Life with a 3rd Shifter

(I told ya I promised to write more blogs!)

This blog has been on my mind and heart for a while. My husband picked up a third shift job about a year ago. This was a the same time I converted to working from home. It literally turned our schedules upside down. We were two people working 9AM-5PM Monday-Friday for many, many years. We had a routine. We had a schedule. At first, it was an incredibly hard adjustment, but after a lot of trial an error, we finally found something that works for us.

I am incredibly thankful for a husband who works full time to provide for his family. He endures crappy hours for the greater good. Beyond work, he stays determined to stick to his prior commitments outside of his family life. Even more so, I am thankful he has a job he enjoys, and an employer who treats him so well!! They are caring, genuinely interested in their workers, and flexible. You can't find all those qualities in more employers. But don't let me fool you... third shift can still be tough.

The world still goes on. I have a husband who works a 12 hour shift and gets home at 6AM. Need to run errands? Doctor visits? Pay bills? Guess what? He sacrifices sleep to get everyday tasks done. Most places are only open 9-5, so he's forced to meet their schedules. We try to schedule on his days off, but it's not always feasible.

No more family meals on work days. I usually do not get off work until 5PM or later, and with my husband leaving around 5:45PM- there's not much room for dinner together in between. (I mean- unless it's cereal). We used to eat dinner together every day. Now, it's whatever he can grab, and he's out the door.

Adapting to cooking smaller portions. When I try to cook for myself, I have to make smaller portions. I usually still cook for two, so one of us can eat leftovers. I miss cooking full meals, but I just find it silly to cook a big meal for myself.

My husband never knows what day it is. Poor Joe can't remember if it's Thursday or Friday. When you work multiple nights in a row, I would say it's hard to keep track of the days. When it's after midnight, does he say it's still today or tomorrow?!

The misery when someone calls him repeatedly at 11AM, and he's trying to sleep. Would you like someone to call you at 3AM to chat?

Even on his day off, we still operate on different schedules. I still wake up when he's headed to bed.

I believe the hardest thing of all is the amount of time we actually have to see each other throughout the week. Like I said, before we were both home around 6PMish and had the entire night to spend with one another. Now... his two days off seem almost nonexistent. In the blink of an eye, they are over, so we try to take advantage of them the best we can.

The Working Reality

 First, before you read this post and assume I am complaining, I am fortunate to be able to work remotely. It has been a true blessing to our family, as we hit a few bumps in the road. What I mean by bumps, is off-roading, need an ATV, mountains to get over. A question I get sooo many times- how do I get your job? I want to work from home and sit around all day!

What people don't often realize is the reality of working remotely. Although this doesn't cover it all, it's probably the top reasons I hear from people who want to work from home.

You get to wear pajamas all day! This is totally true. I do get to wear more comfortable clothes than skirts and heels. After almost eight years in an office five days a week, I didn't have ANY "normal" clothes to wear besides business attire. Now you're probably thinking, I wear my fancy yoga pants and corresponding tee. To be honest, it's usually my pajamas from the night before, and I don't ever match. You can bet there is some sort of ink and/or coffee stain. I hardly ever "get ready", and when I do, my husband or mother says, "Wow! you put on real pants today!"

Can you do me a favor? Run an errand, pick this up, etc? No, no I can't. Do you know why? I have a REAL job and things to do. Yes, I work remotely, but that doesn't mean I have any less of a workload or job. Most days I am lucky to even feed myself. In office, I was more apt to walk away and take a real lunch or break. I still have deadlines conference calls, resumes to review, and emails to answer.

You don't have to deal with coworkers. Well, this is also true. I don't have to make awkward chit chat and ask about your weekend wasting twenty minutes of time. Without this distraction, I am able to be a lot more productive. On the flip side, the majority of the time there is very little interaction beyond a brief call or email. There's days I crave real human interaction. My husband works nights, so our scheduling doesn't allow a lot of time for full conversations. I'm usually waiting to talk to him when he comes home, at which point he stares blankly because he just worked a 12 hour shift, and it's 6AM. I sometimes chat with the cats, but they are never interested in what I have to say.

You get to work whenever you want!  I still work a standard work week- Monday through Friday 8AM-5PM. I think the hardest part of working from home is learning to clock-out. I struggled with this for the longest time, but doing better. In my job, your work is never done There's always one more place to source, one more candidate to contact, one more resume to review. Supporting managers across the world, also means I am working in literally every time zone.Before or after my work schedule, I catch myself thinking, "Well, I'll just hop on a moment." Or, "Let me answer this email really quick." Two hours later, I'm still working. 

So, yes, working remotely does have both pros and cons. Believe me when I say it takes an incredibly organized, self-motivated, and dedicated person. Why would you like to work from home?

