Friday, March 9, 2007, 11:00 a.m., C.S.T.~

Dear Journal~

This is your friend, Katrina Ann Delchamps. I am sitting here in the livingroom, looking out the window at the beautiful sunshine. I am not looking forward to leaving Tennessee; Tennessee has been so good to me! This warm weather I've lived with all my life has spoiled me rotten! :)

I talked to my friend Louisiana Sandusky. Louisiana Sandusky was a nurse who took very good care of me when I was in the hospital when I first came to Nashville and then again around Christmas time when I got so sick with the peritonitis. She keeps tabs with me, to see how I am doing.

Louisiana Sandusky and her husband Bill have adopted a total of fifty-nine children, most with special needs! I don't know how she does it! The noise level at the Sandusky place must be incredible!

In a little less than a month or so Frank and I go on our Alaskan cruise, and we are also getting married on the ship. We will then move to our new house, and frankly, I am getting a little scared. What if the people up in Alaska don't take to me? What if they keep on staring at my wheelchair, or my withered-up legs? I don't think I could handle that; it is already hard eoungh dealing with all the whispered comments and stares from strangers!

Frank is outside, working in the yard; he is now back home, and his business is no more. Jose', his friend, now has ownership, and Frank is enjoying the time off. He does get a pension from the Marines so at least we still have money coming in, between that and my disability pay. We aren't hurting for cash, and we are able to still pay our bills, thank the Lord! :)

I saw something funny on the Today show earlier: there was a woman who had a big cat (I think it was a Maine Coon), and she made a sweater out of its fur! I don't know how she did that; that must have been quite difficult! I wonder how much the cat weighed before all this fur was harvested to make the sweater! I bet the sweater is nice and warm! I know whenever "Aurora", our cat, lays next to me, it is pure bliss because her little body just radiates heat!

I am still going to physical therapy twice a week, but the doctor has released me from his care. I am able to resume normal activity just as long as I don't do any heavy lifting. I don't have to worry about that; Frank won't let me lift a finger! LOL He treats me like a child at times; it is very annoying!

I am still following the progress of the rebuilding being done in the south, along the Gulf Coast, and it looks like very little progress is being made. It is very depressing. I don't know why some of those people don't get off their dead butts and get a job; there's plenty of jobs available if they know where to look! I wonder if New Orleans will ever be the same once she is rebuilt; somehow, I doubt it. New Orleans has certainly lost its magic!

I don't think I will ever return to New Orleans. It is enough to make me cry! She has lost her soul!

Well, I will go for now. I am going to make Franks's lunch; bet he will be hungry once coming in from working in the yard. He is pulling up weeds, and he is also going to mow the lawn, the first time this year. (Might be one of the last times, too, seeing we are moving to Alaska in less than three months!) Take care!

~Katrina.