It’s time for another edition of Ten On Tuesday and this week I’m sharing the last 10 jobs I’ve had. Actually, there is a bonus #11 this week because as it turns out that’s how many jobs I’ve had in my lifetime. I’ve apparently been a busy bee.
So starting with the most recent, before my current photography business (so actually I’ve had 12 jobs!) they are as follows:
1. EFCMHC. That would be Edwin Fair Community Mental Health Center. My kids liked to say that I just acted like I worked there when I was in fact a patient. Some days I felt like I could definitely be a patient there. I worked as the receptionist in the Med Clinic and it was insane. (No pun intended.) We were always crazy busy and the doctor was always rushed. I really had a heart for a lot of our clients and hated that they weren’t getting better care. However, the ratio of patients vs care givers was completely out of proportion and so we did the best we could. I was working my photography business on the side at the time. I went round and round with the administration saying that we needed more help but things never seemed to pan out. So in December of 2008 I left EFCMHC and decided to give madigan.e.photography a full time try. Yay!
2. SIM. Also known as Stillwater Internal Medicine. This was the first outside-of-the-home job I’d had in a long time. With my youngest in Pre-K I took the part time position and really enjoyed it. I filed papers. Lots of papers. And took phone calls. Lots of phone calls. When my good friend Leah left to work at EFCMHC and needed a full time secretary I considered it. Then I found out my very favorite doctor was leaving SIM (I still give him a hard time for that!) and my decision to leave was sealed. I loved working here though. Tons of great co-workers!
3. Stay-At-Home-Mom. From the time I had Eli in August of 1996 till Teagan was old enough to go to school in the fall of 2006 I was blessed to stay home with the kids. I LOVED being home with them. I still get weepy when August rolls around and it’s time to send them off to school. I just like having them all home with me! During these years, I tried several things to supplement our income. For a couple of years I taught the 1 year old class at our church’s Mother’s Day Out program. I sold Mary Kay, Artistry, Pampered Chef. Well, I tried to sell it at least. I went through a period of making wood crafts and painting them and sold them at craft fairs. And finally, I started a business called Pretty Please Originals where I sold one-of-a-kind pieces of clothing for little girls. Eventually I moved from clothing to making nap-mats after Sadie went to school and I saw the need for them. Oh snap! I just googled my name and found an old interview! Too funny!
4. Shortly after Madi was born in 1995 I went to work at the District Attorney’s office. My official title was “misdemeanor clerk”. I basically filed/did the paperwork for the misdemeanor charges. SO fun. Especially the people I worked with. Several of us are still friends today.
5. I consider this job my first “real” adult job. Stillwater Police Department. Boom! I had a badge and everything! I applied after finding out that we were unexpectedly expecting Madi. Brad was still in school and had just started a part time job with the City of Stillwater. I needed a full time job. So I applied, went through testing, and then found out that I didn’t get the job. I was so sad. But THEN, I got a call that the person who had been offered the job had already taken another position. So yeah, I was second runner up. Ain’t no shame in that if I end up with the job. Right? I worked right up until Madi arrived. Good times.
6. IGA Floral Shop. I got this job in college. Then I got my boyfriend a job here as a delivery driver. It was awesome. A big huge grocery store with a flower shop. I knew nothing about flowers but I was “artsy” and I soon learned all about making arrangements and funeral sprays and wedding bouquets. My boss, Steve Harris, now owns Little Shop of Flowers here in Stillwater. He was really an awesome guy to work for. My Mom was battling cancer when I worked for him. I asked off for Mother’s Day 2003 which was one of the busiest times of the year for us. He let me off so that I could go spend the day with my Mom. She passed away 6 days later. Since my family figured I “knew” about flowers I was put in charge of them for her funeral and Steve took care of the entire thing. Eight months later Steve and a crew made the trip to Tulsa to deliver my wedding flowers. They were absolutely beautiful. He still calls me by the nickname he had for me way back when every time I see him. Bambi. Don’t ask.
7. Lerner’s. You know that store that used to be in the mall? I worked there for like 2 months one summer. I hated that job. My boss never liked me. I mean, she hired me but I just never felt like I belonged there. Which is probably why I didn’t last very long. I left to go back to school and never looked back.
8. Mazzios. Ah, Mazzios. “Thank you for calling Mazzios Pizza 41st and Peoria this is Margo speaking how may I help you?” That was my spiel when I answered the phones. I was pretty awesome at it. I liked this job a lot. Probably because I worked with a bunch of other high school kids and we all kinda ran the place. I’m not even kidding. It was like our own store. Awesome.
9. I Can’t Believe It’s Not Yogurt. Yum! A married couple owned the franchise. I remember his name was Greg and his wife had long black hair that she wore up on the very top of her head. They had 2 kids that were often at the store too. And there was a guy who always came through the drive through to get his dog a cone of peanut butter yogurt. He claimed that if he drove by the place without stopping his dog would go crazy barking until he turned around. Some time after I stopped working there they had a break in. Greg kept a gun in the store for such instances. Unfortunately, the robber was in the store when Greg got to work one morning. As he entered the building, he was shot and killed with his own gun. Such a sad story.
10. Swensen’s Ice Cream. I consumed more than my fair share of New York Cherry Cheesecake Ice Cream while working here. A guy named Virgil owned the store and his daughter Libby, who was just a few years older than me was always working. It would often be just the 3 of us in the evening. I really loved working with them. We were like a little family. At dinner time Virgil would cook up some patty melt’s and we’d sit and eat. We could do that, cause there wasn’t a ton of business. Which is why I eventually left when Virgil had to close the doors for good. Several years ago while at the Tulsa Airport I saw Virgil working at a little deli. I stopped to get a drink for my flight and was so happy when he recognized me. We talked, he caught me up on Libby. Pretty cool.
Bonus! My very first job ever was at Chimi’s in Tulsa. I’m pretty sure you can’t go wrong working at a Mexican Restaurant. I lived at 27th and Peoria and worked at 81st and Lewis. If you are familiar with Tulsa then you know that is quite a commute. Plus, I didn’t drive. My poor Mom had to drive me and pick me up every time I worked! I’m fairly certain she spent as much in gas as I made in wages. She was so cool. There were a bunch of people from my school that worked at this location and then my older brother started working there too. It was a pretty awesome first job.
Well there ya have it, the last 10 places I worked plus a little bonus thrown in. Of course, while writing this out I thought about all the jobs I’d forgotten. I tried babysitting. (Tried because I’d always get scared and my Mom would have to come save the day.) I did a short stint at The Gap when a new store opened. I spent everything I made in the store. I was one of those super annoying people at the mall who you always want to avoid eye contact with because you don’t want to do their dumb surveys. I wasn’t good at that, I guess I couldn’t be annoying enough. I know you’re surprised at that one. There may be more but this is what my old brain remembers.
So, what was the most favorite job you’ve ever had? Leave me a comment and tell me all about it!
This post has been up for just a couple of hours and I’ve already thought of a HUGE job that I completely forgot about. Maybe I just blocked it out? Who knows. Anyway, once upon a time in that period between the DA’s office and SIM there was this little place called The Riviera Tanning Spa that I opened. No big deal.