Adventures in Hedonism

My head is about to explode with knowledge!  I purchased a membership to The Niche Blogger by Amy Bass a couple of days ago and I have learned so much new information that it’s going to take my brain weeks to process it all!

I’m completely re-doing the sites that I was starting and I’m doing them the Amy way.  She is a mother of four with about 20 niche sites bringing in about $5,000 per month.  Her training is showing me step by step the things I need to do.

Yes, this is a glowing endorsement.  Have I made any money yet?  No, it’s only been a couple of days.  But I’ll keep everyone posted on how it’s going.  I actually have a lot of hopes about this.  I’m tired of writing and selling my articles to other people to make money from.  I want to write them and make money from them myself.

I spend $10 online a few days ago on a Great Big Bag 0 Grabs! 

For my money, I will be getting:

• A hand - knitted hat or scarf
• A document to help me increase my online earnings
• One article written especially for one of my websites
• One quote of my choosing, handwritten in Calligraphy
• One gently read book chosen just for me
• One free week of link love sidebar action
• One yummy recipe
• One custom made 125X125 graphic specially designed for one of my sites

Yowsers!, you might say! How did I find such an amazing dealio?  Just visit Read Between My Lines to find out more about the Big Bag O Grabs.  Tell them Jen sent ya!

With all the rush and traveling of the holidays, it’s nice this morning to have a little quiet time to myself.  I got a text this morning saying that I have no appointments at work, so I’m on call.

The house is quiet, the only sound is the traffic going by outside.  I had forgotten how good it is for the soul to experience a little quiet time now and then.

As a lover of music, I always have some hot, rockin tune playing in the car.  Usually some obscure band that I like and no one else does…But lately I’ve been riding in the car with the music turned off.

Does that make me old?

I don’t know.  I truly appreciate music.  Maybe I’m just now beginning to appreciate the quiet a little more.

My friend was home for Christmas this week and we took a long bike ride yesterday.  All around the downtown area…looking at the old hang outs and even going inside one or two that were broken down.   It did wonders for my soul.  I simply needed to look and listen. That’s what new beginnings are all about.

How does a non-religious family celebrate the holidays?  By clapping like crazy and watching the Christmas Tree blink on and off.

As a family, we are geeks and nerds.  My finance gave my son a Clapper for Christmas this year.  He laughed and choked and was generally excited. We spent Christmas Eve opening presents and attaching the clapper to anything we could think of.

For 3 days now, it has been attached to the Christmas tree.  Unfortunately, there was a thunder storm last night, causing the tree to go on and off like a gay disco.  It was pretty random.

We like the clapper.  We have devolped a love affair bordering on obsession.  I honestly didn’t think they even made these any more.  But there it was, on the shelf in Walgreens, calling out to all nerd families…buy me, buy me!

Who knows what the new year will bring now that we have the excitement of the clapper.  The clapper + Obama? Well, anything could happen.  World peace?  No problem.

This Christmas is going to be extremely difficult for many people.  Those who were living from paycheck to paycheck (as over half of Americans do) are finding it hard to pay the bills, let alone buy junior that toy that he asked Santa for.

We, like so many other families this year, are struggling.  We are eating in and enjoying the warmth of the house and the company of friends.

It’s easy to focus on the negatives.  I won’t be able to buy my family presents.  Rent is going to be late.  My paycheck has been cut in half and things are not looking good.  I want to die.

Focusing on these things does not accomplish one damn thing.  Instead, we are trying to make the most of our situation and be very grateful for the nice things that do come our way.

We are sushi lovers.  We are lovers of steaks and wine.  We treat ourselves when things are going well.  Lately, we have been eating  a lot of peanut butter sandwiches.  This week, though, we decided we would eat out one night.  Cracker Barrel.  It was the best meal we had eaten in a while.  Not because the food was inexplicably delightful, but because we appreciated it more.

We could not believe that both of us had eaten biscuits, bacon, grits and more and had only a $13.00 bill.  For both of us! We brought home a plate of biscuits that were left over and had them for breakfast the next morning.  They were still good and we were still happy.

