SORRY I’VE BEEN M.I.A. I LAST POSTED, BECAUSE I MISTAKENLY THOUGHT I WAS ALMOST DONE TRANSFERRING COMP, BUT THEN THERE WAS COMPLICATIONS , ETC. I HAD THAT KEEPING ME BUSY, THEN WAS GONE 2 WEEKS! SO MUCH HAS HAPPENED, & I’LL SHARE SOME HIGHLIGHTS L8R, A GREAT THING THOUGH: WOULD U BELIEVE THAT AFTER 5 YEARS, I JUST BLEW OUT CANDLES ON MY BIRTHDAY CAKE?!? (THERE WAS 2.) IT WASN’T EASY & TOOK A WHILE & THE CANDLES WERE CLOSE (& IT WAS A GOOD THING JUST MY KIDS & MK WERE THERE), BUT IT HAPPENED! SO HAPPY! HAD THE GOAL 2 DO THAT SINCE LIKE LAST FALL!

SORRY I TOOK SO LONG…BEEN RATHER BUSY HERE, TRANSFERING COMP. (AS U KNOW, I LOST DATA BUT I’VE BEEN RESTORING WHAT I HAVE ON MY NEW COMP.—I’M FINALLY ABOUT DONE!–, & FIGURING OUT MY NEW COMP. IS TOUGH–IT’S WEIRD & IS CAUSING SO MUCH TROUBLE…), & MAKING STUFF 4 THE YACKTMAN FAMILY REUNION IN PARK CITY, UT IN JULY. (I QUITE ENJOY IT, BUT IT’S BEEN QUITE DEMANDING & TIME-CONSUMING…BTW, I’LL DRIVE TO UTAH, & CAN’T GAURANTEE AN INTERNET CONNECTION, SO I MAY BE GONE MOST OF JULY ALSO.)

PLUS, JESS & FIA JUST FINISHED A MUSICAL THEATER CAMP, WHERE FIA WAS TO-TO, & JESS WAS THE LION IN “WIZARD OF OZ”. THEY HAD 7 DAYS 2 PUT IT TOGETHER. JESS & FIA WERE DARLING. JESS SANG A SOLO & WAS FUNNY (SHE WAS GIVEN THE BIGGEST PART SHE AUDITIONED 4, & ALL THE SLAPSTICK). IT WAS ALSO A PBA MIRACLE 2 NOT HYSTICALLY CRY, & MY DOUBLE VISION HAS SLIGHTLY IMPROVED, SO I COULD C IT OK, SITTING IN THE FRONT ROW (JESS RESERVED SEATS 4 US.)

IN ADDITION, JESS JUST FINISHED ALL-STAR BASEBALL, WHICH HAD TONS OF TOURNAMENTS & PRACTICES (THOUGH I DIDN’T ATTEND A LARGE PORTION OF IT, SINCE IT WAS PHYSICALLY DRAINING, BUT SHE’S SURELY A TALENTEED GIRL!) I’VE BEEN SO, SO BUSY.

UNFORTUNATELY, WHILE I CAN DO IT, USING MY COMP. WHILE CARBONITE WAS RESTORING FILES, WAS CAUSING MY COMP. 2 RESTORE SLOWLY–I NEEDED 2 BE OFF, 4 IT 2 BE FASTER. SO, I HAVE BEEN SPENDING MORE TIME W/MY FAM. & LISTENING 2 AUDIO BOOKS—I’VE FINISHED 3 BOOKS! I RATHER LIKE IT!

SOMEDAYS, LATELY, I’M QUITE A TALKER (4 ME). I THINK SHORT SENTENCES OR PHRASES, & THEY JUST “POP” OUT. OTHERTIMES, IT’S JUST NOT A “TALKING DAY,” BUT IF IT IS, SOMETIMES U CAN EVEN UNDERSTAND ME 2 (KNOWING THE CONTEXT HELPS…) FIA GETS A HUGE KICK FROM HEARING ME SAY THINGS LIKE, “FIA, SHARE!” & “HURRY UP!” & “GET OFF YOUR BUTT!” ZACH JUST SEES THE HUMOR THAT I SAY THINGS 2 DISCIPLINE, BUT NEED 2 SIGN THINGS LIKE “GOOD JOB!”

SAT., I PLAYED BINGO, W/MY 7-YR. OLD, & SAID “YES” OR “NO” IF I HAD IT.

NOT LONG AGO, JESS WENT INTO R PANTRY, LOOKING 4 SUPPLIES 2 FEED ME. JESS SAID, “OH, SYRUP!” & W/O HESITATION, I SLURRED OUT, “WHERE R U?”

IF I DON’T TRY, I THINK IT, & IT JUST POPS OUT, W/A SLURRED VERSION, & MISSING MANY CONSONANTS (LIKE “W”), YET CLEAR. MY WORDS ARE UNDERSTANDABLE, BUT NOT GREAT. CONTEXT CLUES DEFINITELY HELP!

WHENEVER I DO THAT, I’M TOLD 2 REPEAT IT-THE KIDS COMMENT HOW THEY MISS MY VOICE, & LIKE 2 HEAR IT -THEY ABSOLUTELY LOVE 2 HEAR WORDS, THOUGH ABSOLUTELY HATE MY ATTEMPT 2 MAKE ANY NOISE (MY “GRUNTING NOISE” 2 GET ATTENTION: “AAAAAH!”). DOING THAT (“AAAAAH!”), I ANNOY. UNFORTUNATELY, NEW ATTEMPTS AT WORDS CAN SOUND ANNOYING…SO I’M “SHY” & HAVE “STAGE FRIGHT”. PLUS, I HATE IT ALL-IT SOUNDS NOTHING LIKE ME, BUT THERE’S ALSO A SENSE OF SATISFACTION BY SAYING THINGS, EVEN IF IT’S JUST ALERTING OTHERS THAT I WANT 2 SIGN SOMETHING! I ALL 2 CLEARLY RECALL NOT BEING ABLE 2 DO THAT, & FEELING TERRIBLY JEALOUS OF THOSE WHO WERE HEARING IMPAIRED, & COULD DO IT!

ANYWAY, I TRY 2 REPEAT IT, & IT’S 10x HARDER, & LESS CLEAR. LESS COSONANTS COME OUT, I THINK. BUT, IF IT CAN “POP OUT,” IT’S THERE SOMEWHERE!