Back from the Black Hole

I fell off the face of the earth for a while there. Actually I was sucked into the black hole of theatre. I started back to work a bit sooner than planned with a side job at a small local theatre. It was suppose to be a simple 'come-in-and-paint-what-you-are-told' type of gig. That was until the charge quit. So I was offered the upgrade in position on the show (and possibly for future shows) and all the stress and responsibility that comes with it. Therefore, instead of easing back into working full time I jumped right into the frenzy of it, feet first. And it has been a wild ride.

Despite being brought in at the last minute and dealing with some complicated situations with little preparation, I had a blast. And the set looks beautiful, (more about that to come on Footprints). The people (most of them) were wonderful. Some of these people were ones I had worked with years ago at the same theatre. Some were people I knew somewhat but hadn't really done a lot with. And some were completely new. I brought in the wonderful woman that covered my maternity leave (both times) as my second, and we took the place by storm. And I think I can say honestly without bragging (well, maybe a little bragging) that I impressed the pants off them.

Nevertheless, it took a huge toll on my body. The last two weeks involved a lot of stairs. Just a few steps, but a few steps up and down all day long is still a lot of stairs. And ladders. Lots of ladder time. Going from my reduced physical load to stairs and ladders all day hit me hard. And I think the hardest part is that I am still coming to terms with my limitations. I'm getting better at realizing and accepting that I will never be the way that I was before. I will never be 100% again. And that's hard. And it sucks. And it sucks even more as a woman because we have to fight so much harder, and do so much more to get any respect in this business. But I'm doing it. One way or another, I'm making it work.

And now I'm back to my regular full time gig. It was nice to be back. The staff is coming back in dribs and drabs and we're easing our way into the season. It looks like it will be an interesting season, both artistically and logistically.

Getting back into my routine is nice and I'm tweaking things here and there to leave a little more room for knitting and blogging.

So here's to a happy start to the season (and the new year in my world).