Artemis

I started my new job last night. After 7 hours of being on my feet all day long, lifting 5 million boxes (I counted, it was really that many... or at least it felt like it) and unpacking 12 large boxes of perfume (which gives me headaches), I went straight to job number 2 and worked for 4.5 hours watching children. And by children, I mean a little bit of watching my co-workers too. There was absolutely no structure. We were in a mini-gym, so there was a lot of running and screaming. The ages of children spanned 2-12 years. Of the 21 kids, 6 spoke only Spanish. That was the biggest challenge. I couldn't speak with them at all. One little girl would smile and nod her head yes at everything I would say or ask because she had no clue of what I was saying. Two children were crying for their mom's and I couldn't even understand what they were saying, with the exception of "Mama". By myself, I took 4 Spanish-speaking-only children up to the water fountain. They started

I worked my first three days at my new job. It's a lot of busy work, often on my feet all day, but the day goes by fast. In fact, the first day I simply forgot to take my break. I like the people I work with and it is a really laid back work environment. And today I got hired for another job. It is working with kids in the evenings at a center while their parents take classes or exercise. It isn't too many hours, but there is room for more and it will be a great place to work. Even with the two jobs, I will still need to supplement them with babysitting to make ends meet. But at least I have more income coming in, that is all that matters. And both jobs offer a lot of room for growth, so that is important. I start my new job next Friday night. Long days, so I will be exhausted. But that is what you do when you are broke.

Yesterday I went with Jessie to the bank. She had to speak to someone, not do the regular banking stuff, so we had to sit in the waiting area. They had a fireplace, coffee, tea and various toys, books and magazines. I picked up the Consumer Reports magazine. Jessie picked up Highlights . As I am learning about tomatoes, washers and dryers, laundry detergent and how to measure your waist, she was looking for what was wrong in the picture, finding the hidden objects in the picture and reading riddles to me. She came across a page with a story, the kind where there are pictures usually in place of some words. She exclaimed, "Alright!" and started to read aloud. Then she realized that the word followed the picture and stated, "This won't be challenging for me at all!" The tears started to roll down my face with a burst of laughter, and moments later the woman came out to call Jessie's name, bringing unwanted attention to me. I guess when you are getting your

I finally got a job! It was a job I applied for on December 6th, which just proves that no one really was hiring over the holidays. Turns out all the books and websites I read on the subject were right when they said the holidays are the worst time of the year to find a job. The job isn't anything spectacular, but it will be fun and it is for a store I love, which means 20% discount now, 30% in 3 months and 40% in 6 months, gotta love that... of course, only after I actually have enough money to buy even a stick of gum. It is part time, which means I have to find another part time job to make ends meet, but I am okay with that. Why do I need a life anyway? I can work a lot now, save up money, and have a life in a year or so:). All that matters at this point is that I have a job. And may I say, it is about fricken time!