on it. Christina finally cracked and cleaned. Okay, so it was barely any cleaning, but still! It's a start.
xx
Veela

Blonde moments to be proud of.

I do not mean to offend any blondes, and I am really sorry if I do. Being blonde does not make you stupid. Some of the smartest people I know are blonde. But call them what you will, blonde moments, being a ditz, bubble head moments, whatever. Everyone has them. And since I take everything to extremes, my blonde moments are truly spectacular. Of course I do the normal stuff, like yell at my sister because I think she has my homework, while holding said homework, and throw my self at a door that has PULL written on it in bright yellow and red letters in a attempt to open it. But I've also done things like light a hot pad on fire and not know it's on fire until someone told me, and I have forgotten my violin at home when I left for my violin lessons. How I can do that, I have no idea.
That's all for now,
Veela

Brown or neon colors... oh the choice is so hard!

Yo.
So I am going to say what lots of people have tried to get me to tell them [insert dramatic music here] ...my natural hair color. I have told people a lot of colors that aren't my natural hair color. Heck, I've told people that my natural hair color is black and they've believed me. My natural hair color is dark blonde/light brown. At the moment, my hair is all light purple. The first time my hair got dyed was when I was about 7 (I'm serious!). My aunt bleached it for me. And I stayed blonde for about a year. Then my hair got dyed bright orange. And after getting dyed and redyed and dyed again and then highlighted, add a few weeks of spending the morning in a swimming pool, my hair was at breaking point- Literally! So mother dearest decided I needed to give my poor hair a break. After a few months the orange had faded out. So for a few years my hair was brown/blonde with platinum blonde ends. I got my hair cut, and then was all light brown (most of the time. I happily used temporary hair dye. Ever heard of spray on hair color? It is amazing.). ...I'm rambling. And now you know most of my hair history! But getting to my point. I really like neon colors, but having funky colored hair takes a lot of up keep. And I do like my natural color... so I don't know whether or not to dye it back or not or what color I should dye it!
xx
Veela

Macadamia Nut!

The macarena is awesome.
Animaniacs is (or would it be are?) awesome.
Put them together, what do you get?
This.



xx
Veela

Note to self: keep breathing.

Oh my gosh, I have a violin recital in about a hour. Yikes. Oh jeepers... I also have hair dye in my hair at the moment, and I probably won't have enough time for it to dye my hair the shade I want it to be. Fantastic. Bright purple, by the way. Thinking of doing pink for Valentines day. Or maybe red. Anyone have a opinion? Okay so there really isn't a point to this point except to freak out. Angela is going to film me playing violin (if she can find her camera!), so I can probably post it. Maybe. If I don't screw up. I am playing The Boy Paganini, a Fantasia, by I-Don't-Remember-Who. Edward someone or another.
I'll take a vote now: which is the more exciting thing I've done this week, lighting a hot pad on fire (it was by accident!!!), or performing violin? Technically I haven't done it yet but- I'm just going to stop now, I'm starting to stop making sense.
Wish me luck,
Veela

A Victorian tea... this shall be fun.

Tomorrow, my Girl Scout troop and I are going to a Victorian tea. I think it's going to be pretty fun. Can't really remember the last time I went to a tea party... about 3 years ago? Something like that. I'm on the edge about whether I should wear glitter eyeliner or not. Glitter eyeliner is awesome, but let me tell you- it's really painful to get glitter in your eye! Oh, and the whole people from the Victorian era would never ever wear glitter eyeliner thing. They actually wouldn't wear that much makeup at all. Maybe a little powder. They would wear very fancy hats. And would also wear really complicated buns, or crimp their hair, or wear sugar curls. I'm going with a bun. Angela has a awesome costume. She sewed it herself, and it is really awesome. Christina is wearing a pretty white dress with a blue pattern, and I'm going to curl her hair. I'm wearing a gorgeous, fluffy, pink dress. And my big, black, worn out boots. Or I could wear my nice high heels. Not that it would matter anyway; the dress is floor length.
Anyway.
I have a violin recital this Friday! Yay! Kinda really excited about it. It's going to be really small, but still. I really like the piece I'm going to be playing. Angela has agreed to film me playing, so I'll post the video. But after the recital I'm going to be really sad, 'cause like I said, I really like this piece. After the recital, I'm going to be done with it. But being done with it also means I'm going to be getting new music. And I do like new music.
xx
Veelacat

Pictures, anyone?

Photography is really Angela's thing. She used to want to be a professional photographer, not sure if she still does. But I also take pictures (but not nearly as much as she used to!). Thanks Maya for posting those really pretty pictures, you've inspired to post some of my pictures!
(Wait... do you even read my blog?)

I took these all on different days, but all around the same time. One of the benefits of being a morning person is that you get to see all the beautiful sunrises. Last summer Angela and I got up at 5:40 AM one morning to go and see the sunrise. And the clouds. I positively adore clouds. I have often stopped walking abruptly to look up at the clouds. This is not a advisable thing to do, especially if there is someone walking behind you. Voice of experience talking here.

xx

Veela

I have a love/hate relationship with hair curlers.

I remember when I was about 4 (yes I do! Gosh, why does everyone find this so hard to believe?), and every now and then my mommy dearest would put my hair in little rag curlers Saturday night so I would have curls Sunday. I looked adorable. There are some people that you can blackmail with their baby pictures, I am not one of them. I am the type of person who will happily bring out a photo album of photos of me when I was a baby and start showing everyone. Come to think of it, I think I have done that... anyways. Back to the original subject. For Christmas I got hair curlers, and I have been using them, 'cause I really like curls and having my hair curly, but unfortunately, my hair is naturally poker straight and ultra fine. So if I use a hot iron my hair is like, poof! (Unless I use a lot of hair spray.) So curlers work a lot better for me. Most curlers are really uncomfortable to sleep in, though. I mean, the classic hair curler is a little sponge-thing with a plastic stick stuck through it. Of course it's going to be uncomfortable! And the plastic is always really hard to click into place. But the ones I got are super easy to use- you just take a little bit of hair, wrap it around the curler, and then bend the wires to hold it in place. It looks and feels like you have a bunch of marshmallows in your hair. Except these are a lot easier to get out (note to self: do not annoy little brother while he has a roasted marshmallow on a long stick,). First time I used the curlers my hair looked like a poodle. From the 80s. It was really something else. Second time I used them, I looked like Shirley Temple. Not exactly what I was expecting. Third time I used them, they didn't curl. I took them out and my hair was still straight. That was really not what I had expected. (Although it may have been because I dyed my hair light purple the night before, so it may have been weighed down by all the conditioner.). And about half a hour ago I took the curlers out of my hair. All I could think was, "my hair has been replaced by a bunch of purple worms". It seriously looked like that. Curlers are such deceiving things. If you have any stories about hair curlers, don't keep them to yourself, please share.
xx
Veela

So I have been trying a new hairstyle everyday this week, but I haven't posted about any. Sorry, but none of them were worth it. Except this one. It took about a half-hour to get my hair up into this 'do, a lot of Aqua Net (I now understand why in books if a character has a beehive, the main character might say they could smell the Aqua Net from 15 ft away!), and I lost a few bobby pins in my hair, which I didn't find until I dyed my hair again that night. I will not be doing this hairstyle again anytime soon. It took longer to take out then it did to style my hair. Angela hacked into my account and posted about my hair once I took the beehive down, so you can kinda see how bad it was. Here is a good, sideways picture of it looking good.

Beehives are hard to do! More so on my hair, 'cause my hair has zero volume naturally.

Later,

Veela