Dear Kids,
      Dad and I had a great time in Virginia. Our room at the Arlington Hilton had a really comfortable king-sized bed, and since I was still feeling pretty under-the-weather from my surgery, I spent a lot of time there. Dad’s reunion events were at the hotel anyway, so I was able to show up with him, eat the good food, and then slip back to our room. He could party as along as he wanted to. But I’m not impressed with 5-star hotels! Not only did they charge $17.95 for breakfast, which is free at any Motel 6 or Super 8, but they wanted $25.00 for three days of internet, $17.95 for any movie we wanted to watch, and $17.00 a day for parking. (Imagine if they made you pay for parking at the Motel 6 in Laramie!) Our hospitality cart had a bottle of water on it, with a $5.00 price tag. I wouldn’t have been surprised to see price tags on the toilet paper! Naturally we didn’t pay for any of the extras, so we had fewer amenities than we would have had at Motel 6. I would never willingly stay at one of those places again!
      The good thing was the fabulous weather–sort of cool, clear skies, just perfect. We visited Dad’s old neighborhood, where he discovered that his first childhood house (not 1809) had been torn down and they were building a new one on the lot! I walked through it while Dad waited outside. The other house, the one John recently sold, has been fixed up and looks really good. We visited Arlington Cemetery and saw the graves of Grandma and Grandpa Ackerson. We drove to a park called Great Falls, on the Potomac River, where they built a canal in the early 1800's. They had a boat pulled by mules, which went up and down through a lock, so we rode on that. Originally we were going to spend the day hiking there, but after such a recent surgery, I could only hobble around. But it was such a beautiful day, I didn’t care.
      Back here at home, I have to get on with laundry and piano lessons and letting the cats in and out. It’s nice to be home, and I expect to feel better soon. I thought I wouldn’t miss my gall bladder, but it stores bile, which helps you digest fats. I’m having to change my eating habits! No more huge helpings of anything, and very little ice cream. (Yes, I’m dying over that one. I keep thinking I can eat it anyway, and paying the price.) Chocolate chips must have a lot of fat, too, because they bother me a lot. I’m sure I’ll find other things to live on besides ice cream and chocolate chips, but it’s a hard adjustment.
      Hope you’re all doing great. Thanks for your prayers. I know they’ve helped me.
      Love, Mom