I talked to Mom and Dad yesterday. She turned 63. Tom talked with them, too. At one point Dad said, “I could’ve used your help earlier.” I asked with what and he said, “I couldn’t fit 63 candles on the cake.”

I burst out laughing and Ma said, “Thanks, you two,” and hung up her extension.

I said, “Ma will have a wonderful birthday now.”

Dad said, “Yeah, I’m in trouble now, huh? God, we’re gonna be married 44 years.”

After we hung up, I realized I have the perfect solution for next year’s birthday for Ma. He can just get two cakes and put 32 candles on each one. There’s also always the option of jamming candles into the sides of the cake.

Later...

I’ve been scheduled to see Dr. Rauche at 2 PM on the 20th.

Yesterday the electronic chips came that Tom’s gonna use to make that bee-repellant machine with. He also got something that’s supposed to improve the TV’s reception.

I fell asleep yesterday before Tom got home from doing errands and he got me a beautiful 3-D journal. I love it and I could see the image instantly. The cover has cat faces all over it and the image is of a cat hovering over a fishbowl. That was so sweet of him, and the search for one with a live cactus or palm tree continues.

Tom gave me some letter decals. There are a few cards with numbers and letters and you put the one you want down where you want it, then rub it off onto the surface with a pencil.

We also printed out charts for our weight, measurements, and any exercises we do. I’ve got a set of them in the back of this book.

Later...

These letters don’t peel off as easily as I thought they would. Not off of paper, anyway.

How am I doing with accepting us never having a kid? Pretty good. I had made the comment earlier, “I wish we really could’ve.” Tom said he’s “planning” on it.

Yeah, right.