Summer Job 2k14

The most wonderful place ever. 

I'm working here for the summer and I love it. The atmosphere is fantastic and the people here love their jobs too. And I found a cute guy who seems to have the similar feelings for me. He's a good cuddle buddy and he found that secret ticklish spot and he likes to abuse its powers. But that's okay. I can get him to crumble because I know his ticklish spot. Muh-hahahahaha.

The summer has been great so far. I'm working for one of the beautiful local companies and I love it. The whole crew stays in the same house and it's a party always. If you want to do something, you've got three volunteers to go with you. I'm working at the office, but I still get to spend the time I want to around HORSES! I got to ride one early last week and it was amazing. I haven't ridden in a saddle, by myself in over 12 years. I rode a saddle-broke draft horse bareback a few years back, but that's a little bit different...
The horses that we work with are either 2000 lb behemoth draft horses or cute, "little" 1000 lb paint horses. I love it. My allergies don't, but ehh. A little Alavert and a nice bath afterwards and I'm totally fine!

One day after lunch, the majority of the crew decided that a back massage sounded amazing. I opted out on the account that I tended to make less than appropriate noises when I get a back massage unless I really think hard about not.

It started as a harmless pillow fight. Then, it escalated to a wrestling match wherein she ended up in the dirty, living room rug. Water got involved. And then the joke about "Round 3: Mud" was made and they took it seriously. He ended with a horse patty to the mouth/face and she ended up slam dunked into the dirt. They called it a draw.

I finally found some polish and took a few minutes (more like 30) to make them look beautiful. Yeah, then I got asked to poop scoop the next night and it's been downhill from there.

We had a crew game night at one of the boss's homes on Sunday and a few people ended up playing Twister. Then they moved to Swedish Twister (which doesn't require much, just some major flexibility). Then we played The Bucket Game. So. Much. Fun.
{The fun guy with the mustache is our resident Buckskin.
The one picking his noise is the cousin of Great Cuddler.
The dark-haired beauty is one of the cutest wranglers on staff.
The pretty blonde is my roommate and our wonderful housekeeper. }

There is a large group of crew members who will go out in the mornings before work and exercise.
Mentally insane, all of them.
But, one day this smaller subgroup decided to do some yoga and it was too much of an opportunity to pass up.

This is possibly the most popular view of the house: eyes shut. Even though my bedroom is right off the living room, I find it very difficult to make it to bed some nights. There are just a few couches that are too comfortable to move from. And then, add a good cuddler to the mix. Yeah, bad idea.
{This fellar is one of the main men on campus. He's kind of in charge of horses. Great guy. Not Great Cuddler.}

This cowgirl got a hat. This is one of the better outfits I have worn for show.

A Letter from the Babysitter.

I haven't babysat anyone in a while, but I learned a lot about what I do and do not like about children. I learned some neat parenting tricks and I got good at babysitting (or I would like to think that I did).

But here is a letter to the parents:

Your children are adorable. Yes, but they aren't angels. I have been around the block enough to know that they are different children when you aren't around. They may eat their food super well or listen to you when you ask them to clean, but that does not mean it will happen when I ask them. The do's and don'ts of babysitting from a babysitter:

Please don't have them take a nap super late in the afternoon. They don't go to bed well when I ask them to go to bed. It's not my fault if they are still awake when you get home. They just aren't tired yet. And yes, I did just let him scream and it did break my heart to let him do it.

Please do tell your children all the house rules before you leave. Because then I know them and I can make sure they don't get away with something they aren't supposed to. You may have told them they could have a cookie after dinner, and I feel like a terrible person telling them "no," but I don't know otherwise.

Please don't let your children sleep all together. They just stay up late and keep each other up. It just doesn't work.

Please do let me clean up, but don't have the house a mess when I show up. It's helpful when the kids help me clean up. It's also really nice to have the buckets/bins/shelves labelled or otherwise organized that I can tell what goes where. That way you don't have to undo what I did in my attempt to clean up.

I won't peruse your pantry looking for food. I'm not going to eat you out of house and home. I probably will sit down and enjoy a movie or Netflix when I am done cleaning your house and the kids are in bed. I'm not a bum; I'm trying to enjoy some "me" time. I am paying attention to the noises from the rest of the house to make sure that your kids aren't sneaking around.

I'm not going to invite my friends over. That's not okay by MY standards.

Thank you for your trust with your kids. I love them like siblings and I will try to be their friend while earning their respect.

Sincerely,
The Babysitter