I got an email from Bobby’s magnet with a class supplies list and an orientation notice (on the day the kids will be at Disneyland on the last day of camp, so I guess it’s just me going), but absolutely nothing for Theo. I had to go to the school website to find out about his orientation, fill out a form to show interest in their afterschool programs (no guarantee either kid will have any afterschool care at this point), and find an outdated class supplies list. I’m starting to wonder if he’s even registered or has been forgotten about. If I don’t hear anything by Friday I’ll call just to double check. But I get the feeling this is going to be our lives for at least the next two years - Bobby will get all the advantages and attention, whereas Theo, thrown into the general school population, will be forgotten, and I’ll have to work extra hard to make sure a) he doesn’t know this and b) I advocate for him. Sigh.
The kids also need shoes and clothes in addition to probably over $100 in school supplies. It’s going to be an expensive month.
Prices for my event went up Monday night, and that actually went well - I now have just over 1000 people in attendance. Considering I had about 1400 in 2019 and this is my biggest anniversary year, this sucks, but again, I’m trying to change my perspective. We’re rebuilding. It’s going to take a while. With all the challenges with everything being so expensive, the hotel being full, and everything else, having 1000 people is a remarkable achievement. Will I get 1100 in a month? Maybe, maybe not. I expect a slow month going forward. But my goal had been to try to hit 1000 and I’ve done that with still a month to go, so for now I’m content.
It’s starting to feel like end of summer, with all the melancholy that brings. As much as I want school to return to give us some structure, I’m also dreading it - I am not looking forward to getting up an hour, hour and a half earlier, rushing around, being stressed, the longer drive to and from the new school, not to mention the learning curve for me with a new school and not knowing how it will actually be for the kids, especially Theo. What if it doesn’t work out? Then there’s the relentless nagging about homework, the supplies I have to get and forms I have to fill out, all of the hyper vigilance required in those early weeks of school that fall right when my event is happening. Ugh, just thinking about it makes me exhausted.
In other news, I have an idea for my post-event life that I think I could do with a minimum of effort and expense, which is to have a podcast about my former religion. I figured I would approach people (or just post) in my FB groups on the topic to see if anyone would be interested in telling their stories, and take it from there. I listen to so many ex-religion podcasts, but there isn’t one for mine. I don’t expect it to be a hit or to be anything really, except an enjoyable hobby of sorts. I love to interview people and am quite knowledgeable on this topic, having lived it, so if I can just get the nuts and bolts together (headphones, microphones, editing software), I figure, if people are willing to participate, it could be a fun and fulfilling project for me going forward.
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