Let me catch you up to speed here…

During the week of November 15th, Carl approached me with an offer to come work for him out in L.A. I accepted his offer on Sunday, November 21st. This means that I will be moving to L.A. on December 20th. We are starting up a new studio that will initially focus on video production, sound mixing, and editing.

I resigned from my IT day-job on Monday, November 22nd with my last day of work being Friday, December 17th. This is a huge life shift for me, as I’m leaving IT and moving into the career I’ve always wanted and I get to work with a friend I’ve known for almost 22 years. This will also give me the ability to grow Suncoast Studios a lot.

Of course, the hardest part is leaving Alex, Nel, and the kids, who are my family now. Walking away from them and some other close friends is very, very difficult, but I think that in the long run this is how I will find true happiness.

I’ve already purchased my one-way plane ticket and now need to secure a place to stay. I’m looking at renting a room in a house or guest house near the studio. This’ll be the quickest way to get out there and get settled. Since I’m selling the truck, I’ll get a bicycle and ride that to the studio for a little while (only a couple of miles away) and then will evaluate getting a car.

I also need to finish boxing a few things up that are in the storage unit here in Florida. I’ve decided to hire a freight mover, as they’ll be inexpensive. It doesn’t matter if it takes a week to get my stuff out there. I’ll check a large suitcase with me on the plane with clothes, toiletries, and a couple of minor things, and will also carry on my laptop. This should be enough to get me by for a few days until my stuff arrives out there.

Last Thursday was Thanksgiving and I spent the day at Alex and Nel’s. Arnold came up as well, and we had an early dinner as he had to leave by 6:00pm. I had a lot of fun playing with the kids and spending time with everyone. Nel asked me to stay over to help put Ryan’s new bed together to replace his crib on Friday – Alex had to work. So I did, and after we all went to breakfast Friday, we picked up a mattress and proceeded to go back to the house and assemble the bed. Ryan loved it immediately and Nel tells me he’s taken to it without problem. I hung out there until after dinner, then went home. I desperately need to spend more time there before I leave.

On Sunday, I headed down to Jeff and Lauren’s place and we hung out for the day. Jeff bought me a cool going-away present: a Dodger’s baseball cap with the letters “LA” embroidered on it. Very cool. We stopped at Cafe Epicure for lunch and happened to bump into Joe Quigley, who I haven’t seen in about four years. Afterward we took a final walk through downtown. We went past the old InterShow building, which is now called the “MoneyShow” building. We stopped by our favorite park bench – the one we always talked about sponsoring if Suncoast Studios ever made it big. We then walked down South Palm Ave, past the building that we thought would be cool to own as a studio, and then down Burns Court directly behind it. That street always looked like a backlot to us, and it was cool to see it one more time.

So, I’ve been busy with a lot of things pertaining to a HUGE announcement I’m going to make up here soon – probably in the next couple of days. So, I dropped the P90X for a little bit and have been spending time prepping for this announcement.

Tonight’s the last night I’m going to be at Arnold’s place. I’m moving out tomorrow into a small apartment to save money (oh, and he sold the house, so I gotta go anyway). So, I did some final packing and now am relaxing the rest of the night by catching up on a bunch of older podcasts. I’m going to watch Sherlock Season 1, Episode 1 and The Walking Dead Season 1, Episode 1. I bought them on iTunes earlier in the week and haven’t had time to watch them until now.

I spent Saturday at Vinoy Park in St. Pete eating a lot of BBQ at RibFest 2010. Got there around 10:00am or so and dove right in on the rib scene.

I’m eating a decent dinner of chicken tenders with a slice of pizza. Diet Coke. Why do you care? Well, you don’t. However, I’m telling you because it’s my last meal…

Tomorrow morning I get up an hour earlier and begin the P90X workout series. I’m committing to it to get in shape and feel better, and I’ll be eating better again. I’ve let myself go the last couple of months and gained too much weight. And to motivate myself, I’m gonna put it all out there… Well, uh, out here… UP here. We’ll start by weigh-ins and open up to full menus, etc. very soon.

Weight: 223.6 lbs.