Here’s a long, shocking yet exciting update.

I got package #1 from my folks and was pleasantly surprised with its contents which were mostly clothes! Clothes were our last guess cuz Dad said it was heavy (although we didn’t find it that heavy at all). We were thinking it was kitchen stuff. We don’t like to cook much, we don’t entertain, and we pretty much have everything we need in that department with little room to squeeze any more into our tiny little kitchen, so I’m glad we were wrong.

The clothes consisted of 2 pairs of pants, 2 pairs of denim shorts, a combination of shorts/halters, 2 sweatshirts, 1 sweater, 10 short-sleeved tops, 1 sleeveless top, 1 pair of pajamas, and half a dozen nightgowns/housedresses. All but just a few were beautiful! Very stylish and colorful. I love neons and pastels, though white and black are ok for neutrals cuz everything goes with white and black. If I could only own 4 pairs of pants, they’d be white, black, pink and purple. I think most of these were Mom’s at one point, but it doesn’t matter. I really appreciate having all this nice variety for once after wearing mostly the same things for so long. The clothes are casual and comfortable yet still lovely and feminine enough to keep them from being frumpy and dumpy. Some of the tops have beads and sequins around the necklines that are just so nice.

I love how the shorts are denim as that too, goes with anything. I also love how I don’t have to hem the long pants! Some of the clothes were a bit big on me, but loose doesn’t necessarily mean unwearable. I don’t like things too tight anyway, and I personally like how the shorts hang off my hips as opposed to grabbing me by the waist. With a shorter top, it shows off the distinct waistline I slaved so hard to get. Keeping that hourglass shape at this age isn’t easy.

I’m now 123 pounds, and probably between a size 8/10 to be exact. Not the 3/5 that I was 15 years ago, but not the 14/16 that I was a year ago either. The dress I got with the K-Mart card I won is size small. I still don’t know at this time how much smaller I’m gonna get. If it’s much more I’ll need to get my ring squashed back. In 2001 I thought I’d be big all my life and so I had my ring enlarged. I can wear it now, but need to take it off for showers or when doing dishes. Tom’s guessing I’ll bottom out at 115 pounds. Yeah, 110-115 seems reasonable. I both do and don’t want to lose more. I do because I’m curious to see if I can, I know I’d look better, and you know enough is never enough for me. But I don’t want these clothes or this ring to get any looser.

Anyway, broke or not, clothes hadn’t been a high priority for quite a while and I would only get what I needed or won. Although I may’ve been depriving myself of goodies for the sake of money, I’m only human, too. So it’s nice to be surprised with treats like this every now and then, and it’s after you’ve gone without for a while that you appreciate being spoiled all the more.

I’m definitely not like most women in the jewelry department. I almost never wear makeup or jewelry except for my wedding band, although I recently saw a $17 necklace that was to die for, even though I won’t let myself get anything I don’t need. For the most part anyway. The necklace had these shiny pink gems that were just gorgeous. Maybe with my paycheck for doing online work at InboxDollars, I’ll treat myself to something. And maybe I’ll get that $6 Black Opium roll-on perfumed body oil I really love at Long’s when I receive the coins they said are on the way. Yeah, I spoke to my folks today and they have a few more packages coming. One contains some half-dollars and silver dollars they’ve been saving around the house.

They also sent a picture of themselves sitting in a restaurant that was taken a year ago, according to the date on the back. They’re really looking old now, especially mom. Dad’s hair has gone from gray to white and his hairline has receded even more, but they both look happy nonetheless, and they are in their late 70s.

There were also some notepads, a box of VERY sour candies, a bottle of sweet pea and violet body wash, and 3 fancy storage boxes. I’m going to use one for doll clothes.

They said they’re also sending a couple of pairs of shorts for Tom. If they’re too small for him, maybe that’ll motivate him to lose weight. He had to stop riding for a few days due to twisting his back, though he is still dieting.

Yay, I got the Pearberry lotion and grape lip gloss I redeemed points for from Kiwi! Now I can let Mike have it for being such a liar about doing “something sweet” for the gamers who haven’t gotten points for months now.

Now for the shocker of the day. I got a letter from Rosa! She learned some English and wrote the first few sentences in English. She says sorry it took so long to write, she was happy to receive my letter, it brought a smile to her face, it was good to hear I’m living “right,” thanks for the nice things I said, she’s fine, into God like most inmates, but almost doesn’t remember me well and would like a picture. She’s also going to send a picture, she says, so I can see how ugly she is (with a smiley face at the end of that sentence). She signed off referring to me as her friend and sister. Yeah, we sure were like sisters, alright! I’ve always missed the hell out of her. I knew she would remember me, but I can see where her memory may also be a bit shaky with all the people she’s had to have encountered over the last decade. She enclosed a picture of a beautiful waterfall and rainbow which I put on the fridge next to my folk’s picture.

I can’t believe it. I just can’t believe it! Rosa and I swapped letters! We’re in touch again. I’ll never see my sister again, but it’s still so nice to finally know what became of her, even though the truth isn’t good. I really thought she’d been deported. It saddens me to think she’ll be in prison till she’s around my age, guilty or not. I’ll get a letter in both English and Spanish out to her within a few days. That way she can have the choice of reading whichever language she wants. I’ll also enclose a few pictures taken over the last decade.

If someone had told me a couple of years ago that I’d one day be in touch with my folks and Rosa, and lose 25 pounds, I’d have laughed my ass off. So you could say that while our lives haven’t exactly been what we had in mind since coming down here, it’s definitely been full of surprises. My folks didn’t save me from the Brattleboro Retreat, they didn’t save me from Valleyhead, but they sure saved my husband and I both from starving in the streets!

I also got a brief but nice card from Mary, thanking me for agreeing to send the stuff she asked for to Scott’s office. She said she understood we couldn’t do much as broke as we are, is psyched we’re saving for a house and knows we’ll get our dream house someday. I hope she and Tom are right, cuz sometimes I don’t know what to think!

It looks like our water dispenser quit leaking, so that’s good.

Jesse never came down about the flooring, so I guess we’re going to list it on Craigslist if he still doesn’t want it come next weekend.