January 2008 – Happy New Year

 

This month is dedicated to our off-season. As I mentioned before there was a chance that finances might be a little tight over the holidays. Boy was I right! This is month's journal and pictures are dedicated to January's happenings.

Since we had to make ends meet and get the bills paid, we both picked up jobs over the winter break. Well, Sharon did at least. She went to work two days after returning from North Carolina. I went on to Louisiana for 3 more weeks. After returning from Louisiana I kinda floundered around the house trying to get unpacked and get our new bathroom finished.

Sharon has a friend at Albertson's that manages the deli. He told her if she ever needed a job he'd hook her up. All she needed was to fill out an application and he'd do the rest. It's not a glamorous job but the perks are kinda cool. She gets 5% off all our groceries. (10% of Albertson's brands) and whenever there's a good sale, she's the first to know. Not to mention all the soon to expire (not really) deli products she gets for a song. So, I call her the lunch lady when she puts on her work uniform. It doesn't really thrill her but it makes me giggle.

 

Lunch Lady Sharon

Sharon at Albertson's Deli

Come January, I really needed to pitch in a little more so I got a job with my friend Jay who has a company called Decorating Elves. They do custom Christmas lighting displays for homes all over the Tampa Bay area. It's fairly cool and very lucrative. I helped break down a bunch of the displays. It was fairly hard work and 5 days a week. Not something I'm used to. I haven't had to punch the clockper se for quite a few years now.

 

Pulling the company trailer

Decorating Elf Jef

40's Paparazzi Interview

40's Paparazzi Jef

In addition to the Decorating Elves job, I also did somefreelance work for the Wise Guys. They do all kinds of convention entertainment in the form of different interactive characters. I've worked for them before and probably mentioned it in previous journals. It's fun because it gives me a chance to stretch my acting wings beyond the Twins. It's also timely because I really needed the money.

The two gigs I did for them turned out to be 40's paparazzi. One was for Disney in Orlando and the other was at the Don CeSar Resort on St. Pete Beach. Basically we acted like photographer/journalists trying to get pictures and quotes from the attendees at the convention making them feel like celebrities. Very fun for all.

Of course it wasn't all work. We managed to get out of the house a few times. Sharon also started the Hoggtowne Renaissance Faire in Gainesville. It's the start of her season. After helping her set up, I drove on to Atlanta to meet with the owners about some new business opportunities for this season. We'll see how it goes.

 

Ahhhh... Hooter's girls

Come on - a guy's gotta eat!

I think this speaks for itself

Other than that, the month went on without much excitement. Ronn and Heather STILL haven't had their baby! And by the way... the jager bottle on the ATM isn't mine. It was there when I showed up. I SWEAR! Next up... the long drive to Phoenix.