Dear Kids,
           I’m surfing the net in the deli at Kamas Foodtown. They have wireless internet here, and I’m on my mini laptop. I’ve been cut off from the world for the last two days, so it’s nice to check in and see what’s happening around town. I see that Mike Winder is announcing his candidacy for county mayor. What an idiot!
           Meanwhile, here at the Food Town Deli, all the rednecks are having lunch. Lots of corn dogs goin’ down. One guy from our stake choir, actually the best bass of the whole group, is eating here. He fits right in. You sure can’t judge anybody’s singing by their looks.
           I had an appointment with a pulmonologist on Monday, and he couldn’t come up with any diagnosis of what’s wrong. My lungs have scar tissue and thickened airways and pockets of trapped air, but he says I don’t have COPD because my lung function is in the normal range. Maybe that’s because his nurse kept screaming at me while she was doing the test, making me blow harder and harder. She didn’t get the readings she wanted, so she had me take two puffs of albuterol, and then, after a few minutes, she tried again. She kept having me blow into the machine until, finally, she got a normal reading. So my lung function is normal. That’s nice to know. The pulmonologist ruled out pneumonia and asthma, so what is it? Just that I can’t breathe in the Salt Lake Valley. After my visit with him, I packed up my stuff and moved my life to the cabin. Whatever’s wrong with me, I don’t notice it much here. Back home, I was puffing albuterol 4 or 5 times a day, and here don’t need it at all. I’m planning to go back to West Valley on Tuesday afternoon for my hispanic piano class, and then stay overnight and do the Harman Center with Dad on Wednesday. After chess club is over, I’ll come back here to the clean air. I’m going to try this life for a month and see if I feel better. Heck, I feel better already!
           I’m sure there’s other news, but right now I can’t think of anything. I’m hoping not to forget any birthdays, now that I’m living my new life–if I forget yours, just remind me, OK?
           I know Nora’s planning a dinner for the Monday night that Monica and Jackson are here, and I’ll definitely come to the valley for that. And I’m still planning on Sunday dinner at the cabin the second Sunday in February, whenever that turns out to be.
           Lots of love, Mom