Letters to Mom

hey Mom; Not even talking about the torment of trying to write and having characters remain silent or when I can't even pull a decent plot line together.  The real recent frustrations are over the tendonitis in my arms/elbow and the realization that the ridges in the palm of my hand that are bruised deeply and hurt a bit are probably because of carpal tunnel.  Something I was hoping to avoid despite the decades of power typing.  <sigh>  So, I bought a good, solid wrist and forearm brace and I'm going to work more with voice recognition. It's spring here and wishing you were here to see everything in bloom, Mom (without the allergies, of course!).  Nick is doing well with getting ready for the military.  Scoring higher than Chris and being singled out as a leader and being singled out for advanced testing has been good for his self esteem.  Working hard and getting noticed in his two jobs also helps.  He also might have an occasional gig ...

hey, mom - it's  warming up quickly here.  lt was cold yesterday and today it was warm enough to make me sweat enough to buy a bandanna. l went to Walmart and took my time shopping instead of rushing as i would normally do.  kinda tired tonight and my hand is really hurting very badly- the tendons are bulging and hurt. it is also really difficult to use the onscreen keyboard. seriously thinking of talking with our insurance person about life insurance and how to go about setting up living wills and final wills.  Right now if anything happens to both of us David would get everything and he would not hold to our wishes.  Our stuff would be gone within days and who knows what would happen to the cats?  We have different ideas and we know that you would approve, mom.

Last week was in the low 80s, yesterday was 65F, today 75F, tomorrow 85F and I thought California was bad with the temp drops and rises! Working on getting the house clean and kinda dreading Nick going off to the Navy in 2 months, we're going to miss the kid even if we don't see him much.  He's been so busy working like crazy and spending time with his friends that he's hardly ever home.  His last night at the restaurant is Thursday, after that he's going to focus solely on working around the house and getting ready for the extra testing for the Navy thing.  Definitely looking forward to the Alice Cooper concert next Tuesday!  Nick has never seen Alice in concert, this will be a blast! Missing you, Mama, something fierce the last few days.  We miss you all the time but it's been rougher than usual and I'm not sure why. I think you'd like the plans we have for the house and Nick.

Cooking a nice lunch for the family (Nick celebrates Easter) - it includes another try at mustard potato salad with the hope of coming close to Mom's recipe which she never wrote down and wouldn't tell us the secret ingredient (she thought she had more time to share those). With a Southern recipe off the internet and with a bit of adjusting by Jackie and myself (and a quick trip to Kroger for forgotten items)..... by Jove, I think we've got it! Darn close to Mom's potato salad. Happy Snoopy dance! We will definitely pass along the treasured recipes to Nick Carr !    By now I'm a bit tired of matzah crackers, I'll admit.  I don't eat a lot of bread but I do eat crackers and I'm missing them a bit.    Ma - not exactly your potato salad recipe but darn close! We love and miss you and think you'd be very proud of Nick and the progress he's made since Sept.