First of all, apologies for not posting, but the Wi-Fi in the hotel was questionable and my browser kept giving me warnings that it was unsafe and I was so exhausted that I just shut the laptop and that was it.
Sunday: When I still didn’t have the results from the PCR Test by late morning, I sent an email to the lab, which is in Tennessee. Someone actually responded and said that they didn’t have my test yet and it wouldn’t be done until Monday. I was not happy. I contacted the guy who is charge of the COVID protocol for the tour and he gave me the name of two places in Manhattan where I could get a test with a quick turnaround. The problem is, I would have to pay for it (they will reimburse me.) Keep in mind I was doing all of this as I was trying to get ready to go out the door. One place charged over $300. The other, $195. Both of them had their last appointments at 5:30 pm. My train was arriving at 4:50. I booked the less expensive one, which was on the Upper East Side. When my train arrived, I had to run out of of Penn Station and try to get a cab. The line for cabs was long and SLOW. I kept looking at the time on my phone, thinking I would never get there. But when I finally got a cab, the driver worked his magic and I got to the testing center with 5 minutes to spare. I got the test and was told I’d have the results in under an hour. Then I went out the door, grabbed another cab, and went to the hotel. But that took me a while because I had the wrong address! By the time I had checked in, my results were in. Negative. Keep in mind that I had been awake since 4 am at this point. I went out to the local tiny grocery store and bought a couple of things to warm up in the microwave. But the walk to the store seemed endless because I was so exhausted. I spent the rest of the evening in a catatonic state in my room – I wasn’t crazy about the hotel at all, though it did have free breakfast each morning. I fell asleep around 9:30. The next day I woke up to see my other test results had come in around 11 pm on Sunday, so they would have arrived in time.
Sigh.
Monday: I bought something to have for lunch (I was hungry the whole time I was there because there wasn’t much at all around the hotel (in an industrial part of Queens) and it just seemed like I never got to eat enough food. Got to rehearsal at 10:30 and there was Darko! I didn’t know he was going to be there. And Sarah, his assistant, who directs the touring company productions. And the music director. It was like old home week. In fact, it felt like coming home. Darko and Sarah and I spent some time together catching up and we all felt very moved by the fact that we were working once again after so, so long away and better yet, that we were all together.
I watched the young cast rehearse for a bit, then at 1:30, there was a brief run-through of all they’d done so far. Keep in mind, they’re putting this together in 2 weeks. Insane. Sarah has done a wonderful job at that. I met the cast, then after lunch, I started coaching the principals. I worked until 6 pm. Sarah, the stage manager and I sat together and made a list of who I had to work with the next day and then SM figured out where to slot everyone.
Tuesday: Got up early, got some breakfast downstairs, packed, checked out, and rolled my suitcase several blocks to rehearsal. Then I started coaching. I was in “super efficient mode” and managed to have productive sessions with 10 cast members, one after another. It’s important that those in the ensemble who might have a line or two in the show but are also covering for a major role get a chance to go through that text with me so they’re prepared when they have to go on.
I don’t know if you saw this post on Instagram, but wearing a mask while teaching actors how to pronounce Russian and French words isn’t easy. These three days are the longest I have ever had a mask on. Adding in train transportation, it was easily 9 or 10 hours a day. You have to wear a mask on public transport. You have to wear a mask in the hotel (except in your room.) Obviously, you have to wear a mask in the rehearsal spaces. I’m not used to wearing one that long and I need to find a more comfortable mask for working on the film – those will be even longer days. My ears were aching by the end of the day.
I don’t mind telling you, I got sick of it.
At 4:00, I finished and tried to hail a cab, which took a long time. When I finally reached Penn Station, I was seriously dehydrated. That’s another problem. I need to drink a lot of water every day and when I was sitting in a small room working with individual actors, I had a mask on. I had to wait until I had a few minutes by myself to drink some water, and that didn’t happen very much. Anyway, I got to the station, was able to change my train that was scheduled for 7:10 to two hours earlier, and I sat in the newly built Moynihan Hall – it’s gorgeous – in a waiting room and drank lots of water. The trip home was smooth and the views of the Hudson River were gorgeous. I arrived to see a tall guy waiting for me – with food! I was so darned hungry, I ate dinner in the car on the way home.
