Fairbanks, Alaska, July 2011~

Hello from the Far North!  

This is Kat writing.  I hope this finds y'all in good health.  We are doing as good as can be expected; thanks for asking.  Thought an update was past due, so here goes ...

We have two children now:  two little boys, one aged two and a half, and the other,  almost one year old.  Their names are Franklin Delano (we call him "Junior"; he was named after his daddy, my husband) and Maverick James.  They are so cute; they both remind me of Frank (although dear husband says that Maverick looks more like me). 

They act like him too: full of mischief and fun!  LOL Life is never dull with two little boys in diapers around the house!  LOL

We are trying for child #3, but so far nothing's happened.  Hmm.  Wonder what we can do to spice up the ol' love life??  (TMI, Kat, TMI!!!)  We'd like to try for a little girl: if we have a girl, we plan on naming her Paisley Louisiana (Paisley after a neighbor's child and Louisiana after a nurse that took care of me more than once when I was in Tennessee).

We still have our animals: two cats named "Obie" (Ragdoll) and "Aurora Borealis Of The Far North" (Norwegian Forest Cat) and an Alaskan Malamute named "Grinnin' Jack" (Frank calls him an "Alaskan MalaMUTT"! LOL).  At first, the fur and claws flew as the cats tried to get it on with the dog, but as they learned to get used to each other, the cats settled down, and now the pets are the best of friends: they sleep together (mainly on our bed in the master bedroom!).

Frank is still working at his car dealership (he sells Jeeps); as for me, I help him, but on weekends, we are off and we have all the time in the world to spend with our pets and our sons.  Maverick is walking and starting to talk; as for Junior, he never shuts up for a minute!  He never stops!!  It is fun to watch them learn about the world around them and to interact with our neighbors/friends.  They are very good kids; we couldn't be happier than we are right now!

When Frank and I are at work, our neighbors watch Maverick and Junior and the pets.  So no worries there.  They are very good with the boys and the pets.

The weather is coolish: temps in the sixties to mid seventies (which, for Alaska, is pretty warm; at times we even hit eighty or above, which, to Frank, is a heat wave; he cannot stand hot weather!).  Today it's partly cloudy out.  Later tonight there is a chance of rain, including imbedded thunderstorms, and there's a chance of scattered rain showers/thunderstorms all week long.

We had a busy auroral season: auroras just about every night, which played havoc with our computers and radio, but now that the season is over (for now), things have returned back to normal, so in between watching the boys and the pets, I have been spending more time on the computer (mainly when they're bedded down for the night).  Sometimes I don't get to bed before midnight.  Also back in January, our computer crashed: we were without the Internet for over a month and a half.  Drove the both of us crazy!!

Healthwise, I am doing fairly well; no real complaints.  I did have a kidney infection as well as an urinary tract infection (UTI) that put me into the hospital for a week, but I'm happy to say I've since recovered and just finished up the antibiotics I was taking.  No real issues there, but the antibiotics wrecked my appetite: nothing really tasted good, even the fried salmon that Frank caught, cleaned, and then cooked (and that is one of my very favorite dishes!).  Hopefully I can learn to enjoy my meals again; now that the antibiotic regimen is overwith, maybe I can.

I also fell in the doorway while on my crutches; bruised my side and face all up.  It was really bad; it looked like Frank beat the crapola out of me!  I was embarrassed to go anywhere, and I would get mad at Frank whenever he told people that he beat me up.  I wanted to pull his fool head off, I'd get so annoyed with him!  

Well, Maverick is crying, so I'd best see to him.  I will write in here again soon; sorry it's been so long!  I will try to do better next time.  Forgive me?  Take care; may God bless you always!

~Love, your friend in Alaska, Kat.  :)