Job Description...

So I got a call from a friend in St. Louis today, who I haven't spoken to in probably over a year - not on purpose - just because I'm terrible at keeping in touch with friends when I move, even though I think about them all the time. So it occurred to me that I haven't really told everyone what I'm doing down here in Texas. So here's the best job description that I can come up with. Other "camping professionals" will understand why I list so many roles - it's how camps work. On my job offer, my job description listed a few official duties, and then a miscellaneous section that has "as needed" at the end of each line. So here we go:

Office Manager - Receptionist, Accounts Receivable, Accounts Payable, Armored truck driver (as I take the money from our safe to the bank in town)

Reservations Manager - if you want to book a retreat, summer camp, or personal getaway, I'm your girl. I also put together the contracts and send them out, etc. Considering that our reservation system consists of paper and pencil (so we can erase & make changes), it's a process to get them created and mailed out.

Gift Shop Manager - though if you know me, you know that I have no fashion sense (besides blue jeans and a t-shirt), so trying to pick out the newest "fad" that the kids will want to buy, and that ladies groups will "ooh" and "ahh" over is a bit challenging. But I sure can operate a cash register!

Cook - the position that my mom laughs at the most because she just can't imagine me feeding 200+ people when I can't serve peanut butter and jelly or cereal...yeah, so I learned a few things about food service - I mostly do this on the weekends, and I still haven't gotten better at making meals at home - but frosting for a cake that feeds 80 - I'm on it!

Mail Woman - Yes, we drive our mail to the post office on most days - it gets me out of the office each day, which is nice.

Flower Delivery Woman - gotta have flowers on the tables in the dining hall - at least during retreat season.

Climbing Wall - I don't do this as often anymore, but every now and then you'll catch me running the ladders and ropes if we're short-handed. And believe me, after you zip down, you want that ladder fast because harnesses just aren't that comfortable when you're just hanging there in the air and the adrenaline has worn off.

Thankfully I don't have to lifeguard anymore. While I love to swim, I don't really fancy watching others swim from a hot chair, I don't care what Bay Watch wants you to believe - it's not that glamorous.

Most of my day is spent on the phone with people that call wanting to make reservations. And then I try to finish all of my other tasks in between phone calls, which means I rarely get to finish a thought in my head without being interrupted by the phone again. So sometimes it's a challenge to remember to do all the things I promised a customer that I'd do because by the time I get a moment to do them, I've talked to 15 people in between!

Well, that's the gist of what I do. If you want to find out more about Camp Tejas, check out our website - it has pictures and all kinds of good info. Go to www.camptejas.org. You can even buy a t-shirt if you want!