Thurs., April 3, 2008, Nashville, TN, 5:40 a.m., D.S.T.~

Stinko here.  How's tricks?

Hope life's treatin' you okay.  Me, I'm doing pretty good; really nothing much to complain about excepting for Stevie getting away with murder because of his special health needs. GRRR!!

Oh, he's a great kid brother, but I hate his heart problems, hate his being in the hospital for surgery or more blamed tests!  I always worry he's gonna croak on us; so far he hasn't, thank the Lord!

Ma has been a rock through all his trials: I've never seen anyone so brave, so confident, as Stevie weathers yet another illness or surgery!  I wish I had her stanima; but nooo...I'm too busy trying to get all the chores done!!

School has been murder lately: homework nearly every night, studying for some huge tests we had in History and in French class (I passed, miracle of miracles!!), and worrying about my grades.  Oh, I'm a okay enough student, but I could do better, according to the parental units.

Never satisfied!!

Saw my pal Johnny Sandusky a while back; he's finally putting on a little weight; still, he's awful' skinny, clothes still hanging on him.  He no longer looks like he's got AIDS, and he can talk fairly normally again, even with that thing in his throat (trache tube).  He's breathing much easier, and he hasn't had any new alarming symptoms.  Hope it lasts because I really like Johnny; he's such an inspiration!

His sister, Ronee', is a looker:  cute, little, smart, funny.  I keep following her around, hoping she'll notice me, but so far nothing.  Oh, she'll say hi to me, or give me a smile; but she is too busy with her life to be bothered with the likes of me, so I just leave her alone. 

The girl I was interested in last time I wrote ditched me.  Another danged athletic-type, captain of the baseball team.  Very depressing.  I still have nobody; who'd want to go out with a guy known as "Stinko"??

Soon school will be over; it's early April, in less than two months we'll be let out for the summer. 

I am already busy mapping out my summertime plans: lounging about at the pool, going to my grandma's for the Fourth of July, shooting off bottle rockets, perhaps trying to cadge the parental units into going to DisneyWorld (been wanting to go there ever since I was a little boy), trying to get Ronee' to notice me, doing things with Johnny before he goes to MD camp...yeah, I can see myself having the summer of my life this year!

Or maybe I'll end up having a sucky summer, just like past summers.  Seems whenever the parental units think vacation, it's to my great grandma's room at the nursing home, or going out in the middle of nowhere, looking at paint peeling off the walls, or waving to bikers who have bugs in their teeth as they zoom by.

The last time we went on vacation (several years back, before Stevie's health took a nosedive), we went to Kansas, which was the most boring place on the face of the earth!  The only thing I saw there that was halfway interesting was a tornado in the distance, but ma wanted to boogie on out of there, in case it decided to come this way.

It was over three miles away!!  And it wasn't even going to come this way; still, ma (she's afraid of storms) wasn't about to take any chances.

I was so mad at her I didn't talk to her for a week!!

I'd sooner as much stay home--that is, unless DisneyWorld enters the picture.  Then you're talkin' my language!! :)

I bet Stevie would get a kick outta' the place; I know I would! :)

Well, ma's flickin' the light (perhaps seeing if I'm up yet), so I'd better scoot on out of here.  Have to get dressed, go downstairs, perhaps eat a little something to nourish my body before the bus comes to pick me up.  I will write in here again later; until next time, this is "Stinko" signin' on outta here! So long!

~"Stinko". :)