The beginning

Put on your time machine thinking caps and transport yourself back almost two months, to March 1, 2008.

I know it's a stretch, but give it a shot. Make sure your antenna is pointed in the right direction. I don't know enough about the curvature of time and space to really get technical, but that's why we have those companies that make cereal toy time machines.

I recently moved down to Florida, in February of 2008, from my home of Brooklyn, NY.

I have no accent. Let's get that out of the way right now.

My mom, my sister and I have been working steadily since 1999 at my mom's soap business, First In Line Soap (link). She's been selling wholesale for a long time and ending a marriage, she moved to Tampa, which is about as far away from Pennsylvania (and still on the East Coast) as she could move.

My sister had moved down here first, to be near friends, and for the warm weather. My mom followed.

It was shortly after, that they opened Soapier (link, a retail store in the tourist attraction that is Tarpon Springs, Florida. Look it up.

Decent space, small town, we had our own parking lot... some pretty good ingredients to not only have a store, but also a production facility to make our products. My sister and I invested money into the company and did our jobs. My sister works production (makes soap) and I do the graphics for brochures, flyers, websites, etc.

Well, in March of 2007, the graphic design market in NY took a sharp turn downward. Possibly just for me, but I doubt it. And I didn't work for close to a year. Not work steadily, anyway. And freelance sucks.

So, the planets, god, a palm reader or two, the aurora borealis and anything else that affects the destinies of us all, they put it pretty clearly in my mind that I was supposed to move down to Florida, to help out with the family business.

And they all owe me apologies.

I'm in Florida, away from my friends, from my girl, from everything I enjoy, since February. And I'm trying to make it work.

So... that's the beginning. In my next journal entry, I will detail all of the things that made us open a second store, go on anti-depressants, watch the country eat itself, and try and stay afloat.

The second entry should be fun.

J