There you have it. I have to do it again on Sunday and Monday.
It was exhausting. But it was also exhilarating. I can’t tell you how powerful it was to see Sarah and Darko again. We’ve worked on Anastasia together for a long time and seeing these two lovely souls again brought tears to my eyes. I’m very grateful.
I’m taking it easy today. And tonight, we have appointments to get our COVID vaccine boosters! Huzzah! So glad I’ll get this before I move into the city to work on the film.
Stay safe.
Happy Wednesday.
Yay, non quarantine experiences! I tried to get an appointment for a third dose/booster down here, but I’d have to lie and sign off that I was immuno-compromised? Not ready to do that yet. Grrrr.
That shouldn’t be a problem…it’s been approved by the FDA and the CDC for 65+ and you don’t have to be immunocompromized. It is because it’s Florida????
Stay safe!
I think it’s because it’s the Moderna vaccine that hasn’t been okayed for a third shot or a booster. I got the same message at a NY pharmacy and at a FL one.
Yes that’s right. Apparently Moderna and Johnson and Johnson aren’t yet approved. xo
I am so happy that you were exhilarated by your coaching experience….that was the best response! Perhaps a mask with a clear shield over the mouth might work? I’m assuming here that the actors would be better able to see your mouth position when pronouncing words.
I had the same experience as Shanna…and you know where I live. Evidently, my medical group is only taking those with compromised immune systems first. I can wait.
Rest up, so you can do this all over again for a much longer time! ;)
Correction…..just checked with med group….they changed it. Am booking appointments! ;)
Yay!
I don’t think it’s worth it – Plus those masks sort of creep me out. I’m pretty good at articulating sound changes and when I need to show someone the shape of the mouth, I briefly lifted it – and I mean briefly
Thanks, Donnamae.
Stay safe.
I feel exhausted just reading your schedule! My goodness, Claudia, especially with you being unable to eat & drink regularly.
It’s so exciting hear you describe everything about the acting world and what happens behind the scenes.
Also, New York. Although I have travelled a lot in Europe, I haven’t been to the States. My experience of the city is through books, films and television (my guilty pleasure is watching Real Housewives of New York) or as my son calls the franchise – ‘ Grown Women who can’t behave in Public’😀
Years ago when my father was in his late sixties, he and my brother spent ten days there. They often went off to do their own thing, Dad liked to buy Big Band records and I would get random phone calls from him saying “I’m on Brooklyn Bridge!” or “I’m in Harlem!”
Try and get some rest, if you can, enjoying your time with Don.
Happy Wednesday
New York is great, though, if you’re not used to dealing with it every day, it can be exhausting. I’m not a fan of Queens, which is the borough we were in. I was only in Manhattan for travel and the Covid test.
Thanks, Dee Dee.
Stay safe.
Yeah, I recently read that if you’ve never been to NYC but you think you really, really want to go there? If you don’t like crowds, it’s not your best bet for a vacation. Gosh, there’s SO much to see and do there, though. Like give me an apartment and three months …
The best time – for me – is in the Fall. And happily, that’s when I’m going to be working there.
xo
I think it’s wonderful you can get your Pfizer boosters. I’ve had Moderna and we’re all on hold, which is driving me a little crazy because I definitely NEED that booster.
A friend of mine had to have a treadmill test at the cardiologist’s a few days ago, and she had to be on that treadmill with a mask on, which about did her in. Obviously the test is strenuous physical activity (they took her to the max on it) and she said she was struggling to breathe against the mask. In a small room with doctor and assistant/tech, just the three of them, but clearly they were taking no chances with air-swapping, and all three of them were masked in that medical office/clinic. It made me think of you and having the mask on continuously for so long as you scurried here and there.
I don’t know what to say about all of this, Claudia! Just reading your post made me feel exhausted. I simply don’t know how you do it (none of us are spring chickens these days), in and out of a huge metropolis, catching trains, catching cabs; such a lot of coordination of details, all on your own. I know you’re a big grownup girl but it IS a pandemic and nothing is normal. Bravo for getting through it. Now you’ve had a dry-run for the filming to come. I’m glad you didn’t have bad weather for all the traveling and walking.
