February 18, 1956 Relaxing, Scrubbing, Bucking the Crowds and Thinking About Buddy's Birthday

Dear Mother & Daddy,

"While the kids finish a wild cowboy show I'll start my letter.  B is out for a dinner meeting in Bloomington so the kids & I ate in front of T.V.

I have relaxed the last of this week and have been doing my usual housework for a change.  It took two days to finish the children's curtains and after I got the paint scraped off the windows and the curtains up I sat down and relaxed.  I didn't get the windows washed but it shouldn't take long to do that.  It was so late when I got the curtains pressed that I didn't take the time to wash the windows.

The children were home today because of a teachers' meeting so I didn't do much except scrub the kitchen and bathroom and do some washing.

Yesterday was dollar day here and it started to rain just as Ann and I left the house to go downtown.  Before we were half way to town our windshield was covered with ice.  I stopped and scraped it off and then the defroster kept it off.  We got some real bargains and got back home without any trouble.  The streets were like glass and everyone was driving carefully.  It is still bad today but has thawed some and rained a lot.

I wish you could be here for one of these dollar days.  You can get real bargains if you have the energy to buck the crowds.  I got Bob some jeans for a dollar, Ann some beautiful nylon blouses (2) for a dollar each, some stretch nylon stockings for .77 and the kids some sox for .10 a pair.  Ann's were all nylon and Bob's were nylon & cotton.

We were supposed to go to David's birthday party today but Toni had to cancel it.  He has been sick and Watty was sick today.  He's the third one in the family to have the sore throat.  Lynn & Toni won't get it.  They never get anything.

Beulah put a short note in with the valentines she sent the kids.  She said she hurt her back but didn't say how it happened except that she fell.  I had written her a letter but she hadn't got it then.  The kids loved the valentines you sent.  They got a lot of them.

B's ankle gets better all the time but he still has to wear the bandage.  Most of the swelling and blueness are gone but it seems so weak.  He left the bandage off one day but had such a leg ache afterwards that he put it back on.

I had been thinking about Buddy's birthday so I sent him a card and wrote a letter.  He'll probably faint when he gets it.

Bob wanted me to tell you that they are planting seeds at school to see how they grow.

We don't think we're going to get the garage built.  The (building trades) class isn't big enough to handle the project.  The idea was almost too good to be true anyway.

Hope you both are fine."

                Lots of love,

                       Bonnie

NOTE:  In my opinion, nylon anklets weren't worth a penny, much less a dime.  They never stayed up and were typically under my heels making shoes feel awfully uncomfortable.  I couldn't stand them.  Funny what we remember.