February 14, 1970 The Awful Weather, The Major Operation, The Writing Group, The New Rock and The Scalloped Potatoes

Dear Mother & Daddy,

"This is letter writing day. I just finished letters to the kids and want to write Mabel, too. I guess she is having a bad time. She still can't stand and her arthritis bothers her always, of course. She takes exercises to keep limber but can't do that now so I feel awfully sorry for her. She's in a wheelchair and Horace and Sid are doing the housework.

I hope you two feel better today. It is this awful weather that makes us all feel draggy. When spring comes we won't know how to act. The temperature stays around zero and there are snow flurries most any time. I do better when the sun shines even if it is cold but today is another dark one.

I've spent most of this week working in the basement every chance I got. There is some order down there now but there is still a lot of work to do. B hopes to clean off the work bench this afternoon. That's a major operation and I didn't make much headway with it. Our recreation room needs to be thoroughly cleaned and have a fresh coat of paint. Some of the floor tiles need to be replaced too but I don't know when we can get to it.

For three evenings we worked on income tax returns. Ours was fairly simple but Ann's was a mess. She has to file three--National, Illinois & Missouri. We think we have them right but the instructions are so poor they are hard to follow.

I haven't done any writing in a long time. I try once in awhile but can't get any done. Things have to be quiet and you have to keep at it and I just can't find the time. Quill Club is a writing group. They read things they have written and the group makes suggestions for improvement or possible places where the manuscript can be sold. It is an interesting group and real helpful to anyone who writes. I've been in it so long I can't just drop out but I don't always go.

The public schools had Lincoln's birthday as a holiday so our jewelry class didn't meet this week. Each session is three hours long but that time just flies by. I had a new rock to cut so I missed going to class. We went to a rock shop last weekend and I bought a little piece of tiger eye. It was cheap but from what I've read since I bought it, I don't think I got much. It will be fun, anyway.

Our church is having some sort of convention for young people this weekend and they are feeding them supper at the church tonight. I have to make scalloped potatoes for them. I was glad they didn't ask me to keep some of them overnight. We did that once before and the kids were nice but it was a lot of work, too.

Our kids are all fine. Ann really had a good time at the wedding in St. Louis. Several of the girls went from Fulton.

Spring will be here one of these days."

                             Love,

                                 Bonnie

NOTE:  Erich Segal's book, Love Story, was released on February 14, 1970, and published in part in the February issue of the Ladies Home Journal.  The film, released in December, had everyone weeping into their popcorn!