Shift work.
It was the one thing that I feared most when thinking of how our lives were going to change. I thought that the erratic work schedule would be my downfall. I could deal with the danger. I could deal with long hours (Blue did plenty of overtime as a carpenter). I could deal with the craziness and the anonymity of being a police family. But shift work? I don't think so. I wouldn't ever see Blue. He wouldn't ever see the kids. We wouldn't ever spend time getting together with friends again. I wouldn't be able to rely on him for anything...at least that's how it played out in my head.
Truth be told, it's gone swimmingly. Blue kept telling me that we would be spending more time together as a family and that I just needed to give it a shot. I found it hard to believe but I tried to stay optimistic and now he can give point his finger and give me the ol' "I told ya so!" I feel like we have so much more quality time together. Because Blue has four days off in a row in between each shift we are getting things done around the house and the kids are able to get more focused attention from their dad. Instead of needing to pack all of our R&R into two days on the weekend we can space things out.
So far we've only had two hiccups with sorting our new hours out. There was one stretch of days where Blue booked-up his time off with friends and camping and helping some guys out and didn't spend any time with us. That sucked. We argued and realized that the kids and I need more face time with him on his days off. The other time was when I woke him up a bit too early after an evening shift (which ends at 2:30 in the morning). My fault.
Because The Boy is on summer break and the only routine thing that I have during the week is church I'm finding that I'm quickly losing track of days. I often think that it's a Monday when it's actually a Friday or Saturday. I usually go over to the calendar to see what day of the week it is just so that I can sort myself out.
One thing that I told myself going into this life was not to expect Blue to be home right when his shift ends. Days: 7:00 until big question mark. Evenings: 4:30 until big question mark. Nights: 9:30 until big question mark. This way I don't get my expectations up and suffer the disappointment of missed family dinners (note to self: keep a bottle wine handy). I'm trying not to plan anything for him to attend during his stretch of shifts and, for the most part, let him unwind on his first day off.
I've heard it from a number of other police wives and I would have to agree, I'm becoming more independent and learning how to take things in stride. It's good. I think for too long (especially during the baby years) I was glued to Blue. I would get so disappointed and down when he wasn't home for dinner and working on the weekends. Now that I know we have four days together in between each shift I'm able to let-go.
With all that said, it helps that we don't have babies in the house and that I'm not working. I don't know how you wives do it with trying to keep little kids quiet while daddy is trying to sleep!
Sunday, July 24, 2011
Monday, July 18, 2011
The Honeymoon is Over
Blue answered a call for a domestic the other day.
It was between two men.
They were married.
It was an argument over husband number one's beer getting on husband number two's hair extentions.
It was between two men.
They were married.
It was an argument over husband number one's beer getting on husband number two's hair extentions.
Wednesday, July 6, 2011
Safe and Sound
The light began to peek through the curtains by the time Blue crawled into bed. I hadn't noticed that he had worked through the whole night. I must have been really tired.
I rolled over and turned to see him.
"Everything okay?" I croaked.
"Ya, just waiting at the hospital with someone" he mumbled back.
"Love you." He slid his hand in mine.
"Love you too."
We were both asleep within seconds.
I don't really care what time he gets home from this job, as long as he gets home safe and sound.
I rolled over and turned to see him.
"Everything okay?" I croaked.
"Ya, just waiting at the hospital with someone" he mumbled back.
"Love you." He slid his hand in mine.
"Love you too."
We were both asleep within seconds.
I don't really care what time he gets home from this job, as long as he gets home safe and sound.
Sunday, July 3, 2011
Friday, June 24, 2011
Second Shift: Stickers and Ballons
Posted by: Blue
Today was the first arrest that I was involved with. I charged and cautioned a 43 year old male for Uttering Threats. They all tell me that I'll remember my first arrest for the rest of my career. We'll see. I found the whole thing relatively uneventful. I guess because I would have expected the same reaction that I might have if I found-out that I was being arrested. He just calmly turned around, put his hands behind his back, and my partner cuffed him. Later, at the station, he fell asleep in the cell while waiting for the paperwork to go through the Sergeant. As we walked in to serve him his court and ident dates, he yawned, glanced them over, and said "OK. Thanks guys. Hey, so are you just gonna turn me out in front of the station? Or could I get a ride to my sister's house?"
We asked where his sister lived. She wasn't far. We drove him down to a drug store nearby and released him back into the wild. The whole call was quite unremarkable.
On the other hand, the thing that I think will stand-out in my memory from today was a light tap on my shoulder from an older woman. She wanted me to come and say something to her grandson who was outside of the store where we were picking-up coffee. I happily joined her after the clerk waved me through with a free coffee (a perk that I really could get used to), and was introduced to Quinn, a 7 year old boy with a smile on his face.
Quinn's grandmother nudged him, and he smiled bigger, and said "Thank-you for doing your job to keep the city safe." His grandmother said "We'll keep praying for all of you." I said "I can never have too many of those."
I don't think I'll ever forget that.
I gave Quinn one of the balloons that was in my vest pocket, and two stickers. He smiled bigger, and then he came over to the cruiser to meet my FTO. Frank smiled and asked him how old he was and if he wanted to be a police officer when he grew up. I didn't quite hear his response, but it sounded like he said something about it being a toss-up between a police officer and a hockey player.
As the two walked away and I saddled-up in the driver's seat, Frank volunteered, "You're getting full marks for Community Relations." I have another officer to thank for that. Raindog, I tip my hat.
