70 Hour Week

Daddy at 8:30am after getting of his seventh day of work. Corbin had a doctor's appointment 10:00am. I was going to try to hang out with him and just stay awake until we went to the doctor. I lasted for about twenty minutes.

So I got my shift switched from the last half of the week nightshift to the first half of the week nightshift. What does that mean? That in order to get my full forty hours for the two weeks, I had to work seven days straight. It was rough, and I'm so excited that I finally made it to my weekend. I am in serious need of some R&R (i.e. napping, movie watching, playing with Corbin, eating out, being awake during the daylight hours).

I've been meaning to write to all of those who didn't hear the update at Corbin's baby blessing but I finally earned my first trainer's approval to move onto phase two of the program. At the beginning of last week he told me one of three things was going to happen, and it was all in my hands. One, I would show him some dramatic improvement and get moved on to phase two. Two, I would be sent to receive additional prescriptions training. Three, I would receive "the invitation." (i.e. "We invite you to seek gainful employment elsewhere.") Obviously, the pressure was on. Fortunately, I had three of my best days ever and Officer Nicholls gave me the green light to move on to phase two. He said that he was "*%$^#* baffled" at the transformation he had seen in me. What a relief!

He sent his recommendation upstairs, but the powers that be determined that they wanted me to get more training. Initially, I did not even care because Officer Nicholls was the one who was going to every call with me, had been watching me struggle and bumble, had been wondering if I was ever going to get the hang of things, and he had signed off on me. That was a hard earned endorsement and if the administration wanted to prescribe me some more, so be it.

Unfortunately, prescription means starting off with a new trainer and having him form his impression of me from the level I am at now. So he doesn't get to see the progress I've made, he only gets to see what I'm still lacking. Add on top of that switching into the new shift with my new trainer after a full week of work and I was looking to face quite a challenge. I guess that this is the purpose of the program - to stretch you every day. Things were pretty rough starting out, but my last night went alright. But when my new trainer said something about "in order for you to pass this prescription," it raised again in my mind the specter of getting fired, a ghost I was so excited to have banished just three days earlier.

Anyway, I'm just really excited to get a chance to rest and spend some time with my two favorite people. How lucky am I?