Our Schedule

Since we didn't see a lot of Chris the 3 years that we lived in Arizona, we are often asked if his schedule is any better. The answer would be yes and no. On months when he is not on hospital service, yes a million times over. However, on months--like January-- when he is on hospital service, the answer would be not so much. Since the not so good schedule has been such a huge part of our married life, I am, for the most part, pretty independent--and perfectly capable of doing things on my own. However, some places such as credit card companies, utility companies, and most recently the DMV beg to differ. Even though I am on the account and am an authorized user, I am often unable to discuss things unless Chris is their with me. So when I called the DMV today and was informed that I cannot register the car without Chris there in person, I was somewhat annoyed. I have registered all of our cars solo in the past, but apparently I cannot do this one--it might have something to do with having out of state plates, or what our title says, I am not sure, whatever the reason, it's very inconvenient seeing as how the soonest that Chris might be able to come to the DMV--operative word being might--is 2 weeks from yesterday. He might be able to squeeze it in sooner, but I will have to find out tomorrow when I see him--yes tomorrow!
So now after that long complaining bit, and that I probably have a captive audience of 1, I thought I would explain Chris's schedule a little since we are often asked about how it works.
Chris is "on call" 6-7 times a month. This generally means that you work 24-36 hours in a row and that you stay at the hospital--stay, not sleep, he is generally running around crazy the whole time. So for example, this month he goes to work between 5:30-6:30 am depending on what he has going on, and gets home about 6-6:30ish. If he is "on call" he comes home the following day between 1:30-3ish, and generally crashes until dinner, eats with us, and then goes back to bed (unless there is a good football game on!) to start the whole process over. On top of this, he is also getting his master's of public health, so he goes to class a few days a week (someone at work covers his babies for the hour or so he is at class), and then has to do homework at night. He also picks up a few moonlighting shifts (extra shifts that pay a little extra) so that we can do things like preschool (for me, a necessity in life!). Some of these shifts happen while he is already at work, so he kills 2 birds with one stone--we love that! This sounds complainyish, but it's not meant to be, it's just how it is. Chris LOVES his job, and I love that he has been able to help so many families. I know that if the situation were reversed, I would want a doctor as kind and patient as he is. We still miss him at home though!! And I will be the first to admit that by the end of these months, I am a little grumpy!
On the months he is not on service, he still has class and call, but he doesn't have to go in until 4:30 on weekdays and 8 am on weekends (weekend are still 24 hour shifts), and he gets off at 8. But those months work out great because he generally studies at home so he can watch Addie when I go volunteer in Kennedy's class, or both S and A if I need to go somewhere childfree during the day like get my haircut. So off service months are beautiful and have allowed him to spend more time with the kids. He loves it because he has been here when Addie has done things for the first time, something that he didn't get too see a lot of with the older 2. And the kids love seeing him. He is able to help pick them up from school, and he even was able to go on a field trip with Kennedy.
So anyways, that is our schedule. It's crazy but it's what we are used to. I have had to relax about toys not always being put away and laundry sitting unfolded or in the dryer for a few days until I get a chance to do it, and I have had many solo Sundays dragging 3 kids to church by myself, but we manage to get things done eventually!

And that is the extremely too long and boring explanation as to why Chris and I might not make it back to the DMV for another 2 weeks!