Change of life

It's not the cases... those I can do.

It's not the staff... those folks I love - and, since most of them work some swing shifts, I'm used to working with them already.

It's the rhythm of things... it's the timing I don't have down.

And not necessarily timing at work -

calling the police or the Hotline is no different in the middle of night than during the day.

... no, it's the timing at home.

It's going to bed at 2:30am and, thanks to decades of conditioning, waking at 6:30am.

Do you stay up? Turn over and try to go back to sleep?

Get up, do something productive and then try to take a nap later?

I have worked all my life since age 14 - thanks to 'progressive' New Jersey state law which, back in the day, basically allowed child labor to continue -

so my association with being home during the day is that I must be sick...which obviously explains why I'm spending so much time on the couch or in bed, dozing, watching daytime TV (yikes!) and being half conscious.

Then there's the issue of clothes.

When you work during the day, you get up, get dressed and get out the door.

With my new hours, there's a big quandary...

do I get changed, go out to do something productive, only to come back and get changed again for work? (Should I be worried that that sounds like so much work!?)

Or do I stay in my pjs - OK, a sloppy T-shirt - and wait until getting dressed for work which precludes being out in public until I'm in the car headed for work which eliminates the ability to get anything done!

God help me, I'm one heartbeat away from getting pajama jeans to solve the whole problem!

I could just sleep in those suckers AND then get up and go out!

AND, on really bad snow days, I could still wear them to work, tucked into trendy Ugg boots!

Dear co-worker, whose shift I'm covering so you can stay home with your adorable newborn, things are deteriorating rapidly...

come back soon!

ps: I know it's only the first week... will it get better?