The Adventures of Being Me

Merry Christmas to all my friends and family. The year started recovering from the after Christmas clearance shoppers at Kohl’s. Then I finished my training to be a tax preparer for H&R Block. Once started, I only worked Saturdays at Kohl’s. Cats celebrated their 7th birthdays. I walked in the St Patrick’s Day parade for H&R Block holding the banner listening to the downtown crowd scream “Beads! Beads! Beads!”. Then hopped it to Kohl’s in my holiday outfit and shamrock painted on my face. I had a few beads around my neck so gave those to kids coming through my line. Started a new job opportunity as Financial Advisor for Primerica with my friend Justin I knew during childhood. Got a license to sell life insurance. Had Easter dinner at my place complete with Easter egg hunt in the courtyard. Had an odd occurrence with my Christmas cactus, it bloomed right before Easter. The end of tax season came on schedule and I worked on interviewing at temp agencies for a desk job...

Found out a friend is having a birthday soon so I'll give him some prose. Once there was a boy who said hello Naturally I thought he was talking to someone else So I walked on by Once there was a boy who was set to do a project with me So this time I knew his hello was meant for me I wrote our cartoon and he drew the pictures Once there was a boy who hurt a girl who stole my jacks Who sat next to me at lunch and the bus And simply asked how I was doing Once there was a boy who was upset his Valentine box stereo fell apart And I spent a recess gluing the boxes and paper back together When I found half the class gave me Valentines, he shared his candy Once there was a boy teachers said to stay away from They were afraid I would become a troublemaker like him But how could I toss away my hero and friend who cared about me Once there was a boy who moved away and did not see for many years I put his name in my first novel and made him into a character Then I found him again and no...

1. Save your notes so you can sell them to your friends the next semester. 2. College advisors will keep you in college forever so form your own plan. 3. You have the right to change your mind and change majors. 4. Make sure to officially drop classes because some professors will not drop the course for you if you fail to show up, then later you find an F on your report card. 5. You are the one doing all the work and paying back student loans, so pick an occupation that makes you happy. You got your whole life to be disappointed so dream for as long as you can. 6. Get a job. You heard the one with the gold makes the rules, so earning your own keep puts you in a bargaining position with your parents when financial decisions on your college expenses are made. 7. College is not a 4 year vacation from your parents where you can do whatever you want and parents will pick up the tab for you. Eventually, parents won't be around to take care of you so a college degree is nice to hav...

After niece graduated high school, she has a dance recital and piano recital. Went to dance recital. Ballet, jazz, tap, Irish, hip hop dancing. Irish dancers had huge curly hair pieces bouncing as they hopped around. One girl's hair came loose and audience laughed every time she adjusted it. Poor girl. Had dinner with niece and sister and Mom. It got mentioned that sister will be coming over and few times this summer. One is for Memorial Day grave decorating and another for a test at a doctor. I emailed my siblings concerned about Mom's thought process being off and memory fuzzy. Most of the time she is fine, just once in a while I wonder if something is wrong. It's the little things. Hopefully Mom is healthy and we can go about lives as usual. Had a job interview today and it went well so I'm crossing my fingers. I need this job cause I can't keep asking Mom for money forever. It needs to end. I borrowed more than I can ever pay back now. Well nothing else to rep...

Happy Mother's Day to all the mothers, stepmothers, pet mothers, and the whole village of women who help raise us. Had a lovely weekend with my family celebrating Niece #3's high school graduation. Left the day before cause my Mom is convinced I can't get up early enough or find my way to the high school the day of. Whatever. Left in mid afternoon to arrive early evening cause sister's family has activities and we want to be sure they are home ready to receive guests. Ate at McDonald's and Mom got her first slushy of frozen lemonade. Where ever Mom goes she has to have lemonade and this place had only had the frozen kind with strawberry juice mixed in. They made a non-strawberry lemonade just for her and clerk was confused how to do that. What Mom discovered that it is hard to drink right away until starts to melt. We slept on the sofa bed in the living room. Everybody noticed my hair is shorter. Next morning get ready for celebration and take off to help set up r...

Tried a employment verification job to realize it is a call center job so I wear headphones and talk on phone. I can not handle headphones, they hurt my ears. Years ago the airport my car rental was located in put in new speakers because people complained they can't hear pages. New speakers were booming loud and made my ears ring so I couldn't hear my customers. I left the job stating I needed to leave before I go deaf. Worked at a retail store during the Christmas season and returned when heard they turned down the volume of the new speakers. SO came back to my old job. After working 1 day and training 1 and half day for the call center, I quit. After 15 minutes, ears hurt and after 1 hour, had trouble hearing people. Next 5 hours after lunch were hard, but made it through. Continue my retail store job and caught the eye of a customer. Usually I don't date customers since they usually want free things. You may love being used, abused, and tossed away, but I despise people...

Been struggling to get through life like everyone else. My retail store not releasing the end of tax season only worked me during the usual Saturdays I had fixed during tax season. So I wait for coworkers to give up days (took hours from 3 coworkers). I tried out for a temp agency to get work at a desk so I can quit my retail store job. I noticed all new people working so other coworkers must be finding better jobs. Why not me? Did manage an employment verification job and start tomorrow. I'm excited and nervous. What if I don't like it? What if they don't like me? The usual uncertainties. Also got a call from another temp agency and interview tomorrow. See if they can find something better. Even entry-level job want experience. And here I thought entry-level meant no experience, silly me. I did finish writing and editing my trilogy so happy about that. Been busy summarizing my closet and changing the sheets. I have too many clothes, but I keep changing jobs so don'...

