Weds., Jan. 16, 2008, Anchorage, Alaska~

Dear Journal~

Jenna Aurora here.

Sorry for not writing; have been busy trying to take care of a newborn babe and a one-and-a-half year old; the boys don't allow me to have much in the way of free time.

Just for fun, add paralysis to the mix. Am paralyzed on one side as you know, from that darned car wreck several years ago. NOT easy! Thank GOD I have my sister Jerrica here; she helps out in a pinch!

I also have my neighbors; so I am not lacking for help when I need it. I am indeed blessed! :)

It's cold here. Brutally, bone-chillingly cold. Temps in the sub-readings--for highs!! You can only imagine what the nights are--yes, the nights are even colder! Anytime it gets above five degrees, we swear we're having a heat wave! LOL This is weather I wouldn't wish on anybody, it's that cold!!

My poor husband is still trying to thaw out. He's a Louisiana Cajun; he isn't used to cold like this. I feel so sorry for him when he has to go to work; he has to start the Hummer at least a half hour to forty five minutes before leaving so the engine can warm up, and the windows can de-ice. It's nuts!! (This is in the garage; if he had the Hummer outside it'd freeze up, wouldn't get anywhere!!)

Of course, the garage door is open; he is not stupid. I'm not implying he is; I just didn't explain myself well. LOL

Last night we had an inch of snow; the ground is covered in white. Really pretty, but I'm not getting out in it. Too hard for me to walk anyway on dry land; what makes you think I'm getting out in the snow???? LOL

The boys are getting so big!! Kenai is now two months old, and he's just gotten off the supplimental oxygen. He is now seven and a half pounds, and he is so cute! He looks like me! All hair and eyes, definitely Inuk! :) As for Mattaq, he's a mini-me as well: he looks a lot like me. He does have Michael's smile, chin, so at least he has something of his daddy's looks! :)

Mattaq is walking, talking (though I can't hear him; I'm trying to teach him sign language; he'd rather play, explore). He's into everything; we've had to babyproof the house, otherwise Mattaq would turn it upside-down! LOL He's a whirlwind of activity; it exhausts me to watch him!!

I am still getting my disability, so I am not lacking for money when I need it. I can pay my bills, have Michael get to the store, sometimes we take the kids out to eat, or we have Jerrica watch the kids while Michael and I go out to eat or to a movie. (He signs what the actors are saying; I wish those stupid movie theatres would have closed-captioning; that way, their deaf patrons wouldn't feel left out, and they'd know what's being said!!)

I can't work, so this is why I get disability. Who would want to hire someone like me? A hemi-plegic unable to move her one arm or leg, and one who cannot talk?? Nobody would want to hire me; besides, I'm nearing the age of fifty; will be forty-seven this year; am considered "too old" by many employer's standards; they'd rather hire these teens who have absolutely no work ethic!

That or people who come to this country illegally for "cheap labor"; they don't want to pay their employees what they are worth; they'd rather have people who work cheap, which is crazy!!

Don't GET me started on this!!! GRR!!

All the time people are grousing about the illegals not speaking English. I don't have that problem. For one thing, I can't hear them speaking Spanish or whatever other language they use. :) I just go about and do my thing. :)

Well, I have heard from Sikik Eegeesiak, my friend in Barrow. They're snowed in; she can't get out. Oh, she's okay, but they've had a lot of snow that way, and it's even colder there than it is here, if  you can believe it! I feel sorry for her!

Also heard from Louisiana Sandusky, my friend in the Lower 48. She's doing well, just working lots of excess hours, taking care of her family--you know, the usual. Well, she informed me that Johnny now has a trache because his lungs are weak. I was so sorry to hear that!

And Ronee', she had joint replacement surgery done on her hands; both are now home, but Ronee' can't do anything until the bandages are removed and her hands are healed some more.

Louisiana says Ronee' is very frustrated. I don't blame  her! Kid's always been very independent--like me. :)

Louisiana says her baby boys are doing great. She sent me a picture of them; Ian and Isaiah are sooo cute!! They look just like her, but they are going to be tall, like their daddy: they are both very long! LOL And slender! :) They're built like him, too! :)

Remember that little foster child she had? Vincente? Well, he's now theirs, so the Sanduskys have sixty three children. That is a LOT of kids!! I still don't know HOW they do it; two is more than enough for me!! LOL

Well, Michael is telling me he is going to go to work, so I'd best go now before the babies wake up. (They're still sleeping. We have lights that flash that tell us the kids are awake; so that way I can attend to their needs.) Besides, Jerrica is here, she can help them if I am not close to where they're at. Take care and God bless!

~Love, Jenna Aurora. :)