Spend yesterday and the day before simply relaxing, visiting people and letting my allergies consume me.

We had a bunch of friends at the park yesterday, just chilling out and having fun. The group seemed to be separated somewhat by the chair people and the chair-less people, though I really didn't think about it till today. It was just a matter of chance, I suppose. But the fireworks was pretty good, some huge ones in the sky. I had to fight with myself not to videotape it, though I don't think I could've because I was busy sneezing most of the time.

We saw a lot of little toddlers and babies there, and there was one little girl who cracked everyone up when she ran, because her whole body would vibrate when she ran in her little steps. It just looked adorable when this little yellow jacket with a little hood would shudder herself all over the place with her glow stick.

The day before we were visiting my wife's Dad in Fort Worden, and that was fun although wearing shorts was not the wisest choice. Summer, you would think. We went around the old forts, which were built to guard our coasts during the first and second world war, but is virtually useless now because of modern warfare. Or something like that. My wife and I had fun freaking each other out with the tunnels, which were so pitch black that I would be holding my wife's hand, but when I turned around I couldn't see her at all. I had to use my digital camera to take a picture, and with the 1 second flash, it would give me enough courage to take a few steps before I had to take another picture to find my way. A lot of pictures of tunnels.

Today I was supposed to go into work, but I'm taking the day off because I'll be working the next four days in a roll to compensate for the time I'll be in Baltimore. Then when I return from Baltimore, I'll be spending the following four days working. I long for a normal schedule.

Archived my blog onto PDF and text format. PDF file was originally 119 pages long but I shrunk it down to 61. Yikes. Don't quite know how to include comments yet.

I was reading the DV forums and unexpectedly, I think I've made a decision about the whole videography/auditor job thing. Reading about music copyrights, releases, advertising, money earned, equipment, and all that made me realize that I might be squandering my self-proclaimed talent on technical stuff and business management, things that I know I'm not great at. Sounds like a lot of people struggle constantly to stay above water.

So I think I'll stick with Freddy's, and do the auditing jobs. This way when I come home, I can play with Alex.

But after I get all the weddings done and edited, I will definitely embark on a movie project. Trenchcoat can even hold me to that.

Tomorrow we're going to see my father-in-law at Fort Worden. I should get to bed being how we're leaving at nine.

Sleep is overrated. Fatigue is King!

A quick word about how much I'm starting to hate blogger for it's failure to incorporate comments with their website. The one I'm using now likes to fritz out of me, and it works now, but doesn't count. Argh. I'm going to bed.

All quiet on the internet front.

All the usual suspects are either in transit or just don't check the blog, but that's okay. Sniff.

My wife and I are in the process of trying to decide what I should do with my career. In about two months, I will have to decide if I want to do videography as a full time position, or stay at Freddys and be the auditor. There's one thing to say about freedom from Freddys, but my position is pretty much a guaranteed one. Unless I'm doing a bad job, my job is necessary for the store, so the likelihood of me being let go is relatively slim. People can stop wanting weddings.

Here are the pros and cons.

Videography means that I can spend more time at home, and probably more time with Alex. I will also be able to see my wife more, and not have to worry about not having enough time with family. I will have the freedom to work at home, time to edit, and do a lot of camera and editing work, which is ultimately helpful to my career. I can sleep in as well. However, the paycheck will not be steady, and not guaranteed. Editing on that scale could make me dread the editing process, although I will undoubtedly get better at it. I will have to go pursue jobs, advertise, and spend a lot of my own money to make money. I will likely be able to work on films as well.

Freddys is a guaranteed paycheck, paid vacation, some sort of health benefits, and I don't take my work home with me. It's pretty predictable, which is good for my social life because I will be able to relax without worrying that I have editing to do. It's a little mundane, but I will have open time to spend with Alex and not worry about editing whatsoever. However, Freddy's does mean that I will see my wife less, Alex a little less, and will be seeing JL more and dealing mostly with her being a teenager. That sounds like all kinds of scary. I might not be able to do movies on the weekdays, but weekends may be a possibility.

And no, I can't do both. I do it now, and I'm disgusted with casual things that I should be enjoying, like listening to "Mr. Sandman" and typing in the blog.

I did a 60th wedding anniversary yesterday, and they wanted music from the 1940s. Thus, Mr. Sandman.

Yeah, the 60th anniversary was cool.

For some real updates:

Usually, I announce big events on the blog about the baby, but it seems like the big events are happening to all my friends.

Yesterday, Trenchcoat, Dansen, and I took Brendon up to Vancouver for his bachelor party, which included some damn fine food at a noodle place in Chinatown, followed by the traditional fleecing of innocence and the cruelty of bringing him to Cecil's, which is a strip club in Canada and continues to hold its reputation for being an establishment with fine women. However, being how I was working since 6 that morning and by the end of the night, had been up for 20 hours, I spent like a log when I hit the bed at 2am -- until 6 am when I woke up sneezing. I couldn't go back to sleep till 8am, and didn't get up until noon. Milled around for 2 more hours, pretended to edit, and then slept for a few more hours. Very productive day indeed. But the bachelor party was kinda nice, Brendon had the biggest smile on his face, and we got to hang out with Dansen the last day he was going to be in Bellingham. It would be months or even a year before we even see him again, because he's heading off to Japan.

So Brendon and Maralise are getting married pretty soon, about 2 more weeks left. And Dansen is leaving for Japan on Tuesday. Trenchcoat is having family come up on the fourth, and we'll be hanging out with them as well.

Today, my allergies have been rampant, simply running me to the ground. Hopefully tomorrow I won't be sniffling and sneezing through my client's anniversary party. So after tomorrow afternoon, I will have 3 weddings and an anniversary to finish. Life is good.