Georgia…Movie Nights…Mother’s Day and MY BIRTHDAY!

Six days late, six days late, six days late!!!

It is Sunday Morning June first... and I am Just STARTING my May journal; Sorry!

I always say "I've been busy" but CRIKEYS! I've been really, really, busy.

Let me see if I can sum-up:

• Took a photo trip to Kansas City for Scarlett's first shoot
• Continued the long hot slog of the Georgia Renaissance festival
• Had our first "Mother's Day"
• Celebrated my 43^rd! birthday surrounded by friends and loved ones
• Did some continuing constructions and repairs on the booth
• Hosted a series of movie nights...
• Trained our third B-team guy
• Preparations for Bonnaroo

Fruits of our KC trip

Parenthood, (1989) One of my favorite films is showing on the television, I have my full Tortuga costume on, not just because it is 64 minutes until my first show, but because my dear friend from the old days (and current Au Pair) Holly is sitting on the couch behind me. It would just be rude, though not unprecedented for me to be typing in the nude with company over.

Georgia is almost done... and the next few weeks are going to be especially hectic. I am sooo looking forward to Colorado, and having a little time off; but as I look over my calendar, I see there would be no rest for the Tortuga Wicked... Sheesh!

Since I last wrote you crazy kids... We had our first successful movie night. Close Encounters, as I reported earlier... what fun, Jef's projector, his 40^th b-day gift from the Tortuga and my old surround sound system... our back porch at the drum booth, a new white sheet, 14 chairs... and food. Simple, fun, giggly!

The following weekend in fact, even though The Bauman Clan was away, we still had movie night on the deck, hosted by the Halls. I'm told it was Purple Rain and Better Off Dead; I've also heard there was much singing, shouting out movie lines, and an impromptu pole dance!

Our clan was in Kansas City... we left late Monday, stayed over in a cheapo hotel, and arrived Tuesday. We did some photo shoots, as always with the amazing Ann Brown (you should all contact her and get your own photos shot too!) We introduced the baby around to Heather's people, had THE BEST BARBECUE with Heather's dad... Watched Ann's two boxers, (so ugly that they've become cute) romp around the house.

I mostly played lots of HALO 2 with Bob "Bad-Ass" Brown... Ann's super-cool hubby. It was both really amusing and tragically cliché, while the girls were doing girl-stuff... and shooting photos we were in the man-cave drinking, and playing video games.

Good times!

Another long drive back to Atlanta, with a hotel stop in Metropolis, Kentucky (see the Giant Superman Statue!) and back to work.

This year the Georgia Renaissance Festival has been a little trying... Our old stage was usurped by a Lipizzaner Stallion show. And our remote location, lack of shade and the beastly weather has conspired against us as far as our crowd size, and tips.

The drums have been doing alright, but not really stellar... and with all the added stress of our newest venture... The weather has affected those of us who are also booth owners too - with attendance down and people shook-up over $4.00 dollar gasoline, it's a little harder to sell anyone a $400 dollar drum.

But we keep moving farther, keep going forward.

The first Sunday back was a very special day for us too... Heather's mom, like my dad was no prize. We both got left when we were five... so Father's Day has never been a big deal for me, and until this time Mother's Day was always a bummer for the wife.

 

More fun at the KC photo shoot

Mother's day bouquets and buds

Mother's day, The Bauman's first date night, NO BABY!

The whole world seemed to help Heather celebrate her first Mommy's day... Uncle Muggsy bought her a bouquet, the campground director did also, flowers came from frickin' everywhere... (Yes, I got her one of the bouquets too) guess which one. Scarlett and I also surprised her with no fewer than four cards... the first ones were delivered at 12:01 AM on Sunday Morning... I got her some pretty great gifts, including a pampering "Spa Day" with a dear friend... and the following day, took her to a really swell dinner at a nice romantic restaurant... Thanks for babysitting Holly for our first date night since Scarlett was born.

Two days later it was my turn.

I have been celebrating my birthday at the Georgia Renaissance festival for seven years (!!!!) now, I've had all kinds of crazy adventures, parties, Brou-ha-ha's made for me... even a night in jail, but this may well have been my favorite.

