Irony

Every weekend now, I make the 30 minute drive to my cleaning/personal assistant/chauffer (that was added to the list today) job. Now mind you, even though it sucks to be working this many hours each week, I am grateful to be picking up some extra cash on the weekends ($9 per hour if you were interested). But it is also ultra annoying to have to sit at the signal light just blocks from my job and have to be stared down by the dude with the cardboard sign begging for money. It seems like it's a different person each week, which makes me wonder if they have alternating shifts or something. And the sign always says something different, but they all have the same basic message.

GIVE ME MONEY FOR STANDING HERE AND LOOKING PITIFUL!

I know that times are hard right now. You don't have to tell me that. I also know that I am probably not in the same position, or even close to it, as these beggars.

But I also know that I am not the kind of person that is going to sit back and expect people to feel sorry for me without taking some initiative.

Does that make me heartless? I prefer to call myself a realist.

Perspective

I saw this on a church sign today as I was driving home after working 9 1/2 hours cleaning and schlepping boxes, and holding a photographic reflector thingie in "just the right position":

Laughter is the shock absorber that eases the blows of life.

True dat.

And just when you think your life is sucky and you have every reason to complain about anything and everything, something pops up that smacks you right back into reality.

Just over a month ago, my uncle (my mom's bro) was diagnosed with Acute Leukemia. Yeah. He has had one round of chemo and will find out in a day or two the results from his tests. If there are any cancer cells detected, they will immediately start the next round of chemo. After that, it is bone marrow transplant time...if a match is found. No guarantees and all. He will also be having numerous blood transfusions throughout this process.

My mom and her oldest brother will be going in to get tested to see if they are a match. Statistically, siblings are the most likely to match. From there it's a crap shoot. I have been on the bone marrow registry for about 10 years now, having a vial of blood drawn at a Relay for Life event. This is my friendly reminder to everyone to seek out your local blood bank and/or bone marrow donation center. It really is not that painful of a process, lasting about an hour per donation, and you get free cookies and juice!

Please send positive thoughts (and prayers if that's up your alley) in the direction of Milwaukee, WI. Thanks so much!

Moving on

I needed to write a post to get rid of the nastiness of the previous one. Or at least move it on down the page. I would love to write an actual, meaningful post, but I'm Much. Too. Busy. Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh! At least I have tomorrow off so I can catch up on a few things...like my next business (sort of) adventure. Woo hoo! Now if I could just get my brain to function for this one. Hmmmm.

Things you can't say on Facebook

AKA: If You Were Looking for Something Positive and Chipper to Read.....Look Elsewhere.

I'm about at the end of my rope. To be exact, I've been there for a while, but I've just been holding it all in because I know if I disintegrate then everything around me will also.

That job I was hoping to get? Foot model. It was most likely some freak with a foot fetish and, yes, I was willing to sell myself out for $50/hour session. I never thought I would be this desperate to put food on the table. Alas....

Working seven days a week sucks. That's right. I'm whining and this is my blog so if anyone doesn't like it they can bite me. Well, that's about it. Ta ta!!

The Latest

So yeah. I survived the cleaning job on the weekend. Now every weekend I go for 4-8 hours to clean and help organize this guy's apartment. He has a ton of "stuff" crammed into a relatively small space. Last Saturday I spent 3 hours cleaning and the next 4 helping him sort through junk and various sentimental items. It seems that what he really has needed was someone to be there as motivation to keep going through the process. You know how it is when sorting through any room in your house with accumulated junk. It's so easy to get caught up in the memories and the "What in the heck am I keeping this for, but I still can't bear to get rid of it".

In the midst of the sorting, we came across some beautifully hand-painted pieces from India (that's where he's from). Some of the details were so small that we had to look at them with a magnifying glass. Speaking of magnifying glasses, we also came across a grain of rice in a little glass container with his given Indian name painted on it. My favorite part though was sorting through his toys. He had two full dresser drawers filled with collectible hot wheels cars still in their packaging. He said that as a child growing up in India, he had a total of 3 toy cars during his whole childhood. Apparently they are super expensive there due to the fact that they are imported. So one night while shopping in Walmart he told himself, "I'm gonna buy every toy car that I want." And he did.

I bet you'll never guess what my next odd job is that I found on Craigslist? Anyone? I will tell you that never in my wildest dreams did I think I'd have a chance at making money doing this. Hint: it doesn't involve sex or taking off my clothing...lol