Well, hello there!
Fell off the face of the earth for a bit, but I’m back, and ready to REST! Oh god.
As you may have read in my last entry, I had made the oh so wise choice of volunteering to work for an entire month straight with my company.  Since we’re heavily into our competition season, I decided to cash in and pay off my credit card debt by working these events ONCE AND FOR ALL.  It was a brutal month.  630am, 13-hour shifts on weekends will do crazy things to your mind, body and soul.  I learned a LOT about myself and about my work ethics/professionalism, and its funny— I came to realize how solid I am at my job and how knowledgeable I am about the company and our events, so much that I am starting to look into Event Directing sometime in the near future.  Its exciting! Its probably the coolest thing I’ve set myself up for in a long time, and so I’m hoping that my hard work keeps paying off the way it has in recent years.  I seriously can’t wait to see how this is going to unfold for me.
Anyway, so whether or not you’re interested in what exactly I’ve been working/doing, I immersed myself into two new things in the month(s) of January and February.
1. Announcing (professionally)- MUAHAHA.  Its funny how this actually came to be.  You see, my co-worker Celia always commented on how I’m able to use my voice to emulate people/races/customers/commercials, to the point where she suggested that I should become an announcer for our competitions.  I toyed with this idea in my head, and once I found out how much it pays during the season (A LOT), I pitched the idea to one of my directors, and it WORKED!  She put me to announce at all of our regional events down in So Cal for the month of February and I totally rocked it.  I seriously loved it.  Announcing the teams all day, getting the crowd workin’, free food, travel paid for, the days went by faster, I got to see all the performances, I didn’t have to wear the yucky khaki pants that go with a traditional support staff worker, and I made a ton of ca$h.  Getting up at 4am on the weekends to get ready for these events? So worth it. 
2. Safety Judging - Here’s another thing I never thought I’d do, but another one of my directors put me to the test, and I passed!  What is a Safety Judge?  A safety judge has to know all the rules to all of the divisions (in my case, I was a dance/song safety judge) and know what is allowed and what is not.  If I catch a team doing something that isn’t allowed, I have to issue a penalty—and THIS is something that can determine whether a team gets 1st, 2nd, 3rd place, and so on.  So its pretty much all about knowing your stuff, and watching awesome routines all day. And since I’ve started to develop a slight obsession with dance as of late, lets just say that entertainment in the form of a job is one of the things that I am most grateful for in my life. 

Other than that, my first weekend off (this past weekend) was spent cleaning my apartment, and making up time with Sunday and Albert.  Totally re-arranged some furniture, and we’re planning on buying just a few more things to add to our awesome apartment.  Things are really starting to come together.   I am also very near to clearing my debt—AHHHHHH!!! Didn’t think it would be possible so soon, but my sacrifices have really paid off and I couldn’t be prouder! The feeling of accomplishment is so rewarding; I wouldn’t trade that for the world. 

So that’s pretty much where I’m at right now.  Next up: get my re-conquer my social life!

And a Vegas trip is coming up in just a few weeks.  I’m pretty excited.

Adios!