We will have sushi again one day.  After Christmas and the bills are caught up. But until then: yay, biscuits!!

My unhappiness at my day job is increasing by the minute.  Today, the doctor was in.

A little background…

I do not work for the doctor.

The doctor is a guest in our business and is allowed to see patients there once a month.

The doctor is arrogant beyond belief.

My morning began when I walked into work and the doctor looked at me and ordered me to put a new ink cartridge in the printer.  OooooKKKkkkkk….

Um..I’m not a secretary.  Especially not your secretary.  I can’t imagine anyone in their right mind wanting to be your secretary.  Do NOT order me around.

The fact that the above statement is written in italics should clue you in to the fact that I did not say that out loud.  I should have.  He later interruped me while I was with a client to tell me that he needed a chair.  HE NEEDED A CHAIR.  I calmly looked at him and said, “Then go up front and get a chair.”

Arrogant or just plain helpless? You decide.

son of a bitch!

2008 has left many of us broke and yearning for a new year and a new beginning.  Finances have collapsed and there is no end in sight.

Personally, my washing machine is broken and cannot be fixed, my 17 year old son totaled our car (he’s fine, thank goodness!) and we only have liability insurance, my grocery bill has doubled even though I’m still buying the same things and since I work in the hospitality industry, my income has been cut in half.  No one else has any money either.

I had a complete breakdown after the car accident and I was left wondering what advice I would give to others to handle this kind of situation.  I’m great at giving advice, but horrible at following my own.

I’ve been in tougher spots than this.  I’ve lived without heat or hot water and barely scraped by.  I am in a much better place and I know that this, too, shall pass.

I wrote down the advice I thought that I would give to others and have decided to follow it myself.  I will not have a pity party.  I will be thankful that I have hot water, a warm home and bike that I can ride to work.  I will work hard to pull myself out of this pit and I will become a better person because of it.

A worthy way of celebrating Thanksgiving this year is to donate your used cameras to the Skid Row Club project.

They are collecting cameras and handing them out to participants at Skid Row who are using them to create beautiful art.

Their first show was last Thursday and hundreds of people turned up for the show.  The photographs went for $100 per print unframed and $290 framed. Half the proceeds goes to buy more cameras and the other half goes to the artist.

If you would like to donate a camera, simply email eecue@eecue.com. The website even has a way that you can simply donate money to the project via paypal.  This is a great way to get your whole family involved in a wonderful project for the holidays.  I urge everyone to participate.

The Raging Rev has awarded me with the Rock Star Award! Thanks Raging Rev!

It’s true.  I AM a rock star.

Annnnyyywayyy…I’m supposed to list 8 things about myself and nominate a few other folks for this award.  Let’s see…

1. I was a youth minister at a southern baptist church for 5 years.
2. I was married to a music minister for 10 years.
3. I am now agnostic.
4. I am happier now than I have ever been in my entire life.
5. I am marrying fellow agnostic in April on the beach in Alabama.
6. I am addicted to my computer.
7. I am a massage therapist by day.
8. I used to be a high school teacher…and after that I was a nuclear lab tech.

Yep…believe it or not.

So, here are my nominations for this award:

Mike at Waxing Poetically

Cliterature

Leslie at PixiePine Palace

and

Katy over at Trapped in the Office …she’s had a rough week!

I know that I want more tattoos.  They are inevitably addictive!  I do have a few ideas, but none of them as clever as this young lady. (for a better look at this image, right click and hit view image) I stumbled across this photo on the internet and have no idea who she is, but this is one of the most unusual and fantastic tattoo designs I have ever seen.

As of right now, I have three tattoos and I want more.  I am fortunate to be in a profession that I can be a professional and still have visable tattoos.  The only really visible one that I have right now is on my right forearm…it’s a red insert disc to a 45 record and I love it.  I got it as a memorial when my friend shut down his indie punk rock record store in this dismal conservative town where we both live.  It was sad, but it was time to move on.  Any votes on what the next tattoo should be?  My awesome financee has a fantastic idea of getting an extremely old death tarot card tattoo on his back.  It’s gonna be beautiful!