I got to stay home ALL day. It was WONDERFUL.

I started appliqueing the Cocker Puppy for a quilt I am working on and cut a lot of squares for the Cathedral Window Quilt that I have decided to make.

Our blast off diet week is going well. We are eating plenty, just portions and careful planning. Tonight we shared a boneless pork chop, had a small serving of mashed potatoes, spinach and a salad. By the end of the week we will be "Off the Sweets". Actually I planned it all quite well, we finished all but one cookie and some breads before we started this.

Leslie said she was going to call tonight, but I waited until 8:15 and then called Bart and Barb because I have been a bit concerned about them. They are just fine, I am glad to say. Barb had been planning a 50th wedding anniversary party for her parents and as she has been working 12 hour days and her Mother is pretty demanding she had been afraid that something would go wrong. But nothing did go wrong. It was perfect and it is over.

Tomorrow morning is going to be way too busy as I told you yesterday. We will go to breakfast. As I told Dick, if we have our usual two eggs and toast with fruit we are right on target. That's what I like about this system.

When Mother and I were driving home on New Year's Day she was commenting on the size of houses now days. They just DON'T build the little two bedroom one bath homes they used to. Nobody would buy them. I told her that I wouldn't. Even if Dick and I were alone, I would want two bathrooms or at least one full and a powder room. I know that when we were growing up there were 11 of us in the red house with only one bathroom. We managed but we didn't have a choice and we did not know any differently. Now I do.

I should mention to her that we would not want to go back to the outdoor toilet that I can barely remember with a chamber pot for emergencies and night time either. It is just nice to have the sanitation and a "throne" for each of us.

Isn't it wonder ful to be so blessed?

Mary