138 1/14/1948 Helen Carlson to Sadie Erwin

Helen Carlson 3409 Fremont Ave. South, Minneapolis 8, Minnesota Wednesday, January 14, 1948

Sadie Erwin Box 44, Enumclaw, Washington

Dear Folks, Before I go to bed I'm going to get a few lines written to you. The office has been keeping me busy full time and I haven't even had a chance to write to Gladys yet. Mrs. Dahlstrom called me yesterday and was feeling terrible because she thought she hadn't treated the kids nice enough. I tried to talk her out of it though because she is nice and I couldn't help but feel sorry for her. I think she had a let down feeling too after they were gone and her house was quiet again and she began thinking of all the things she thought she didn't do for them. Our house sure looks nice now. We are just waiting for the plumber to put in the toilet before moving in. Mr. Carlson thought he said he had it last week but when Elmer called him the other night he said he didn't, but expected it any time. I don't mind waiting for that because there is still enough work to do inside to finish it all up. So far this is my color scheme. A darkish gray carpeting, which will be in the living room, dining room and hall. It is just awfully pretty. The architect Elmer works with said we should then paint the walls on one side a real light yellow with woodwork painted yellow also and on the other side gray walls with the woodwork to match. Then my drapes we want in stripes instead of flowers and they will be mainly in aqua and brown. The color scheme sounds crazy I think but that is the way they are fixing the houses now. This architect said the painters are getting used to it now but they still just hate to put on some of the colors some people ask for. He said a friend of his wanted his front door painted a deep red and the carpenter just wouldn't do it, but finally after two or three days the man convinced him that he really wanted it that color. My kitchen linoleum has a whitish background with a red design and the linoleum on the cupboards is plain red and the cupboards will be painted white. Jimmy and Mary want their room in red but I still can't see that. I think it will be very nice after it is all finished. The electrician hung our fixtures today so I am anxious to see that. The doors and locks are on now so the house was locked up tonight for the first time. We just got the tape off from Mary's cut eye the other day. There is quite a scar there but I know it will go away. Her eyebrow will cover half of it anyway. It was fourteen below zero this morning and stayed that low until way in the morning. By this afternoon it had gotten up to zero. This is our first real cold spell I think. Anyway I didn't send Jimmy to school because the car wouldn't start and he has five blocks to walk, four of them long ones. I'm glad it wasn't this way when Glad and Cully were here. Pop the last name of the Dutch I asked you about is Murphy instead of Miller. I don't suppose it is the same man. Mrs. Pope is trying to get Eden and Wally out and they don't know what to do because they haven't any money to buy themselves a house. The other night Eden said her mother was talking about selling their house and Eden said don't sell it until we get a place to live and Mrs. Pope said, "Well you have had four years to find one." Eden and her mother never have gotten along very well. Anyway I can't understand why Eden and Wally haven't had their own place before this. Of course we couldn't have built a house without some help either. Tomorrow I have another full day of typing. I spent most of today on my typing and finished it at nine o'clock tonight. Then the office called this afternoon and asked if Elmer would stop and pick up another box so I told them he would. I usually get a little breathing spell in between but so far this month I haven't. I still haven't gotten paid for my December's work, so I don't know how much I will even get. I am anxious to find out because I won't do any more if I don't get paid enough to make it worthwhile. At first she was going to pay by the hour but since three of us are doing it at home now Miss Lindbergh is trying to figure out how much to pay by piece work and that is why we haven't gotten our checks yet. Mother I sure am enjoying my housecoat. Since I usually work quite late at night I like to get undressed early and wear my housecoat the rest of the evening. Elmer's cigarette lighter works just swell. What about the size bedroom slippers you wear Pop. I am anxious to send you another pair or if there is something else you would rather have tell me and I'll be glad to get it. I hope you folks are fine and I think of you all the time and wonder how everything is going. Jimmy and Mary still call you their nice grandmother. This one is good to them though but I guess they know I like my folks much better. I better stop now but more soon. Love, Helen