Monday, Joseph and I had an appointment with Dr. Luckey. Joseph had a wart on his thumb removed for the second time--and the doctor was kind enough not to charge us for this addition work. I had a mole on my cheek removed, an EKG, and a bone density scan. It seems I’m well!--just feel my nose. The original reason I went to the doctor’s office was because the mole, that had shown up before Victoria was born, and which I had thought was nothing more than an age spot, had changed slightly, and I know it is always best to have those things checked. Sure enough, it was more than an age spot, and it did need to be removed. I had the EKG because I have an irregular heartbeat, and, since heart trouble runs in the family, I thought I should see if it was anything serious. Just as I’d suspected, it wasn’t. But the test showed, incidentally, that my heart has some sort of electrical abnormality--an electronic batch bundle? An electric bindle batch? A bunch of bridled electricity? Hmmm. Dr. Luckey’s explanation sounded uncannily similar to Larry’s explanations of engine innards. Anyway, the doctor said it wasn’t really anything to worry about.
The bone scan showed I’m on the low side of normal, density-wise--and that’s ONLY bone-wise, in case you’re thinking up some wise remarks--and I should take more calcium and drink less coffee. Well, okay, I’ll take more calcium; but as for the coffee…
And, just in case you were wondering about that removed mole on my face…it is healing nicely, and my beauty remains flawless.
Well…other than the pointy chin, the asymmetrical eyebrows, and the accumulating wrinkles.
My brother offered to pay for publishing my poems and pictures, so I wrote to several do-it-yourself publishers. I have received some information from several of them, but to self-publish seems to be much too expensive--$7,000 to $10,000. (!!) So I think I must finish my story, and then, if nobody wants to publish it, we could self-publish that, which wouldn’t be so costly, and in that way I would get my foot in the door. Trouble is, it’s taking me a year and a day to organize and put into story-form my old journals from 1990 to 1993. Before 1990, unfortunately, I didn’t keep a diary; from ’90 to ’93, I only wrote snatches of notes on calendars. Finally, at the end of August, 1993, my niece gave me a diary, and I’ve been keeping one faithfully ever since.
Wednesday afternoon, Dorcas took Teddy to the courthouse for his driving test. They were soon home again, because Teddy had forgotten his ‘green paper’, on which I was supposed to record all the times he drove during the past year, along with the area, whether highway or residential, the weather, and how long he was behind the wheel.
Now, we didn’t hear about this requirement until two weeks ago, at which point Hannah went to the courthouse to get the all-important ‘green paper’. I then sat me down and took my pen swiftly down the columns on this legal-sized paper, with entry blanks both front and back. When I got to the category ‘Weather Conditions’, I rapidly wrote such things as, “Sun”, “Rain”, “Sleet”, “Snow”, or “Ice”, depending on what I thought might be typical for the particular date I’d written in the previous column. After all!--the instructors could not possibly check everybody’s paper against past weather conditions to see if it was accurate or not, now could they?
Back at the courthouse again, Teddy took the written test, passing with flying colors. He then learned that he must have someone over 21 with him to sign some papers. Home they came again. Larry went with him this time, barely arriving before 3:30 p.m., which is the latest they will allow people to arrive and still take the driving test.
Teddy and the instructor went outside and climbed into Hannah’s car, which Teddy was using for his demonstration. And then…
He forgot to put the lap belt on after the shoulder strap went over him automatically. The instructor didn’t even let him do any more driving--he just told Teddy to pull right back into the parking space; he was done. Those crabby driving instructors are not nice to young people.
Teddy was disappointed; he must wait till tomorrow, and hope Gehrings are not so busy they can’t spare him for an hour or so.
Wednesday evening, Dorcas, Lydia, Victoria, and I went to my mother’s house to show her our postcards from Colorado. I clipped her fingernails for her, too. They grow fast, and are very strong, on account of the vitamin-and-mineral regimen she is on. She misses us when we are gone, and is always glad when we are home, safe and sound.
Bobby’s family returned from their Colorado vacation Tuesday. When we compared notes, we discovered that, several times, we’d been within shouting distance of each other--for instance, we traveled over Monarch Pass the same day, not very long after they did; and when we were staying at Holt’s Guest Ranch near Tincup, they were camping west of Colorado Springs, probably less than 60 miles east of us. Bobby gave Hannah a beautiful Black Hills Gold necklace--a dainty cutout heart with tiny leaves of all colors along one side. He also gave her a pendant that is a real maple leaf dipped in 24-carat gold, and a large framed hologram of bears in mountain scenery.
At Jr. Choir Thursday, we finished recording a tape of the children singing.
That afternoon we cleaned Victoria’s room from top to bottom, which always pleases her. “It’s all clean; it’s all nice; it’s really nice!” she exclaimed, waving a small arm one direction and then the other.
Since that was the day for the Schwan man to come, we had a treat for supper: barquitos. Mmm! We had never had them before. They are somewhat on the order of pizza, but with a decidedly Mexican flavor to them.
Hannah and Lydia got the pictures back that they’d taken on our trip to Colorado. Walgreens gives doubles whether you want them or not, so I helped myself to several of the best reprints. (One can do that without twinge, when one has paid for them, one’s self.) (Actually, I did ask permission first.)
Teddy is getting as brown as an Indian these days. He invariably forgets his suntan lotion, or leaves his straw hat in another pickup. His Grandma Swiney threatened to sew pink ribbons on that hat and tie it around his neck if he forgot again. Of course he laughed; I don’t think he took that threat seriously at all.
Saturday I found a nearly new statement book in my desk. Larry has been needing one, and they’ve been out of stock at every office supply business in town for weeks, so I was pleased to find it. I handed it to Caleb. “Here, Caleb; go put this by Daddy’s place on the kitchen table.”
