Wednesday, January 24, 2007
Look out...Aaron Hopkins has his drivers license!!!
Sorry its been a few weeks since my last post. No, I wasn't in mourning over the loss of the Buckeyes in Glendale (although I will say that was a pretty tough game to sit through). There just hasn't been much to report on. There's just not as much going on during the winter and I won't have another doctor's appointment until early March.
The kids are all pretty busy with school and other activities. Judd has been accepted to Dayton, Xavier, Louisville, Valpo and Pitt-Bradford; he also is applying to a couple art schools. Now we have to wait and see if he'll get a tuition exchange spot. His top choice is Dayton but we won't hear from them until mid-February. On Friday he's getting his wisdom teeth removed so he'll probably be out of it over the weekend. He also has a severe case of Senior-itis which is reflected in his most recent grades.
Aaron got his drivers license yesterday so look out for him! He's working at Outback Steakhouse and getting ready for the upcoming lacrosse season. Unlike Judd, Aaron has been on the first honors list the first two semesters this year. I think he sees how we hound Judd and figures he doesn't want any part of that. So we're pretty happy with Aaron's efforts so far this year.
Abbey got braces yesterday - she'll have them for 6 months. Last week we registered her for high school - she'll be attending Mount Notre Dame. She's also been first honors at school this year and doing very well. She's on the 'A' volleyball team but playing time has been a little sparse. You know how it is in the competitive world of 8th grade volleyball...if you're a coach you better win or you're going to lose your job! So what if its the last year most of these girls will ever play volleyball and it would be nice for all of them to go out with a great experience - there's something to be said about kids learning how to handle disappointment! (I say this with tongue planted firmly in cheek!)
Jules is keeping very busy. Last week she went to Colorado with Abbey, along with her sisters and their daughters to go skiing with Aunt Sharon. They had a great time but now she's trying to get caught up on missing a few days.
Finally, it looks like I'm retiring the 'POPHOP' mobile today. After nearly 8 years and 143,000+ miles its time to put it out to pasture. The gas mileage has gotten progressively worse and its had a leaky water pump for the past 3 weeks. We're at a point where something seems to be wrong with every other month so we've decided to bite the bullet and get something new. I'll be heading out to the Toyota dealer later today to pick up the new car.
Health wise, I'm still achy and getting a little tired of it. I have been runnig a little more since the new year so maybe that's a contributing factor. Hopefully the aches will ease in the near future.
Hope all is well with you and the new year is off to a great start! I'll be sure to keep posting!
All the best!
Vince
The kids are all pretty busy with school and other activities. Judd has been accepted to Dayton, Xavier, Louisville, Valpo and Pitt-Bradford; he also is applying to a couple art schools. Now we have to wait and see if he'll get a tuition exchange spot. His top choice is Dayton but we won't hear from them until mid-February. On Friday he's getting his wisdom teeth removed so he'll probably be out of it over the weekend. He also has a severe case of Senior-itis which is reflected in his most recent grades.
Aaron got his drivers license yesterday so look out for him! He's working at Outback Steakhouse and getting ready for the upcoming lacrosse season. Unlike Judd, Aaron has been on the first honors list the first two semesters this year. I think he sees how we hound Judd and figures he doesn't want any part of that. So we're pretty happy with Aaron's efforts so far this year.
Abbey got braces yesterday - she'll have them for 6 months. Last week we registered her for high school - she'll be attending Mount Notre Dame. She's also been first honors at school this year and doing very well. She's on the 'A' volleyball team but playing time has been a little sparse. You know how it is in the competitive world of 8th grade volleyball...if you're a coach you better win or you're going to lose your job! So what if its the last year most of these girls will ever play volleyball and it would be nice for all of them to go out with a great experience - there's something to be said about kids learning how to handle disappointment! (I say this with tongue planted firmly in cheek!)
Jules is keeping very busy. Last week she went to Colorado with Abbey, along with her sisters and their daughters to go skiing with Aunt Sharon. They had a great time but now she's trying to get caught up on missing a few days.
Finally, it looks like I'm retiring the 'POPHOP' mobile today. After nearly 8 years and 143,000+ miles its time to put it out to pasture. The gas mileage has gotten progressively worse and its had a leaky water pump for the past 3 weeks. We're at a point where something seems to be wrong with every other month so we've decided to bite the bullet and get something new. I'll be heading out to the Toyota dealer later today to pick up the new car.
