Dear Journal~

G'day!  How's it going?  Hope all is well in your part of the world; here, life is good. 

Nikky Bates-Exley here.  I am doing about as well as can be expected, but last week, I had a bladder infection from hell.  Durn thing put me in hospital, I was so sick.  Was in for about four days.  Still not quite over it, but I am feeling much better.  Am on antibiotics until I run out; I hate those bloody things!  They give me the screaming ... well, never mind.  You probably get the picture, eh?  LOL

Damned spina bifida.  Never lets me know when I have a bladder infection 'cause I have very little feeling from me waist on down.  If I'm not careful, I can get a major infection enough to put me in hospital or some other calamity, and right now, with life going well, I can't live with that!

I'm just grateful I can walk (with sticks) and AFO's (ankle-foot orthotic) braces; better than having to sit in me wheelchair all the time ... but I do have my chair in case I need it (like to get around campus or at the mall or somewhere that requires a lot of walking; too much effort on me sticks ...).

Me lover, Susana, is great:  she is such a sweetheart; I love her so much!  She and I have been together for over two years now; in the spring (October) it will be three years since we first met!  Incredible!  Me family is great too; they love Susana Exley almost as much as I do!

I just wish me stupid pop would leave me the hell alone: he is still bugging me, calling me, leaving me voice mails, e-mailing me ... how blunt do I have to be in order to tell him to bug off?  I don't want any contact whatsoever with the man; he hurt me as a child, and I don't want to have anything to do with him!  I hate him so much; I wish he would die and rot in hell!

And he disowned me when he found out I was a lesbo.  Well, too freaking bad.  I am not gonna change just for his sake or the sake of those damn Christians who still judge me and say what I do is a sin.  So what.  I don't need their religious platitudes: a lot of 'em are hypocrites themselves; they aren't nearly as "holy" as they claim they are!  Believe me, I have seen many Christians doing unholy or un-Christlike things, and so my feeling is this? Who are they to judge me when they are no better than I am??

Thank goodness the Christians have since learned to back off; they no longer bother me, but I still don't like them or want anything to do with them.  I have never felt comfortable around those Jesus-Freaks anyway.

It is still cold here, but the days are starting to get longer, and the first peeps of greenery/growth are starting to appear.  I am so glad; I am more than ready for this winter to go away for good!  On 23 September, 2011, spring will officially begin here in Oz, and I am more than ready for flowers, warm weather, the odour of freshly-cut lawns, and birds singing their birdsong to welcome the season!

Then after spring is my favourite time of year: SUMMER!!  I absolutely love going out to the beach with Susana and our other friends, and I love playing around in the water and going to the amusement park around here and acting stupid!  I love hot weather, but with my health issues, I have to be careful.  I can get sick when one least expects it.

Well, I have some news: next year sometime Susana and I are going to get married!  Yes, you heard right: we are going to become wife and wife!  She proposed to me the day after I got out of hospital; I've been on cloud nine ever since!  Of course, the fam is thrilled for us; soon I will be known as Nicole (Nikky) Exley; the Bates will be history!  That way I can break that last tie with my father for good; the name of Bates has always been a thorn in me side 'cause of what pop did to me as a child.  It's too much of a painful reminder and I hate it!

Hopefully Susana and I will be able to start a family.  We would like to adopt or have a baby together.  We want to have one or two children.  We have plenty of dreams when we get married ... big dreams!

We may be moving to Sydney too.  Hear Sydney is family-friendly and a great place to live.  Perth is okay, but Sydney is where all the action is!

Well, I have to go.  Susana is going to take me grocery shopping; we are running low on food (bread, milk, cheese, lunch meat, sodas, bottled water, that kind of stuff: the basics).  I will write in here again soon; until later, this is Nikky saying so long!  Take care!

~Love, your friend in Oz, Nikky.  :)

~To be continued.~