Weds., July 29, 2009, Nashville, TN.~

Dear Journal~

Louisiana here.  Hope this finds y'all well.  Me, I am blessed beyond belief!  It's incredible how God has been using my family and friends!

Case in point:  my friend, Kendra Kent.  The shunt appears to be doing its job, as are the pills that the doc gave for her migraines; looks like the shunt will last for a while, he said.  And her daughter, Holly, who is home from the hospital, when, just a few weeks ago, she was so desperately sick.  She is still running a fever, but it's nothing that ibuprofen won't help.

Her attitude has also changed for the better; it is almost like looking at a totally different child!  She still requires a lot of care, but has come a long way from where she was.  It's only by the grace of God that Holly is still here; I pray it continues!

Kendra's daughter is adopting a brother and sister from Ethiopia; looks like she is taking after her mamma, in that department!  LOL  I am so happy for her; I pray she gets the pair!

As for us, we are finer than frog hair split three ways.  LOL  Bill has done a marvelous job keeping the house (and kids) intact while I was gone to be with Kendra; the house is still standing, so he must have been doing something right!  LOL  The kids are thrilled to have their ol' mamma back; I'm happy to see them!

Ronee' was ill with another flareup of her JRA, but she's just about over it, thank goodness.  Nothing major; no hospital stay for her. 

Ronee' got eliminated from AGT; she would have been there in Las Vegas, but she got sick, and had to cancel.  Immediate disqualification.  Not her fault, but she was pretty disappointed.  So were we, but she can try again next year.  Or maybe she can even try out for American Idol; there's always hope!  :)

Johnny has been doing great; his attitude has changed for the better.  He is so much happier, calmer.  The sessions with the child psychiatrist seems to be doing wonders for him.  He isn't looking forward to school, though; even though he is doing better academically, he would still rather sleep in during the mornings!  LOL

Johnny was supposed to go to MDA Summer Camp, but since the swine flu outbreak, all MDA camp sessions have been cancelled.  He was very disappointed; he really gets so much out of camp, seeing his friends again!

Melizza and Dianna seem to have worked out their differences.  They've been having a lot of disagreements (mainly about Melizza's cooking skills). Melizza isn't what you would call a great cook; she didn't take after me, her mamma, in that department.  LOL  Therefore, they go out to eat a lot.  LOL

Gemini advanced to the state championship in gymnastics; the meet is next month, in Atlanta, Georgia.  She has really come a long way; to me, she's just as good as those athletes who compete in the Olympics!  She's still working towards trying to make it to the United States Olympic Gymnastic Team.  Hopefully she will do well; we'll go to Atlanta next month to try to root her on to victory!!

Roberto seems to have calmed down since being put on a new medication to help his behavior.  He has autism in addition to CP and Down syndrome; he can really be unpredictable.  He's like a loaded gun in a fireworks factory:  you never know when he is going to go off.  It's interesting living with him at times!  He's been a lot quieter, a lot easier to manage, much to everyone's relief.

Emir is being fitted with prosthetic arms and legs; so far, nothing has worked.  I swear that boy is Houdini; he does not like anything being put on him, and he will scream loud and long until he can be left free to roll from place to place!  LOL  It may be easier for him in the long run, but maybe the kid just wasn't meant to wear artificial limbs!  (He might end up using them as weapons or losing them altogether.  Then what would we do??  *Siggghhhh*)

The twins are fascinating little creatures, discovering the world around them.  Just yesterday, Ian ate some ants; thank God no problems, but he did find out that ants aren't made for eating.  *Yuck!*  LOL 

And then Isaiah tried to put the cat into the dryer before Bill stopped him.  The cat, naturally, scratched and bit him.  Isaiah now has several nasty scratch marks on his arm.  Lesson learned.  He hasn't gone near "Cajun" since then, and "Cajun" has avoided him like the bubonic plague.  LOL

I did hear from Audrey Callaway.  She called me; however, we didn't talk long, as they now live in England.  Rick is recovering nicely, and the kids are (fairly) happy.  She sounded good. 

Wayne Wright (Audrey's brother) was in the hospital, but is back home now.  His remaining kidney tried to shut down on him.  He's doing so much better, but he's still pretty weak and now has to use oxygen.  It will be a while before he can return to work; he's currently under continuing medical care. 

The other day, when I got home from Memphis, my little Pomeranian was so excited she piddled all over my leg.  Yuck!  She does that if overjoyed or overstimulated.  Silly dog!  She also yapped so much my ears were left ringing; for such a tiny dog not weighing five pounds, she sure has a piercing little bark that can grate on people's nerves if it's not dealt with right away!

Well, it's not even four thirty here as I write this, so I will shut'er down, go back to bed.  I will write in here soon, that is if my family will let me ... LOL!  Until then, this is Louie signing off! 

Off today, work this weekend and most of next week.  Might as well get as much rest as I possibly can while the gettin's good!  Take care, and may God bless you as much as He's been blessing me as of late! 

~Love, your Tennessee friend, Louie May.  :)