Officially Official

YEA! I passed my road and written test, I am now officially a Nebraskan. Or what you people like to call Cornhuskers!! LMAO. $439 later, I now have a NE drivers license, plates and title. The best part is my new license plate number, it couldn't have been any better if I picked it myself:

RBL 703

Yup...I am a rebel born in 1973....how's that for karma?? Good thing the numbers don't add up to 23. That would kind of freak me out.

I also have switched my affixing medium to electrical tape for the mirror on my car. It's much less obvious and doesn't leave that annoying residue. Yea, it's cracked and it looks pretty ghetto, but I am still waiting on a return phone call from my insurance company. I tell ya, if I have to drive a mini-van for my rental vehicle, I most certainly will throw a tantrum. Last time it was a blue astro-something-or-other and I felt like the biggest tool. I was almost tempted to put my bumper sticker on it that says:

My Pug is smarter than your honor roll student.

I would fit right in with the suburbanites with that one. Hey maybe I should slap on the other one I had made because I saw a similar one (well, it was kind of opposite) and thought it was completely sexist:

My other ride is your Dad.

Yea, I know, I am twisted. But hey, isn't that why we are friends?

What is it with skin in this household?

Now it's me! UGH! I wore this necklace the other day and completely forgot that last time I wore it I broke out in a rash. So guess what, I have a nice rash-lace to complete my outfit every day. It itches like a bitch and I have been putting benedryl on it all day. Darn sensitive skin!

It's bad enough I get "redneck" when I drink....now it's there all frickin day! Gee, I hope I get called for an interveiw!! LOL. Sorry, I am not going to make in for my interview...well, you see, I've got this rash.....

Tomorrow I have to go to the DMV and take a stupid driving test. Seriously. I hope I don't F it up too bad, I have never had to do a road test before. Well, besides when I was 16 and I really don't consider the teaching I had from ABC Driving school (or whatever it was called) any kind of test. That guy should have never let me have my license - but he did and now look. I am going to be 35 and I have no idea what the heck I am doing taking a road test. I can't even take my own car because I don't have a drivers side mirror! I need some good karma sent my way.......PLEASE!!

Oh yea, not to mention license plates here are seriously the biggest rip off I have ever heard of. $450 for a piece of metal and a sticker? I wonder if I can make payments on that? I am just so irritated that I have to throw down that kind of money. Especially when I make part time wages and have not a cent to my name!!

Oh yea, that was by choice. ;)

I love Saturdays!!

Now that I don't have to work them! It is so nice to wake up in the morning and start working on chores in the house. Yes, you heard me right - it is nice doing chores! Considering it takes me literally 2 days to clean this place, a few hours on a Sat morning really gets me caught up. Try vaccuming and mopping 1800 square feet and you will know what I mean!

This week has been quite eventful. Monday night, someone hit my car at some point during the night and knocked my drivers side mirror off. THANK GOODNESS she actually left a note with her name and number! WOW! Now that is some midwestern hospitality for ya! So I tried duct taping it - as you all know I am a HUGE fan of duct tape (haha) and needless to say it makes me feel a little at home. Anyone who knows the gas cap story is probably laughing. Well, it doesn't quite work that great, so I literally have to drive with my window down and holding my mirror in place. It's actually quite comical.

My dog has come down with some kind of skin allergy, which I can't figure out where it came from this time. Last time it was his food, but that hasn't changed recently so the only thing I can figure is maybe something in the back yard. So I am now back to adding fish oil omega-3 to his diet. I probably should just do this all the time. If you have an itchy dog with dry skin, you should try it. It nourishes the skin from the inside out and really makes for some soft fur. And if your dog is like mine, he will love it on his food!!

Let's see....what else this week. Oh. I backed up my kitchen sink again and of course don't listen or learn from the last time. It's the garbage disposal. Did you know you shouldn't put pasta and starchy foods in there? Hm. Wish I had known that before I dumped some leftover rice noodles in there. Oops! So I probably shouldn't have put the spinach dip in there either - the leaves get stuck to the sides of the pipes apparently. As I am reading on the internet what is not good for a garbage disposal, it makes me wonder....what can you put in there? So, after the plumber comes and fixes it, again, I am pretty much going to leave that thing alone. No food for you!

Oh, I forgot to mention the pretty much assenine thing I did while trying to fix the sink myself. I had rubber gloves on and here I am trying to use the black cap thing that blocks up the sink as a plunger. Bad idea, folks!! I was plunging away and from my hands getting wet inside the gloves (from sweat of course) I managed to scrape a pretty large piece of skin back on my middle finger. Now that hurt like a bitch. I rinsed off my hands and managed to put the skin flap back and put on some Neosporin type stuff and bandaged it up with some gauze and first aid tape. (Yea, it was gross) Needless to say, that made it pretty difficult to type this week.

