If you want to destroy my sweater

My 12 yr old son is really into music these days.
He's made a mix CD of rock songs to play in my car.




And I usually enjoy most of his music.
Not all, but most.

Some of it is stuff I listened to in high school, like Aerosmith, Guns & Roses, AC/DC.

Good stuff.

Sometimes, even after I drop him off at school around 7:15am,
and I'm driving to work...his songs stay in my head.
And make me think.

"If you want to destroy my sweater,
hold this thread while I walk away."

Wise Words from Weezer.

I get it.

I can't always see my sweater, but it's there.
Brightly colored and bizarre...

and it's been unraveling.

I'm trying to learn how to sew.

Punky Rhea

Name: Rhea (pronounced "ray-ah")

Age: 32

Occasion: 80's Day at work

Result: Punky Rhea

I'm a Hope Dealer

Wow.
Everyone seems to think I'm in the porno industry.

I'm not.

Those were some great guesses though.



I work for the coolest company ever.
It's a credit restoration company.




I know credit repair has a bad rap...
because there are so many companies out there who promise things they shouldn't
and prey on people who really need help.

My company really does help people.
We work to educate people on credit, so they won't make the same mistakes.
We don't charge an arm and a leg either...
because hello, people who need credit repair don't have lots of spare money.

We love hearing from clients who have been able to purchase a home,
because we helped raise their credit score 150 points.



Our goal IS to provide hope to people.
To teach them.
To protect them about their rights.

To do a little good in our corner of the world.

Have you ever looked at your credit report?
Have you ever used a credit repair company?

By the way, I write the blog on my company's website.
hehe
Figures, right?!

Riddle me this

I love my job.
But I've never fully shared what it is I do.

Can you guess?

Here are some hints:

I work in an industry that doesn't have a the best reputation. (gasp!)
I work for a company that focuses on integrity and excellent customer service.

I'm a hope dealer.

He's got my nervous system

Both my boys started new schools yesterday.

And I found out my older son has my nervous system.

I can't say more without embarrassing him...

But...


I spend all my time in the bathroom when I'm nervous too.



(By the way, the first day went well for both boys)

Seriously Pathetic Side Effects of Divorce

My boys are really into Legos.






But when we downsized
and moved out of our home and in with my mom and stepfather...
well, we just didn't have room for much.

We had to get rid of a LOT of stuff.
We sold furniture on Craig's List.
Gave lots away...

And moved into two bedrooms at my mom's.

And the Lego table and boxes of Legos...they went to my grandmother's house.




Tonight...tonight we went to dinner at my grandmothers...and snuck some Legos back.

Shhh!! Don't tell!

This is what I've been reduced to.
Sneaking Legos.

What has my life come to?!!

What's next?
I might be sneaking in gallons of ice cream or dirty romance novels...

Have you had to sneak anything past your family recently?

and, yes, my mom reads this blog, so I'm totally busted.
Sorry, Mom.

Hyperactive Galaxies

Every now and then, I hear or read something that boggles my mind.

Looking almost 11 billion years into the past, astronomers have measured the motions of stars for the first time in a very distant galaxy and clocked speeds upwards of one million miles per hour, about twice the speed of our Sun through the Milky Way.
A hyperactive galaxy.



Has anyone seen that new show, Defying Gravity?




In the near future, eight astronauts from five countries (four women and four men) undertake a mysterious six-year international space mission covering thirteen billion kilometres. With the eyes of the world upon them - everything they do is monitored, and every emotion they feel, scrutinized - they soon discover that their real assignment is not at all what they thought.

I LOVE it!!

Any new shows you're excited about?
Are you into space like I am?!

Creepy Commercials

I hope Old Navy's not going out of business...
because they don't seem to be hiring real actors or models for their commercials anymore.


I know you know what I'm talking about.

These commercials are starting to drive me nuts.
Because they show them over and over again.
(and I love Old Navy!)


I rarely watch commercials these days,
due to the wonderful invention of the DVR.


I truly enjoy a well thought out, creative commercial though.
Like the Toyota Prius Harmony commercial.



I loved the commercial Kat shared with us for Orangina.
That was scary creative...and French.



Are there any out there that you enjoy or that are driving you nuts?

Where are 12 yr olds when you need them?!

I was at work today, staring at the computer screen, trying to ignore the chime of more and more email pouring in my inbox, avoiding looking at the stack of papers piling higher on my desk like the Leaning Tower of Pisa...and I suddenly felt the strong urge to pull a prank.

Have you watched The Office?

Seriously the most hilarious show I've seen in a long time.
Jim is always making jello with Dwight's stapler inside.
Or hiding someone's cell phone and calling it nonstop...and so on.






I don't know many prank ideas.

My sons have pranked my computer before...by taping a small piece of paper to the bottom of my mouse, which breaks the signal and makes your mouse not work...

I need some good (but not too mean or awful) office prank ideas.

Help!

Where's my 12 yr old when I need him?!

Stinky Whale Breath & Cookie-Smelling Trees

Lately I can feel that little spark coming to life again inside of me.
This summer...wait, no...these last few years...but mainly this summer, has been really tough.

And I think I've withdrawn.
And pulled away.
And lost energy for extra things...like blogging and writing and photography and friends.

But this week...I've been feeling that spark flare up just a little bit now and then.
It kind of tickles.
Makes me remember there's something inside...something that inspires me and makes me want more.
It flares a little, and I find I need to sit down and write.

So, here I am. Trying to kindle that spark, turn it into a tall flame, so that I can burn towards my full potential.

I saw the movie Julie and Julia this weekend with my mother, my grandmother, and a friend of ny mom's.
It was a great movie!

It made me want to cook, it made me want to eat, and more than anything, it made me hungry to find my place in the world.
To find that lifeline I can grab onto to pull myself out of the downing ocean.
It's a great movie.

And I listened to stories about a woman trying to catch the horned whales, the Narwhals, on National Public Radio.
And how as she struggles with the whale to put on the tracking device, she is blasted with whale breath.
And that sounds disgusting and amazing all at the same time.

I also heard a story about Ponderosa trees in Arizona that can be hit by lightening and not burn. And they smell like cookies baking.
And it reminds me how much nature amazes me.

Wikipedia says, "The bark of the Ponderosa Pine has a smell similar to vanilla.Some describe it as the smell of a "cookie".^[1] The Ponderosa Pine has a very distinct bark. Unlike most conifers, it has an orange bark, with black lining the crevasses, where the bark "splits"."

Have you heard any good stories lately
involving nature or something amazing?

Do you have a spark inside of you?

I've missed the blogging world.

A New Direction.

I've left my comfort zone.

I'm headed down a new path.

I grieve the loss, but I'm ready for the new.
This adventure is my decision.

Proof Aliens Exist

That blue looking fruit is a peeled version of the one on it's left.

What is it?
Alien fruit?
monster eyeball?

I'm baffled.