Health wise, I'm still achy and getting a little tired of it. I have been runnig a little more since the new year so maybe that's a contributing factor. Hopefully the aches will ease in the near future.
Hope all is well with you and the new year is off to a great start! I'll be sure to keep posting!
All the best!
Vince
Friday, January 05, 2007
Happy New Year!!!
I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas season and the new year is off to a great start. Needless to say, we were pretty happy to see 2006 come to an end. Between my situation and the anxious moments we had with Judd at the end of the year, we will have no problem moving ahead and seeing what 2007 has to offer. Having said that, I think we did a pretty good job of making the best of a pretty difficult situation. We have our family and friends to thank for that...everyone was wonderful throughout the entire year and we have a stronger sense of love, faith and community as a result.
I started my chemo treatments a year ago this week. A year ago today (from this very moment) I was at Good Samaritan Hospital having surgery to have a port put into my chest. Driving home from the surgery was the only time I got sick during the 6 months I was treated and that was because I drank too much orange juice following the procedure. It's hard to believe its been a year but when I think back to all the treatments, doctors visits, ups and downs I guess it seems like it may have been 2 or 3 years. (I hope that makes sense!)
Anyway, its been 6 months since the last chemo treatment. I'm still dealing with the aches and pains of it all but I think its getting better. The good thing about this entire journey was the fact that it didn't interupt our lives - much. It was always there (and still is) but we were able to do the things that we normally do. Our lives didn't stop because we were dealing with lymphoma - it may have slowed down a bit, but we kept moving ahead. I'm proud of my family for that; they kept life as close to normal as possible and I know that was a key to getting through everything.
So what lies ahead in 2007? Who knows but I hope first and foremost, its good health. I realized pretty early through my treatments that the only thing you really need is good health...as long as you have that, you can work out everything else. So if I ever find that magic lamp lying on the beach and Barbara Eden (Jeanne) comes popping out and says she'll grant me three wishes; the first will be good health for my family, #2 will be good health for our friends and #3 - good health for me.
On Sunday I'm heading out to Phoenix with all my Buckeye buddies for the National Championship game. There are 6 of us and we've been able to secure 5 tickets. Hopefully we'll find a 6th between now and kickoff Monday night. I don't know if this experience will be able to match the 2002/03 National Championship game that we attended but if it comes close we should be in for a wonderful time!
So again, Happy New Year to all! I wish you all health and prosperity throughout 2007!
I started my chemo treatments a year ago this week. A year ago today (from this very moment) I was at Good Samaritan Hospital having surgery to have a port put into my chest. Driving home from the surgery was the only time I got sick during the 6 months I was treated and that was because I drank too much orange juice following the procedure. It's hard to believe its been a year but when I think back to all the treatments, doctors visits, ups and downs I guess it seems like it may have been 2 or 3 years. (I hope that makes sense!)
Anyway, its been 6 months since the last chemo treatment. I'm still dealing with the aches and pains of it all but I think its getting better. The good thing about this entire journey was the fact that it didn't interupt our lives - much. It was always there (and still is) but we were able to do the things that we normally do. Our lives didn't stop because we were dealing with lymphoma - it may have slowed down a bit, but we kept moving ahead. I'm proud of my family for that; they kept life as close to normal as possible and I know that was a key to getting through everything.
So what lies ahead in 2007? Who knows but I hope first and foremost, its good health. I realized pretty early through my treatments that the only thing you really need is good health...as long as you have that, you can work out everything else. So if I ever find that magic lamp lying on the beach and Barbara Eden (Jeanne) comes popping out and says she'll grant me three wishes; the first will be good health for my family, #2 will be good health for our friends and #3 - good health for me.
On Sunday I'm heading out to Phoenix with all my Buckeye buddies for the National Championship game. There are 6 of us and we've been able to secure 5 tickets. Hopefully we'll find a 6th between now and kickoff Monday night. I don't know if this experience will be able to match the 2002/03 National Championship game that we attended but if it comes close we should be in for a wonderful time!
So again, Happy New Year to all! I wish you all health and prosperity throughout 2007!
