Nurse by day, writer by night

The last few days have been interesting. I've been taking care of Michael quite a bit, of course. It's funny how you take being able to bend and twist for granted; now that Michael can't do any of that, I am realizing how often we utilize those motions on a daily basis. Michael can't do simple things for himself, such as bend down and pick up something that's fallen, get food out of the lower shelves in the fridge, load or unload the dishwasher, put on socks or pants, or even turn on the shower. As a result, I have to be handy to do all of these things for him as he needs them. At first, he even had a hard time getting in and out of bed on his own, but he is gradually getting better at that.

Nursing Michael requires a lot of my time during the day, and writing is difficult because he's right there all the time. Some of my current assignments require some more concentration, and I just can't give them the attention they need when Michael is talking to me or might interrupt me for something. It's not his fault; it's just hard for me to focus on my writing when he needs me so much. As a result, I end up doing mindless things, like browsing the internet, during the day.

I tend to do more of my writing during the evening, particularly once Michael falls asleep. I've been getting to bed about an hour after him - generally around 3:00 a.m. - and between my late hours and the alarms going off every four hours throughout the night to remind him to take his Percocet, I've been sleeping pretty late every morning. And then the whole cycle begins again, since I don't really like writing first thing after I wake up when Michael is around.

Right now, Michael has already fallen asleep - early compared to our recent habits. While he's sleeping, I'll try to get some more writing done. Tomorrow may be a busy day - I have to go pick up a new prescription for his Percocet and get it filled, possibly early in the day if snow is a possibility later on. And I think Michael may actually run an errand with me later on in the day. I might want to go to bed early myself.