I hope you can get a good three days or more of rest before you do this all over again, but it’s a good feeling to know you have that Covid ‘extra protection’ of the vaccine boost, considering all the public places you’ll be in and also around so many humans. When do you have to do another Covid test now? How does that work?
I’m not sure. I don’t think I need one for next week.
As far as the film goes, I might need a test before filming begins and I know they give tests on set 3 days a week.
Yeah. I’m really, really tired. It was unbelievably exhausting – especially Sunday. Glad to be home resting today!
Stay safe, Vicki.
In my own small world, I’m suffering from what some of your readers have described as sensory overload from also being recently around people (when I’m normally isolated), with three medical appointments in a row (Mon-Tues-Weds), in another city, including later today, and I’m not happy that wherever I’ve been so far, the lobbies/waiting areas are filled with too many patients (such a backlog of patients it seems!) and with no controls over how many people can be in an elevator at one time. I’ve felt vulnerable out there with the lack of distancing I’m seeing. (Because I didn’t want to get in a tiny elevator which three people had just gotten out of, none of whom were wearing masks, which is against mandate, I took the steep, poorly-lit stairs which I had a lot of difficulty navigating due to a current hip problem.)
I’m also ‘done with’ waiting an hour or more for what should be a ‘simple’ appointment or test. Everywhere I go, it seems they are short-staffed and behind schedule. I was even noticing this in the summer when I’ve had medical appointments. And this includes my family doctor, not just the specialists. I wait, and wait, and wait and WAIT to be seen. In a crowded room full of other people when you don’t know if they’re vaccinated or not, which makes me nervous. I’ve had one technician tell me that a lot of medical employees didn’t come back after 2020 lockdown in those early months of the pandemic (when doctors were only seeing patients virtually for awhile); the employees found other kinds of jobs after being on unemployment (for a long time by choice, because unemployment benefits were fat; they made more money on unemployment than they did from their former medical job). Of course, like with manufacturing and many types of business/industry, workers have also been lost to the virus (they died). We’ve got the problem in SoCalif where I live, where over a hundred container ships are docked offshore because there aren’t enough dockworkers to offload the ships, nor enough truck drivers to transport the goods. I hear this is happening in NY harbor, too.
The better part of me says I should be more understanding. Again, these are not ‘normal’ times in our world. But I suffer from anxiety/worry and can let the roadblocks get the best of me.
How’s this, though, for being nerve-racked: In the middle of my mammogram, the machine failed. So I had to go back a second day and do it all over again with a ridiculous amount of more radiation than I needed (believe me, I’ve already had enough radiation to last a lifetime). I am terrified, as it is, of mammos and their results because I’m mega-high risk for breast cancer and have already had another serious, invasive, life-threatening cancer. It takes me days of visual imagery/rehearsing/mental prep to get myself through the mammogram procedure at all, to make myself even go to the appointment. Then, this. I went home and curled up in a ball, sobbing; too much stress. (Of course, this is TMI, but also think of how ‘sore’ I was after four extra failed compressions [when I think the tech figured it had something to do with me, not believing it could possibly be her machine {but it WAS the equipment, and it took an engineer eight hours to ‘fix’ it}].) I’ve had 30 screening mammograms in my life to date and have never had a machine fail during the process. I feel there was no excuse for it and, after I get results and finish things out, I intend to complain forcefully to my physicians (there’s a partnership between my medical groups and this radiology center, like a monopoly) and I will never go back to that place ever again. I wish it was otherwise, as they have a lot of my history in their archives.
I dunno. I try to simplify my life, but there are just times when it does feel like things are against me, but it makes it even more important to then stand up against feeling like a victim. Let it roll off; reduce the tension. Lots of people have problems. Is not just me. Life’s complicated for everybody these days.
