So my brief sojourn into housekeeping is over. Will I miss working at the hotel? Mostly I will miss my co-workers and learning Spanish. I already could count to 10, say hallo and was starting to recognize some words. As some of you mentioned on my blog yesterday, this was a learning experience. It sure was and a valuable one too. The top 5 things I learned were

· You can get a lot accomplished if you stay focused on the task at hand. To clean as many rooms as we had to, you had to finish each check-out room in less than 30 minutes and an occupied room in less than 10. So staying focused: no getting distracted, no second-guessing yourself, no multitasking, Just total and complete focus, finish one task and move to the next. So right now, I need to close all these gazillion windows I have opened and just focus on one task: finishing this blog and go out for my walk!

· Miracles still happen. A day after I put in my notice at the hotel, I had to pick up my sis from work (she was having a serious vertigo spell). The owner of the business mentioned that she might have a few part time hours if I was interested.

· Being at peace, sleeping well and eating right are just as important as being active. Even though I was active all day—logging in 20,000+ on the days I worked, my eating habits were out of whack and I was not sleeping well. All of which negated my being active. I knew for certain that with this job, I would lose weight but get this—I gained!

· The importance of saying thanks and being considerate. One of the hardest things about this job was how unrewarding it was and how unappreciated one felt. It felt so good to meet someone who was genuinely thankful and considerate. My favorite was a note I found from a group of students in town for a conference “Hope we didn’t leave too much of a mess for you. Thank you” signed Tyler. I saved it.

· Life is a hoot and full of ironies. At this hotel, tips were practically non-existent. But on my last day, I got my highest tip -- $10. I almost jumped with joy. At least someone thought of the person who was to clean his or her room, it felt good. I usually carry a small wallet with my valuables but this time I just stuck the $10 in my pocket. It must have fallen out somewhere and all that was left by the end of the day was the rest of my tips—6 pennies. Unbelievable! I had to laugh. I figure there must have been someone who needed it more than me. I hope one of my fellow housekeepers found it.


So what is next?

For now, doing some work on E-bay. A friend and I have an E-bay store and though it has been quiet most of the year, it is picking up for the holidays. So I’ll be listing auctions, answering questions and hopefully shipping stuff out! And I need to call my sister’s boss and find out about that part time job—my only hesitation has been that I do not want this to affect my sister’s hours in any way. I don’t want her to lose hours because of me.

I also plan to spend some time writing. Its something I have always said I will do but never dedicate time consistently for this. This week, I started on a couple of writing contests due at the end of the month. There are also a couple of other things I have been procrastinating on that I need to complete.