How's Work?

Question of the week:  "So how do you like your new job?" 

Answer of the week:  "Ask me when I work out the sleeping part." 

Sleep consumes my thoughts now.  I wake up thinking about when I can go back to sleep.  When I'm sleeping, I dream about sleeping...like for a full 24 hours with no interruptions.  Sleep has become my new master.  Which is good in one sense, because it has replaced eating.  So, there's that bonus. 

Here's the thing, just so you don't think I'm lazy.  Which I can be.  But not this time.  This time I am tired because I work second shift and then get home at 2 a.m. and get to bed at about 2:30 in the morning.  Then I get up at 6:30 to take the kids to school, because with this work shcedule, it's the only time I see them.  I think we covered this in a previous blog post, right?  Anyway...I may or may not come home and go back to bed for a few hours after getting them to school, depending on whether or not we have appoinments and how much house work needs to be done, etc.  So I am not getting a ton of sleep.  And my body and brain know it.  They are mad at me and starting to shut down.  So I've been walking around in a fog the last few days, trying to get my bearings.  People think I'm stoned or stupid.  I'm neither.  Okay, I have been stupid before, but that's not the problem now.  I'm FREAKING TIRED!  So if I seem cross and grumpy?  It's because I'M TIRED!  As in NO SLEEP!  And if I get an attitude? Don't take it personal.  Just back off.  Or offer me a pillow and a Snuggi. 

My friend works 2nd shift.  She's been doing it for 6 years.  I asked her how long it took her to get used to the schedule.  She said 6 years.  Great.  Only 5 years, 11 months and 2.5 weeks to go til I feel normal again!

Spring Break

We've been on Spring Break this week. It's been nice to slow down a little and relax. I'm not good with rigid schedules, but school forces me to be more structured with my time for 9 months out of the year. Something inside me really struggles with being forced into a routine and so the breaks throughout the year give me a chance to let down so my wierd, structure-fighting, inner rebel can breathe easy for a few days. I like to sleep til 7 or 7:30 (if Little Man will let me) during these breaks and ease into my morning instead of having to jump up and hit the floor running at 6 a.m. Big Brother LOVES him some sleeping in too, I have to wake him or he would sleep til 10 or 11 a.m.!

We get 2 weeks for Spring Break, so this week we did doctor appointments and had friends over. Next week we'll hit the zoo or a movie or the Air Force show and have some fun. Then it's back to the grind and the structure and it will take a week after that to shove my rebeling spirit back into its place for a few more months.

By the time summer hits my regimen hating, Martha Stewart eschewing alter ego comes out full force because it's too freakin' hot to even think about structure or organization. I go into full-on combat survival mode and just focus on trying not to use foul language everytime I walk out the door as the heat hits me in the face like a blast furnace! I can't talk about it anymore...war memories.

One more week to enjoy the beautiful weather, to enjoy my kids, to enjoy being. I'm lettin' the Organizationally Challenged freak flag fly this week folks.