12 Oct 1983
Wed Afternoon

Dear Mom & Dad,

I've been trying to get a letter started for the last week and strange things kept cropping up. The strangest of all, I guess, was Michael. He just got over a week of having pneumonia! He went back to work yesterday. He had been sick prior to that for a couple of weeks with bronchitis, but kept going to work and not really taking care of himself. Sunday night a week ago, 2 Oct, he went in to assist with a Caesarian and nearly fainted during the middle of it. The next day, they X-rayed his chest. Tuesday they sent him home from work saying he had pneumonia. His week off and all the medicine finally got him well, I guess. He was tired yesterday when he got home from work, but he feels much better and is acting like his normal self. But, then, I guess he's really not too normal, is he? He'll get a lot of teasing at work about not taking care of himself and not practicing what he preaches.

By Monday afternoon I decided he was pretty much healed and thought things would get back to normal. Then Monday night at bedtime Angelique was crying and complaining about her ear hurting. She has had a cough similar to Michael's for about a week, but didn't feel bad. I guess her's finally settled in her ear instead of her lungs like Michael's. I took her in yesterday to get her ear checked. Michael ended up seeing her. Her right ear is infected. After just a couple of doses of her medicine, she feels better. She went to school today. I hope that's the end of her ailments for a while. I was about to get "cabin fever" with three people to wait hand and foot on.

I started my water color class last Monday. Don't expect any paintings for Christmas. I've got a long way to go before I'm ready to show my art work to anyone. But it's fun.

Steven thought his two-year-old birthday was fantastic. He enjoys the train. Really he enjoyed the musical birthday card as much as any other thing he received. After much loving on it he finally ripped it apart, though.

Angelique is proud of her flashlight. She'll probably enjoy it the next time the electricity goes out. It's kept in a drawer where she can reach it for the next time it's needed. She really enjoys the doll ponytail holder, too. I hesitate about letting her wear it to school, though. Some little kid would probably pull it out of her hair. She has a little purple outfit that looks real cute with it.

Steven had a Mickey Mouse birthday cake. He really enjoyed blowing out the candles. Every time we had leftover cake he wanted to put candles on it and blow them out. The Cummings, our neighbors, came over for the party with their 9 & 10-year-old boys. Steven had a ball. He loved being the center of attention.

Angelique has art classes and music classes at school. She says she's going to be a nurse and an art teacher someday. She'd love to go to Paddington every day if I'd send her.

Not much else has happened this week since Michael has been sick. I did go to the crystal factory the other day. I got a set of 18 glasses -- 6 of three different sizes. They are clear with blue flowers hand painted on them. They'll dress my Corelle dishes up a little more plus I really need the juice glasses. I also picked up a heavy Bohemian 24% lead crystal bowl for £38,000 which is about $26.⁰⁰. I don't think you can even buy this crystal in the States since it comes from Czechoslovakia. Are any iron country products sold in America? I don't remember ever seeing anything from Russia for sale in the U.S. Anyway, this crystal is top quality stuff. I may send Michael out there to get me a vase for Christmas.

I think the baby Johns bracelet got put in storage. I didn't want it to get ripped off over here.

I sent Brenda an Italian baby blanket the other day. It will take it about a month to get there so don't mention it yet. It is blue with pink print on one side and pink with blue print on the other side. It is different from what I'd seen in the States. I think there was a blanket or two in the box of stuff I left at your house, so she probably won't even need this one. But it was so pretty I couldn't resist it. Is she still feeling okay? I don't have any of my maternity clothes left.

Michael says Daddy needs to have his what-cha-ma-call-it [Schatzki's] ring dilated again. He'll probably have to have it done periodically. Dr. White in Searcy could probably do it. If not, go back to Fort Smith. He'll probably want to have it done before the holidays begin.

I assume Aunt Rosa was buried in the Sullins Cemetery. Correct?

Yes, we got the art appreciation book and whistle last week. We probably owe him some more money for it. This is a bigger and nicer art book than what we had, so I'm sure it cost more. I'm afraid I'll have trouble getting him to tell me how much more I owe him. Guess I should just send him a check for $10.⁰⁰ or so.

Michael read quite a bit of that book while he was sick. He read just about every book we have as a matter of fact. The 1^st couple of days all he did was sleep and eat 2 meals. Then he started reading everything he could get his hands on. He got quite bored staying at home with us all week. He wanted to go see his patients.

Is Nobel Combs doing okay? He had a heart problem for a while, didn't he?

I'm not surprised Uncle Glen thinks he's ready to go back preaching. Michael was climbing the walls after one week at home and Uncle Glen has been sick longer than that.

Our days are probably in the mid-70º's. Our nights are probably in the lower 60º's. We have so many pesky flies right now. I guess it's a little warmer in the houses. I open a door for a minute and 20 flies will come in and want to be right in someone's face.

We might have our phone by Christmas. It should be cheaper on weekends and holidays and after 11:00 PM.

Sears ships our orders from Philadelphia, I believe. I'm expecting a big order from them in a couple of weeks -- electric blankets, thermal underwear, heavy pajamas for kids, socks, etc.

Angelique is going to be Tweetie Bird on Halloween and Steven will be a clown. We'll just go to a few close American homes for trick or treating.

I put my White County backyard dirt in a clear bottle and put it on a shelf on the wall unit. I need to get some kind of small label on it perhaps. It looks a little strange with all the other stuff up there, but it is something novel.

Would it be possible to write down your recipe for chicken/turkey 'n dressing? It would be strange not to have that on Thanksgiving or at least Christmas. Also I'd like your refrigerator yeast roll recipe. Is it out of a cookbook, or where did it come from? We'll probably get together with friends from church both holidays since that's the closest thing any of us have to family around here. Like I said, maybe we'll have our phone by then.

By the time you get this letter, Arkansas will have won or lost to Texas. I haven't heard any ball games broadcast on our radio station from the Navy base here. You'd think they would at least put the Texas/Arkansas game on. Is Arkansas ranked this year? We saw where Texas was ranked 2^nd nationwide.

We're going to a 3-year-old birthday party tomorrow night -- Vic & Sandy Sharp's kid. Vic's an internal medicine doctor here. I think they like for their kids to play with our kids because our kids are so well behaved (most of the time). Unfortunately, my kids pick up on what their kids are doing. Rachel will be 3 and Zachery is about 18 months old. Rachel throws bigger fits than Steven. It should be interesting.

I'd better get to bed.
Write soon.
Come see us!

Love,

Jeannie