Last week

How fast time flies when you are reading a blog and how slow does it crawl when you are actually working on the job!

It's been a really easy job to the point of comatose. I turned down at least 2 offers of work a day it's so busy out there but I promised to stick it out and I have. The job is extending 2 more weeks but I told them that the original contract said what it said and I have to go.

I am supposed to jump on to a tv show that is shooting back to back seasons which means steady work for a year if I am so inclined. The money is great and the only drawback is that the Gaffer is supposed to be an a*hole. I am planning to use them as a back up - that is go back to them whenever I don't have other work on the table.

My plan is to do as many commercials this year as possible. They pay the most in this business but usually only last a day or 2. Therefore, to be a commercial person means gaps in the week which sometimes you have to consider a longer feature or tv show might make you more in the long run. Ideally, of course, 5 days commercials (or enough contacts that you are working on commercials back to back) is the solution and would maximise my income. But the amount of contacts and dedication you would have to put it would mark a career path I'm not sure I want.

After all I didn't get into this business to sell cereal!

It is the advantage of this business though, that I can jump in and out of various projects on a month or year to year basis and based on my plans for the house this year, I really need to concentrate on money versus the project.

I have a 10 day commercial at the end of May and then I have been careful not to commit to anything low budget. The way I see it, if the tv show is my back up then I am guaranteed a x amount of money a week no matter what. All I have to do is put up with an a*hole telling me what to do all day! Which I think I can deal with, after all when I started in this business that's all I had telling me what to do!

I am also working the next 2 weekends, mostly because the husband is leaving town for a week or 2 and because I have to build new contacts. Prior to this, Mike and I had an unspoken deal where I never worked weekends. It's bad enough that I am not there for many engagements because of work, I felt that if I invaded our weekend time then it would really be too much. As our hours are so long, it's impossible for me to attend anything planned at night, especially on Fridays so the weekend was sacred. With him travelling more and with a tv show (tv shows are famous for their 'fraturdays' which is shooting till Saturday early mornings) my Fridays are toast and my Saturdays are impinged cos I would have to basically sleep all day) - I would say the weekend is slowly becoming nonexistent.

But he understands and this is never a permanent thing. One year is all and after that, more than enough cash to do up the new house and we can go back down to the level of income we were at which was always more than sufficient for our lifestyle. Having a new house changes things and I am blessed to be able to size up or down in my work and having the contacts to do so is also definitely something I am grateful. Although it is busy out there, so many people are locked into the career path of movies, tv, commercials or whatever without the ability or contacts to switch around.