July 6, 2009 (Monday), 6:27 a.m., D.S.T., Nashville, TN~

Dear Journal~

Bill Sandusky here.  Thought I'd write in here before I get ready to go to work; have to be there by nine, nine-thirty at the latest.  Wife is already gone; she went to work at five; she always gets there early to get her charting, paperwork, patient reports done by shift's start at seven.  (She works until seven tonight.)

Meanwhile, her mother and father will stay here to manage the troops; I sometimes call our home "Camp Sandusky"; at times it feels like an Army barracks around here.  LOL  (Louie has one better:  "Casa Sandusky".)

For now, Armand, Therese, and the children remain deep in peaceful slumber.  The only ones up are the dogs, cats, and other animals.  Louie's little Pomeranian, "Cajun Gold", is sitting beside me, watching me type, a smile on her face, tongue lolling out.  She looks so cute!  She reminds me of a fox, a tiny, red-gold fox with a lot more hair.  I can hear her panting, as well as the clock ticking the seonds/minutes by.  Very quiet here; might as well enjoy it while it lasts!

For once the kids and my in-laws are up, you might as well hang up the moon!  There won't be no such thing as "quiet"!

Well, the July Fourth holiday weekend is over.  We are now left with the post-holiday letdown.  We are sad that the parades, celebrations, music, and fireworks are overwith for another year; now the next thing we have to look forward to is sending the kids to school the day after Labor Day.  Then we will have Hallowe'en (and our church's Harvest Festival), Thanksgiving, and Christmas to look forward to.  Until then, we have the rest of July and dull, dull, hot August to get through.

I am still sore from walking all over he** and creation at the "Red, White, and BOOM!" Festival:  you try walking all that distance on a pair of crutches!  NOT easy to do; yet that is what I do!  I could have taken my scooter, but I didn't; stubborn, I guess.  Now I must pay for it.  I'm so stiff I feel more like a walking corpse than a human being!  LOL  *OWWWW*  LOL

The weather co-operated most of that weekend; however, during the fireworks on Saturday (July 4th), a sudden thunderstorm blew up, sending everyone scrambling for cover.  It was totally unexpected (or else we weren't paying attention:  we were too engrossed in the patriotic music, plus we had our minds set on the fireworks, that would commence after the concert had ended).  It was a festival celebrant's worst nightmare!

It wasn't anything like last year's though:  the thunderstorm that came through last year came at three in the afternoon, while my daughter and her band were performing on stage, and it was a durecho (severe thunderstorm with a lot of high winds, heavy rain, and frequent lightning/thunder).  Everyone was worried that the fireworks would get rained out; thankfully, the weather cleared in plenty of time; however, the fireworks were delayed; but once they got off the ground (literally!), it was a show to remember!

The kids really enjoyed themselves:  the older ones rode the carnival rides or babysat their younger sisters and brothers; there wasn't too much in the way of disharmony; everyone behaved themselves (most of the time, anyway!).  They loved loading up on junk food (though Louie and I made sure they try to eat some healthy food alongside the snacks!), and they loved the music and rides.  They had a ball!

Louie and I had fun, too:  it was nice to see our kids acting normal and having fun, and not worrying about bills or medical issues.  Or worrying about work or the economy.  We actually acted like a normal family (and with us, there's no such animal!  LOL).

It was hard, though, to see Johnathon not partaking in the patriotic program, or performing, something he's done since he was little.  Now all he could do was sit and watch; it broke our hearts!  No wonder he's been so down on himself lately:  his disease is getting worse, and there's really nothing anyone can do about it except pray.  Pray for a miracle or that a cure is found while Johnny, and others like him, remain alive!  I'm just glad he's going through counseling; he's needed it for a while now! 

Maybe it will help him; Lord, all we can do is hope that it does!

And then we lost Enriquesa on July Fourth for a few minutes.  It may have been fifteen minutes we couldn't find her, but to us it seemed like hours!  We were never so glad to see her when a man brought her back to us!  (Enriquesa saw a puppy that looked similar to ours, and she wanted to go play with it.  She loves animals!)

And if that wasn't all, Gemini fell right in front of a Marine; she wasn't hurt, but it sure made for some good-natured ribbing after the Marine helped her back to her feet.  Gemini thinks all service men in uniform are sexy-cute, but as she says, "the Marines have 'em all beat by a country mile!"  She says she stepped in a hole that she didn't expect; we then say, "Sure, Gemini, sure!", which drives her crazy!  LOL 

Ian and Isaiah, our two youngest children, were scared by the fireworks; they cried until mamma could calm them; the thunderstorm didn't help matters any!  They were hysterical; I'm sure those people closest to us thought they were being killed, the way they were carrying on!  And our "brave" daughter, Ronee', was yelling:  "Make it stawwwwwp! Oh, please, God, make it stawwwwwwwwp!!"  She was not amused; she has a bad fear of storms. 

Always has, ever since she was little. 

Emir was another one who was unnerved by the fireworks.  To him, they remind him of bombs; all through the display, he burrowed his little head underneath my armpit, whimpering and shaking.  Poor little guy; I felt so bad for him!

(Emir is an Iraq war orphan.  He lost his parents [and his limbs] when a bomb exploded close by to where they were.  He is still plagued with nightmares; it's going to take years to undo the damage the war has done to him.)

And you should have seen him when the planes (jet and bomber) roared overhead!  I thought he was going to become positively unglued!  He was not expecting that at all!  We were, but he sure wasn't!  It was very interesting, to say the least!  Poor Emir!!

For a child without arms or legs, he sure can move fast!  He climbed up me as though I were a tree!  LOL

Well, I hear Armand roaming about the hall; I'm sure Therese won't be far behind him.  That means I must get off of here and get ready to go to work.  *Sigh!*  (I work until six tonight; Louie gets home an hour later.)  I will write in here again another time; until then, this is Bill saying so long and God bless!

~Bill.  :)