Lessons from House/Business Sitting

My Dear Reader,

This past week, I had the opportunity to help out my aunt and uncle while they took their family on vacation. Essentially, my job was to answer phones at my uncle's insurance agency and then stay at their house and take care of their two pugs. It was a pretty sweet gig, all in all, and it was especially nice to get out of my routine for a while. Here are a couple of things I learned in the process:

• It's pretty strange to stay in someone else's house alone overnight, no matter how many holidays and birthdays you've celebrated there. Even though I knew they were in Florida, I kept expecting them to come through the door at any moment and catch me doing something awkward.
• It's even more strange to be in someone else's house alone when you're going through cupboards and closets looking for an extra roll of toilet paper.
• Pugs snore. Like old men.
• Pugs that are used to a family of five find a single working girl extremely, extremely boring. They kept following me around and looking at me like they were expecting me to do something, like I was a one-woman circus.
• I am not a one-woman circus.
• Commuting is really as bad as everyone says! Even though my uncle's office was about fifteen minutes away, it could take me up to an hour to get there with traffic.
• If you want to make sure that you don't have any gaps in coverage, make sure you call the insurance agent before the day you need it. After all, they're allowed to take some time off now and again.
• No matter where you are, even if you don't know your way around, you can always order take-out.

All in all, the worst part of the entire experience was the constant anxiety that came with the responsibility of taking care of another's property. You have no idea how many prayers I prayed asking that the house wouldn't burn down, or I wouldn't crash the car they lent me, or that I wouldn't make some awful mistake that would throw my uncle's entire business out of the window. I guess the extra responsibility got to my head, you know? Luckily, none of my worst fears came true, and I got through it without any major incidents.

Either way, I bet the pugs are ecstatic to have their house good and full again.

Regards, best wishes, and successful stewardship,

-Cecily Jane