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!