As had been promised by other covid sufferers, my symptoms pretty much disappeared by the end of last week. The fatigue vanished, as did the feeling that I need to “be careful” all the time. I got through my singing gig ok. I’m coughing a bit still, but no longer feel the compulsive urge to cough every time I open my mouth to talk.
The kids gloriously returned to camp this week, and I hunkered down, doing the emotionally difficult work of delving into files and boxes that I hadn’t looked at since September of 2019, my last event. It was like looking through a ghost’s things. Who even was that pre-pandemic person? I don’t know her anymore. I don’t know the event anymore, either, but that will soon change as I slowly reacquaint myself. I’m trying really hard to get ahead of myself and do all the big projects now so I can relax in the last week or so…even while knowing this was always the goal and that goal was never met. I was always still up at 3 AM the night before the event printing t shirt vouchers and nightly guest lists and trying to pack. But all I can do right now is slowly and deliberately plug away at things, making each day a mix of customer service, long physical jobs (today was unwrapping dozens of trophies and painstakingly applying this year’s engraving plates over last year’s engraving plates - that took about three hours), complex computer-based work (today was two hours on the schedule - still not done), and research for things like costumes and QR generators. Then I pick up the kids and continue customer service and research well into the night. This is my life until September.
As can be expected, I have a mix of feelings about being back in business - I’m glad normal routines have been reinstated, I’m glad I have an income again, I’m glad to be a relevant part of the community. But naturally I’m also scared of all the covid-related criticism I’m going to face, I’m scared of displeasing the most vocal people, and I’m scared of normal customer stuff that was really nice to not have to deal with for a while. I’m back, with everything that entails, good and bad.
We got the boys’ class assignments in the mail, and I was delighted that Bobby got the 5th grade teacher with the Mohawk and the PhD. I don’t know Theo’s new teacher. Sadly, Bobby’s awesome 3rd grade teacher has left the school after 25 years, so she’s not an option for Theo. I warned the boys the teacher crisis may get worse this year - last year on occasion they would have to cram in with another grade when a substitute couldn’t be found; I think with the mass exodus from the teaching profession plus everyone getting covid over and over, it could be a weird year; I’m preparing myself for some days or even weeks of kids not being able to be at school because there just isn’t enough staff for them. The good (?) news is, most pandemic restrictions have been dropped - masks, testing, and distancing are now gone, and finally my pet peeve was given the axe yesterday, the Daily Pass. I hope we can go back to Christmas pageants and Halloween festivals and all that other stuff that’s been gone for two years. I’m looking forward to some normal family life around here finally.
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