Now that bandaids have become my friend, I can get back to the real world of writing, ebaying, craigslisting, resume writing, or whatever side jobs come my way. Speaking of side jobs, my landlord is reducing my rent $50 a month in exchange for cleaning the hallway and changing light bulbs. Yup, I am now a janitor too!! See, I can do anything!

PS. Some of you ladies back home should appreciate this.....the RED is back!! :)

I can't think of a snappy title

So, week one of working from home is complete! It is kind of boring to sit at a desk all day, even though I am in the comfort of my own home. But, I actually kind of enjoy the brainless work right now.

I am officially looking for a roommate since I have no idea if or when I am going to find a full time job. I might just decide to work from home long term - who knows. But one thing I do know is that I HAVE to get my ass enrolled in school if I want to do this. So, in order to afford it I am going to have to bite the bullet and get a roomie.

I must admit I am probably not the easiest person to live with, I am kind of a neat freak and have a pug that sheds pretty much every minute. This should be interesting to say the least. I just hope I can find someone soon and that has the same living habits. Well, at least picks up after themselves!!

I am pretty wiped out from being in the sun yesterday and cleaning all day today..... stay tuned for more updates!!

Sideways...

No, not the movie (which I love very much) but me! I pulled another muscle in my back at some point over the weekend and have been walking sideways for 2 days. This explains why I have not posted...plus my computer is SOOOO darn slow, I hate getting on it. My back is much better today, I took a muscle relaxer Sunday and 2 Aleve last night along with some Nuprin muscle rub (that is GREAT stuff!) and had a good night's rest!

So the work at home job went ok the first day and better today. I felt like I wasn't much help yesterday, but I am thinking it was because I was in so much pain. Likely story. Ha. It's good to have some type of income, but I am still searching for something I can do that will be rewarding to me personally.

I will say though, working in your pajamas and slippers is actually kind of cool!

What can Brown do for you?

Apparently not much. I have been sitting around all day waiting for the UPS man to deliver my new PC for the PT gig. Instead of sitting around and looking out the window, I decided to be productive.

I cleaned out my office/studio for several hours. I have been attempting to do this for months, but just have not had the time. See, being unemployed does have its benefits! It looks really good in here and even feels like a clean and productive working environment. I still have the dreaded filing cabinet to conquer, but that beast says wait until after lunch.

As I was typing, Brown shows up with a package which I know is TOO small for a pc. Darn it. I waited all day for a new hire packet. What a buzzkill.

It's time for lunch then onto the rest of the office. I may even hang my new poster of Audrey Hepburn from Breakfast at Tiffany's just to make this room complete.

Nothing like a little afternoon of daydreaming to complete my new home office/studio!

What's up Homey?

A little celebration is in order, I now have an interim job that starts on Monday! And get this, I am able to work from home! Yes, you heard me, from home!

You know that saying, be careful what you wish for? Well, this was one of those ideas that I had which I really didn't think they would go for. However, since they need the help and I need a job it all kind of worked out. I will be working part time, 30-35 hours per week and I also am able to take time off for interviews and such! I just need to let them know when. They are also sending me a new computer and will be paying for my additional cell phone charges.

The great thing is, they have enough work for me until at least January. So, I have plenty of time to figure out what my future holds. Who knows, maybe I will end up working in more of a long term capacity and find something locally to supplement the other part of my salary. OR maybe the roommate lead I have will pan out. Either or is fine with me.

Now I should probably tell you why. I haven't said much about this yet, but the non-profit I have mentioned in prior posts is now turning into a for-profit with a foundation. We recieved some insight from our resident non-profit guru which has really helped us understand what we need to do. (Thank you!!)

What does this mean? Well, it means that since I am working part time (did I mention it's from home?) I will have the time to build this business with my friends and help make something that was once a dream into a living, breathing reality. Oh, have I mentioned that I get to be the Art Director? :) See, the dream of one has turned into a dream of two, then three, then four. We all have our different reasons, but we also have the same vision of what this business will accomplish. And what is that, you may ask? Well........

Just like any series of mystery books, cliffhangers always keep you coming back.

Random Updates

Just to keep you in the loop on my progress of finding work I love, I figured I would give a little progress report in the form of random updates.

In the last week I have......