It was the wrong thing to do. The next time I went into the kitchen, I discovered that somebody had made cranberry/grape juice right next to the statement book, splashing violet-red drops of juice all over the cover. I snatched it up, dismayed. “Oh, look what someone did!” I exclaimed in consternation. I handed it to the most likely culprit. “Hester, go get a dishcloth warm, squeeze the water out as well as you can, and wipe this off carefully. Then put it on my roll-top desk.”
Well, she accomplished the first half of those instructions all right…but then she got sidetracked and set the booklet down--on the other end of the table. I found it some time later…this time, with large drops of honey dribbled all over it. Aarrgghh!
So everything is still normal, here in the Jackson kitchen.
My brother Loren had his 61st birthday on the ninth. I printed out all my poems, with the exception of my Christmas poems and the children’s story poems from Genesis and Daniel, and put them into a big blue notebook for him. We also got him a blue and silver Parker pen. On the first and last pages of the poem book I affixed 5x7s of two of my favorite scenic pictures. On the way out to his house one evening to deliver the book, we suddenly spotted a couple of deer stealthily making their way across the road in front of us. We were traveling at a good clip, and the deer were taking their sweet time…and it appeared certain that a collision was imminent. Larry slammed on the brakes just about the time the first deer made it to the middle of the road. The screeching of our tires didn’t seem to faze him; he kept creeping along, neck outstretched, looking for all the world as if he were tiptoeing. We bore down on him at an alarming rate. Larry then made use of our aROOOga! horn--and that did the trick. The deer abruptly gathered himself together and, with three or four frantic, skidding leaps, made it to the right side of the road. I was afraid he was going to fall, his hooves were slipping so badly; I was also afraid the second deer on the left side of the road would follow the first. But he decided against it, luckily. We squealed past that first deer with only millimeters to spare. Whew!
Some time later that evening, something dawned on me: we had neglected to get Bobby a souvenir from Colorado, and I knew for a fact that he had gotten some for us! So we went to Sapp Bros., one of Columbus’ two truck stops, where there is a small gift shop with nice merchandise. I got a large, framed oil painting on canvas of mountains, waterfall, and a little log cabin. It is all done in shades of blue, as if it were getting dusky. It’s a beautiful painting. I also found a three-dimensional ornament in the shape of Nebraska with a covered wagon, a meadowlark--our state bird--and a windmill. It is done in fine 24K gold filigree, and each little shape hangs freely so they can all move independently. I bought a black leather wallet with deer, trees, and mountains etched on it for Teddy.
Friday the thirteenth, Teddy turned 16. My mother gave him money and a book by Corrie ten Boom about her father. Lawrence and Norma came that night, bringing two large trays of apple bar crisps made with maple syrup. They also gave Teddy some money. We gave him, along with the wallet, a large set of power tools, part of which was paid for with the money from Mama. Joseph gave him a duck hunter game for the computer. A cousin gave Teddy a fishing license.
Sure enough, Bobby gave every one of us souvenirs: He gave me a calendar; to Larry he gave a plaque with a gold-plated bald eagle; for Dorcas was a pretty spoon, bringing the number of spoons in her collection up to nineteen; he gave Teddy a sparkly chunk of amethyst with a molded and etched silver wolf standing atop it; to Joseph he gave a pocketknife with ‘Pike’s Peak’; Hester got a polished geode of a dark plum color with crystals in the center; Lydia received a little black suede bag of rocks; to Caleb was given a leather coin purse with the words ‘Pike’s Peak’ burnt onto the side; and for Victoria there was a stuffed mountain ram.
“Goodness!” I said to Bobby, “You sure should’ve picked a smaller family to get yourself involved with, if you were planning to give everybody souvenirs!”
After a stiflingly hot week, Saturday was finally a nice day, just perfect for a walk. I even managed to get a few weeds pulled from my poor flower bed in the front. The garden on the north is hopeless, I think; last I knew, there was a pride of lions and an extended family of lowland gorillas living in there.
Larry didn’t get home till 9:30 Saturday night. The boys all needed a haircut, but, because of the lateness of the hour, we picked only one--the shaggiest--which happened to be Joseph.
Our special songs seemed to be extra pretty Sunday. Kay and Evelyn, Annette’s sisters, sang, 'Precious Melody', and our octet of young ladies sang 'When Fades The Light'. Our young ladies’ quartet, Kay, Evelyn, Amanda Brinkman, and Julie Tucker, practiced I Will Not Forget Thee for next Wednesday’s service.
Bobby came for dinner yesterday. First I baked chocolate chunk cookies, and then I put a couple of trays of bread sticks into the oven, after liberally coating them with garlic butter. I tell you, the fragrance of the cookies just plain couldn’t hold a candle to the aroma of that garlic! Why, even the baking of four pizzas after the bread sticks were done didn’t obliterate the smell of garlic. We also had fruit salad with cherry vanilla yogurt dressing, and toffee bars to go with the cookies. Everything was scrumptious, but we were a little concerned about what everybody was going to think that evening when, because of the large number of people who had consumed all that garlic, the whole church reeked of it.
As it turned out, the scent of garlic had faded, so we didn’t subject our friends to any unbearable stenches after all.
Now, it’s time to tuck Victoria into bed, and I can hear her calling: “Mama! It’s bedtime for little Victorias!”
P.S.: It is Monday, and Teddy has taken his driving test--and passed faultlessly. So he drove our little white Blazer back to work. When he came home, he scurried into the shower, jumped into clean clothes, and immediately hatched up a reason why he must go to Wal-Mart.
I let him go, admonishing, “Don’t run over any little old ladies!”
He laughed and rushed out the door.
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