Wow...we never stop having to learn, adjust, adapt and accept, do we? I'm not that old but I'm old enough to want stability, sameness, simplicity...I want the same thing day in, day out, day after day...after day, after day, after day!
A new realization hit me an hour or so ago...this new job of Petey's with it's new schedule and new location and the big move and everything else also means a new way of housekeeping and scheduling of the day for me.
Let me 'splain...as Desi would say...
With Petey's old schedule, he would often arrive home jet-lagged and sleep-deprived. He would sleep some and then try to stay up to be able to go to sleep at our normal bedtime. He would try to get on Texas-time and home schedule as quickly as possible.
Then we would both be on the normal sleep-wake cycle for the 2 weeks or so that he was home until he went to work again. My daily schedule pretty much stayed the same all the time except for the occasional middle of the night or really early morning drive to the airport to drop off or pick up Petey.
So Petey gets home about 10am this morning. He's flown all night long, only sleeping a few restless hours here and there. I could tell he was tired but he had an important doctor appointment so no time to sleep now.
He was nodding off in the waiting room...made it through the appointment ok...we've found a GREAT doctor for his psoriatic arthritis!! I insisted on driving home...he promptly fell asleep in the car and slept the whole way home.
I fed him lunch, which he kept nodding off during, and then put him to bed. I just woke him up at 5pm cause I thought maybe he'd like to be awake for awhile before our actual bedtime. I was talking to him a little while he sat on the couch and his eyes were rolling back in his head as he was falling asleep while I was talking to him. Back to bed you go!
Then it dawned on me...he leaves again tomorrow night and flies all night long to Amsterdam. There's no reason...no incentive...for him to go to bed tonight at our normal bedtime. It would actually be better if he slept for the rest of the day, was awake for most of the night, slept during the day tomorrow and then he'd be on the right schedule for flying all night tomorrow night.
While he's been sleeping I've been working hard to do quiet things and keep the dogs quiet. I've thought of a number of housekeeping chores I need to do but they make noise and might disturb Petey's sleep.
And that's when it hit me...this isn't just for today...this is how it's going to be! He's going to be in and out of here on a regular basis...a day gone, then home, then gone a couple days, then home, then gone a day or so, then home...not like with Evergreen where he was gone 2-3 weeks, then home 2 weeks.
So I'm going to learn a new way of ordering my days! When he's awake, I need to make it a priority to do the noise-making chores like emptying the dishwasher and vacuuming and such.
And when he's sleeping, I'll do my quiet activities...which are awesome! I just sat and crocheted for an hour...ahhhhhhh = ) I've been unpacking my craft room and I can spend hundreds of hours in there doing quiet things. Pretty please!!! hahahaha
But I can also pay bills online and straighten and polish woodwork and other quiet chores...doesn't have to be just fun quiet stuff.
And doing this blog too! That's quiet...I should start a list.
Anyhow, I told Petey I wouldn't wake him up again...he could sleep until he woke up naturally. Even when he worked at Evergreen, he rarely slept more than 4-6 hours at a stretch. His body has been trained to sleep when it's tired and be awake when it's not and we've learned it's much better when he doesn't try to fight either of those conditions.
The question now becomes, can Petey stay quiet when I need to sleep??? Might need to invest in a really good, comfortable pair of ear plugs!
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