Managing Work and Life

 Work and Life: A Sweet Balance:

       I'm sooo excited to say I finally am back on the schedule at work. After all my hospitalizations in October and Gastrointestinal issues in November and December, I finally starting getting everything back to "normal- non-sick life." I started to feel better around Christmas and was all set that I was going to go back the first week of January, but my lung function was still down and I had to go on another round of antibiotics ( luckily, oral and NOT IVs this time). I finally finished my antibiotics and my lung function is back in the mid 50s. I'm still not happy with where it is at, considering I was at 64% in October, but I'm going to keep working at it. However, I'm done with meds, feeling quite a lot better, and I'm so excited to go back to work. I feel very fortunate. Fortunate that :

       1.) During the last 2 months while dealing with GI issues that I didn't have to worry about working, getting lung function back, gaining weight, and my stomach problems all at the same time. Let's just say that if I'm working a 6-8 hour shift and I'm the only employee working the last 4 hours, it means no bathroom breaks, and with GI problems that was not gonna work. So thankfully, Andrew was okay with me taking time off to focus on my health and get back on track. Which did help a lot and now I'm in such a better place health wise!

       2.) Where I work they were okay with me taking time off to get better and still kept me in the loop about employee fun nights etc, even on leave they treated me like a team member.
       3.) They are willing to change my hours, so that I no longer close the store. Don't get me wrong I loved being closer, a lot of our "regulars" come in later at night and I enjoy chatting about movies to them. However, closing at 12am, means leaving at 12:30, runs end of night store/ closer errands, etc, and by the time I get home its after 1am. So night meds and sleep schedule are messed up. Which messes up morning meds, etc. Plus, I have to do an electronic journal at night for the clinical trial, so I need to be home before 11:55pm to submitt that data. Luckily, that are more than willing to change my scheduling to make it easier for me to work!

      I really have missed working for the video store. I loved working at the one Princeton and I love for this one here. I have always wanted to work for a video store. I'm a huge movie buff, but I never thought it would be a long term job. Just a year or two to pay my way through Grad School. However, I love it so much I could see myself staying here (at least part time, while doing my real estate) for quite a few years.
      I mean there are quite a few perks, besides the simple fact I enjoy it. I love competing for the high est sales and commission rates (which I was in top % every week). Being in the top = free unlimited rentals. So of course that is amazing, it saves Andrew and I quite a bit of money (on our movie hobby). It does involve a lot of running around (cleaning, putting stuff away, etc). I mean at the store in Chicago we have people line up on Tuesday morning for the new releases. And we can have over 100 movies returned per hour. So the dropbox is non-stop. It is a non-stop work pace and I don't get breaks, but at least there are no heavy lifting.
      As a server I had to carry heavy trays constantly. Which caused my hernia to get so bad I had to have surgery to fix them this summer. My asthma (type) attacks have gotten worse in the last few years, so carrying stuff for me has gotten really tough. I have lots of energy and can run around doing all the tasks the store asks of me, but it doesn't jeopardize my health at all. So thankful I found this job. After being a Dishwasher (age 16), Babysitter (age 14-present), Nanny (age 24-26), DayCare Teacher, AfterSchool Teacher, Part Time paid Actor (at U of  I), Website Designer & Administrator, Server, Host, Cashier at Dept. Store, now I'm working in a movie store! When I was serving at 2 restaurants and working part time at the video store it was way too much. I loved making the extra money, but my lung function seems to decline if I get working too much. So for now... Just back to the 1 job. I'll work at the video store and in my free time I'm still working on my health and working on real estate.  So excited! It's all about finding a job that suits you. The hours, the physical demand, the amount of energy, etc. Take it all into account. This just seems a good fit for me for now!

Now to enjoy our Cilantro Chicken Dinner and some "Monster's University" (which I bought for $5), and this is how we enjoy our Saturday nights!

Bahahaha with my next nebulizer all set up on the coffee table waiting for me when dinner is over! I seem to always have one lying around. That's what happens when I do 9 nebulizer treatments a day, exactly why finding a job that understands is sooo important!!!