Oh the fun of non-permanence

I do enjoy my job as a VUA. I get to wear the ranger uniform, and take people's money, and work in the visitor centers. I like working in the entrance stations. I also like that I'm part-time, so most of the time I get to be home with the kids. Work is usually a welcome break from the daily home routine, for me and the kids. They get to go to someone else's house and play with other kids, and I get to go play adult. The only difficulty in this scenario is payday. As with most federal employees, I get paid every two weeks, with a slight lag between the pay period worked and the pay period I get paid for. Do you see the problem yet? I add up the babysitting hours I owe each and every pay day, and pay these women their very hard earned money. I pay them faster than I get paid. So it's very possible to pay more for babysitting than I actually earn, as is the case this pay period. It does balance out; next pay period I'll only owe for a couple of days, but I'll get paid for working for five days. It's just tough to put out the money before I actually get it. Oh, I'm sure if I explained the situation to my babysitters, they'd work out a deal for me, but then I'd get confused, and not pay them correctly. This is easier for me to keep track of.

I have an entire bulletin board dedicated to schedules. I have Eric's schedule, with code explanations, I have my schedule, and I have the kid's schedule, and right around the corner is a regular calendar where I try to write down everything else, including our social schedule. This is really something for me; I'm not a particularily organized person. I'd be lost without my wall-o-schedule. I'll go take a picture of it so you can understand how big it is. I also tack important phone numbers to it.

I like to joke that my job title is really "substitute ranger" as I look like a park ranger, and I do some of the same duties as a park ranger, but like a substitute teacher, I have no set schedule. I go when I'm called in. Sometimes they know ahead of time, and I can plan it all in advance. Some mornings I get the call and have to suit up and hit the door at a run, with two little kids in tow. Sometimes I remember to pack lunches.

When Sam finally starts school for real, lunches are something I'm going to have to work on. This won't be until Kindergarten around here. The local school does not have a cafeteria. All students must bring their own lunches, and put it in the mini-fridge with their names on it. Just before lunch, the business office manager heads over to the meeting room/library/kitchen and begins the task of heating up lunches and putting lunches out on the table. Then the kids file in and sit down and eat. She's pretty strict about table manners. I've eaten with the kids many times when I substitute. Eating by myself in the classroom is lonely, so I join the kids. This summer was the first time we held a longer day schedule and kept the kids for lunch. As it was summer, the business manager was relieved of lunch duty, although she would heat up the lunches if needed, and I sat with the kids every day. I really enjoyed teaching summer school. I'll probably do it again if I get the opportunity.