I managed to snap a picture of one of the chickadees at the feeders this morning. Those little devils are zippier than all get out so it's quite an accomplishment to get it.
09 October--Barbara Malcolm, Better Than Mom's.
Six months passed and Brady and Naomi were still dating. Marcus got used to having his mom date his boss and Naomi got used to having a man in her life who didn’t treat her badly.
“You should do it,” Brady said, one afternoon while they chopped and prepped for the next day’s menu.
Naomi looked at him from the corner of her eye. “Are you trying to get rid of me? You could just fire me, or I could quit.”
“No.” he said, “I’m not trying to get rid of you, but you should follow your dream of becoming a nurse. You can do it right here at the college in Stinson, so you won’t have to go someplace new.”
She sighed. “Yes, but I don’t want to go back on welfare while I’m in school. I can’t keep working here full time and go to school full time, it wouldn’t work. I’d be shortchanging both you and my studies. And what about Marcus?”
“What about me?” Marcus came in the back door for his afternoon shift.
“You’re early,” Brady said.
Marcus smiled at him, “I’m trying to impress my boss. School got out early for some teacher meeting.”
“Is your schoolwork done?” said Naomi and Brady together.
Marcus turned from hanging up his jacket in Brady’s office. “Yes, my schoolwork is done.” He came toward them tying his apron behind his back. “Now, what about me?”
Naomi put down her knife and folded her arms across her chest. “Brady is trying to convince me that I should go to nursing school. I told him that I can’t work and go to school and keep you out of trouble all at the same time.”
“You want to be a nurse?”
“I did when I was in high school but now, I’m too old. I have too many responsibilities and not enough money to run off and go to college. Especially not when I’m trying to get you ready to go to college in a couple years.” She turned and started browning cubed beef and onions for tomorrow’s stew.
“You could get financial aid,” Brady said in a quiet voice. “I could go with you and help you navigate getting registered and all that.”
Marcus put his Better Than Mom’s ballcap backwards and got ready to carry a tub of clean dishes out into the diner. “You should look into it, Mom. You’re always telling me to keep my eyes on my dreams, maybe we can chase our dreams together.
She looked at the two men in her life through the steam rising from the stew pot. “I’ll think about it.”
Today's toss was another bin of yarn. I figure if I reduce my yarn holdings by half it'll be a good start. I know I kept some yarn that I'll never knit up but it takes a bit of fortitude to let some of it go. I'll get there one of these days.
Wisconsin is a real COVID hotspot these days and northeastern Wisconsin (where I live) is the hottest spot. I know everyone is more than tired of restricting activities and not seeing family and friends but I feel like if we all just sucked it up for a few weeks, wore masks, and social distanced we could get a handle on this and make the numbers go down. Makes me kind of afraid to go to the grocery. Good thing I won't need to go for another week. Maybe I'll do a pickup or even go crazy and get it delivered.
--Barbara
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