Wake, Work, Sleep, Repeat

I wake up and start getting ready for work.  I go to work and work my butt off.  I go home, eat dinner, watch our nightly shows and go to sleep.  I repeat the process.  

Now don't get me wrong I love my job.  It is the routine of the daily life, work is routine in the fact that it is routinely full of "interruptions" called work.  M.E. I need this.  M.E. I need that.  But, oh, the everyday monotony is trying.  Especially with all the stress right now.  I love my Shiny Silver but when do we get to enjoy being together? There's not much time in the morning to do anything but have a cup of coffee, watch the weather and start getting ready for the day.  At work, it is rare that I get even 5 minutes of uninterrupted time to work much less to do anything like schedule a dental appointment. After work I either go straight home to have dinner waiting for me or to start on dinner.  We watch our TV shows while eating, then we go to bed.  On our days off, we usually get contacted at least once or twice by work for one thing or another.  And we usually are needed here or there by someone for something or another and it is rare that we get to do something just because we want to.  It is a rare thing that we can just leave town.  One or both of us usually need to be close by work "Just in Case."  I. Am. Exhausted.  You can probably hear it in my words.  With the time and proximity constraints, how can the monotony be broken up?  How can the joy of life be brought back in to the day to day?  How can we even simply enjoy our days off work?  Maybe it is because it is wintertime and the daylight hours are still few.  Maybe the joy will naturally resurface with the warmer weather... Time will tell.  But what do I do until then?  How do I bring some joy back into our everyday lives?  Oh my gosh!  This sounds so depressing!  We are happy together it's simply a problem of stagnation & stress.  I just feel a need to liven things up.  Suggestions are welcomed!  

Cabin Fever? Could be it.  But anyway... Ideas?  Attack randomly with a toy gun.  Done that.  Will do that, again.  Index cards left with short Thank You/I Love You notes. Done that.  Will do that, again.  

As I sit here with my fingers poised over the keyboard, thinking about possible ways to find joy in my everyday life, I find I already basically know what to do.  One of the easiest ways for me to find joy is to act like a kid.  Go play on a swing set.  Go on an adventure hike through the woods.  Play chase with the dogs.  Then we come back to Time.  But what's more important.  How do I find the balance?  Some things will be easier when our situation changes, but it won't solve everything.  But things like being able to play with a dog in the backyard in the evening will most definitely be easier.  Gardening will be easier.  Going for a walk will be easier.  Time.  Patience.  Deep breath.  This, too, shall pass.  For now, I shall look at my Shiny Silver and smile.