A few years ago, my daughter Amy told me that she had a deprived childhood because of two things.  The first one was when we had her hair cut really short.  The thing is, her hair was long, and she played hard.  She had a lot of tangles and knots, and whenever I brushed her hair, she would cry and move around.  I told her that it would be easier if she would just stand still and let me brush out her hair as quickly as possible.  She still moved around.  Finally, I told her that if she didn’t stop, we’d get her hair cut short and not have the problem anymore.  That’s what happened.

The second one was not making grill cheese sandwiches with Velveeta cheese.  Do you know how much Velveeta cheese cost?!  We sure couldn’t afford it very often on a sergeant’s salary.  But mostly, I didn't even think of using Velveeta cheese.  Amy had a grilled Velveeta cheese sandwich as an adult and realized what she had missed all during her childhood.

I feel so sorry for my daughter!  My heart aches for her!  Oh, the depravity; oh, the injustice!  Oh, the sorrowful memories of an inhumane childhood!

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Delight yourself also in the LORD,
and he will give you the desires of your heart.
Psalm 37:4

Remember about three years ago when I told you about living at Walker Air Force Base in Roswell, New Mexico, when I was in grade school?  I didn't tell you about a place called Bottomless Lakes State Park.  To me it was in the middle of the desert and hot.  We heard that it was called bottomless because no one had ever found the bottom.  It don't know if that is true.  They also said that if you drowned in the lake, they would never find your body.  No wonder I was reluctant to swim there!

Anyway, the other day, I was reading a magazine insert called "American Profile" that we get with our local newspaper.  There is a section called "Tidbits."  Here is a portion of what it said:  Bottomless Lakes State Park near Roswell (pop. 45,293) is noted for its "Pecos Diamonds," which are quartz crystals formed inside gypsum.  The soft gypsum crumbles to expose the "diamonds."  A display of the crystals is in the park's visitors' center.

Now for the good part:  Bottomless Lakes State Park is named for its lakes, which appear bottomless.  According to legend, cowboys tried without success to find the bottom with lariats tied together.  The lakes' greenish color, from algae and other aquatic plants, creates the illusion of depth.

Now aren't you glad I told you that?  And don't you want my autograph?  Ha, ha, ha!

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The eternal God is your refuge,
and underneath are the everlasting arms.
Deuteronomy 33:27a

One day in 1977, I went to a civilian dentist for a check up and cleaning.  When the dentist looked in my mouth, he told me to go the Army hospital on Fort Hood and have someone look at the roof of my mouth.  I had noticed a small indentation on the right side and what felt something that is hard to describe.  It felt like the end of a piece of nylon string.  I guess I didn’t think too much about it.  I thought maybe I had scratched my mouth on a potato chip or something.

I made an appointment as soon as possible.  They took x-rays of my upper teeth.  I had a cyst that had eaten the root of one tooth and maybe three other teeth.  They couldn’t tell from the x-rays.  I had a very nice oral surgeon who explained it all to me.  I needed to have surgery to remove the cyst.  During the surgery, he could determine if any other teeth were damaged and removed them along with the one he knew he would definitely have to be removed.  I had to be put under and wasn’t too crazy about that.

The surgery went just fine; there were no problems.  One thing happened that embarrassed me later.  I blame it on just coming out of the anesthesia.  The doctor was talking to me, and I said something like, “You look cute in your scrubs.”  Oh, my!

I lost only one tooth, for which I was very thankful.  At that time, it was the policy for military family members to have bridge work done by civilian doctors; the Army would not pay.  However, because I didn’t have any fillings and they said my mouth looked so nice, they made an exception and gave me a permanent bridge—for free!

They did a great job, and I didn’t have any problems with it.  I had that bridge until the mid-90s.  The x-rays showed that the root of the tooth in front of the one that I had lost in the 70s was deteriorating.  This time I didn’t have to be put under.  Whew!  It was all done in the oral surgeon’s office.  I’m so glad that medical technology of all kinds has improved over the years.

Now I have another bridge, which is doing its job.  (When I went to a new dentist yesterday, he said that it was a good bridge.  I need work done on my teeth--old fillings fixed, two new fillings, a crown on a back tooth, and a tooth in the bottom front build up.  It will cost me around $2,000.  Why can't dental plans pay more?!)

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“For I know the plans I have for you,”
declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you
and not to harm you,
plans to give you hope and a future.”
Jeremiah 29:11

For several months after my husband retired last August, I'd ask him if he was enjoying being retired.  Because we were settling into the new house and trying to sell the other house, he always said something like, "Not yet.  I'll be glad when we sell the house."  Now that all those things are finished, the other day I asked him, "Are you enjoying retirement yet?"  He replied, "Enjoying retirement?  I hate it!"  That really means, "Yes!"

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For great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised:
he also is to be feared above all gods.
1 Chronicles 16:25

When we lived at Fort Hood, I knew that I didn’t hear as well as I used to.  Bill kept encouraging me to get my hearing checked.  Finally, a good friend told me that she would watch Amy and Lee if I went for a hearing test.  So I finally psyched myself up and made an appointment.  After being in the booth and pushing the button when I heard a sound, the doctor told me that I was “inattentive.”  I think that part of his reason for saying that was because I was in my early 30s, and he didn’t think one so young would have a hearing loss.  My husband told me to go back, that the Army’s philosophy was that if a person was really sick or really had a problem, he or she would go back again.  I was just too embarrassed to return.

