taking on too much

So, the last year has been a bit insane.

We bought a country house in January (rent in the city).

I started reviewing theatre for blogTO, also somewhere around January.

Work has been crazy busy (mostly due to under-staffing I think).

The result has been that I have alway felt like I'm on the go, stretched too thin, and not able to do some of the really important things in life, like see friends. I've been totally socially unavailable for a gazillion years now (well, not quite a year, but it feels like a gazzilion).

Don't get me wrong. These are all great and exciting changes. I feel really lucky to have them in my life, and to have the opportunity to experience them. But the flip side is that I've been neglecting the important things. Which, oddly enough, includes this blog.

It would appear that this blog, and the relationships it helps to maintain for me, is really important in my life. I mean, hell, if I never had this blog I would never have met Dickey, who has become a really good friend and someone who is very important to me. Who, coincidentally enough, I haven't seen in gazillion years, because, well, because of all the reasons already mentioned.

And here's the thing, I miss Dickey. And all my other friends too. I can't tell you the last time I hung out with Noone, in fact, I don't want to think about how long it's been since I've hung out with him, because considering how important he is to me and what a huge part of my life he is, it's really quite embarrassing how much time has elapsed since we had time together.

So, here we are, September, the month that was the start of the new year for so many years of our lives. And I'm making some changes. Seems like this blog is full of entries where I say I'm going to make changes, and not so full of follow ups saying what those changes are.

Well, this post is a listing of 'new year's resolutions' that are already underway:

First change - You guys already know about this, but John and I are going to downsize on our city place. Right now we rent a house, which means there is a lot of maintenance, and if something goes wrong we fix it and so on and so on. Moving into a smaller place, in a building, will mean less maintenance time, which means a smidge more free time. Not to mention a couple extra bucks in our pockets again so we can afford to go for a pint and stuff. (A side part of this is that the apartment we're hoping to move into is just below Noone's, which means hopefully I'll get to see him lots more, because we can do the 'what are you doing, wanna watch a movie' thing, even if we're already in pj's because we won't need to go outside.)


Second change - Although I will still be reviewing theatre for blogTO, I have found someone who is willing to split the column with me, so I will be doing it every second week. This is FAR better. It was taking around 3 nights a week, one night to go, one night to write, and one night to plan (including what play, who to go with, arranging with other writers, blah blah blah)


Third change - Well, kind of a sub-section of the second change, but... Instead of trying to find a new person to bring to every play I go to, I'm going to have a core group of people that I'm going to go to shows with, and plan things a couple months in advance. That way the time (and stress) spent finding a show-partner will be diminished. Oh - for those who haven't read any of my stuff at blogTO, I go with a show-partner so that there are two perspectives, so that people aren't stuck with just one persons opinion. It's a format I chose, and that I was very excited about, and still am actually, but I hadn't thought through how much work the different show partners thing was going to be.


Fourth change - I don't talk about work on here at all generally, but I'll take a quick stab at it here. Work is changing. We have more staff (we were short staffed for a while) so there is less need for the working until 7 or 8pm. We are moving offices, new place starting Monday. And we're doing a bit of navel gazing about what we should be doing. All of this adds up to an opportunity for a fresh start. I'm pretty excited actually. It's going to be an interesting little while. This isn't for a second to say that it doesn't have it's downs, there are times when I think I'm going to go insane, but I don't know, I think all jobs are like that. So, not to imply that all is roses and moonbeam, but I am still excited at the prospect of this 'fresh start'. It's kind of like the excitement of switching jobs, without having to switch jobs. I'm sensing lots of opportunities for learning and breadth of experience ahead, but all within the context of a good amount of staff, and therefore reasonable hours.

So, those are the four major changes.

And now I'll stop writing, because I just noticed that this is a stupidly long entry.

The short version - I'm not just talking about things that are frustrating me, I'm doing something about it. Changes are afoot. I am going to get to see my friends again in the next year. I am excited.