Why Not? Wednesday- e.l.f. Essential Lipstick $1.00

It's Wednesday! Half way through the week. Thank goodness!! This is the first week I've been fully functional at work and partially functional at home. I only say partially because I've been exhausted. I'm talking like come home at 7PM and falling asleep. One of my coworkers even text me yesterday to make sure I was awake.

I was in a rush to get to work today. Wednesdays I have an 8:30 AM call that pretty much dominates my morning. It also seems that every Wednesday something happens... running late, speeding ticket, laptop crashed. Today- I was awake, on time, and ready to go. Before walking in the door to work, I quickly checked in the mirror to make sure I'm presentable. I thought holy smokes... this lop color is super gorgeous. I actually wear it often and just purchased my second tube.I was hesitant about purchasing because it was a whole $1.00. I thought Why not?

These are from elf cosmetics- Essential Lipstick. These colors are Sociable, Classy, Nostalgic. They are smooth and moisturizing. They are not waxy or sticky- my BIGGEST lip product pet peeve. I do have to reapply around lunch, so it's definitely not one that lasts all day long. It's not matte but not glossy. It's in between. The pigmentation is hit and miss. I had really AWESOME results out of Classy, but the other two lacked in pigmentation.

1. Sociable- is a reddish pink, with a hint of fuchsia. Fades quicker than the others I tried.

2. Classy- a super, soft pink. Very, very pretty. This is my FAV. It reminds me of the lip color on Miranda Lambert- Mama's Broken Heart video. Like I said, it's my second tube.

3.  Nostalgic- It's a sheer nude, so sheer you can't even see it in the picture. It also makes me look like a zombie. It. Was. Awful. Maybe I just got a bum one. The texture isn't even the same as the others.

Overall, I would say they are mediocre. I had two misses and one hit. Would I tell you to go buy them now? No. Would I tell you if interested buy one or two to try? Yes. For a dollar, it's not too big of a loss. And, if it doesn't work out, give it to a friend.

 You can check out these lipsticks and more by visiting their website. Prepare to splurge.

Also, you can purchase at your local drugstore. :)

PS I won a Maybelline The Smokes palette on Ebay! It should be here by early next week. I am so EXCITED!

Creative Crunch- View of the Backlog

It's Monday. M. O. N. D. A. Y.

This Monday was definitely a Monday. Rough start this morning, dealing with a sunburn (<--- perfect topic for Why Not? Wednesday), a STYE, construction, a ton of emails, backing up my old laptop, working with IT for my new laptop, and rain. I'm not complaining about the rain though because my poor, sickly yard needed it.

I come home, follow routine, and needed something out of my office. My office... is currently the catch-all of the house piled with totes, stuff I need to donate, and a backlog of crafts. I used to craft quite often, and then life just happened. I have piles and boxes of half finished crafts or never even start crafts. I couldn't even tell you the last thing I created... which is sad. I seriously have a backlog and  a list of crafts I need to complete.

My next idea... I need a crafting group. Once a month, affordable pinterest project, wine, chocolate, and the company of one another. Would you be interested? Even if you're not crafty, we can at least have a good time. Shoot. I'll make my craft and your's. I need a creative outlet. I mean, I have my blog, but I want to build, paint, sew, SOMETHING.

Needless to say I've been in somewhat of a creative crunch. My heart says yes, but my brain says no. Not so much my brain, but my body. I'm pooped by the end of the day, and the weekends are filled with errands and laundry. To keep me on track... I'm posting for the world to see my top priority crafts (so you can hold me accountable):

 

 

It's going to be cuteeeeee.

1. Adding frilly extenders and width to now-too-small shirts. First, don't judge me. Second, I LOVE these shirts and can't bring myself to get rid of them, so after some pinning I found a way to combine the two. I don't like the tutorials I found, so I am winging it. I have this almost metallic blue button up that needs a little extra room, but I also have this sheer, flowy top that just isn't my style anymore.

 2. This project has been on the back-burner for sometime. I inherited the bag for my birthday; well, it had a gift in it too. I fell in LOVE with the print. I want to frame the print. I want to old, decorative frames that I can paint to coordinate with the colors. If I could find some gorgeous wood frames I would settle for that as well. I HATE to buy the frames new, so I have been scouring local thrift stores in hopes of finding something. I would like two frames preferably bigger than an 8X10.






3. This. This is the best of the best. A friend bought this for my birthday, but it's not your average color by number... It's the adult version. I want to finish this, but I need to be in the right mindset. Haha. I also need both eyes to work properly (without a stye). Oh yeah... best thing about it, it's CATS.

Here's to my commitment to finish these, and then start on the 100s of others hanging out in my office.