Wasted Effort

It's been a LONG time since I've posted. I know it, believe me I still log in to check if I have any comments on old posts. After my blog was shared by THIS GUY, I now get questions at work about my neighbors regularly. *Sigh* I just need to create another blog for talking about work I guess...

Or maybe not! So let me tell you how work has been lately... since January actually. You see, my husband was hired on at my company back in January, and while we always carpooled before, now that we're in the same building, my boss has no problem keeping me as late as she wants to (and on 90% of the occasions my husband stays too). I decided to go back through my time cards and figure out how many average hours I've been working... for giggles. I thought it would be around 45 per week.

But it wasn't. Not even close.

My average work week is 53 hours. That being the average, you know there have been weeks I've worked more, and weeks I've worked less... but that is the AVERAGE. I can't keep doing this... my pets don't know me anymore, I'm not eating, I'm constantly exhausted, and there are moments I feel like screaming (that can't be good). I already had my eye surgeon tell me my right eye may not make a full recovery from my Lasik procedure because of the strain it's been through in the last few weeks, and I'll be lucky if my left eye holds the correction.

My husband and I went on vacation to Washington DC, and the four days before we went out of town I worked the following:
Monday, 8am - 11pm (30 minute lunch) = 14.5 hours
Tuesday, 8am - 1am (no lunch) = 17.0 hours
Wednesday, 8:30am - 8pm (no lunch) = 11.5 hours
Thursday, 8:30am - 3:30pm (30 minute lunch) = 5.5 hours

So even in working only 4 days, I put in 48.5 hours, and I still had to use a vacation day on Friday. My boss keeps asking me if I'm going to burn out. Well, lets see, you're my manager and you're asking me something that should be obvious, but I still need to respond with, "I love what I'm doing, and sometimes you need to make a sacrifice to get the job done."

I really do love my job... but I love my husband, home, and pets more than my job. I got a guilt trip this week for leaving on time one day, and my week still ended at 45 hours. I've allowed myself to beat expectations regularly enough that 150% is now my normal work mode in the eyes of my manager.

There are things I could post about the usual happenings recently, like The Fish getting a promotion or Thongie's regular illnesses, but I just wanted to talk about me. So there.