• Called my creditors alarming them of my unemployment status - surprisingly that went fairly well
• Painted an original water color for a silent auction, which is now with the framer - yea!
• Created a program for a fundraiser
• Started a budget for a startup company
• Worked on a special little project for my 'absolutely fabulous' girlfriends back home
• Cleaned my friends kitchen (including scrubbing the countertops and cupboards) to help prepare for her family coming to town
• Did about 5 loads of laundry
• Cleaned out my refridgerator and freezer
• Went out to lunch with a recruiter, setup a potential interview
• Worked on my resume

But one thing I have NOT done is work on my book!! So, tomorrow morning after I take care of a few "real career" to-dos, I am on to finish chapter 1. It is just sitting there waiting for me and I have been ignoring that lovely creature!! Trust me, it's not for a lack of content. I have a wild imagination just waiting to be spewed out in the form of a book! Too bad I don't have "wonder twin" powers, or I would just yell:

"ACTIVATE!!"

My mind is racing...but who wins?

Today it's been officially a week since I have been unemployed. When you are not working, you have more than enough time to think. Sometimes it is thinking about your next job and how great it is going to be. Sometimes you think about what time you need to get up in the morning and remember you don't have a job. Sometimes you think of weird ways to come up with money. Sometimes you think of the most random thing and all of a sudden you are a philosopher. With all my random thoughts, I could be the next Socrates or Plato.

My mind has been racing today with all sorts of ideas. One of the ideas I have keeps popping up in my mind like a recurring zit.

Let's think about this for a minute. How many times have you heard this question:

"Will you do me a huge favor?"

I've asked it a zillion times, I have heard it a zillion times. Now, what if there was a little bit of incentive for that favor? Would you be more inclined to do the favor? Or think of this, how much would you pay for that favor to be completed by someone else? Really, how much is that favor worth?

If I said back to you, "Sure, for twenty bucks, I'll do you a favor," would you be willing to fork over a Jackson for it? You laugh now, but if I did 8 favors a day for a week (M-F of course) I would have $800. Doesn't sound like a bad deal to me. Anyone have any favors for me?

Parentals are the bomb

I just wanted to say THANK YOU to my P-units for donating this month's grocery and gas money. (Hey, I am not too proud for handouts!) What a great way to start the weekend!

I only use about a tank of gas a month living here, so I filled up my car to the rim while I have the money in my hand. I know all you Motor City folks are probably flipping me off about now since I know many of you fill up several times per month. Just think, when I lived there I was spending about $300 a month and that was a year ago!

Which reminds me, I was going through my budget this morning and realized that in the last year I have cut my monthly living expenses down by $1400. Most of that is the housing expense, which absolutely kills me. That bank should have never approved that mortgage!! Now before you start wondering why I don't have any money, I must mention that I do not make as much as I did back home. Yes, along with joining the circus, I took a massive pay cut with a promise of a fairly large bonus which I cannot collect on now. See, I told you I wasn't any good at gambling!!

So, tonight I am going to open the $3.99 bottle of wine I found in the clearance bin, cook myself dinner, work on the painting, and watch Titanic so I can bawl my eyes out. I love my ME dates!!

One decision down.....

Where are you going to live? Well, I am staying put right here. At least for the time being anyway. I do not want to start over again yet. I feel like I just got here anyhow. And now that I don't have to work Saturdays (yea, part of the ol' circus gig) I can actually explore the place!!

I also wanted to "brag" a little, cause who gets a chance to do that very often? My very best friend back home is having a fundraiser for her boyfriend who has Hodgkins Lymphoma in a few weeks. I asked if she would accept an original painting by "yours truly" for the silent auction. I guess I don't have to tell you that she said yes, or else why would I bring it up, right? Anyway, I am very excited about this, my first painting in a silent auction and the proceeds will be going to a great guy!! Not to mention one of my friends here in Omaha asked if he could donate the framing cost - how cool is that?

People just never cease to amaze me these days!

A Piece of Mind for Peace of Mind

This morning I wrote an email to the recruiting company that placed me at the circus. Although giving a little piece of my mind is not going to change things, maybe I can prevent someone else from getting into the same situation I was in. What a do-gooder I am!

I guess the saying is true in many more aspects of life than I had initially thought:

"If you can't be a good example, then you'll just have to serve as a horrible warning." ~Unknown

It will be interesting to see how long it takes for them to get back with me, or if they even do. It really doesn't matter too much, but as long as I was able to warn them - I have done my job.