I finally did get the courage to go for another hearing test when we were stationed in Frankfurt, Germany.  I think it was in 1981.  The Army corpsman tested me on a machine while I just sat there wearing headphones.  The doctor thought that the machine wasn’t working correctly and asked the corpsman to run the test again.  She finally put me a booth to test my hearing.  When I got out of the booth, she told me that I had a mild hearing loss.  I broke down and cried.  Finally, someone believed me!  She recommended that I get a hearing aid for my right ear, the one with the most hearing loss.  Read THIS ENTRY that I wrote in June 2005 to find out my reaction.

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And we know that in all things God works
for the good of those who love him,
who have been called according to his purpose.
Romans 8:28

Lee had trouble with his tonsils when he was around three years old.  He wouldn’t eat things that were hard to shallow.  If you look at photos of him around that time, you’ll see dark circles around his eyes.  On November 28, 1977, he had his tonsils and adenoids removed.  The day after the surgery, he was eating bacon!

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He will yet fill your mouth with laughing,
And your lips with rejoicing.  Job 8:21

I was reading my dad's 1936 high school yearbook the other day.  Towards the back are several jokes.  Here are some of them:

Miss Pat:  Cecil Marie, tell me about Colonel Lindbergh's feat.
Cecil:  The only great feet I know about are Martha's.

The Home Ec. girls are so lazy that they put popcorn in their hotcakes so they won't have to turn them over.

Mr. Bowers:  If you subtract 25 from 49, what is the difference?
Rubie Whitworth:  That's what I say too, who cares?

Miss Pat:  What tense is, "I am beautiful"?
Bernice:  Past tense.

Miss Nicholson:  How many natural magnets are there?
Roy Dell:  Two
Miss Nicholson:  What are they?
Roy Dell:  Blondes and Brunettes.

C.W. Mo:  Doctor, will you give me something for my head?
Doctor:  No, my boy, I would not have it for a gift.

Red Taylor:  Say, Jimmy, how long do you suppose I could live without brains?
Jimmy Bissett:  Don't know, Red, time will tell.

Mrs. Felps:  Tell me something about John Milton.
Ping:  Well, he got married and wrote "Paradise Lost"; then when his wife died, he wrote "Paradise Regained."

Pep (at senior class meeting):  Order please!
John Louis (sleepily):  Cheese and pickle sandwich.

Mrs. Randolph:  Do you read Poe?
Oren:  No, I read pretty good.

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Behold, I stand at the door, and knock:
if any man hear my voice, and open the door,
I will come in to him...
Revelation 3:20

My mom recently gave me two passports that I had as a kid.  I gathered up the two that I have had as an adult.  Not long ago, I applied for and received my fifth passport.  My husband and I want to be ready in case we travel out of the country, like maybe Canada.  Anyway, here are the photos from those expired passports.  I'm not posting the new photo; the old ones are better and will give you more of a laugh, especially with the embossed stamp across my face.

The first one was taken in December 1958; I was 12 years old.  I needed the passport in order to go to England, where my dad was stationed with the Air Force.  Don't you just love the glasses?!  My mom made the dress.  In fact, she made two--one for me and one for my twin sister.

This second photo was taken in 1963 (age 17) for a passport that I needed to go to Japan, again with my dad.  Another great pair of glasses!  I must admit that I've recently seen people wear ones that look very much like my old pair.  Me, I'd never want to wear that style again.  I still have the rocking-horse pin that you see on my dress.

This photo was also my engagement photo and was taken in 1970.  I have on a red dress, and my hair curled too much because it was a humid day in Arkansas.  I got the passport so I could travel to West Germany to marry that guy who was in the Army.  (I also wore that red dress on our first date and when we were married at the courthouse in Baumholder, West Germany.) 

This last photo is the funniest of all.  Don't I have a goofy smile?  And can't you tell that was a '70s haircut?  This photo was taken in 1979 because we were stationed in West Germany a second time.

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Thy word is a lamp unto my feet,
and a light unto my path.
Psalm 119:105

One day when Lee was three or four years old, he cut his forehead when he fell in the driveway.  It was a small cut, but I put something on it and covered it with a band aid.  I wasn't very worried about it because it seemed to heal just fine.  Well, there was one thing that concerned me--whenever I touched the spot that had been cut, I felt something hard inside.  

I finally took Lee to the doctor, who after feeling of the spot, said it was just scar tissue and would eventually go away.  I kept an eye on it anyway.  Eventually the wound became a bit discolored.  I think it happened when I gave Lee a bath one evening and was washing his face.  A teeny, tiny rock came out of the wound!  After that, his forehead healed quite nicely.  I still have the rock and tried to take a photo of it to include with this post, but it was just too small.

I guess I could say something about him being hard-headed or having rocks in his head even at a young age, but I won't.

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Praise the LORD, O my soul!
While I live I will praise the LORD;
I will sing praises to my God while I have my being.
Psalm 146:1-2