In some respects it's been a rough summer, particularly this month.
It's also been an active, fun summer at the same time.
Let's get the shitty stuff out of the way first, shall we?
Punky's dad's workplace announced a last-minute two-week mandatory shutdown for the first two weeks of July, causing us to lose half of his income for the month. It wouldn't have been too bad to digest if we hadn't already planned such a busy summer, but it left us having to cancel some camping trips and stuff in order stay on top of the bills.
When he returned to work after the shutdown, the company announced a change in schedule starting mid-August. He'd been working a seven-day rotation, swing shift no less, for two years straight. It had its drawbacks, like the fact that he only had one weekend off a month, but it had its benefits, too. His days off normally fell during the week so he was able to handle all of the inconvenient errand stuff, like oil changes, bank visits, and such. It also meant that Punky only had to go to daycare three days a week and, between his days off and rotating shifts, there was a good chance he was able to take her to the doctor and stay with her when she got sick, which greatly minimized the time I needed to miss work. They are now switching to a five-day swing shift rotation, Monday through Friday, with every weekend off.
His new schedule means we need to send Punky to school five days a week, increasing our daycare costs by $200/month. Once again, it wouldn't be too bad if all other factors remained the same, but this new five-day schedule also brings a lower paycheck. On seven-day, he worked most weekends and they were at higher, overtime rates. Now that's gone. So, between the extra needed for daycare and the income lost on this schedule, we are out more like $400/month and that's a tough number to swallow, especially while we are still trying to recover from his income loss in the July shutdown.
Once they finally got everything mapped out and all the employees reassigned to fit into this new schedule, we suffered another blow. Well, actually me. He made out rather well in the deal; I'm the one paying the price. He was transferred to a different department, and that department only works solid first shift. So, for the first time in years, he is working a normal M-F, 7-3 schedule. No more rotating shifts, no more working weekends, no more trying to manage a crazy, ever-changing sleep schedule. I, on the other hand, get to drag my ass out of bed at five a.m. every day so I can get myself ready for work before waking Punky, feeding her breakfast, getting her dressed, brushing her teeth, combing her hair, and rushing her out the door by seven to drop her off at daycare and get myself to work on time. Every. Single. Weekday.
Taking Punky to daycare every morning, as opposed to the three days a month I used to, is especially trying given the fact that on school days it's next to impossible to get her to sleep at a reasonable hour. I wake her up early, she's exhausted so she naps the full two hours they allow at daycare, and then it's after eleven at night and I'm still fighting with her to go to sleep. So then she's exhausted in the morning, and naps the afternoon away at school, and won't sleep again at bedtime. It's a vicious cycle, I tell you. We are now two weeks into this new schedule and I'm exhausted. And the thought of having to do this through the cold, snowy, miserable winter mornings ahead makes me want to vomit. Add bad roads into the mix and I'll be getting up at four a.m. So much for the wonderful, new sleep habits I've managed to develop over the past few months.
In the midst of all these financial blows, my car decided it was the perfect time to self-destruct. I've had it over five years, and I've never put any money into it other than for the expected, basic maintenance stuff, so I suppose it was about due. It's been at the garage for almost a week waiting on the part needed to fix it and make it safe to drive again. I don't fully understand all the technical car speak, but it's something about a bad axle bearing ruining the shaft which could cause the front axle to drop right out of the car while going down the highway. Not good. I do, however, fully understand the $1,000 it's going to cost to fix it and the fact that September will be an extremely tough month financially, like ramen noodles for dinner tough.
With my car out of commission, Punky's dad borrowed his mom's car so I could use his truck to get to work. Yesterday I had to leave work a half hour early to go rescue them when her car broke down after he picked Punky up at school. Right now he is out buying an alternator to fix her car so we can both make it to work on Monday. Oh, and did I mention that his truck was at the garage earlier this morning for its yearly inspection? It needed front brakes to pass, of course. You had to see that coming. I swear, I couldn't make this shit up if I tried.
News on the family front hasn't been much better. My dad returned to Manhattan two weeks ago for his first post-surgery appointment. Initially he was told it would be three to four months until they could do the follow-up surgery and finish the hip replacement. Knowing our luck, I really thought it would be more like six months and fall just in time for Christmas thus ruining the holiday. If only. As it turned out, they have scheduled the second surgery for May 13th. Yes, eleven months and two days after the first. The doctors explained that they only have one shot at this so the longer they wait, the better. They can only see so much from the outside, and if they go in too soon and the bones aren't ready, that's it. They can't go back in again.
As hard as this news is on my normally super-active dad, I think it's even worse for my mom. He gets around okay with the crutches and wheelchair, but my mom needs to do most of the chores he used to handle plus help him with everyday tasks like showering and getting dressed. He'll be miserable when the bad weather hits and he's stuck indoors, but he can't risk slipping on the ice and snow. One fall and it's all over. And, of course, they are forecasting a cold, storm-filled winter ahead. No chance of a repeat of last year's mild, snowless winter. May can't come fast enough.
And I've still been struggling with finding time to write, which especially sucks now since it's my main outlet and obviously needed in light of recent events.
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