I Got a Job!

John and I attended a wedding in Tulsa this weekend and drove through the rather unlovely city of Dallas, through the surprisingly beautiful hill country of Oklahoma and arrived at our destination. All weekend I told my tale of woe about how I really needed to find a job. Monday, I applied till my fingers hurt from attaching so many cover letters to so many emails. I was about to wrap up for the day and thought, "I haven't check Craigslist in a while. I'll do that."Wouldn't you know, there was a neat looking job description for a case manager for a summer day camp run by a youth foundation in the city that serves a poor community in SE Austin. I sent off a resume and cover letter and heard back in two hours! I had an interview the next morning and had the job by 11 am. You're probably thinking, how impressive! Wow! Attagirl! That's just fine, but please take note that they were desperate for anyone really and had me working immediately after my interview.

The organization has numerous summer programs and this one is centered around instilling a strong sense of self and healthy decision-making processes in 8-13 year olds so they don't know up to be murderers and drug dealers. (What? That's what they said!). Their funding had been re-approved by the city the week before, so they were moving fast and had to get the word about the camp out to the neighborhood kids. All seemed to be going well UNTIL the executive director, Mona, asked me to be a clown for an assembly the following morning at an elementary school to tell them about the camp. I thought, Hmm, I would really rather not. Though I said, Sure, I'll see you tomorrow.

So this is what I looked like at 6:15 am. Oh, did I forget to mention that? Yes, the one who LOVES sleeping in had to get up at 5:45, paint her face, and show up to a school by 7 am. My director was late and I had to entertain the kids in the lunch room for 30 minutes by myself. I was a hit though. If you're ever feeling, you know, just average, slap on a clown suit and you'll feel much more unique.

You know how they say that you shouldn't do things well if you know want to be asked to do them again? Well apparently I'm a good damn clown, because Mona asked me to do it again on Saturday at our Father's Day Parade. I quickly tried to pass it off to the other person who shares my role. A nylon clown suit and face paint OUTSIDE? A school gym was one the thing, the Texas heat is another entirely. On a good note, the kids were ADORABLE and I can't wait for the camp to start. They're almost all Hispanic, so I'll be brushing up my Spanish mucho mucho. We had a planning day today and the weather was gorgeous so we sat outside on picnic tables and created plans for the summer. Yay for employment!