It was low-key, Sushi at Rusan's, dear friends, and partners, family, pirates, pretty ladies, some cool loot, including the most incredible universal remote ever... programmable, so if there is a button or a function that you need, and there's no key for it you can create one on the touch screen. Ain't technology GRAND!

 

Ronn's Birthday - Three Men and a Baby

My birthday - Hot babes!

Karate baby

Scarlett enjoyed Daddy's night too, was a pleasure to have around, and even gave us impromptu Karate demonstrations.

Again, no rest for the wicked... the next day in preparation for (yet another) movie night, I had to do some more booth construction to replace a rotten floorboard... The movie was great, well attended and fun yet again. I cannot remember what other movies we showed, but I think they were:Ghostbusters (with green-slime Jell-O shooters, hot dogs, and Twinkies being the themed food); Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure, no specific theme, Footloose, and Princess Bride. We've enjoyed this so much we're gonna continue the trend at our next couple of fairs!

 

More construction

Movie night

As I've said things have been hectic; for those who haven't been following along, Heather and I also run a drum retailing business at four (now) different renaissance festivals. In fact, since we (once again) have the summer with no Tortuga work, and Heather got a really swell offer in Colorado, we're taking the family there for the summer to do that show. I won't be on stage... I joke that I'll be living off my wife (YAY!), I'm really living the dream, she's hot, sexy, smart, funny, is paying the bills this summer... and doesn't even complain when I leave the toilet seat up.

So since we are going to be in Colorado anyway, I'm supposedly the manager of the drum business there... or the owner, really. This way the Festival management is happy, and I won't ever really be in the booth, I have much more competent people in there.

Really my job is going to be to watch my daughter, read some books and stay out of everyone's way! (And I don't have to wear a yellow shirt even!!!)

But apparently that isn't enough stress in my life, so:

There's a huge music festival that takes place on a farm in the Tennessee Mountains. Bonnaroo! A huge Woodstock-like event, 4 days, eighty-thousand unwashed kids with trust funds, and some of the most amazing comedy, and music in the world.

My partners in the drumming biz have wanted to sell there for YEARS... so I got us in.

Eighty THOUSAND kids with dred-locks and trust funds... ('Trustafarians', they're called)... and we sell drums.

So here's our schedule:

We are now finished with the GA fair... between now, and Thursday we'll pack a trailer to send to Colorado, clean up and secure the booth, pack a second trailer to bring with us to Bonnaroo... Thursday we're required to leave here... so we'll go to a nearby campground in Stone Mountain... we stayed just down the street from this state-park and tourist attraction last year... and never made it.

We'll stay in Stone Mountain for the weekend, and Monday come BACK to the site to load that second trailer.

We'll depart Monday night, and Tuesday AM we'll see us at the Bonnaroo site.

We'll set up Tuesday, and Wednesday... and Thursday they open the festival site.

For four days, and 24 hours each day we'll be selling drums (and whatnot) as best we can... Monday morning will see us heading out to Colorado.

We'll either be MUCH richer, or MUCH poorer.

Then we'll trek across to Colorado for their second weekend.

Well we're coming to the end of a rather short journal entry... what's left to tell you?

I'm asked all the time how the wife and the baby are doing... the answer: AWESOME.

 

 

I can kick teddy's ass!

Stylin'

My baby is funny, cute clever tough... she can kick a teddy-bear's ass. We're enjoying our baby-centric life together, we three, but she has definitely put a crimp in my style.

And that's all I have to say about that... I'm gonna leave you now, finally (at 8:50 pm) finish my late journal with just a couple of comics from Married to the Sea, and one from Hello Cthulhu:

 

"Getting Baby to Sleep" - "Baby Walker" - "Holiday Gift of Irrational Hatred"I hope your life is as exciting as mine, but not as stressful.

In the next journal we'll talk about Dakota's birthday, Drum Dinner, Souvenir diner, another construction project, Bonnaroo and Colorado.

Ciao!