Yes, I was in elevators with people. Small ones. Most of them were masked but not every person. And I was in little bodegas where the staff wasn’t masked. But I was. So I didn’t sweat it too much. I did make the mistake of going down to the lobby without a mask, but thankfully, the guy at the desk had one on. Everything is slow right now. There just isn’t enough staff.
xoxo
Well, that’s interesting to hear your observations. I think I’m just having a bad string of small, upsetting events. The thing is, they pile up into one big anxiety blast, of course stemming from fear. I just don’t want it to lead to depression. I know I’ve been locked down for too long. My last medical appointment today went better; friendlier folks, efficient and I didn’t have a long wait. But, afterwards, we treated ourselves to lunch out (drive-thru; eat in the car; a place we haven’t been to for four months; we go out like that so very rarely) and, windows down for nice sea air, masks off because we were eating, in a parking lot where nobody else was in their cars but us, here appeared one of the most physically-filthy and dangerous-looking homeless men I’ve ever seen in my life (and my area of SoCalif is heavy with the homeless population; it’s not like I don’t have the exposure to them; they’re everywhere; it’s not like I’ve never seen one before). He stood at the rear of our car, babbling incoherently, then began to edge between the parked cars to get to my open window. I screamed at my husband, “Get the windows up; get the windows up!” But he’d been deep in texting and it just wasn’t computing. I then shouted to the homeless man, “Get back; get back; stay away!” He had no mask on of course, just like me.
Apparently my voice did make him stop in his tracks after he was maybe four feet from me, my passenger window still down; then, he backed up but lingered at the rear of the car again, wouldn’t move, even with our car motor drumming; we couldn’t back out for several minutes and were pondering if we should call 911.
Again, who do I feel sorry for, this mentally-ill man, or me? Where is my pathos, my heart, my soul? All I felt was fear, that this man could make me sick with virus (or accost me in some other way [I say this because I’ve had the misfortune of being in circumstances where homeless people have been unpredictable and violent and aggressive, to where I’ve feared for my life as did people in the same location {many homeless people in my area are drug addicted, as police warn us here}]).
I was so rattled, even after I tried to walk along the water’s edge and calm down, that I had to come to terms with the fact that my anxiety issues, long controlled without meds for 20 years, have come back to haunt me, so I will be discussing it with my primary care physician when I see her next week, knowing I have to be open to, if not daily medication, maybe the occasional ‘calming pill’ when I get myself into these kinds of dithers. It’s nothing to be ashamed of; this, I know. I’m an old(er) menopausal woman struggling with a lot of complexities right now and it’s no embarrassment to say, I’ve tried, but I need help.
Sorry to unload when you’re already so fatigued yourself. I’ll try to read and quit talking about all this stuff. Just know, Claudia, when you speak of anxiety, I’m one reader who TOTALLY understands. I really admire how you get through your challenges. You’re a role model. You are courageous and confident.
One of my small disappointments is that my husband is going to a party with about 20 other people tomorrow; at someone’s home; a reunion of sorts after 20 years (I seem to be writing in 20s today). It’s a nice two-hour drive I would have loved to enjoy, south on the scenic seacoast from where I live; good time of day. But someone has to stay home with the elderly and increasingly-senile (house/indoor) dog who needs potty breaks every three hours or less (see ..?… one of my problems right now is extreme sleep deprivation!). And we(?) decided it would be boring for me to mingle with these techie people who I not only don’t know (these were professional contacts of my husband from a former workplace), but we still can’t get a bead on whether or not everybody is vaccinated. VERY small backyard for 20 guests (I happen to, by strange coincidence, know the neighborhood very well; my aunt lived on the same street for 24 years, but that’s a whole nuther story), so most of the party will clearly have to be an indoor gathering. Any of us of course are advised against this sort of thing. A lot of us also have waning efficacy of our vaccines if we haven’t got the boost/third shot yet.
My husband is usually pretty good about the sacrifices and missing out on fun events due to Covid risk for him and me over the past 19 months (we locked down early in 2020), but he’s convinced himself he’ll stay safe with this group and setting (Vicki is not so sure). I said, “What are you going to do when somebody says, ‘Take off that mask; we haven’t seen your face for 20 years!'” He assures me he will only take his mask off to eat, distanced from the others. (The reason I say that is because, more than once, like on a drive-by drop of a birthday gift or whatever, I’ve had acquaintances tell me to take off my mask, showing their irritation that I don’t join them in the maskless moment.) Again, if not for Covid and the dog, I could have benefitted from the outing tomorrow. I feel left out.
I just have to figure out my outings.