Today was the first arrest that I was involved with. I charged and cautioned a 43 year old male for Uttering Threats. They all tell me that I'll remember my first arrest for the rest of my career. We'll see. I found the whole thing relatively uneventful. I guess because I would have expected the same reaction that I might have if I found-out that I was being arrested. He just calmly turned around, put his hands behind his back, and my partner cuffed him. Later, at the station, he fell asleep in the cell while waiting for the paperwork to go through the Sergeant. As we walked in to serve him his court and ident dates, he yawned, glanced them over, and said "OK. Thanks guys. Hey, so are you just gonna turn me out in front of the station? Or could I get a ride to my sister's house?"
We asked where his sister lived. She wasn't far. We drove him down to a drug store nearby and released him back into the wild. The whole call was quite unremarkable.
On the other hand, the thing that I think will stand-out in my memory from today was a light tap on my shoulder from an older woman. She wanted me to come and say something to her grandson who was outside of the store where we were picking-up coffee. I happily joined her after the clerk waved me through with a free coffee (a perk that I really could get used to), and was introduced to Quinn, a 7 year old boy with a smile on his face.
Quinn's grandmother nudged him, and he smiled bigger, and said "Thank-you for doing your job to keep the city safe." His grandmother said "We'll keep praying for all of you." I said "I can never have too many of those."
I don't think I'll ever forget that.
I gave Quinn one of the balloons that was in my vest pocket, and two stickers. He smiled bigger, and then he came over to the cruiser to meet my FTO. Frank smiled and asked him how old he was and if he wanted to be a police officer when he grew up. I didn't quite hear his response, but it sounded like he said something about it being a toss-up between a police officer and a hockey player.
As the two walked away and I saddled-up in the driver's seat, Frank volunteered, "You're getting full marks for Community Relations." I have another officer to thank for that. Raindog, I tip my hat.
Tuesday, June 21, 2011
Second Call
Posted By: Blue
I try not to contradict my wife whenever possible, but I would like to point-out that on Sunday evening, I was actually attending my second call. My first call was here, and I'm sticking to it.
First call of my first actual shift was a sudden death (SD). Great way to start out. Guess it was gonna happen sooner or later.
Dude "expired" on the toilet (how cliche). He was apparently a bit of a loner. He called in sick Wednesday and Thursday. Family didn't find him until Sunday. The Medical Examiner Investigator thinks he may have actually called in sick for Thursday a day before, because he was pretty far gone.
We advised the family not to take a look at the body. He wasn't himself. My Field Training Officer (FTO) took down all the relevant info while I took everything else in (the sights, the smells... the tastes... He really was decomposed. It hung in the air.). I had been worried about my first dead body, but as it turned out, I felt confident and at ease. We returned to the station and my FTO wrote a lengthy report.
The remainder of the shift was relatively quiet. We ran a few plates, attended a family disturbance, and a noise complaint. I wrote a short report on the family disturbance, but the noise complaint was deuced (cleared with no report) with just a few comments on the computer.
And so ended my first shift. Now I'm on four days off. I start a six day stretch of day-shift again Friday. Looking forward to it!
I try not to contradict my wife whenever possible, but I would like to point-out that on Sunday evening, I was actually attending my second call. My first call was here, and I'm sticking to it.
First call of my first actual shift was a sudden death (SD). Great way to start out. Guess it was gonna happen sooner or later.
Dude "expired" on the toilet (how cliche). He was apparently a bit of a loner. He called in sick Wednesday and Thursday. Family didn't find him until Sunday. The Medical Examiner Investigator thinks he may have actually called in sick for Thursday a day before, because he was pretty far gone.
We advised the family not to take a look at the body. He wasn't himself. My Field Training Officer (FTO) took down all the relevant info while I took everything else in (the sights, the smells... the tastes... He really was decomposed. It hung in the air.). I had been worried about my first dead body, but as it turned out, I felt confident and at ease. We returned to the station and my FTO wrote a lengthy report.
The remainder of the shift was relatively quiet. We ran a few plates, attended a family disturbance, and a noise complaint. I wrote a short report on the family disturbance, but the noise complaint was deuced (cleared with no report) with just a few comments on the computer.
And so ended my first shift. Now I'm on four days off. I start a six day stretch of day-shift again Friday. Looking forward to it!
Monday, June 20, 2011
There's a First for Everything - Part II
A few more firsts that have been noteworthy:
1. First special occasion (father's day) where I had to share my husband with the city and spend dinner at my mom's with the kids.
2. First time I kissed Blue goodbye and gave him the old "Stay safe out there" line.
3. First time I received a text from my officer while he was on duty letting me know how things were going.
4. First time I went to bed by myself knowing that Blue was out on the streets, keeping the city safe.
Blue is still sleeping. I'm sitting at the kitchen table with the kids while they eat their breakfast making sure they keep quiet. We only talked for a moment when he got home early this morning but it sounds like he had a really good first shift...and a crazy first call.
1. First special occasion (father's day) where I had to share my husband with the city and spend dinner at my mom's with the kids.
2. First time I kissed Blue goodbye and gave him the old "Stay safe out there" line.
3. First time I received a text from my officer while he was on duty letting me know how things were going.
4. First time I went to bed by myself knowing that Blue was out on the streets, keeping the city safe.
Blue is still sleeping. I'm sitting at the kitchen table with the kids while they eat their breakfast making sure they keep quiet. We only talked for a moment when he got home early this morning but it sounds like he had a really good first shift...and a crazy first call.
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