Picking up the threads again

Now things have settled down for us medically I'm trying to pick up the threads of various things again. I started doing this a couple of weeks ago, but it all got put on hold for a bit there.

Magazine editing

High school cross country team in 2013.

I've been meeting with various key members of the editorial team over the last few weeks. I have one more person to meet with tomorrow morning. I'm getting a positive impression, though also a sense that a bit of housekeeping needs to be done. I'm so thankful for these busy people who've volunteered their precious time to run the magazine in my absence. 

But I'm still getting back into the game. Jumping into any job like this after someone else isn't easy. Especially when this job involves hundreds of email communications between people. Putting a magazine together involves many details, and getting a grasp of where everything is up to isn't easy. One detail missed can be a big problem, for example, an author who submitted an article but it wasn't published or an advertiser who submitted a change to their ad but it was missed. 

At least I'm picking up again, so many things I'd set in place before for the smooth running of the magazine I can pick up again. I feel sorry for those I left here during the year I was away. One, particularly, was doing it all for the first time. Ouch.

There have been other threads besides work to pick up. Even though we've come back to the same house, school, and virtually the same jobs, there have been changes. Being away for a year does make a different.

Relationships. I had coffee yesterday morning with an Australian friend, it was great to catch up and hear a bit about how transitioning their eldest daughter from CAJ to university in Australia has gone. She's just one, there are many others I haven't really touched base with yet.

Sports. Last Saturday we went along to the first cross country meet of the season. There have been changes. I was reminded during at least one conversation that we've missed a year.

School. There have been changes while we were away, and our boys have "skipped" a grade. Our middle son is now in middle school, which isn't exactly the same as when his brother was in middle school.

That's just the ones that come to mind. Yes, we're still settling and it takes time, patience, and discernment. But we're getting there (especially when everyone stays well).