Sometimes my athleticism surprises me...

So…

I started a production job on Monday, which requires me to be in the office all day; something that I am no longer used to.  But the financial roller coaster that I've been on this year (with multiple plunges into the abyss) necessitates my taking the job, AND, as production gigs go, this isn't a bad one.

But as soon as I said "yes" to the production job, the heavens opened up and rained down auditions, callbacks, pins, and a booking.

So, this is how my week has gone:

Get up early, go to the office.  Leave the office, go to theatrical audition, table read, fitting (take your pick), go back to office for a couple of hours, create some spreadsheets, answer some questions, leave the office, drive to commercial audition #1, back to office, answer some emails from my car, sit at desk, create more spreadsheets, answer more questions, leave the office, go to commercial audition #2, go back to the office if commercial audition #2 wasn't in Santa Monica.  If it was in Santa Monica, I am now in rush-hour traffic and it will take me anywhere from an hour-and-a-half to two hours to get back to the office, and the office will be closed by that time, so I just head home... which is 5 mins from the office, so my travel time will be the aforementioned 90-120 minutes.

And I've probably only had coffee and an apple.

It has been like that all. week.

All the while I'm panicked that I'm going to forget something:  my laptop, my lines, appropriate wardrobe for whichever audition I'm going to.  The other day I thought I had forgotten my driver's license, and freaked out that I wouldn't be able to get onto the Warner Bros. lot for my table read.  I did find it at the bottom of my purse.  Crisis averted.

I don't want to short-change anyone: production employer/ co-workers, casting directors, my reps, MYSELF…

And when I get home at night, I mostly just want to sit on the floor and stare at the wall until bedtime.  Sometimes I do.  For a bit, anyway.  Then I pull myself together, get my things together for the next day, make sure I have gasoline in my car, that I've confirmed all auditions, notified the appropriate people of my limited availability, and learn. my. scenes.  Even as I type this, I'm sitting at my desk with my iPod playing recorded lines into my right ear.

As "challenges" go, this is, I recognize, a good set of challenges to have.  But it is challenging, nonetheless.  And a delicate balance act.

Just call me a one-woman Cirque du Soleil.

Mostly, I just prepare as much as I can, then focus only on the hurdle directly in front of me.  Anything else becomes overwhelming.

--Nicole