The inside scoop

As our time in Arizona is coming to a close, I find myself desperately trying to soak up all of the good things here.


Yesterday in church, I had a moment.  A moment where I looked at some of the people in our ward and realized that soon I will possibly never see them again.  And my heart sank.  I had to swallow the lump in my throat and blink my eyes a few extra times.  


Oh, how I am going to miss our friends, the weather, the primary kids, my primary presidency, our house, our friends, and did I mention....our friends?


But of all the things I am going to miss, there is one thing I will NOT miss.  


Shift work.


Oh, shift work, you've put me through the ringer a time or two.  But you have taught me a thing or two (or twenty) as well.


Several months ago I remember talking to my sister on the phone about my shift work struggles.  I was complaining to her about who knows what, but I remember telling her I didn't think it was something that I could blog about at the time.  I told her there wasn't a way for me to express our schedule without sounding like I was complaining and wanted sympathy.  And that's not what I wanted at all.  I told her I was comfortable with where I was at, and for the most part our crazy schedule seemed normal.  And truly, I was happy.  Truly.  Being the amazing sister that she is, she understood me.  She told me when shift work was a thing of the past, I should blog about it.  That way I could really talk about our shift work lives, and not feel like I was complaining or making my life seem less happy than it really was.


And you know what?  That's exactly what I am going to do.  


Oh, where do I start?  


First off.  Maybe I should start by explaining Dan's schedule.  Whether I believe it or not, I have a feeling that as the years go by, I may not be able to remember the schedule that has been so much a part of our lives these last (almost) two years.


Shift work consists of alternating nights and days.  Where Dan works, the sets of day/nights are either 3 or 4 days/nights.  The shift is technically a 12 hour shift (6:00-6:00).  But we live about 50 minutes away from the mine and Dan actually works in the mine so he has to change his clothes and catch a bus that rides 20 minutes to the truck shop.  So, actually he is gone from 4:30pm to 7:45am, when he is working night shift, and 4:30am-7:45pm when he works day shift.  Still with me?


Now, for the actual monthly schedule.  It looks something like this:


work 4 nights
3 days off
work 3 days
1 day off
work 3 nights
3 days off
work 4 days
7 days off


Then repeat.


Got it? (Believe it or not, I have that schedule memorized.)  Now, looks can be deceiving.  It works out to be even days off as work days, but then you have to consider the first day off after every night shift is spent sleeping for at least half the day, so it's not quite even.


The 7 days off looks pretty sweet as well...and it can be, but you have to remember that not all of society has 7 days off so if you want to hang out with your friends, you're still gonna have to wait 'til the weekend.  It is extremely nice for traveling or vacations, but that can be expensive, so you don't want to do that every 7 off.  I will admit, we have had some nice, long trips to see family that were made possible because of that wonderful 7 off.


So there you have it.  Our shift work schedule.  Oddly enough, this schedule is our normal.  There was a time when I never thought it would feel normal, but we joke that the 8-5 schedule that we lived before was in a former life because it seems so long ago.  :)


Since I am feeling a little sad about us moving, here's a few things to look forward to once we move:


-Family dinner.  I am SO looking forward to having Dan HOME for dinner, or breakfast, or lunch for that matter.  When he works, Alayna and I eat all our meals without him.  
-Having Dan at church EVERY Sunday.  He is only able to go to church twice a month on this schedule.


-FHE on Monday nights.  We had to change Family Home Evening to whatever evening he had off that week.  Most of the time it was not on Mondays, and the days would change weekly.


-Dan's help with the kids at night.  When either working nights or days, Dan is gone for the bedtime routines.


-I am also excited for him to be home every night.  I seriously have been so blessed when it has come to night shifts.  I have never felt scared that Dan was gone, but I do miss him.  There is something about having your spouse home with you during the night.


-Alayna getting to see her Daddy every day.  Due to Dan having to wake up at 4:30 in the morning and getting home at almost 8 at night while working day shifts, he would not get to see Alayna for 3 or 4 days straight.  I don't know who that is harder on; Dan or Alayna?


-Talking to Dan during the day.  Employees where Dan works are not allowed to have cell phones with them.  Most of the time I would go up to 16 hours a day without talking to Dan.  This caused me to be extremely independent.  I had to make all the decisions while he was gone.  There was no calling to ask where he put something, or to ask his opinion on a business matter, or to tell him one of the kids was sick or to tell him my plans had changed and I had to take the kids to a last minute meeting or to just tell him I was thinking about him.  If there was an emergency, I had to call the truck shop directly through his boss' line.  Luckily, we have been completely blessed and I didn't NEED to call him for any emergencies, except for 4 days ago when I had a severe allergic reaction. (Thanks to my amazing friend Holly for taking Alayna.  You were a complete lifesaver!)


-Dan not being tired ALL the time.  Let's face it, shift work messes with your body.  It makes you completely tired.  You never feel like you can catch-up on sleep.  And just when you start feeling better, it's time for another night shift.


-Most importantly, I am excited to have Dan home MORE!  He currently works 16 hour days and soon he will be working 8 hour days.  He is cutting his hours in HALF!  I am so excited to have him around more.  




There are so many positives, that maybe I can take this move on.  12 more days and Wyoming will be our new home!