Two new jobs in one week!

Who would´ve guessed God´s great timing in blessing me with not only a new job as a nanny starting tomorrow morning at nine, but also a part time job nursing people at home that I started last weekend! Since Saturday I´ve been putting in around two hours a day looking after an elderly British man (used to own a night club here with his wife and have an entertainment act, old Frank Sinatra style!) in his apartment only fifteen minutes walk away from 'our place'! The good news is that his wife is with him 24/7 and as they are retired, are quite flexible with their time, so I can keep this job along side the nanny job! They pay quite a bit more the hour and pay me on a weekly basis, so I´ve got my grocery money coming in more regularly now, too! My main passion as a nurse has always been to get my patients well enough to go back home and be independant as soon as possible! This was greatly supported in the hospital setting, but in my current position it means I´m working my way out of a job quite fast! Oh well....if he was my Grandpa, I´d want him back on his own feet as soon as possible, too, so......

I´ll keep going!

The Nanny Diaries start soon!

Well, I had a good trial day today and the mother said I could start on the first of October! Yay! I'm so happy and I'm really looking forward to it! The girls names are...Katarina (4), Sophia (2) and Lisa (8mos) and are quite easy to get on with. Sophia reminds me of Annika (my sister) at that age...quite cheeky and at the moment in the middle of 'weaning off the nappy'. Lisa is quite a happy and content little one with beautiful blond curls (all on top of her head!) and gorgeous blue eyes. Katarina is quite shy but I won´'t be seeing much of her as she's in preschool all morning! The pay is a bit more than we were expecting and the hours (9am-2pm) are great as this means ´'ll still have time for MY afternoon nap and plenty of time to prepare for the youth group, Sunday school and everything else that's started growing on my plate!

I thought I´d share a few stories of my day with you from time to time, though today's top story from my time with the kids mostly revolves around Sophia winning my heart over with her beautiful big brown eyes and happy-go-lucky outlook on life, Lisa letting me carry her around after only being there an hour (apparently she doesn´t take very well to strangers) and their mother offering me the job! People have commented throughout my life on my quiet or calm, sometimes soothing voice. After I had read three books to Sophia this morning she turned to her mother and said," Can I go to bed now? I´m sleepy."....and it was only 10:30am! Her mother said she hardly ever takes a nap and it´s difficult to get her to even go to bed for an hours rest in the afternoon! Anyway.....I´ve now got just one more week and a half left before I start after my six month break, and I´ve got so many ideas how to fill it, let's see.......swimming, relaxing, reading, exporing more beaches around here, more swimming... ;-)

Jonathan´s work

Seven hours a day, six days a week and 15 hours a week on the bus to get there....Jonathan gets to spend a lot of time this year overlooking Tenerife´s most beautiful (my opinion) beach! His official title is 'Apprentice Waiter' but most of the time he´s in charge of the bar/café area serving meals and drinks and keeping everything clean and tidy! In fact today he only had one customer all day, so those tables and counters were nice and shiny by the end of his shift! The hotel owner is German and has a small dog that 'lives' in the hotel, too! As Jonney is missing our dogs(me too!) he´s delighted that there´s at least one furry friend around who enjoys a scratch behind the ears now and then!

Supernanny?!

So the question in everyone´s mind is........When are you starting work again, Moni? And why be THE NANNY again? Well.....after my six month break from work (recovering from viral bronchitis) I now feel strong and well enough to do a half day job (not 100% just yet). As many of you might remember, I had an interview here in April with a German doctor to apply for a job as a receptionist/assistant. On Monday I had a second chat with him and his wife where they stated that they did not want to hire anyone this year as they have modernised their office equiptment and would try to handle things in the office without help for the moment. I was a bit dissapointed, but as many of you know my way of thinking, I was expecting the worst already, so it wasn´t that big of a blow. He then went on to say that they were unhappy with their current nanny and as they saw from my CV, I had experience with children in the past and would I consider working for them as a nanny, same hours and pay as they had origionally promised me for the reception job! They have three young children, though the oldest is in pre-school in the mornings and I might be called upon to babysit a couple of evenings a month. So...I said yes! Actually, I was hoping for an easy and fun job this year, something different from the last four years in hospitals and nursing homes and this seems a perfect fit! The doctor and his wife said they would think it over (she seemed uneasy about confronting their present nanny and the timing of the take-over) and let me know what their decision was. That was yesterday noon-time and I haven´t heard anything yet......appreciate your prayers!