Hi Michael,

People gravitate toward what they like ... but also
toward what is available, not a big surprise. I've

And some people are pushed into a field they may not want. A high

school > friend of mine wanted to go into nursing but her aunt who had custody of > her insisted on secretarial school. She went that route;
I've lost

contact with her and don't know if she stayed in the field once she

was > legally an adult and not dependant on her aunt.

I never saw why people saw fit to mess with
others' lives in such a way. It's not as though
she had been planning to go off and be an exotic
dancer or anything.

The aunt must have thought it was a more secure (and proper) job for a
young woman to have. My classmate's parents had both passed away while
she was a minor. The aunt took her in for the last couple of years of
high school, and I guess, financed college--may have wanted her say in
my friends's career as "payback".

For me it's never, never, and never.

Stephen has surprised me several times, usually around our

anniversary.

I'd not like even that. And worse is when people
have said "boy, do I have a surprise for you!"
and it either turns out to be not a surprise or
something one didn't want to happen (or eat or
play with).

Most of the ones I've had have been easy enough to deal with. I was
given a surprise "Happy Birthday" serenade at the end of Vacation Bible
School up in VT last year--last day was my birthday so the last thing
the kids did before dismissal was to sing "Happy Birthday" to me. In
September Steve surprised me with a piece of jewelry he'd bought while
we were on the cruise.

Well, she's been under considerable stress,
so either would be understandable. It's seldom
actually a heart attack, but one can forgive a
snap self-diagnosis.

Especially with the stress she's been under since the beginning of

the > month. I suspect she's cooking all of Dad's favorite foods now.
(G)

Back to normal is gratifying. Speaking of which,
I'm in Dallas now helping Lilli keep her hotel and
airline status. In gratitude she actually turned
down an upgrade to sit with me the other day.

Hopefully you didn't have any troubles with the flight. Are you in TX
for one of the bbq "pig outs" you do from time to time with other?

Here the strawberries are sweet but woody and
tasteless this time of the year. I think they're
coming from Peru or someplace like that.

Ours are still coming from out of state but we'll be getting locally grown in a few weeks. I'll maake the pie and probably a few other goodies before the blueberries take over. (G)

Blueberries were $3 a cup! last week, and Lilli
felt a yen for them, but they've sat in the
back of the fridge for all that time and are
still there pending our return.

Hopefully they will still be good. Between now and when they come into
season, I need to check the freezer--see how much of a supply we have on
hand.

---
Catch you later,
Ruth
rchaffly{at}earthlink{dot}net FIDO 1:396/45.28


... Our necessities are few but our wants are endless...

--- PPoint 3.01
* Origin: Sew! That's My Point (1:396/45.28)