My Favorite Job

I've "worked" since I can remember.

I've always wanted to sell stuff.

Koolaide at the end of the driveway.

Hard job when you live in the country.  We had two customers.



One summer I even convinced my mom to have a garage sale at the end of the driveway.

We had a little trailer full of random wares.  Probably stuff left from other garage sales.

I remember some tourist stopped one time-most likely looking for the compound.

They bought some of my Bart Simpson items-ha.

Then a job that accounts for countless hours of my youth-the art room.

I just knew the word would get out and people would find my little shed in the woods and buy all my lovely items such as a cow or pig made from a crushed soda can or spray painted cedar branches for Christmas décor.  And if you wanted to craft your own items, you could always tune into my Christmas special to learn how to make jingle bell ornaments, potpourri doilies, or gift bags.

And in the summer if you got on the list quick enough, you might be lucky to take part in some art classes.

"Babysitting" was another of those early jobs.

Early in the morning, I walked next door to my cousin's house and hopped into bed and slept some more until we got up and played all day.  She is two years younger than me.

And every few weeks I made extra money by cleaning the house.

I stashed my cash in an envelope hidden in a book on my shelf.



My first real job was at a veterinary office.

My biceps grew that summer from lifting the crates from the cages and the first dog that bit me was named "Angel."  I experienced many different things at this job such as putting a turkey (that had fallen off a truck) to sleep with an injection.  Poor poor turkey.



My next job involved countless hours of standing at the front desk of a hotel.

This is where I learned to talk a little louder on the phone and deal with all kinds of issues.

My favorite was turning away customers that thought they had a reservation because on certain busy weekends, the hotel would be overbooked so whoever arrived last was scooted off down the road to a rat hole.  Those were some happy travelers.

And this hotel also taught me about the parking brake on vans and how it stinks really bad and smokes if you don't turn it off before going to the airport to pick up customers.  They get a really good whiff as they load their suitcases in the back.

My next two jobs were at insurance agencies providing clerical services.  Believe me I understood insurance junk then as much as I do now.

When I moved off to college I had a few jobs in the big city.

First, I went to what I knew and worked at another hotel that is no longer there since it was demolished for the new Cowboys stadium.

They must have checked my references because they told me their insurance company only allowed employees 25 and older to drive the van.



I decided to join my best friend and work at a restaurant as a hostess next.

This job made my college years a tad more exciting meeting and working with lots of interesting people around my age.  Plus employees got a 50 percent discount on food and you know I like a bargain.

My last college job was secured days before my last semester began.

I was able to make a little money and receive college credit with this job.

I learned lots...mainly that I do love to sell but you really have to love your products to be successful at this.  It wasn't that I did not think the products were good, I just never fully grasped all the components of the binoculars and spotting scopes that were being sold but I did look like an expert gazing into one of the scopes on the brochure :)

Then it was time to move back home.

Some sad stuff happened around the time I moved back so I worked at a school with my mom for a semester, which I loved.  I just attended the high school graduation of a kid I worked with quite a bit during my time there.  He'd grown into a nice young man and probably does not remember the day he stuck his finger in his ear before licking his finger and telling me it tasted like poison ivy.

During my time at the school I had the opportunity to open my very own business, where I would sell Lady Primrose products.  I did this at a cool place downtown in a collection of shops owned by different vendors.  I had a little wall that hung by chains from the rafters and was open right before Mother's Day that year.



When school was out for the summer, it was time to look for a real job and put some of my college skills to use.  I applied for a job with a vague description in the newspaper and was lucky to get it.

At this job I learned a ton.

  First, I learned what philanthropy even meant and what a foundation was.  At the interview I was thinking I should have looked up some of the words from the website in the dictionary instead of just being excited about going to the cool old house! 

Thank goodness for a boss that taught me so much about so many things.

I grew up a lot during this job.

I got married, built a house, and helped my husband start his business.

Then we decided to start a family.



After many prayers and discussing so many options (keep working, close my shop which was now a little bigger than a wall selling Lady Primrose, stay at home with the baby), we finally decided I would quit my job after the baby was born to stay home, keep my shop open, and continue to help my husband with his business.

Two years later I couldn't be happier.



I love being a mom.

It's my favorite job.

I love my husband's business and being a part of it.

And I still love having a shop.

 Especially the time I share with my parents and husband who help me so much with it.

Oh, and who could forget my newest boss.

Thanks for giving me the best job ever, teaching me the most yet, and adding to my favorite memories.