It seems like a large portion of the population is behaving as though things are back to normal, but they clearly aren’t. It’s days before Christmas, but I’m not feeling very merry… the past (almost) two years have been quite a rollercoaster, and it’s mostly been down.
I went home in March of 2020 thinking we’d all be working remotely for a few weeks, maybe months. I was stupidly optimistic that people would stay home and wear masks and that we’d be in the clear well before the end of the year. But it’s been over 20 months of nonsense, and here we are. Not long after we were all sent home, my hours were cut. Then, I decided to move last summer, which was brilliant, since we did all the work ourselves and moved everything with almost no help because, y’know, there’s a pandemic. (We, by the by, is my mom and me.) In the fall, my hours were reinstated and I thought things were getting back to something resembling normal. Thanksgiving was a virtual gathering because my sister was potentially exposed to COVID (she ended up being fine), and anyway, I didn’t have a stove. Then, right before Christmas, I was told I’d be losing my job. January 4th was my last day; my grandfather died two days before that.
To say 2021 didn’t start well is an understatement. I spent all my time looking for jobs and crying. I was heartbroken after losing my grandfather, and the loss of my job didn’t help.
Eventually, I found a part-time job and started freelancing for my old job. I proofread a book, too, which was new for me. Things started to level out from being awful to being OK. I discovered the Rosenbach‘s Sundays with Frankenstein program, and Sundays with Dracula, which was over by the time I found it; currently, they’re doing Sundays with Jane Eyre, which is one of my favorite books. Through Dracula and Frankenstein, I was introduced to the Ghoul Guides, and I wound up taking a gothic literature class with them, which was so fun. My TBR pile/list has grown exponentially.
I’ve gone through some reading dry spells, but mostly I’ve been able to read somewhat normally. My schedule is weird, so I don’t always get as much time as I’d like to read, and I’m still trying to unpack and organize the new place. I know it seems like I should have my shit together by this point, but moving was… a process. It’s a story for another time, perhaps. Anyway, I’m only five books away from hitting my goal; last year I missed it by 30 or more, but it was a hell of a crazy year for me.
I feel like most of my posts have been about why I haven’t had time to read or post or whatever, but I’m going to change that. I’ll write more this year; I’ve got so much that I want to read. I hope I’m not getting ahead of myself, but I’ve also got a lot that I want to do, and I hope things start to actually get back to normal so I can do them. I’ll post again soon about some of my favorite pandemic reads and what my reading goals are for 2022. In the meantime, you can find me somewhere comfortable with a good book, my dogs, and probably some coffee.
Lindsey Reads Things 