Monday, December 22, 2008, Nashville, Tn., 2:34 a.m., C.S.T. (can't sleep)~

Dear Journal~

Hello; hope you don't mind me writing at such an ungodly hour; it's just that I can't sleep.  (Stump paining me again; bumped it against the wall, chasing Arjun, and I bruised the snit out of it.  *OW*  Doesn't help I still have phantom pain at times; this didn't help. :P)

I have one leg.  Lost my leg when I was six; you'd think after all this time, it'd stop hurting, but nope.  Still get phantom pains from time to time.  Not nearly as bad as I did, but I still get them.  Very annoying!!

My girlfriend, Thu Kim Duc, is lying in the bed, snoring gently; she sounds like a purring little kitten.  She looks so cute; she looks like a little girl!  I am going to pop the news on Christmas morn, that I am thinking of marrying her.  First I will tell her, then I will break the news to the family.  Oh, I know they will be happy; they love my girlfriend!  :)

So do I; she's one of the prettiest little flowers I've seen; met her on campus at ORU (Oral Roberts University), where we both attend college.  I'm going into full-time ministry (going to be a preacher); as for my (future) wife, she is going to work as a teacher for chidren with special needs.

It was love at first sight; we are still together now, one year later.  Our love has only gotten stronger; we now can't imagine our lives without each other!

We got in a few days ago; we drove up from Oklahoma.  Had no problem getting in; we got in just before the weather got too bad.  Nashville got about five inches of snow, coupled with an inch of ice; it made for some extremely hazardous weather conditions.  We had no trouble; we were very careful.  Had more trouble trying to walk in the snow on crutches; nearly fell more than once; it was pretty dicey trying to get up the ramp that leads up to the house!  LOL

Thu kept saying, "Be careful, dear!"  I was like, "Yes, mommy!"  LOL

I can't believe how big my brothers and sisters have gotten.  It seems like only yesterday the twins (Ian and Isaiah) were little-bitty:  now they're one year old, walking, talking, into everything.  Arjun is now four, Rani is now nine, and the others are shooting up there, too.  Ronee' is now driving, and Johnathon's lost his squeaky little-boy voice:  he sounds like a full-fledged man when he speaks; he's also sporting a nice little Adam's apple!  Jodie's now seventeen, getting ready to graduate in a few years, and she just had surgery last month on her feet, something I didn't know about until I saw her, pink casts adorning her feet.

Ma said the surgery went well, and that Jodie was in the hospital for only three/four days; she didn't have any complications, which has been nothing short of miraculous!

Todd's well over six feet tall now; you wouldn't know it though, because he sits in a wheelchair.  Still as spastic as ever, poor kid; feel sorry for him.  Can't talk, can only make noises, to make his needs known.  Todd and Jodie may be in their teens, but mentally, physically, they're more like big babies (Jodie can talk, though; just not that much yet).  Kinda' sad to see; but mom and dad love them, and so do I!  They're happy, so what more could we possibly want??

Steffi's in from Texas; she has a boyfriend too (he didn't come; he had chickenpox, of all things!!).  She's going to school there; she's glad to see snow/winter weather; she says it's mild down Texas way; in fact, the weather people down there are calling for temperatures near seventy for Christmas Day!!  Crazy!! 

Lightning, Dwerlina, and their families are not here yet, but they are due in today sometime.  Daddy and Michael will probably go to get them at the airport; daddy will take one van, and Michael will take the other; they need two vans to pick up that crowd! LOL  Lightning lives in Colorado, in Colorado Springs; as for Dwerlina, she lives in Lafayette, Louisiana.

The only ones who won't be here are Melizza and Dianna; they live here in town, so they won't be in until Christmas Eve or Christmas Day morning.  Then our entire family will be together for Christmas.

Mom and Daddy look good.  Daddy's still got the coal-black hair (not one ounce of grey in it, even though he's in his early forties!), and ma, she still dyes her hair, so it looks like she doesn't have any grey in it.  (She cheats!  Otherwise, she'd be totally grey, which she is!)  Ma has been enjoying a pain-free existance since her back surgery of over a year ago; it's great to see her smiling, interacting with the kids more, picking them up, loving on them, as only she can. 

Daddy, meanwhile, is (relatively) pain-free, too, but he has problems with arthritis in his knees; he may eventually end up needing knee surgery in the coming year; it's just bone on bone, causing him great pain.  He hobbles around on his crutches like an old man. 

Granddad is looking ancient; surprised he's still around.  He's in his eighties now; still hanging in there, pluggin' away as best as he can.  Gramma is looking good; she's in her sixties, and she's pertty spry for her age! 

Speaking of mom and daddy, they've sponsored a little six-year-old boy in Africa; they sponsored him through Christian Children's Fund, and he's a cutie pie.  His name's Amuko, and he lives in Kenya, Africa.  They started sponsoring him last month, and they pray for him every night when they go to sleep.  So I have a new little brother--in Africa!  (I wouldn't put it past them to try to adopt him, bring him here!!  LOL)

Mom and daddy have sixty three kids now; what's one more if they decide to adopt Amuko??  LOLOLOL

I know it's crazy, but they have more than enough love in their hearts to do so; the love they have for children is incredible!  And now that love has been passed down to Lightning, as she's adopted a child as well, a boy named LeAndre'. 

I wouldn't be surprised if Dwerlina would adopt a kid in the future; they have one daughter now; they'd love to have more kids, and I am sure she and her husband have discussed "the adoption option" more than once!  :)

What comes around goes around, as they say!  :)

I am sure that once Thu and I are married and have established our roles as a married couple, we will probably look into adoption as well.  Ma and daddy have done a wonderous thing in taking in children nobody else wanted; why not continue that cycle?  There's so many needy children now in our nation, particularly children who are older or children who have some type of special need.  I could see us adopting one or two kids in our future!

Ma and daddy took me in when I was nine; I could only reciprocate!  :)

Well, I'm gettin' stupid now, so I am going to sign off now.  I will write in here again another time; hopefully it won't be four months down the road like it was last time! LOL  Until later, this is Anh saying over and out!  God bless, and may you have a very merry Christmas and a happy, healthy, prosperous New Year!

~Anh Kim Sandusky.  :)