Hey gang. Just thought I would take a moment to check in with you all to let you know that I still don’t have a deal to race this year. It’s looking like I will be watching from the sidelines for the first time in 13 years. I am working on a few things for my future, but I am not sure if these things will lead me back to racing or not. I’ve been busy working and planning for my immediate future to ensure that I will be ok financially while I sit on the sidelines. I do have a couple of options, like getting my nursing license back, but leaving the race world completely is NOT what I am ready for just yet. Seth runs my eBay sales and has a few items from my race career on eBay right now. Log on quickly if you’re interested in anything because this auction ends on Tuesday, Jan. 27, around 3p.m. We will continue to auction things from time to time to supplement our income. As always, some of the money will be donated to Jungle Friends, which is where Andy (the monkey) now lives.

We are also starting a small coral business since we have invested so much time and money into our aquarium hobby. We’ve recently invested in some beautiful and rare corals so that we can grow them and sell them. The room that Andy use to live in was supposed to be turned into a playroom for the little girl I wanted to adopt. Unfortunately, with the delays and additional costs of the adoption process and especially now that I am not racing, we thought it would be better to turn it into something that we could use productively. It is working out even better than we planned. Seth and our friends at Coral Connection in Kenner, La., have built one heck of a tank room. The tanks are looking so good that we joke about charging our friends and family admission to come and see them. Now you know times are tough when you try and charge family for admission into your home! LOL. I’ve learned so much over the past year about salt water and fresh water aquariums and have become very involved with it all. Although Seth does all of the dirty work, which includes cleaning and caring for tanks, I do help out as much as I can with feeding the fish and corals and taking pictures of them. The two most important tasks don’t ya think? Well at least the fish agree. Seth gave me a new macro lens for my camera for Christmas, so I have been snap happy every since. It will surely come in handy when we start advertising our corals for sale. I’ve even started entering my photos into a few photo contests online. Some of the contests are giving prizes and gift certificates that we could use for the aquariums. I’ll attach a couple of my pics for you.

The other thing I’ve been up to is, REALLY enjoying the off-season. After traveling all year round, it feels so good to not have to pack and unpack for a few months. I might get more of that than I hoped for, but for the time being, it sure is relaxing. I just can’t believe that the Winternationals is right around the corner already. I spoke to Antron just before he left for testing in Phoenix. That’s when I realized that Pomona was only a couple of weeks away. I really wish I could fly out to Pomona to root him on. I assure you that I will be at as many races as I can to show him my support this year, and every year, as long as he’s still racing.

Well that’s about it for now gang. I’ll write again as soon as I know more about what I am going to do this year. Hopefully I will have good news for you guys. Thanks to all of you that have sent me so many good wishes and especially for your prayers. Like I’ve said before, I have faith that God will lead me in the direction that he feels is best for me, and like my mom always says, “He has something bigger and better planned.”

Hope this makes you smile …

When Boudreaux was a little boy he was called “Tee-Boudreaux.” “Tee-Boudreaux” lived with his family in a house with no indoor plumbing. Instead, they had an outhouse out in the back of the house. His dad, Papa Boudreaux, wanted the best he could get for the Boudreaux family. So they had a “two holer” outhouse so that two people could “go” at the same time.

One day Tee-Boudreaux and Papa Boudreaux were both in the outhouse when Tee-Boudreaux saw his Papa accidentally drop a quarter into the hole. Tee-Boudreaux noticed his Papa thinking about something awhile then reach into his pocket, pull out a dollar bill, and drop it into the hole where the quarter had gone.

Tee-Boudreaux saw this and said, “Mais, Papa what you dropped dat dollar bill into dat hole for?!”

Papa Boudreaux said, “May Tee-Boudreaux, I didn’t have de heart do send you down dere for just a quarter!”