Balls. Sweaty Balls.

MONDAY—

I get up around 9am and check email and start counting down the minutes until my first unemployment call in period. Scott and Kelly come back from his checkup and he got shots. Awww. It all comes down to this moment. I also scan some pages into the computer and finish scanning the first 42 pages of OUTCAST and toning them. Finally at noon, I call and have to call back repeatedly to get through. Finally I do and do the touchtone report. But I end up with no knowledge of what is happening or how much I was actually getting. I call a help line which puts me on hold about forty times before they finally tell me that I am not eligible for unemployment for another 2-4 weeks likely. My heart sinks. The golden arches of McHell tap on my shoulder and say in my ear: “You’re mine again, bitch!” But the wife has a better idea.

A phone call later, I am driving her to her Walgreens to apply online. I fill out the application and call back. I report to the other Walgreens and meet my new bosses. I get handed my drug test paperwork and go to the doctor to pee in a cup. After I drop off my sample, the wife and I score some fast food and I drop her back off for work. I head home and play with Scott. I feed him and he passes out. I then place all 42 pages onto the quark templates I made for Outcast and then doodle a bit while checking the internet and listening to podcasts. I call my parents and tell them the good news about scoring a job.

After I check with the wife to make sure its okay, I go ahead and buy my plane ticket for San Diego Comic Con on Travelocity. I call Brian, excitedly telling him that I got my ticket and was 100% locked to go! He’s happy and we chat for a bit. I post blogs and work on placing templates until all are placed. The wife comes home and I am exhausted, so I opt to head to bed with her for once. She puts in Scooby Doo and I turn over, passing out as soon as my head hits the pillow.

TUESDAY—

I get up around 9am and the Scott Bot is in full “FEED ME” mode. I change and feed him and check email. Then I curl up next to him on the floor and catch a couple more hours of sleep. The wife gets up and heads to work while I sleep. I get up and I post a blog and watch the rest of the ED WOOD documentary I hadn’t finished yet and THE OFFICE Season 4 extras. My new boss calls me to say that I passed the drug test and can start Wednesday at 11pm. Then I listen to podcasts for the rest of the day on my pod. Scott is extremely moody, possibly due to the shots from yesterday so he’s constantly whining and crying. I feed him and cuddle him but really it does nothing to help. The only time he is happy is when I am bouncing him. So as a result of that, I don’t get much work done at all during the night.

However, I do manage to clean up the house a bit and check on the status of the printing on Pleasant Life and my Sketchbook from comixpress, which is still in transit. I pop in some STAR TREK TNG and watch while ordering Papa Johns for one last “fatty” meal before re-going on my diet in an effort to drop weight for work and San Diego. The bot passes out around 10:30 and Kelly comes home and puts him to bed. I check email and join the BREAKING THE PANEL podcast at 11. After the show, we all hang out on the phone till 4am, when the talkshoe kicks us off. I get a lot of good advice and examples about coloring digitally. While re-working a piece I decide that I need a one on one tutorial, as I work better mostly that way. But I am still determined to work on my palate. After 4am, we hang up and I crawl into bed, passing out cold.

WEDNESDAY---

The Scott-Bot wakes me up at 6:30am, and the wife is at work already! So I get up and feed him and he passes back out, THANK GOD! I go back to sleep and wake up around noon. I get scared when I wake up before Scott so I run to his room to find he’s still sound asleep. I get up and check email and take a post-pizza, stomach hurting poo (when will I ever learn!) and I swear off pizza forever. (yeah right) I hear Scott rustling around in his crib so I get him up, change and feed him. He lays watching Tom & Jerry while I finish on the net and update blogs. I call the wife to confirm that we are getting grocieries after she gets home. I piddle around the house until she does come home.

She gets home and I go get groceries for the week. Kelly feeds bots and peels potatoes. I make dumplings and mashed potatoes and we eat hearty. I get a new commission over email and I start sketching it out for the customer. We also get a letter from Unemployment that reveals that we’ll get more in money than we thought we would get. So after a bit of a gut laugh, we decide that with the extra funds, we’ll catch up on our debt. I then decide to pass out for a night nap to regulate my sleep for starting work tonight.

I wake up around 9:20 and call back Mark and Brian while checking email and eating some left over dumplings. I get ready around 10:30 and head to my new job. I work and meet the new people and the night goes quite smoothly. By the end of my shift, my feet are sore as hell, and my back is aching. Not used to that much walking and lifting! But good, cause I’ll get in shape goddammit!

I get home around 7:20 and check email, update blogs and toss out some messages to some friends. After debating whether or not to sleep, I opt to hit the hay. I pass out around 8:30am.

THURSDAY—

I get up around noon and the wife and bots are up and having fun. The wife heads to get us some lunch and I sit and check email. I start minor sketches on a commission when she comes back with the food and we chow. Bots passes out and so do I from 5pm-10:15pm.

I get back up and get ready for work, my head groggy as hell. I head in and work my shift, still extremely sore from the previous day. (my body is severely out of shape and I’m using muscles I rarely use!) We do a lot of lifting and I sorta hurt my back and my knee and try to keep up as much as I can. Really, I feel like I’m too slow and in the way. During my break I work on the pencils for the commission in the breakroom. I really shoulda focused on relaxing and maybe rubbing out my feet and calves, cause after that, I am barely walking well. Very slow moving and sore. In the end, I work my shift and come home in severe pain. I limp into the door, take some Back-aid pills, the wife rubs my back and I lay on a massage mat for a while. The massage mat does no good, so I try to sleep. I pass out around 8am, absolutely exhausted and slightly deflated.

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