Tuesday, July 29, 2014

Manual labor

For the last three weeks, I've been taking care of an older couple's home in the area. I met the wife, Gwen, at Jazzercise and when the group went out to coffee afterwards, I made it a point to give my number to as many of the Jazzercise ladies as possible. I made sure I emphasized that I'm willing to do hard work outside in the sun, or clean, or do pretty much anything they might need. Just an hour later, I got a call from Gwen and another call from a woman named Mary who needed me to house sit and take care of her dog for four days.

I'm a little bit embarrassed I took this photo,
but this was after my first day of work.
I was pretty proud.

My soapbox topic for today is that if you're willing to work hard an make yourself available, good things happen.

The reason I'm in Maltby, WA this summer and not at home in NorCal, or in Walla Walla, WA with my boyfriend, is that I'm taking summer classes at Everett Community College. I decided to add another minor to the mix during my last year of college (genius or crazy? The jury's still out). In order to make this happen, I have to take one Into to Web Design and Intro to Photography, otherwise my class load will be overloaded come fall.

First day of class at EVCC

I was very excited about this because I get to live with my best friend, Kindra, and her family in their amazing fixer-upper house complete with a treasure trove of a garden. However, my summer classes only last 8 weeks and this really isn't enough time to get hired and trained out in the "real world."

So, I took matters into my own hands and hired myself out to Gwen and Mary. Last week, I was at Mary's house taking care of the cutest golden doodle, Daisy, and every Tuesday and Wednesday, I've been pulling weeds in scorching sun and pouring rain at Gwen's house. I even spent 6 hours digging and hole and power sawing roots out of the way so she could plant a new hydrangea bush in the perfect spot. I've gained muscles and a tan, and invested in a awesome pair of purple work gloves (I swear, it makes a difference for my attitude).

My work may not be much, but it's getting me through the summer. I have a small income that I was worried I wouldn't have at all. I'm so glad I put my pride aside and gave my number out. I even gave my number to a realtor when I walked through the open house she was hosting down the road. These may not have been the jobs I envisioned working this summer, but I'm proud of my work ethic and I'm proud that I made a good enough impression to some strangers that they hired me with no hesitation.

This is Daisy. She was a handful, but so nice!

No comments:

Post a Comment