2023 turned out to be a pretty good year for Alex and I. We came through it relatively unscathed. There were a few blips on the road.
December 2022
I went to Mexico in early December 2022 for a work function. It was my first work trip with IRIS and I was soooo excited. We were there from December 4 – 8. It was truly a whirlwind trip.
Mexico – Mayacoba Resort
What an incredible resort!
For four wonderful days, we networked, we learned and we enjoyed the company of 300 fellow employees. The weather was stunning. The amenities were amazing. The food – OMG! THE FOOD!
With all that good stuff, there had to be some bad – I got the trifecta of maladies: Day 2, I got Traveler’s Diarrhea – AUGH. On the morning of day 2, I felt that I should refrain from gorging on the breakfast buffet and decided that I would indulge in some fresh fruit – BAD! BAD! BAD!. Within 90 minutes of consuming my breakfast, I was in the bathroom. Details will not be following….
One the morning of day 4, I got a tooth infection. OMG, the pain was beyond descriptors. Fortunately, I was able to keep it at bay with tons of Tylenol. When I got home, I was able to get a prescription for antibiotics and that took care of that, but, still – YIKES!
The icing on this cake of misery was the day after I got home when I tested positive for Covid! For me, it was like a bad head cold which lasted about 6 days. Alex, on the other hand was not as fortunate. He was down for almost 3 weeks. He was lucky in that the symptoms remained in his head and throad and did not progress into his lungs. He did lose his voice for about 4 days (whew! It saved me from being yelled at for 96 glorious hours).
I had the best time in Mexico and hope that I can do more trips with my company.
January
January 2023 saw my return to Stage Managing. I was able to do a great show for Delta Stageworks. Here is my original post.
February
February is also a tough month for me. February is when I lost my dad and my sister. Plus, February is my mom’s birthday month. This is my February posts.
March
March saw another Stage Managing Gig.
April
April is another month where it is kind of tough on me. My dad was born in April and my mom died in April. https://alzylstra.com/2023/04/
May
May was a quiet month. I didn’t have any Stage Managing gigs, I didn’t have anything major happening and so it was actually a bit of a relief to just be at home. Speaking of home, May was around the time that my employer decided that our regional office would be closed and everyone in the office would be mandated to work from home full time. Hooray!
I had been working from home for the previous year and a half. 80% of my work week would be at home and 20% would be at the office. The day I was in, I would collect the mail, wait for the courier company to drop off packages and collect voicemails.
Once it was decided that the office would be closed, it set in motion, a whole bunch of new protocols for the mail, courier and phone systems. It took of a bit of logistics but, once everything was done, I was free from going to the office! Hooray! To be truthful, I really don’t miss working in the office. I was the only one there on my day and so it wasn’t like I was able to talk to my co-workers face-to-face. Skype and MS Teams became the “go-to” for all communications.
June
June saw the return of one of my favourite Stage Managing gigs: The Canadian International Dragon Boat Festival. It is three days of music, artisans, food and paddlers – all under the backdrop of False Creek! Here is my original post
July
July was another quiet month for me. The office was offically closed. There were no Stage Managing gigs and I was able to stop and take a breath. Alex was busy with all his gardening and was able to secure a second greenhouse – so he was in his element. We did experience some loss, though. A raccoon managed to get into our pond and DECIMATE it. We lost 14 goldfish – each one was, on average, 6 inches long. It was so sad. Some of those fish were 10 years old!
So, once we were finished mourning the loss of our fish, we went out and purchased new fencing and created a (hopefully) raccoon-proof cover. We were able to restock it with some rescue goldfish and they all appear to be flourishing.
August
August saw my return to Stage Managing at the Steveston Dragon Boat Festival. It was a one day event, but, I had the best time. Here is the original post.
September
September, Alex and I went back to Europe. We had the best time! We were there for almost 2 weeks and did so much sight-seeing and touring. The Netherlands was hit with a heat wave while we were there. Daytime temperatures saw in excess of 30 degrees C. Temperatures like that were unheard of. So, we dealt with the heat and humidity as best we could. Hooray for Air Conditioning in our rental car.
Here are the posts from that trip
October
October has me back in the theatre! Musicals are back!
November
November is shaping up to be another busy month. https://alzylstra.com/2023/11/
December
December is turning into another hectic month. Work is getting busy with projects and events. My latest production: The Marvelous Wonderette is in full swing and the first 4 shows were sold out and the audiences LOVED the performances of everyone. Can’t ask for more than that, right?
As a result of my Stage Managing this show, I was able to line up two more shows for 2023! I am gonna be a busy boy with my various productions.
Finally, a quick thank you to everyone who has been part of mine and Alex’s life! We appreciate the heck out of you all and look forward to 2024 !
Al Zylstra 