Tuesday, August 16th, 1977-In which Pete shows early promise as an engineer. learns a lesson in economics, and good friends pay a visit

Got Up this morning to find Pete making a railroad track.  He had cut the pieces out of construction paper and was gluing them between two halves of paper.  Since the project was already well0 advanced, we cut out a train, too, and invented paper "hooks" to hold the cars together.  I hadn't even known he could cut-the last time I watched him he just held the paper with the scissors and tore it.  But now he he can cut!  I'm always delighted when he acquires a new skill.  We waited for the mail but my check didn't come today either.  Dad cam in anyhow and we went to the library and Safeway.  Dad took Pete to Bonanza 88 while I went to the library.  I'd given Pete $1.00 out of his lion bank to buy himself a present, and, after much consideration (they were gone a long time) he bought himself for cans of Play-Doh instead of a little car.  I found a record of "Carmina Burana" (sp-PL) in the library, and a "train songs" record for Pete.  At Safeway, I filled a WIC coupon for milk and juice (I'm going to give Thelma some of those big cans of juice), and discovered that I still had $7.00 in a food stamp booklet so I got more hamburger and hot dogs and beans.  Dad had taken us to the A&W before Safeway and Pete cried because he wanted something to eat.  I said no and stuck with it, so he only had milk, but I got him to stop crying by giving him some of the ice cream out of my root beer float.  Then I explained to him that a burrito or a hot dog cost about the same as his Play Doh, and that whenever you buy one thing, you have to give up something else.  But when you eat a burrito or hot dog, it's gone, and the Play Doh is something you can keep.  I explained it a couple of times , slowly, and I think he understood.  Whether he understood or not, he did apologize to Dad for crying.  We got home just in time for "Seasame Street" and made hot dogs and beans together which Pete ate with one eye on the TV.  Then I lay down while he watched "Mr. Rogers" and "Electric Company".  I'm worried about my check-couldn't talk to John-he's in Salem till Thursday-and Patty was out doing field work.  Haven't had a chance to give John my letter from Stewart either.  I borrowed $10.00 from Dad, and took my $5.00 from emergency, but I can't pay the phone bill, the Department of Revenue, or Pete's music lessons.  We went outside tonight at 7:00pm and stayed out with GI Joe-We built him a house out of sycamore bark-airplanes, and trike until 9:00pm.  Pete rode his tricycle over the grass and followed Daniel along as he watered.  We had just come in and Peter had stripped, when the phone rang.  It was Carol Carr!  Pete jumped back into his clothes, and Carol and Gretchen came over.  They brought us a salmon and more shells for Pete, including a bigger one for Pete's Hermit Hermit crab. Carol and I had a good visit.  She's very happy with her new love, who has a 16 year old son  who's a super mechanic and fixed her car for her.  She told Petey she was thinking of sending him a package of wet sand so he could make a sand castle.  Poor Gretchen was car sick.  After they left, we had alphabet soup-Pete picked out the right can (I'm sure he can read a little)-and some of the fresh corn Dad brought.  Pete complained of his back hurting so I gave him 1/2 a Tylenol-he didn't have a fever.  Then I bathed him and read him Batman again and Farm Pets.  He planned to dream of sand castles tonight.  I read Phyllis McGinley's Sixpense in Her Shoe-hurrah for housewives!