This is new and unusual:

I don't have anything to bitch about! Really!

I approached my supervisor a couple of weeks ago about a possible change in my schedule. Since I couldn't figure out any way to make the currently available shifts work to my husband's satisfaction or being available to my kids when they need me AND make me happy, I offered up this solution:

Work from 4 a.m. - 8 a.m. (giving the lab an extra phleb for morning run)
Go home (when the kids start school is when this will be most crucial, since the kids will be going to seperate schools this year)
Go back to work from 10 a.m. - 4:30 p.m. (giving the lab a "floater," someone to help out when the ER gets busy or the floors get busy, or just to log and load specimens, although when I proposed the idea, the lab director was talking about having two ER shifts/day)

She kind of hemmed and hawed about the idea, so I took it to the lab director. He said it might just work, and I've been on the new schedule for a week now.

A lot of people have said, "Ugh, I'd rather just have my day over with! If I came to work at 4, I'd want to be out by 2!" This is really working for my family, though, and I really like having that two-hour break in the middle of my day. The family seem to be happy with it, too. The kids don't seem to be as upset when they know I have to work the next day, and Corey's feeling less neglected. Also, my days off feel more like days off, and I don't feel quite as exhausted. Woohoo!

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Corey's getting more involved with the kids, slowly but surely. It's been a work in progress since about a year or so ago.

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The rain! Holy gods, the rain! Thank you very much! REALLY! Keep 'er comin'! I can't remember the last time we had such a beautiful monsoon season. A few heavy rains seperated by once-a-day sprinklings. Gorgeous! And it's less than 75 degrees outside, on an Arizona summer night! In AUGUST!!! I'll take the slight ache in my shoulder for the respite from the drought.

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One week and half a day 'til Texas and my fabulous cousin. I can't wait! I'm ready to start packing now! But I'm, er, pacing myself.
{//[PROCRASTINATING]//}
Ahem.

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And this is "Shark Week," as my darling Christine is so fond of calling it, and we're not just talking Discovery Channel. And I've only fantasized about killing two or three people - none of them are even MALE, if you can believe THAT. It's like some kind of miracle! Or something!
Oooooooooooooooh...maybe this is like some kind of anti-PMS, where I get all euphoric and stuff.
Meh, who cares? Just good stuff, and I'll take it, dammit! LOL!

the last trail...the next path