well...
Baby-sitting this weekend wasn't exactly what I had anticipated. I had known about it for a long time and was really excited because I just love those kids. But plans kept changing, the weekend became shorter and shorter, I didn't feel well, the kids were cranky and all in all-it wasn't much fun. I feel bad because I think if I had felt better it would have been more fun for the kids. I was really exhausted and kept snapping at the kids (and they didn't deserve it-except for when the three year old got up before I did Saturday morning and left the house to go let the dog out-luckily I heard the door and caught her before she got out of the garage....)
I also had to bring the kids to their cousins house-which wasn't too bad. I haven't seen those girls in a long time and was actually looking forward to it until I realized that their cousins were there too. Those kids are 14 and 11 and full of attitude. Trying to control 6 kids ages 14, 11, 5, 4,3 and 3 was NOT my idea of fun. There was a lot of pillows being thrown at heads, people being sat on, toys being fought over, screaming crying and tantrums. I was only there for three hours before they all exhausted themselves and fell asleep. Thank goodness for little miracles. I needed a nap too.
The good thing is that I was entrusted to an envelope of $100 to spend as I needed with the kids. I only spent $27 of it and was told I could take all of the rest and that I would also be paid more later on. Now, this is HUGE because I was only with the kids for about twice as long as usual and so the 70 bucks is about on target with what I was expecting to be paid. Getting paid more makes me very happy especially since I think I am still getting my hair cut for free (their mom is my hairstylist) woo-hoo!
I intended to save all my baby-sitting money because I find myself wondering 'where is all my money' much too frequently. But alas, I came back Saturday night feeling quite well and then my spirits were crushed. Being unable to contact any of my standby friends who let me cry on their shoulders I decided that I could afford a nice little coffee break. Fifteen minutes later I find myself in Barnes & Noble fondling books. I can't help it. When I get depressed I search out books. I like to hold them, and smell them and look at them and wish I could have them. Sometimes I feel the same way about babies...So I bought two books and a magazine then indulged in a pomegranate mango smoothie. It was delicious and got my mind off things. I also went ofr a glorious little walk around campus. It was warm and breezy and dark and would have been especially wonderful if I had been laying out on the grass next to a special someone...but he wasn't answering his phone.
Oh, the reason I felt so great earlier that night-my old boss pretty much told me to come back to work. I worked at his restaurant and his kids are the cousins to the other kids I baby-sit (their dad works there too). He stopped in at the house while I was there with the kids and as he was leaving asked-"So, when are you going to come back and hostess on weekends?" I kind of laughed it off and told him I was too busy. And even though I absolutely hated working at that place-mostly because I was underpaid and way underappreciated-I can't even count the number of nights I drove home crying-it felt GREAT to finally feel like it was worth all of the hard work I had put into it. My former bosses famous words to you if you complained about anything were 'There are hundreds of other kids I can get to do this job'. My reply (which I never actually told him) was 'Yeah, there may be, but are those hundreds of kids as good as what you already have?' It seems that I was right. Those other kids may be OK with being underpaid and bossed around like 5 year olds, but they also can't follow directions or show up to work on time....
Bottom line-not worth it for me to drive 30 minutes to a job I hat that pays 5.15 an hour plus tips with undefined hours when I can walk to my on campus job 5 minutes away and pays 8.00 an hour with hours I actually have input about and people who are willing to help me.
The event that made me really upset when I returned?
Someone had ripped down my freshly updated bulletin board. I had recently mentioned that I thought that BB were underappreciated in the summer, but they were necessary because otherwise the RA's look lazy. I had spent a long, sweaty, feverish time putting that thing up and it looked awesome. I was really sick-but I had a deadline, so I did it.
Apparently the person that pulled it down was mad at some other RA's and took it out on my BB as he was waiting for the elevator (the BB is right next to the elevator). This particluar resident is at least 30 years old. Time to grow up.
Lucky for him I have back up copies of all my BB for just this type of event and if it's OK with my hall director I will pass those copies on to him so he can make the necessary repairs and think about how much fun it was to tear it down...
I have about a thousand other things I want to update about but seeing as how this is a seriously long post that no one will read anyway I might as well go back to laying on my bed, watching TV and trying not to move. It's really hot and I need to sit by the fan....too bad my freezer doesn't freeze. I could really use a frozen treat.