LETTERS HOME: ANOTHER SIDE OF JOHN

Thursday, October 14th, 1993

Dear Gang,

Well, I knew that new red wig I bought this summer would really knock 'em dead, but I never guessed that John would be the one wearing it! Last Friday Carol Silverman had a 50th birthday party for her husband, and she got John to come "in drag" for entertainment. Coming so close on the heels of his dropping to the floor and performing the 'Gator at a recent dance, well, people are finally getting to see the real John -- the crazy, fun-loving guy that only his closest friends get to see. Guys he works with have been coming up to me all week, wanting to know what we did to "force" him into doing this. They just don't believe me when I say "not a dang thing!" I must admit, it was kind of fun dressing him up. I dug through our dress-up trunk and found an old slinky black jersey one-shouldered mini dress of mine, and he wore it with thigh high stockings and lots of jewels. Of course, his bushy red beard went great with the curly red wig!

Check out those gorgeous gams!

The kids and I have thoroughly enjoyed our batik workshop with Azziz this week, although I doubt if my "masterpiece" will ever be hung. It's such a fascinating art, but it involves so many complicated (and somewhat caustic) chemical processes, that I doubt if it would be very practical as a hobby. We were forced to take the whole week off from quilting because this was so time consuming, and I can hardly wait to get back to it. I want to get this first sampler quilt out of the way so I can start on my Christmas fabrics that I brought back from Singapore.

Alexis has been on many school trips and exchanges since moving here, but today it was finally Austin's turn. Mr. and Mrs. Zavala flew up to Medan with all the 2nd, 3rd and 4th graders for just a one day exchange with the Medan International School and the Medan Japanese School. He was so excited last night that he just couldn't get to sleep. I thought I would be dragging him out of bed by his toenails this morning (they had to be at the school by 6:15) but he had me walking down there in the dark and we arrived by 6:00! They get back this evening around 6:00, and I bet he will be one pooped puppy.

These kids look Indonesian to me, but it's the only school-visit photo of Austin I could find.

This week was probably the best in two years, as far as mail goes. The Southern Living magazine that I asked Theda for, and the three lace doilies that I asked Carolyn for, all made it here safe and sound. It's just amazing how much little things like that mean to us. I was on cloud nine all week! I enjoyed the magazine so much that I went ahead and subscribed. A full year's overseas subscription is only $26.95, and since Theda spends close to that every time she sends a little packet of magazines and computer junk, I figure that even if only half of them make it here, we'll still come out ahead. Another big hit that came in the mail was an article, from Kathy and Bud, about the recent sightings of some Blue Footed Boobies in Texas. For those of you who don't know, that is the silly secret "magic word" that I have used with the kids since they were tiny, but until they saw this article, I don't think they ever actually believed me when I told them that there really was such a bird!

Guess that's all for now, and as always, PLEASE WRITE!!!