When you lose all respect for a class AND your intellectual integrity, paper writing gets easier!

This principle is evidenced by the fact that I just ground out a two page paper in about forty-five minutes. There was a time when I could have done a five page paper in less time... but I digress... college has ruined my writing skills. However, the relative speed with which I finished this paper has left me with time to update my blog.

That's not to say that it was an entirely pleasant experience. For one thing, I had to sell my soul. For another, I had to focus through the din of squealing and stumbling in the hall. The latter problem led to a particularly barrier-crossing experience. I headed out to print my paper and ran into the cleaning lady, who speaks only Spanish; she pointed at the door of the girls' bathroom, over which was tied a shoe. Yes, a shoe. A sneaker, to be precise. She clucked and looked at it with a mixture of disapproval and amusement, and I rolled my eyes in a trademark Kat expression. We understood each other perfectly and I didn't even have to butcher her language. Isn't that nice?

I had my first babysitting job on Tuesday. The girl is only two and a half years old and her mother's been watching her all summer, so she was understandably displeased when she woke up and a strange babysitter she'd met only once had taken her mother's place. This led to a lot of crying and screaming "I WANT MY MOMMY!!!" that I attempted to take in stride... but I'm not a very sympathetic person, so it eventually devolved to me watching her in mild fascination until she stopped wailing. (Which she did... so all's well that ends well, right?) After her older brother got home it was much more fun; we roughhoused and I put him in a headlock. There's a reason why I prefer guy friends... even when they're nine.

Last night I had another babysitting job, but the kids were already asleep, so I basically watched the house, called my friends, and played with the animals for three hours -- and got paid $40 for it. "HUZZAH!" doesn't even begin to say it.

Soon I will be starting at the NARC (the north side version of the campus game & rec center), giving me a grand total of four jobs... oh yes... I will be raking in cash. If I get to babysit with any regularity I'll be raking in about $225 a week. Yes... that is me dancing on the grave of my unemployment...