Sorry I have not posted since Valentine's Day. Working 6 days a week makes my brain too tired to post. Busy working taxes all week and work in my retail store on Saturdays. Precious had his 7th birthday. Around St Patrick's Day started talking to a male coworker who visited my apartment a few times. Started falling for the guy. I was in the St Pat's Day parade representing my tax office and held the sign for it. Had a partner wanting to walk 2 feet from the float ahead of us. Manager and I explained to get back so people can read the sign. She refused to hear us so I struggled to hold a sign with only a bit of string to wrap around my finger. Very windy and very cold, my hands frozen and nose stuffy. The crowds cried for beads. I was surprised no one demanded candy. It was all Beads! Beads! beads! Then found a friend through a social media site who offers me a job. I need all the help I can get to get back on my feet and stop asking my Mom for money. This new job as fina...

Have a great Valentine's Day Everybody. Been busy at the tax office and dealing with snow storms. Had interesting customers come in to the tax office ready to defraud the government, but I'm not willing to go to jail for them. My tax classes prepared me in tax law, but not how to deal with clients wanting to write their own rules. We had married people say they are single and single people saying they are still married to their ex. The most interesting is when a parent wants to claim adult children as dependents forever cause they always have claimed them. Then we have the people who cry about our prices, but then technically we are not holding them prisoner either. You want everything for free, then do it yourself. Naturally my favorite are the people who are happy their big refunds and I tell them not to spend it all in one place. On the home front, cats are doing well watching the birds and squirrels. Frodo lunged for a squirrel on the balcony and then came back inside h...

Been doing practice tax returns out of a book for a couple weeks now. Today they let me do my 1st return, supervised of course. Lady had an unmarried couple so she took the girlfriend and I took the boyfriend. Boyfriend worked in several states so typed in his stuff to a point and then other Expert person would finish it. I was so excited to do my 1st return, until I shook his hand and then I was a deer in headlights. What do I say, What do I do? Got through it and turns out Expert needed more time to do all these states (my state does tax deductions if you pay income taxes in other states) so he would come back later to collect the paperwork and sign to file the return. Need to work on conversation. Very hard to practice conversation when reading problems in a book. Working up the ladder. In other news: Heard people working on the roof this month when it was warmer. The ceiling has not leaked yet so hopefully that has finally been fixed. Noise scared the cats so much they hid under...

Had my 1st official day at work in the tax office. Got the grand tour of where things are. Got to work on practice returns. Took a lunch break to visit the gas station next door. I wonder if they let you refill your cup or make you buy a new one. The tax person I was practice my customer skills with was a talker so a 20 minute return took almost an hour. And then there was the skip this, skip that. How am I to learn what to say if we are skipping things. Then the receptionist announced she went to lunch. 2 hours later, tax person checks the schedule to find her shift was over. Why did she say lunch if she was going home and staying there? So didn't get much practice in since we were answering the phone every 2 minutes. Most callers wanted the secretary. Sorry, have to take a message. Another newbie came so we sat and did our practice returns. She said her 1st day, they left her completely alone. She struggled answering the phone and making appointments (unsure if she did them ri...

Went to the theater to see The Hobbit cause a friend saw it the other day so knew it was still in the theaters (couldn't go during the Christmas season). I was an hour late for the last matinee so looked for something else to inspire me. It is my resolution to finish my damn novel (few chapters more and I'm done) and badly need a movie to turn the gears of my imagination. It always works. I saw Les Miserables opening Christmas day was still playing so check the times. Movie was starting in a minute. I saw the play in Chicago during a high school chorus trip and how could any teen forget the night in the balcony looking for Oprah, who friends saw by the stage. I can't recall if I saw here, but I look at 200 faraway faces trying to find her. Bought my ticket, hot dog, popcorn, and pop. I should not have bought food. Hour in and had to pee, but I didn't want to miss anything. This was good. I was surprised at the lack of opening credits, or maybe my brain just missed the...

A friend wrote 38 facts about herself in honor of her birthday. My birthday was last September turning 37, so I give 37 things about me. 1 Angelina Jolie and Drew Barrymore were born the same year I was. 2 My favorite flavor is butterscotch. 3 My celebrity crush is Brad Pitt. 4 I was almost kidnapped twice, age 5 at a mall and age 11 in my backyard. 5 I like to sing to myself whether people or cats want to listen to it. 6 I have 2 cats and 11 fish. 7 I wanted a dog since I was a kid and held my aunts' dogs close to my heart. 8 I have had asthma since junior high. 9 I love ballet and skateboarding more than anything, and gave both up when I went to college. 10 I have a Bachelors of Science degree in Liberal Studies with a History Major. 11 My childhood hero is Madonna because she never apologized for being herself. 12 I met Nikki Sixx of Motley Crue when I hit him with a door when leaving a gift shop (my friend Ryan nearly fainted when I presented his autograph on a post...

Happy New Year Everybody. My resolution this year is try to make more money. Wait, I've been doing that for 2 years since I lost my good job. Ok, new resolution will be to blog more often so I don't forget things when working on my end of the year Christmas letter. This blog comes in handy. Friends and family are amazed how detailed my letter is and how I remember ALL this stuff. I don't remember it all, I write it down as I go along. Start tax preparation this month for a good company. My work friends went here so I never knew there were other companies that did taxes for people. My training ends this week and then wait for the offices to open. They can't open until IRS says they can. Got business cards ordered and tax preparer number. I'm ready. Return week at my retail store has killed my back from bending over for sacks so much. A week after Christmas and crowds never waned. Lots of clearance shoppers. And yes, I love clearance shoppers cause we got to make ...