Nina

Sometimes a person has to search an awfully long time to find the right fit; other times it appears as without effort. My first house care gig occurred at age twelve, approached by the neighbor who sized me up as trustworthy. I couldn't have been more chuffed; the job fit like hand in glove, and I took the responsibility most seriously.

After graduating from college (BA in Music), I got struck by a severe case of the wanderlusts and spent the next two years circumferencing the globe, working as I traveled. In Israel I served as a live-in housekeeper for a family of five. Nothing short of immaculate cleanliness was acceptable. Prior to this I worked on a Moshav (similar to a Kibbutz but for pay) and was promoted to foreman.

Back to music college upon my return to the States, I helped support myself working as a dog walker & overnight pet sitter for three years and loved it. On any given day, regardless of the weather, I could be found adventuring through the streets and parks of Boston with five canines at time, and on any given night sleeping with them.

From there to a dude ranch hidden in the mountains of Idaho. A member of the housekeeping crew, I was once again meeting the exacting criteria of both bosses and guests, and once again was selected for promotion, the only housekeeper invited to clean the ranch owners' hilltop home (considered quite a high privilege).

Houston was my next locale, where I worked both as a certified personal fitness trainer and later as a dog walker & pet sitter. It was an altogether different experience than the adrenaline-pumping days of Boston and continued to expand my experience.

And now, these many years later, the pages of adventure have once again unfurled. I work as a professional overnight pet sitter and freelance nonfiction editor. This makes for happier pets because I am at home so much of the time, and we keep each other company.

Being highly conscientious and independent, I relish the opportunity to be entrusted to safeguard, upkeep, and care for another's home, property, and pets. I'm just about as introverted and shy as people get . . . that is around human-folk, but not so around the animal kingdom. Exceedingly affectionate, interactive, attentive, and sensitive to the needs of others, my turtle shell is entirely chucked in the company of critters.

In fact, dogs wag their tails in delight when I sing to them and melt into puddles of Jell-O under my massaging hands. And felines, even the aloof variety, find themselves purring under my gentle touch. Tending to rampant rabbits, a variety of fowl, reptiles, fish, caged birds, guinea pigs, and hamsters are also part of my repertoire. And I happen to be very fond of horses.

Private by nature, I place great value on guarding other people's privacy and in operating at the highest caliber of integrity. I am a non-smoker. Single. No kids. No pets. Just me and my pea-sized Honda Fit.

Thank you for slugging through all that.

Nina