Saturday, December 16, 2017

December 16, 1967: Prime Time

Letter postmarked December 16, 1967:

The CCZCC now stands at 10. The record is 11. The tension is almost unbearable, isn't it?


Dear Mother and Mike,
Thought I'd drop you a line this calm Sunday morning. All next week may be a bit hectic with an eight month old baby and a puppy invading our household. David Wayne is so excited about "our company" that he's forgotten all about it being close to Christmas. David Wayne entertains the baby so much that I'm not expecting to do much work there, but that pup is another story. The little puppy is just about over her distemper, but I'll still have to give her medicine twice a day. Besides, the cold weather last week meant that Suzie couldn't take it outside (and she was almost housebroken.) Now, we have a thoroughly confused puppy that potties anywhere and everywhere in the house. Oh brother!

[I'm sure Dad's thrilled about having that pooping puppy in the apartment. I hope we get a full report on that.]


Friday afternoon Suzie kept David Wayne for me and they made cookies. I think they both enjoyed their afternoon together and Suzie said David Wayne was wonderful with Eric, the baby. I went to the beauty shop and got my hair cut. My friend Gary isn't working there any more so another one of the "boys" fixed me up - this one sang to me for two hours. I also bought all the little stocking fillers for the stockings. I discovered that they don't make 5 cent toys any more - that was a big blow to my budget. I really had more fun filling up Dave's stocking. Here are a few things I got for him:
- Scotch flavored toothpaste
- Bourbon flavored toothpicks
- Ear plugs
- Pot holder for cooking outside (cute design of a beer mug)
- English Leather lotion
- Lint remover (the travel kind)

He should have a lot of fun - that is if he never finds out how much I spent.

[I sense an alcohol theme among those gifts. Too bad Mom couldn't find ear plugs that were decorated like beer cans.]


Friday night Dave took me out to eat at a place called "The Lion's Tale." We ate our first prime rib dinner - delicious!

[I'm really surprised this is the first time they had prime rib. I remember them talking about prime rib a lot in Los Angeles, so I just assumed it was the whole time we were there. They must have gotten hooked on it in L. A., though, because they continued having prime rib frequently after we moved back to Texas.]


After eating we went over to the Dirr's to collect our son, who was not at all worried about ever coming home. The Dirrs had the home movies back from the tour at Universal Studios. The parts of David Wayne and Suzie "performing" in the antique car, rock pile, and dancing in the elevator were the funniest things I've ever seen. Gene ran them at all three speeds - fast, regular and slow motion. I think we showed that section of the film nearly 30 minutes and just laughed louder and louder each time. Dave and I have about decided to get a movie camera real soon.

[That would be incredible to watch those movies again. Sadly I'm not aware of any contact with the Dirrs after we moved back to Texas.]


Saturday, we went out to Busch Gardens with Gene and Suzie. We took the boat ride and we saw the bird show again. It was pretty cool, but we enjoyed it - also it wasn't crowded at all so we took the monorail tour.

[I guess I knew to stay away from the birds this time.]


That night, of course, was the big event - The Newlywed Game! Did you watch it? What did you think? They really put on a show, especially Suzie with that accent. Before the show, Gene told the studio audience that Suzie was a speech correction teacher and everyone in the place fell out of their seats laughing - you can understand why. They were sillier watching themselves on TV than they were on the show.

[Mom doesn't mention it in this letter, but I'm pretty sure Gene and Suzie won that episode of The Newlywed Game, based on my recollections of Mom talking about it many years later. I vaguely remember it being a big deal when we were watching their episode with them. And now we know that Suzie must have had a pretty thick southern accent which the studio audience really enjoyed.]


Well, I will close for now. We may go down to Olvera Street this afternoon as I understand there is a beautiful life-sized nativity scene at the Plaza. It is supposed to have been carved in Italy. We still need to get a pinata for David Wayne and also we want to buy us a nativity scene down there. Write soon.


Love,
Linda


P. S. I still need instructions on how to make dressing. My sweet husband has offered to suffer indigestion so I can practice on cooking my first Christmas dinner.

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