Charles? Charles Who?

Although seeing and reading about the kids is obviously more entertaining than hearing about us... for those curious minds out there who wonder what's up with Crissy and Charles... and what job he is doing now, (I know, it's hard to keep up) here is our update.

Charles:


Well Charles is, as always, a very busy guy. 3 days a week he works a 12 hour shift at a cardiac ICU. There he takes care of patients who have had heart attacks or who have severe heart failure.

Charles also has a weekend job. He does Home Health Care every Saturday and Sunday. Here he makes about 20 visits to elderly folks who cannot give themselves their own insulin. One of the places he visits is the same place my Grandparents live. So every once in a while he will stop in and visit, and sometimes, (by the orchestration of my Grandma) he will give my Grandpa a shave... if Grandpa permits it! ;)

He also has another job as a Nursing Supervisor. This job is his favorite. This is where he gets to play Hospital Administrator while the real one is at home sleeping. Here he gets to sit in an office and wait for people to call him with trivial crap. Okay no, but really... he acts as a pharmacist, a coordinator of patient care between different departments, and he also runs the code team. What's a code team you ask? Have you ever heard, "Code blue! Code blue!" That's when a patient either stops breathing or their heart stops beating. A team is then called in to perform CPR and give medications. Needless to say, it can be an exciting job. But even if night is slow, it is ALSO the perfect job. It is a job where he can get paid to... get some homework done... take a nap, or get caught up on all his TV shows that he never has time to watch at home. Sounds like a great job... and it is, but unfortunately he only has the "tip of his toe" through that door and only gets assigned one night a month, or more if anyone wants to give up a shift or two. He's actually "under-qualified" but has been lucky to get what little time and experience that he has.

Sound busy enough? Now add going to school FULL TIME. Yes. He is working on his Masters in Business Administration with an emphasis in Health Care Management. Why, you ask. Well, he enjoys the business side of Health Care more, but more importantly... so he will only have to work one job, my friend!

.....I dream of the day when he can work a normal 40 hours a week and then come home at 5 each night, and be DONE. And also be HOME on the weekends! Not to mention having his holidays back. It sounds too good to be true.....

Charles has class every Monday night and then spends all the time between classes reading assignments, writing papers, and meeting with group members to work on stupid group projects. He is doing amazingly well, and I would just like to say that it is sickening to me that he has yet to receive a grade less than an A in any of his classes. (barf.) Charles will be done with his MBA in December of this year, and will complete his emphasis around May of next year.

So, with 3 jobs, and school, does he have time for anything else? Not really. But he makes time. Out of thin air. Well, okay, not thin air, but he cuts time out of his sleep to spend with the boys. Every minute he is home, he plays with those boys like there is no tomorrow. And once they go to bed he is off to study into the wee hours of the night. Which makes for a very tired Charles... But most days he pulls off his fatigue quite gracefully. He's amazing.



I get to see him every now and then. We used to try and have date night once a week. Then it became once every other week, and now we are lucky if it is once a month. I think we missed the last two months in a row. Things are hard at times... but lots of people deal with this kind of thing. And there is light at the end of the tunnel. I know I will get my husband back, and we will have more time together then ever before. So much that we'll probably even get sick of each other! He works very hard for all of us, and we are very lucky to have him. We savor every minute we get with him.

Aaaand this posting is already way too long to add anything about me. Maybe next time. I know, you're just dying to read about my exciting everyday life. The suspense really will kill you. I know! Prepare to be dazzled! :)