Speaking of jobs, I have another cool lead on a job that I am pretty excited about. I will know more next week and will let you know when the interview is confirmed. The great thing about the job and company is that it is nationwide. So, if I do decide to move to another state, I have the option of transferring instead of trying to find another job again. You just never know where life may take you.... :)

What are you going to do now?

This, my friends, is the question of the week. It's such an intense topic, it has to have it's own post. If I had a dollar for every time I have heard this question this week, I might have enough money to pay next months rent!!

The short answer: I don't know yet

But I do know one thing I am going to do, and that is stay AWAY from the industry I was in. Far, far away. I have been bombarded with suggestions, questions, directions, and even a few should-do's in the last few days. It is all a bit overwhelming to say the least. I do appreciate all the concern, but really, I need to make some choices here and I am not rushing into anything unless I feel right about it. I made this move on a whim and look where it got me. I was miserable. I moved halfway across the country to work for the circus - who knew?

Choices, choices. Stay here, move back to MI, move to FL with my parentals, move to NC to be near my sis and friends, and really just start over (again) somewhere else. This is not something you can just decide in two days or really even a week. I don't want to be pressured into making a decision, although I do like hearing the different options.

Reality says that I may have to put off art school for a bit, which really bites, but I think I need to get rid of my debt and generate some savings first. Who knows, maybe a miracle will land in my lap when I least expect it.

I think it's about that time where I outline all my options (the ones I have so far) and write down the ol' pro and con list. Now that is one thing I KNOW I am good at!

No job, no worries

I am officially unemployed, but for some reason I am not too worried about it - for now. The stress of working at the circus was more than the stress of figuring out what I am going to do about a job and my life.

By the way, I must fill you in on the Loon's last act. He actually had one of my employees call me on Monday night (after my awesome vacation) to tell me that he has decided to terminate me. He even changed the locks on the building!! What a coward!! He couldn't even tell me to my face, let alone do it himself!! Then has the balls to tell my employee that it is up to him whether or not he wants me to come in and train for a week. What? Yea. Dude - you fired me, why would I come in and train? Are you kidding me? No, it's not up to him - it's up to me. NO WAY. If Loon thinks he is that smart then he can figure it out himself.

If that shows you any clue as to what I had been dealing with...you will get why it was time to go.

Anyway, onto a more positive topic....

I have been really busy the last two days. You would think that without a job I would be "at home all day." Well, at least that is what some people think I am doing. No, I am not just sitting here. I get up between 7 and 7:30 and make my coffee, work on my list of things I need to do for the day, take a shower, make phone calls, surf the internet, run errands, take incoming phone calls, and I even have been helping a friend clean her house in exchange for meals.

My friends have been awesome too. I cannot thank them enough for checking in to make sure I am fed and not sitting on my butt feeling sorry for myself. I don't feel sorry for myself, I am so relieved not to have to step foot in the circus, that I just can't fit whining about it into my day!

I wonder if this is what it's like working for yourself? You have your own schedule, you tell yourself what to do, and wow - you actually can take a vacation when it is convenient for you! Hmmmm.... doesn't sound that bad to me. Yes, I do realize that there is a lot of work involved, trust me, I have a few friends that work for themselves and I know how hard they work!! But I can imagine that it's much more fulfilling to work for yourself than to work for someone who does not appreciate you and your efforts.

I would rather work for a "one man band" than a circus full of clowns anyday!

Vacations ROCK!

Today is my last day of vacation and I have had a great time! I am going to be heading home this afternoon, and even though my vacation is over - I am looking forward to wrapping things up at the circus.

I suppose I should put my "official" notice in tomorrow, then onto some intense training for the clowns that will have to keep up the big top going. My advice to them is this:

Someday you will have your epiphany too.

This week I will be looking into a few books that one of my friends suggested I read. One is called '48 days to the Work You Love' and other is called 'Total Money Makeover'. Sounds to me these are right up my alley these days. I also have a lot of phone calls to make too so I can get rid of all this ugly debt and get to a point where I am going to feel comfortable making less money. I am such a bargain budget girl anyway, so I don't think that I am going to feel much of a change. Well, maybe at first.....

As I reflect on this past year of my life, I have been taught some valuable lessons. I thought I would share them:

• There is no bond greater than a friendship
• Do or do not, there is no try. (ok, this is a quote from Yoda - but I love it!)
• You can do things you never thought you would: Bull-riding, wake-boarding, be one of the first to jump into a COLD river for the season.... :)
• Your family is not just composed of your relatives
• Life is too short to sit around and watch it happen
• LIVE OUT LOUD!!!!

Have a great Labor Day and stay tuned for more of my adventures!