Ugh. Really? That’s the title I’m picking for this post? “I’m Back, BAY-BEE”? I mean, I am back, this is a wildly accurate statement, but yikes on bikes! (Yikes on Bikes is also not a great thing for me to write… this is all starting to make me sound like I’m a mom who is not at all cool but thinks they are cool. Sorry, non-existent children.)
Okay, let’s start again.
I’m Back, Blogging Again!
(Using commas wildly since 1986.)
It has been so long that I’m sure some of you are wondering where I’m even back from. Truly, this space has been somewhat abandoned, but I am coming back in hot. Let me first lay out some details about where I’ve been, what I’ve been up to, all that good stuff. I’ll wrap it up with some vague promises about what this space will look like moving forward. You know, standard Erin stuff.
I’m Back! – I Started My Master’s Degree
That’s right, in July of 2019, I took two weeks off from work. This was not for vacation. This was to attend a summer intensive and officially begin my M.Ed in Educational Research, specialization in Adult, Community and Higher Education. (So many words.) It is a distance program, designed to be done while working full-time, and is mostly delivered online via D2L and Zoom. (Yes, I was zooming before it was cool!) It’s been a bit of a whirlwind and I cannot believe that I am already in my third last semester. This year has gone by so quickly and I’ve learned so much.
I’ve also been mentally a little bit destroyed. Lots of reading, lots of writing, lots of discussion and lots of time spent looking at a computer screen to get all of this going. We were meant to have another summer intensive in July of 2020, which would have been such a wonderful break from living behind a computer. Like many things in 2020… that was not to be. Summer was rough. The course content was rigorous, there was a ton to do, and it was also heavy material- full of tough topics, lots of political/societal implications and often not a lot of answers about how to make things better. With the current state of the world layered on top of our course material, I think my entire cohort walked out of those summer discussion boards ready to sleep for a few months.
Not a lot of mental energy leftover to write about theatre and fun things I do in Calgary! But we’re getting into the home stretch now, we’re starting to focus our course work on our research and I’m ready to find a little balance with the rest of my life.
I’m Back – I Have a Baby Niece!
Meet Rylee! Those who have been reading for a long time, or follow me on Instagram, may remember my brother, Bryan, and his partner, Darci. Rylee is their nine month old baby.
Look, dudes, sometimes I just want to hang out with this little baby. (And by “sometimes”, I mean every single Sunday. My siblings and I cook dinner together, play with Rylee and do some gaming). We took her to The Calgary Zoo recently. She really wanted to be on the ground to walk herself. (She cannot walk yet.) Then we put her down and watched her be so annoyed that she was sitting on grass.
This is the baby content you can enjoy these days!
So, what else?
Honestly, I feel like those might be the only two major changes to my life in the past year.
Fair enough! So what’s next?
Look, I know that the world is very different than it was when I last wrote in this space. I know there is a lot of upheaval and many people are in very tough times. Basically, the world is a dumpster fire.
I won’t be writing about that here.
I spend a lot of mental and emotional energy on societal topics. There is a lot of discussing, thinking about and learning about these things in my school and work life. A Flimsy Plan is my outlet for fun and fluff, and I hope that those who are looking for that kind of space will find it here.
So get ready for discussion of what theatre companies are doing to make art right now! For needless life challenges (and maybe a few very good ones)! For way too many positive book reviews!
Thanks for coming back, everyone, I’m glad to have you.