I think I’m going to start driving again (this sounds so ridiculous; I’ve been driving since I was age 15!), rather than always being the passenger in the retired husband-wife ‘duo’ scenario (how did I let this even happen???!!), and get out in the car at least once a week without my husband, rediscover my old ‘routes’ and have some personal/’me’ time. The silk trees are blooming and I always go to see them around town. This year, I totally forgot about it and almost missed the gorgeous dark-pink profusion of blooms over the spiked trunks of these tall, wonderful trees. I just have to get back to a different life.
I’m back to evaluating how much ‘home’ is haven or prison. The balance.
We have to learn to live with virus. I don’t think it’s ever going away; it may not be eradicated in what I have left of my lifetime. Initially, any of us of course just weren’t aware of such a possibility; I don’t know if I even really understood the word ‘pandemic’. So, we have to learn to co-exist with it. I just haven’t done that yet. But it’s time. We of the gray population can’t lose these valuable last years of our lives just because of our heightened virus risk due to age (and other disease that can come with age, which makes for complications if we did get virus-infected). You’re doing it now, of course, leaving country for City. First big steps. I’m gonna try hard to follow your lead, Claudia.
I know of PLENTY of people my age who are traveling now. (I do have a circle of friends; I have a very active and vocal class website [people I’ve known from K-12 years of school/high school]; I stay in touch with people from the workplace and also neighborhoods where I’ve lived; I have a few cousins my age, too. And my husband has a rather astounding number of people with whom he communicates on social media, many of whom are as old as he is, and they’re all talking, everybody’s sharing; they’re on the GO. Which countries can Americans travel to right now? Then let’s go there! Closer to home, there were so many people at the beach today, on a WEEKDAY-Weds [really ..??], we couldn’t even find our usual out-of-the-way place to park along the beach road-highway [MILES and MILES of beach road, head-scratching crowded, full campgrounds; like, is anybody working anymore, or going to school?]. Surfers, surfers, surfers. Motorhomes, trailers, vans. HUNDREDS of each/all. I am NOT exaggerating. Maybe it was because it’s our first day, in days, that the sun has not been obliterated by smoke from the Central Calif/NoCalif wildfires. We’ve been under some weather gloom for sure.)
The people (my age) across the street from me are in their third week of an extended cruise outside of the U.S. I know of SEVERAL folks in my age group who are taking long trips by car (the retiree thing, when you’d wait for the kids to go back to school, after Labor Day, more off-season in places, less crowded in any year and before winter/bad weather). They travel, go eat at restaurants, visit the various venues and attractions, stay in hotels/motels; explore and shop in each new place. One of my friends (older than myself) has been on three vacations since June, and they’re going again in late October. (I’m green with envy; I won’t lie. I need to spend some time in prayer [about coveting what I don’t have].)
I saw a thing on TV last night where a reporter was I believe interviewing a senior-aged American couple traveling in France, where they don’t have to be tested but do have to show their vaccination card almost every place they go, but their thoughts were, “So what?” Not gonna waste anymore time. (I got the impression they were maybe seasoned globetrotters.)
My sister-in-law and her husband (both older than me) have been on five vacations as new retirees since late April of 2021, where they took public transport, have flown on planes, been in airports, been around other people of all types; done a lot of sightseeing in unfamiliar places, stayed overnight in hotels, eaten in restaurants. My SIL is a former trauma-ICU-ER-surgical nurse (she’d been on the frontlines with the Ebola crisis, having been sent to the worst places); it’s not like she hasn’t assessed risk. Her husband has many health issues. He’s no dummy; he’s a lawyer. They want to see family (four adult children and ten grandchildren spread out all over the U.S.). They love to travel. I get it. Their Eastern Europe vacay is on temporary hold, but they’re going a lot of other places. They worked SO many years at their jobs, nonstop; she was never a stay-home mom. They didn’t retire to stay home either.
Any of what I’ve mentioned, of the people I personally know who’ve traveled? Nobody got sick. Everybody is FINE. (I pray it stays that way.) They’re vaccinated. They wash their hands. They carry sanitizer. They wear the damn mask. This is now our lives. It seems to be a do-able situation. (I just wonder if a lot of the vaccinated people getting a breakthrough infection are not wearing a mask. The mask is key.)
