367: did i mention...

... i am now a child minder. at least for a little while.

out of all the doors in our apartment complex (at least several hundred), one of our neighbors knocked on ours to ask if her daughter could stay with us once school ends, while she and her husband work. she said, "of course we'll pay you".

when i say "neighbor" i'm using the term subjectively. the family lives in our complex (neighborhood) but not in our building. their building is down the parking lot and around the corner. about a three-minute walk. or we could cut across the playground and be there two minutes sooner.

the patels (not their real name) seem to be nice people.

they welcomed us nicely when baby bliss and i first moved here (back when i left mr. bliss).

a week or so after we moved in, we went to the pool one evening and there they were.

mr. patel was roasting corn on the grill while their daughter swam. she and baby bliss hit it off immediately and her parents were very friendly to me. mr. patel offered us corn when it was done.

at first i said no but they insisted.

to season the corn, they offered salt, limes, and a red spice from india. the salt and lime were yummy on the corn but i passed on the red spice. anything red means hot to me. now, i don't automatically poo-poo spicy but i draw the line at hot.

and why waste a good ear of corn by experimenting? lol

we ate and talked between bites. i asked them a gazillion and one questions about india and they fueled my imagination with tidbits of information that i'd never heard before.

so any way, we've seen and talked to the patels around the complex for almost two years now: at the pool, in the gym, on the playground, etc.

still, i was surprised when mrs. patel asked if their daughter could stay with us during the day.

i'm honored that they chose me to trust with their daughter and thankful for the unexpected income.

amen.


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