The Best Job in the World

My son is notorious for NOT wanting to work. Scary I know, but true. He has had odd jobs from Wendys, to Hollister, to The Athenian restaurant, and he just hated all of them. Despised them. I kept thinking to myself, Jeez, is this kid ever going to hold down a job?

Well since he was majoring in zoology at school last year (this has now changed to education) he decided to look into seeing if he could get an internship at the Columbus Zoo. Unfortunately all the internships were unpaid, and although he probably would have jumped on that, he KNOWS he needs the money for college. So as he is scrolling down the list of jobs available for the summer, he sees Street Team Character. I can just see the wheels turning in his brain at that very moment...."Whoa......street team.....dressing up like a mascot......dancing and acting goofy and get paid to do it.....It's my DREAM JOB." So he emails the guy and they really hired him sight unseen since he was away at school and could not make it in for the various job fairs, etc. Well this is his second full week and he just loves it. This is a picture of him dressed up as Polar Pete. The Columbus Zoo just opened a polar bear exhibit and this is one of the new character costumes. I know what you are thinking.....it has to be hotter than hell in that costume on a 90 degree day, and he does say it gets hot, but that has not changed his perception of this job. He still thinks it is the best job in the world. They wear ice vests under the costume and they are only in costume for 20 minutes per hour. It makes me feel good that the zoo takes such good care of them.

On Sunday they had him standing actually by the polar bear exhibit, but one of the real polar bears could see him and it was upsetting him, LOL. He kept making himself big, putting his arms out, acting scary, and soon Travis' boss came and said, lets just move you over here, out of the bears vision.

So far last night was the best though. He got to work the Columbus Clippers game. They are a semi-pro baseball team here in Columbus. When he came home I was in bed, but he flopped on the bed and said, "Mom, I got to go to a Clippers game, meet Jack Hanna, go on the field to throw out the first pitch with Jack Hanna, dance on the dugouts, and play with kids. I can't believe I get paid to do this job!!!!"

Wonders never cease......There is actually a job my son can like!!!!

Lost My Blog Mojo

Ack, I hate it. Sometimes I LOVE to blog and sometimes, especially lately, I just lose it. I don't know, maybe our lives are just not that interesting? Maybe between work and my commute I just have too much to do when I get home? Who knows, but thought I would drop in and give an update. I have been keeping up with my blog reading, just not the writing. I hope, if I have any readers left out there, that you drop a line to say hello!



Sooooo, big changes at my job. They moved me from a satellite office down to the corporate headquarters. I wasn't looking for the move, it just kinda happened. Downtown Columbus is actually physically closer to me, so rather than commuting 48 miles, I'm commuting 35. Traffic in downtown Columbus sucks. There, I said it. Actually sometimes I feel like a big girl driving on the freeway in downtown traffic. Then the feeling quickly wanes and the reality of an hour in traffic presents itself and I'm over it. I love my new boss and the people I work with mostly, but I have the distinct impression that I could not show up one day and no one would notice. I guess I just felt like I made a larger contribution at my other job. I'm hoping for more from this one definitely. I'm trying to be really positive about it and hope it ends up being a great opportunity. Time will tell. The fact is I work for a great company so I'm going to stick it out and see what happens.



John is loving his job. He just got back from Vegas late Saturday night for a conference. He had a great time. Wish I could have gone with him! It was a quick trip though.



Travis is home with 1 year of college under his belt. He did fantastic and changed his major from pre-med/pre-vet to education. I wasn't thrilled, but I'll explain more about that in another post. He is working at the zoo as a character and absolutely LOVES it! He is right in his element when he does this. It can be excruciatingly hot but they wear ice vests and are only in costume 20 minutes an hour, so they do keep an eye on them, which I think is wonderful.



I spent Memorial Day weekend in Chicago with my mom, sister and niece Kayla. We had a wonderful time. Saw the play Billy Elliott (absolutely excellent, fantabulous, awesome), saw Sex and the City 2 (See it, it's good!!!). We ate great food and shopped a lot. It was just an awesome time! While we were in Chi-town, John had my dad at the campground. That was new for Moose, but he actually had a great time! He got a kick out of some of our camping neighbors.

Lots of graduations and parties, and all of this wreaks havoc on my waistline. I AM NOT HAPPY! I'm thinking I might start Weight Watchers tomorrow. We have WW at work so it is definitely convenient. Maybe I need to use my blog to hold myself accountable???? Great idea Kim!

Talk soon!