Dear Kids,
      Here I sit, again typing my weekly letter on the laptop, again late, completely aggravated about our new computer. Dad’s friend had it ready for him on Saturday, but he configured it wrong (striped instead of mirrored,) so Dad spent several hours re-doing it, rather than taking it back. It has no game port to plug my music keyboard into, so I can’t work on my recital music, and the screen flickers, probably having something to do with the video card. The flicker is so bad that after just a few minutes I’m so dizzy I can’t do anything. About the game port–Dad’s friend told him there were adapters that would convert my MIDI cable to USB, but Dad couldn’t find one. So enough about that. If I even talk about it, I get too mad to think about anything else.
      Is there any good news? Your cousins Adrien and Michelle both had their babies. Michelle had a boy, Liam, and Adrien a girl-–I think her name is Miriam. I have no idea when either baby was born, oh wait, Michelle’s must have been about a week ago, because Nancy had the twins, when I was visiting Grandma yesterday. And Amy was there with Caleb, so we sat and watched the babies play and fight together. It was fun. Outside, in the street, there was yellow “caution” tape strung everywhere, because two days earlier, one side of the street had been slurry-sealed. I know, it doesn’t take two days for that stuff to harden. It doesn’t take even one day. But the two old geezers who oversee everything in the neighborhood were keeping good watch over it, and the rest of us had to crawl under the tape, even old people in wheelchairs, going to doctor appointments. So I took the opportunity, when they weren’t looking, to cut it with scissors. They tied it back together when they saw it was all sagging, and then they took to watching it even more closely. I found another chance to cut it, down at the end of the street, when they were gone inside, but by the time I made it back to Grandma’s house, going in the back way, they had tied it up again. Well, I gave them something exciting to do. The trouble is, Grandma and Grandpa and everyone in the neighborhood is too nice to them. They wouldn’t last five minutes on our street.
      Donna has had some kind of identity theft with her cell phone, because our last bill had 53 text messages that she had supposedly sent or received, and of course they cost extra. She called customer service, and the guy she talked to asked, was she sure she hadn’t received the messages, and it was weird, and he didn’t know what do to about it. We all advised her to keep trying, till she gets somebody who can fix it. It’s not expensive, but aggravating.
      Sharon reports that Charlie is now in a play group that meets outside in the sand box. The mothers sit and visit while the kids play. Sounds like fun to me! (Both the sand and the visiting.) Sharon says the weather has been beautiful in Michigan, but they don’t go out exploring much now, since gas has become so expensive.
      Heather has a fabulous garden this year. It’s all neatly arranged in raised beds, and she has everything from beets and carrots to beans and tomatoes and zucchini. Next year I definitely want to have a garden again! Those fall vegetables taste so good!
      Tom and Kim have moved into the house of a nice older couple who are serving an 18-month mission. Heck of a deal! Tom says there will be a lot of yard work, but we all know how much he loves that sort of thing.
      Conference weekend is coming up! Dad and I will be at the cabin, of course. I’ll fix Sunday dinner. If anybody wants to come for all or part of the weekend, and eat with us, let me know, so I can plan.
      Lots of love, Mom