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The last month has just been a whirlwind
Sep. 5th, 2020 08:20 amI unexpectedly went in for abdominal surgery on August 1st after having a partial blockage of my colon caused by my primary Neuroendocrine tumor, which was located adjacent to the valve between the small and large intestines. We knew this surgery was going to happen sometime, but at the end of July the doctors declared the time was NOW. Two days later I had had a resection of my colon, and they also took my gallbladder out. Now I no longer have the primary tumor NOR the valve it was next to;They took out about 30 inches of intestine, with that section in the middle, as well as about 17 lymph nodes, 5 of which turned out to have NETs (tumors) as well. I have been recovering from surgery as well as getting used to having no gallbladder -- I just returned to a normal diet this week.
I was in the hospital until August 6th, and meanwhile I was helping out with the Virtual NASFiC, which lost one of our Programming Heads that week due to an unfortunate COVID Quarantine situation that left her without access to her laptop the two weeks before the con. Hafidha Acua and I officially split heading programming the following week, as Alan Bond stepped more firmly into coordinating just the technical aspects of video recording and streaming. Luckily being stuck sitting or lying around and planning and then helping to moderate a Virtual Program were actually pretty compatible, and I felt a renewed sense of energy and mental clarity with my primary tumor removed. We managed to pull the convention off with only a few significant problems, which felt nothing short of a miracle, to be honest. You can still buy t-shirts and download publications including a great coloring book, at https://columbus2020nasfic.org/
It was also great to once again work with Matt Arnold, who was our website lead, Tammy Coxen, who came on board to edit the at-con Newsletter, and Dave Hogg, who helped out with Zoom Hosting as well as with Social Media. There's an app called Marco Polo that does asynchronous video communication (basically video voice mail) that was really helpful in that coordination, as well as of course Discord, where we had staff-only spaces that rapidly replaced a lot of our direct messaging, once they were up and running.
In the meantime, my daughter turned 10, we hosted a pool and pottery painting birthday party for her, a friend turned 50 and we hosted a virtual surprise party for him via zoom (in the middle of the NASFiC! Inconceivable if it hadn't been all virtual), and school started for both Rosie and for Brian, who is a professor and is finding his work load has essentially doubled with COVID adaptations.
And for me -- I have been a substitute teacher for three years, but right now with COVID, our district is in a Hybrid Model - kids go to school 2 days out of the week, the first half of the alphabet on Mondays and Thursdays, the second half Tuesdays and Fridays. A friend who is a nurse and couldn't take time off work asked if I could take her three kids two days a week when they are home for online learning, which I have. We now have them set up with their own learning/desk areas and oriented to house rules, etc. One day a week they overlap with my daughter, the other day I have just them and also a charity case I brought on board because she's the same age as Karla's youngest and that way they can have "recess" together like first graders ought to be able to.
It is actually easier to have two first graders here than just one, since they can entertain each other while I focus on another student. Speaking of which, being able to teach just one student for a prolonged period of time without having a classroom that erupts into chaos if I'm not actively managing it is AMAZING! My friend is paying me the same amount per day to oversee these four kids as I would earn in a day substitute teaching in my daughter's district ($100 a day). Yet I actually get to TEACH! What a concept. This has been a most pleasant pivot.
It feels like we are finally taking full advantage of all the space at Grayhollow Manor, plus of course the pool, which the kids are enjoying on a regular basis. I was unsure about that pool when we bought the place, but it has saved our sanity this summer. Especially for Rosie.
Hope you are doing as well.
I was in the hospital until August 6th, and meanwhile I was helping out with the Virtual NASFiC, which lost one of our Programming Heads that week due to an unfortunate COVID Quarantine situation that left her without access to her laptop the two weeks before the con. Hafidha Acua and I officially split heading programming the following week, as Alan Bond stepped more firmly into coordinating just the technical aspects of video recording and streaming. Luckily being stuck sitting or lying around and planning and then helping to moderate a Virtual Program were actually pretty compatible, and I felt a renewed sense of energy and mental clarity with my primary tumor removed. We managed to pull the convention off with only a few significant problems, which felt nothing short of a miracle, to be honest. You can still buy t-shirts and download publications including a great coloring book, at https://columbus2020nasfic.org/
It was also great to once again work with Matt Arnold, who was our website lead, Tammy Coxen, who came on board to edit the at-con Newsletter, and Dave Hogg, who helped out with Zoom Hosting as well as with Social Media. There's an app called Marco Polo that does asynchronous video communication (basically video voice mail) that was really helpful in that coordination, as well as of course Discord, where we had staff-only spaces that rapidly replaced a lot of our direct messaging, once they were up and running.
In the meantime, my daughter turned 10, we hosted a pool and pottery painting birthday party for her, a friend turned 50 and we hosted a virtual surprise party for him via zoom (in the middle of the NASFiC! Inconceivable if it hadn't been all virtual), and school started for both Rosie and for Brian, who is a professor and is finding his work load has essentially doubled with COVID adaptations.
And for me -- I have been a substitute teacher for three years, but right now with COVID, our district is in a Hybrid Model - kids go to school 2 days out of the week, the first half of the alphabet on Mondays and Thursdays, the second half Tuesdays and Fridays. A friend who is a nurse and couldn't take time off work asked if I could take her three kids two days a week when they are home for online learning, which I have. We now have them set up with their own learning/desk areas and oriented to house rules, etc. One day a week they overlap with my daughter, the other day I have just them and also a charity case I brought on board because she's the same age as Karla's youngest and that way they can have "recess" together like first graders ought to be able to.
It is actually easier to have two first graders here than just one, since they can entertain each other while I focus on another student. Speaking of which, being able to teach just one student for a prolonged period of time without having a classroom that erupts into chaos if I'm not actively managing it is AMAZING! My friend is paying me the same amount per day to oversee these four kids as I would earn in a day substitute teaching in my daughter's district ($100 a day). Yet I actually get to TEACH! What a concept. This has been a most pleasant pivot.
It feels like we are finally taking full advantage of all the space at Grayhollow Manor, plus of course the pool, which the kids are enjoying on a regular basis. I was unsure about that pool when we bought the place, but it has saved our sanity this summer. Especially for Rosie.
Hope you are doing as well.
