My first bit of news will be by far the most exciting- if only for me. You see, the 31st day of March in the year 2004, at 8:10 in the evening, my brother Adam and his girlfriend Tedde celebrated the birth of their first child, Tyler John. My nephew weighed in at 6lbs. 15ozs. And was 20� long. I am told that he is accountable for 10 fingers, 10 toes, a healthy set of lungs, one tiny set of balls (which will be made of steel and be bigger than the great state of Texas I assure you!) and yes, friends- a penis. I know the world didn�t exactly need another �penis toting male�, but this one we�re keeping. Poor Carter and Tyler and Gena�s son to be are doomed to receive the tender side of femininity as we guide them into the world with sense and sensibility. Chivalry may be dead� but many, many, MANY years down the road, my nephews will make 3 very happy women the luckiest women alive.

I am so excited to have a new nephew! And it was almost funny to listen to my sister Lisa on the phone when she called to tell me. She was so very excited. She talked so fast I think she forgot to breathe for the better part of 5 minutes honestly. She�s a Momma, yes. But this is her first chance to be an Aunt. The same for Gena. Gena truly is lucky this year. She will be an Aunt and a Momma for the very first time all this year. Ahh, to be so lucky.

I was planning to come home from the conference Thursday and spend a nice quiet weekend home since Shawn had a fit about going down state for Easter. But then I got to missing my family. And Gena is now moving into her very first house. (She�s doing way too much growing up all at once. I�m trying hard to digest it all, but damn. You�d think she could cut us all a little slack!) And now Tyler John is here. It�s ironic actually, I was thinking today (smell the fires burning?) My brother is an A.J., one nephew is a C.J. and now my newest nephew is a T.J. Gena was planning on naming her son Dustin or Ethan� maybe she�ll do the �J� name for a middle name too! LOL!

I have a new pen pal. He�s a complete stranger to me, LOL. In fact, the only thing I know about him (And really it could be a him or her� but I�m thinking it�s a male) is that his/her name is Noe and is in the U.S.M.C. stationed in Iraq. I was reading the paper which I almost never do�. And I found an article where a soldier in Iraq had written the local paper to ask that people write to him and a few friends. There were like 6 or 7 guys on the list� I picked Noe just for the name itself. A crazy way to pick a pen pal, but hey. It was that or the �Eenie Meenie� game. Plus hs last name sounded French. And I am French, so hey. I still have the photo copy of that article. I plan to designate a soldier to each of my sisters when I am down there and maybe even one to my niece. I think it is damn important to support your troops and what better way than to know that when the mail call goes through, they�ll be smiling with your mail coming through on a regular basis.

I have been oddly enough writing to Noe every day. And have been faithfully getting these letters in the mail. The boss doesn�t yell at me or chide me too much when I am seen writing letters as he knows I�m writing to an overseas �Jar Head,� and being an ex-jarhead himself- he know the importance of steady mail coming through being so far from home and family. I started out not knowing what to write, so I told him about me and my life. Now, I�m writing about everyday occurrences, stuff I pick up on current events, daily life, the weather. Normal stuff that he may or may not be thinking about over there. I�m sure he probably won�t write back often if at all, but if I can bring one soldier one smile, then it�s worth the time taken.

Like I said, I am leaving this Sunday for Onaway. There�s a huge UAW Conference and Educational Center there. I will be staying there from Sunday until Thursday morning. I am taking classes on web designing so I can maybe build a web site for our union. I am very excited about this actually. I am so HTML illiterate it�s pathetic. I had Sasha design this web site and Ange did the one I had before. Thank God for them! I�m hoping I�ll learn enough to tinker and work my way through so that I might be able to change and rotate my diary designs� but I am really partial to this one. So I dunno.

I get a paid weeks vacation� one that all business (which I�m sure will be pleasure disguised as business) end on Thursday morning. All have to drive home and drop mike off. Then Shawn has a dentists appointment I have to have him up for on Friday morning�. And after that, I�m homeward bound. Off to see my newest nephew, C.J. and Cassie both of whom I have missed like crazy. My sisters, Tania, My brother, My daddy and Tedde. Yeah� who could not look forward to a week like that?

Oh! And before I forget� I�m pretty sure I have mentioned my sister�s girlfriend Tania here. I need to ask y�all a HUGE favor. You see Tania found a lump on her head and now several more on her neck. She went to the Doc who isn�t sure what it is- whether she�s fighting off an infection or as bad as potentially cancer. She has to go for more testing still, but she�s terrified and I know what she�s going through wouldn�t be easy for anyone. I�m asking you all for spiritual support. Prayers, well wishes and happy thoughts. Whatever form of spirituality you practice, we�ll take it. Tania�s gonna need a ton of support to get her through this� I�ve already called dial-a-prayer and told God I need of angels watching�. But any extra love will be welcomed.

Tania is a wonderful woman. With a kind heart and a contagious smile. Whatever this is I know we�ll beat it. She�s a �Flower� now� she�s family.

Thanks for everything Y�all� where would I be or what would I do without you?

Simply,

Sara