"I missed Austin and Lizzie," I groan. I've spoken to Austin every day, but with the major time difference I've only spoken to Liz three times. She sounds like she's having fun, though. She met this girl from Los Angeles the other day and they were going hiking together.

"More importantly, Seth called from Vail. He needs to talk to you."

Seth is my agent and for him to be calling me from his first vacation in three years, it must be major. Everyone I know is away this week. Hollywood sort of shuts down in late December and Los Angeles becomes a ghost town. Nadine is visiting her family in Chicago; my publicist, Laney, jetted to Cabo with "Drew and Cameron"; and Liz and her dad, my entertainment lawyer, are island-hopping in Hawaii. With no one left to bug, Mom and Dad even let us leave town (especially after they found out the Beckhams cancelled their New Year's Eve party).

"Did he say what he wanted?" I ask.

"Now that vacation is over, he wants to set up a meeting to discuss your post-FA plans," Mom explains. "He says we have to move if you want a chance at a new show."

"Already?" I squeak. I promised to make decisions about my future after this break, but I didn't realize we'd be diving in so soon. "I can't believe we have to worry about a new job. I'll still be taping the show for another few months."

"Your decade-plus of regular paychecks is running out soon," Dad jokes. "Where do you think we're going to get the money for our next luxurious, private villa-style vacation if you don't find a new project for me to produce, Matty to star in, or Mom to manage you on?"

Mom and Matty laugh, but the joke feels like a punch in the stomach. I never thought about my FA career in that way before, but I guess Dad has an unsettling point. I've been this family's breadwinner for a long time and soon I'll be unemployed. What happens if I don't find the next Ugly Betty or a Harry Potter franchise to carry my family for a few years? Will I have to let Rodney go? Give up Nadine? Yikes. Now I'm getting depressed.

"We should probably set something up for next week," Mom is saying. "I want to find your next project and announce it as soon as possible." I nod.

"Okay then," Dad says as we reach the golf cart we've been using to get to and from the main resort. "Let's get back to the villa, wash up, and rendezvous back at the cart at seven PM for our last dinner in paradise." He smiles at me. "You better enjoy it, kiddo. I have a feeling the next few months are going to be a blur."

I smile weakly. I thought I'd have time to get used to all these changes, but I feel like I just stepped onto an express bus speeding toward the end of FA. I just hope when I make the final stop, I'm ready to get off.