Updates on what is going on here and now… (an almost diary entry)

It’s January on the Hillside Homestead and I have been out of the habit of writing lately, so I have vowed to prioritize that more in the upcoming months. After about five months of working on the day shift I am back to working on the night shift again, at least partially. I miss having a regular sleep schedule again, but am trying to lead with gratitude. So here is a list of the positive aspects of living my life as a vampire… again.

1. I have so much downtime between work responsibilities that I can plan out projects (tonight I built a terrible 3-D model of what our greenhouse dimensions will be)
2. Less oversight from coworkers and supervisors because they are all asleep!
3. More time at home during daylight hours (although I should be sleeping during that time)
4. I get paid an extra hour for a meal premium since I am unable to clock out for a lunch break at night
5. And last but not least, remembering that this is only temporary until Ms. Boss-Lady can find a new NOC Guy

Now as much as I am grateful to have a job, especially one so close to our rural home, I know that this is tough on the family all over again. In the past two and a half years that Rory and I have been together, we have spent more nights apart than we have together, by a long shot. I have steadily worked night shift jobs for the majority of our relationship and when I transferred to days at my current job, I promised Rory that I would do everything I could to make sure I never had to spend so many nights away from her and the kids again.

Sadly, a few days ago, the person who I had trained to be my replacement passed suddenly in an accident and Ms. BossLady was scrambling trying to figure out what to do to make sure our facility stayed staffed, so myself and another team member agreed to temporarily take on the night shift duties. It’s not something that anyone really wanted, but I couldn’t imagine our facility shutting down and all of us losing our jobs. I guess about six months before I started here that actually happened. Everyone came to work one day and were all sadly told that they no longer had a job, and that fear has been looming over me since I started here and heard that from a few of my coworkers.

That fear has led me to push harder into my side hustles, though. I hate knowing that in our current society we are expected to kill ourselves working for companies that make others rich, and barely allow us to survive. I want to be better able to support my family, while not sacrificing every waking moment I have with them.