Anyway … it’s pause for thought. And maybe some personal reevaluation. I’m having a problem with some of the messaging. I’ve developed skepticism over these past many months. I’ll always wear a mask; I’ll stay vaccinated. Beyond that now? Not quite sure.
If we can travel next year, we’re going to do it. We want to do it while we’re still limber and mobile enough to handle a lot of walking. Fingers crossed. And we really want to go on another ‘road trip.’ We love doing that.
xo
Good. I’m glad to hear it. Forge ahead; plan it. You definitely need to get back to Paris. It fills your soul. And you and Don are about the most romantic couple I’ve ever ‘known’. In the most romantic city in the world? The two of you are a force.
xoxo
Good idea to take solo drives, Vicki. It helps. I did the same thing, by the way – Don drove for us throughout much of lockdown. He didn’t have the Pilot yet, the other car no longer worked, so we piled into my car and I was happy to let him drive. The only time I drove was to his eye appointments. Now, we’re doing more solo driving and that’s a good thing. Take yourself on a little drive – just for you.
xo
Thank you for sharing that! I’ve felt too ‘dependent’. And I like to drive when I know my driving territory; I have some favorite destinations. Thanks for the support, Claudia. As I do too many times here, I over-spilled (dumped). But your words help me a lot.
Happy to be of some help!
xo
The anxiety can really stop me in my tracks. It’s been bad lately, I’ve got a lot on my plate and a lot of worries. When I’m actually DOING something, like coaching, or painting, or some chore outside, it seems to fade away. But when I’ve got time to think, or just sit around, boy does it hit me!
xo
Well, certainly for now and the next months, I feel you have a HUGE amount on your plate. The details, the planning … brain fatigue! Just trying to live between two places …
Make your evenings in the apartment(s) as stress-free as possible, like don’t carry over the work into your off time.
Forget the house cleaning on the times you’re back at the cottage; just hug on Don and enjoy your home, your familiar things you miss while you’re away. You’ll have lots of time to clean, later in the winter, when you’re housebound due to weather/blizzards.
And I absolutely LOVED that idea … was it from reader Marilyn? … about taking some potatoes to the apartment kitchen/microwave. There is definitely something nourishing and comforting about a hot, baked potato. That’s a keeper tip from her. She made a light bulb go on in my head!
Thing is, Claudia; you’ve got this. You know what you’re doing. You know how to accomplish this coaching responsibility in another city. It’s a repeat performance for you, thankfully. You ARE a great planner.
You just have to make sure you don’t get too tired because it’s also a lot of physical activity; and of course the job requires so much acute — is that the word I want to use? — attention to what you’re doing, like engaging every brain cell. MENTAL activity! Such that you’ve gotta unwind that brain in between, but you also know how to do that with absorbing fiction-reading or whatever.
Take Sophie’s wardrobe with you; very calming to dress her in the different outfits. A little bit of home, too!
I’ll be working 12 hours a day, at minimum, so I think ‘evenings’ are going to be a bath and bed!
I’m taking Sophie and her clothes (and a pal that will soon be here) with me, for sure!
xoxo
I was thinking of the ‘mask holders’ that go around the back of your neck / head for masks that are made for around the ears. That is what I use most days at work. Or masks that go ‘around the head’; most of the masks I made last year I made with one strap ‘over head’ and bottom strap went around back of neck. This year when I made some new ones, I changed to around the ear masks so I bought those ‘holders’ which are very comfortable.
I have a couple of new masks with the Anastasia logo and they have mask holders that go around the neck.
It’s going to be very hard to wear one over 12 hours a day, which is what I will have to do on the film.
Thanks, Dawn.
Stay safe.
Got my third here in Florida
Walked into Walgreens Saturday
Some of same side effects but with it
One of best friends burying her son this week.50 Covid
I had barely any side effects with Pfizer. Just a tired feeling which, after the last two days, I have anyway. So no big deal.
I’m sorry about your friend’s son.
Stay safe, Brenda.
It sounds like an exhausting trip but successful. Wouldn’t you know your original test was back in time after you got the 2nd one.
