4

manifold. We haven't decided which one we really want on the car, but have stuck
one on temporarily, since the others would require the fabrication of a manual
choke, a project to be postponed until after our vacation. Mechanically, the car
is in terrific shape, like new. It's appearance belies this fact, however, so
after the carburetor bit, we're going to put on new seat covers and paint it. It
should run without complication for many more years, so we won't have to worry
about extraordinary car expenses, while we fritter our money away on some of our
more immediate wants. By the time we're ready for another car, we should be in a
position to make an investment in line with what we want. None of this nothing
down and everything a month jazz.

Pooh is apparently cutting some more teeth. She's drooling, chewing, and a
little crankey at times. This time, it's stomache and eye teeth, or molars, so
we're probably in for a bigger hassle than we had with her 8 other little pearls.
I hope that she doesn't decide to have problems when we're on the road. The arrangment
we're planning for the back seat should keep her plenty happy while we're
driving along in a cloud of playtex disposable diapers. Her introduction to the
potty chair is still going along with caution. What usually happens is that she
takes a nap in training pants, wakes up dry, gets put on the potty chair, gets
impatient listening to the water in the washbowl, gets up and starts to play, and
minutes later leaves a puddle on the floor. This is pretty permissive potty training,
and I'm sure that at this rate, we will not do her any emotional damage at
her tender age. Until she decides to do otherwise, she can still pretend that the
potty is for putting both feet in and falling over. She now feeds herself with a spoon most of the time. She is very resistant to other arrangements. At mealtime,
it's simplest to do away with bibs, and just put her in a pair of training pants
period, and work her over with a dish rag later. Her stomach is arranged in such
a way that little food waste is necessary. While she's feeding herself, I can take
another spoon and scrape the food off of her stomache and put it back in the bowl.

Your nice birthday card and check arrived. Thank you very much for both.
Jim is taking me shopping tomorrow night. Just going with him will be fun, since
he has been spending so much time working lately. Now we can relax and enjoy
ourselves. We can put your gift to good use, especially at this time. I'm pretty
satisfied with what I have to show for 23 years, I hope that the next23 are as
much funas present expectations predict.

Well, I guess that I'd better wind this up and mail it before I end up bringing
it with us. It's pretty definite that we will be leaving Palo Alto on either
the night of July 30 or Aug first. The 'either or' part has to do with our being
ready. Now that I look at the calendar, I begin to panic at how close the date
has moved. It's time to start listing things to do. From here, we plan to head
straight for Beverly Hills, so now you have an idea of when to expect us.

Thank you again for your birthday gift, BOTH of you. We will be seeing
you soon.

Love,
Marcia