The CCZCC extends its winning streak to 24.
Dear Mother and Mike,
We got your letter today. Sorry to hear that it was such a long time until you got a letter from me - that must have been the week I ran out of envelopes. I wrote, I just couldn't get the letters mailed.
That was nice of Ann to bring those presents to you and Mike - and, of course, David Wayne. Be sure to save the "Jungle Book" funny book for David. He has one and just loves it, but I'm afraid it won't last much longer. You were right - I never knew you wanted a camel pin. I haven't even seen one in years. I'm glad she brought that to you.
We haven't heard from Wayne and Linda in over a week. I hope that nothing is wrong. I really imagine Linda just doesn't have anything to write about.
[Or perhaps she's busy with a three-month-old infant.]
The time is growing closer and closer for us to come home. We are all getting excited and sorta nervous, too. We have accumulated a lot of stuff and I cannot imagine _how_ we're going to manage. And, as my husband loves to point out - the most important thing we've accumulated is a baby, which will take up the whole back seat along with me. I can't start packing anything yet because we need just about everything we brought. Dave will have to help me more this time as I can't reach up high or bend. Really, I'm so big and uncomfortable, I do very well to just sit or stand up straight. I wish you could come help me. What about this contest you entered?
We have big plans for this weekend. I'm very excited but Dave just has $ signs in his eyes. The Hansens, the McClays (man in charge of this job), and Dave and I are going "out on the town." We are going to start by eating at a fancy restaurant and from there just hitting as many nice bars, clubs, and honky-tonks as we can. I may even get to see one of the topless shows - how about that? The topless show is Barbara's idea - she says she's lived 43 years and never seen anything like that so she'd just like to see if she's missed anything. Believe it or not, my husband is the one that does _not_ want to go. I tease him and say he's afraid he might like it too much and then he would be in trouble.
[I can't imagine my parents together at a topless show. I'm sure Dad was not looking forward to that. I hope we get some details in an upcoming letter.]
David Wayne is happy about us going because he gets to stay with Mrs. Bruffy (a lady that lives in our apartment house. She's 84 years old, but you'd never know it.) She has a big aquarium that David Wayne loves to watch. She is always inviting him to come down and see her fish. He found an old snail one day and he took it to her to keep the aquarium clean. She acted like it thrilled her to death.
[Ok, good to know that I maintained a relationship with the aquarium lady, and now we know her last name.]
Tomorrow, Barbara and I are going shopping in downtown L. A. - it will be a first for me. We are going to catch a bus on Wilshire and ride down so we won't have to fool with traffic, parking, etc. The bus ride will be a first for David Wayne and I think he'll really enjoy it. Can you believe he's never ridden on a city bus? The reason for the trip is to buy me a suitable "honky tonk" dress. I wish I had had Linda Kay mail me those two in Texas, but I never dreamed about going out. When we did start talking about this, it was too late for this slow mail service.
[I guess Mom didn't think about using an overnight package delivery service since those didn't exist until 1973 when Federal Express began operations.]
You must write poor Dave a note of condolence as I'm sure the evening will be expensive. The Hansens and McClays are quite a bit older and more established financially than us so no telling where we'll wind up. I feel proud that we were asked to go along. Both these couples are nice and the kind of people you'd want your kiddos to associate with. There are other young examiners in L. A. (not just the Dirrs, either), and Dave and I are the only ones that have been friendly with this older group. Gee, that sounds like I'm bragging - sorry!
I really got a laugh from Mike's experience at the movie. Of all the people I can think of, he is about the last one I'd think to be affected that way. I haven't told David Wayne yet, but I don't think he'll ever let Mike forget it. He still laughs and tells people about his Uncle Mike who went hunting and came back with a stick of butter.
Flash! Dave was reading his beloved Belton Journal this week when his eyes got big, he put the paper down, looked at me and said, "Our dentist got married." I thought he was talking about the Jennings' family dentist, since our dentist is in Dallas. As it turned out, he was talking about our Dallas dentist, who had married a girl from Belton. She used to live right behind Dave and she was the neighborhood tomboy. (Our dentist is kind of feminine, we thought.) It's a small world, isn't it?
[It's nice to see another mention of the Belton Journal, and Mom's use of "beloved" to describe it. I remember hearing about this relationship when I was growing up, that our dentist was married to a girl who used to live behind the house where my dad grew up. He (Dr. Douglass) was the dentist for our whole family while I was growing up, and I think he was still practicing dentistry and Mom was still seeing him when he died in 2007 at the age of 72. FYI, I never thought he was kind of feminine and Mom never said anything to me along those lines.]
Did I write you that the man who owns this apartment house is going to stick us for a whole month's rent? We pay our rent on the 21st. We'll probably leave around the first of March or before, but he won't let us pay up until that time. I'm pretty mad about it, but Dave isn't - surprised? He says he doesn't want to waste even one day arguing with him. Just as long as he can come home, he doesn't care what it costs.
[We'll end Part 1 of this letter here.]
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