Did your hotel have a microwave? Pack some potatoes, a plate and utensils. I take packets of ranch dressing for topping too. It’s an easy meal if you have a microwave and are too tired to look for food.
Rest up, you surely need it.
Yes, it had a microwave – good idea, Marilyn. I’ll do that on Sunday and Monday.(There are plates and silverware in the room.)
Stay safe!
It is a challenge to get used to such a huge change in your daily routine. But you did it and you are listening to your body and pampering yourself when you are back at home. Sounds like an exciting adventure! Glad you are staying safe!
Thank you so much, Ellen.
Stay safe.
So happy you were able to reunite with friends and have such a good experience. Oh the long mask wearing is so hard when we aren’t use to it. I find I easily get dehydrated wearing a mask. My Mom and I got our Covid booster shots today so we are so happy to have that done. We stay as safe as we can and do what we can. Enjoy your rest and relaxation. Hugs!
Our boosters are delayed until Friday when it will be exactly 6 months since our last shot.
Thanks, Linda!
Stay safe.
Pfizer vaccine
Headache
Fatigue
Chills
I don’t do well with vaccines but I walk and move
Drink tons of water
Take ibuprophen
Worth it to feel safer
I still mask and distance and don’t go inside places except early small grocery
Some states are at highest peaks now
BE careful please
I’m always careful!
xo
What a marathon of events in so short a time, as well as coaching 10 actors! Enjoyed your relating through reunion with Darko and Sarah.
So good this was only a few days to begin developing your longer term strategy with coping. It is sooo special. May each of these upcoming work experiences have many treasured moments.
So admiring your courage. I would be panicked most of the time wondering where the nearest bathroom is. Though I must say I was pleasantly surprised that my bodily functions behaved much better on my recent visit to SD. I was exhausted daily though – not being used to being on-the-go with a younger crowd.
Thank you so much for sharing. XO continue well.
Actually, I coached 16 actors. 6 on the first day, 10 on the second.
I’m always panicked about where the nearest bathroom is, Martha! I calculate my comings and goings based on when I might have to visit a public lavatory! I get it about the exhaustion. We’re just not used to that level of activity, especially after the last year and a half.
Stay safe.
Goodness that sounds exhausting but how wonderful it must have been to meet up again with Darko and Sarah. I expect the feeling of being around so many people in such a busy place after so long isolating must have been immense. It must to be great to be back home with your tall man. Have a good rest until you have to go back and do it all again.
It was immense, but as an introvert, it was also very tiring!
Thanks, Fiona.
Stay safe.
First of all, apologies are not necessary! We all understand that you might not be able to maintain your regular schedule during this so consider yourself apologized for the next few weeks/months!
It sounds like a grueling schedule and all the more frustrating by the whole testing situation but now you are back in the groove and know the pitfalls (water, food, etc.) How about buying a packet of straws you can fit into a water bottle that can easily slide under your mask. Well, maybe not easily but it’s possible (I know — I’ve done it). Or between your coaching one to another, turn away for a sec, lift the mask just enough to slip the straw in and take a good long suck. It works. You need water! Especially when you are speaking quite a bit.
I felt pooped out just reading your schedule but I’m so glad you had the joy of working with Darko and Sarah again. That had to feel so good, so fulfilling. And doing what you do so well. And it’s things like that — and the confidence from taking those first steps out into the world — that build the confidence to do it again and again. I’m very edgy about the wedding I will attend next week but I know it’s a big first step (although I think I might have had a few more baby steps than you before but very careful ones).
Get some good sleep before you head back. It will be fine. I know that was a hard leap to make and I’m very proud of you for kicking your way through it, especially the testing and the logistics and all. Well done.
Oh, I turned away and lifted my mask to drink, but it’s not easy to remember to do that when the mask is in place and I have a limited amount of time with each person. Stopping to do that is not on radar!
You will do fine at the wedding. Stay masked!
Thanks, Jeanie.
Stay safe.
We are not in Queens but we can get there if necessary…so if we can help by bringing you snacks or whatever else you might need let us know. Xo
You are so sweet! I think I’ll be okay!
Stay safe.
I am glad your trip was a success despite the few stressful times.
Thanks, Kay.
Stay safe!