Thursday, September 30, 2010
End of September Update....
I know it’s been a while since my last blog entry. Truth is - between road trips, Abbey’s field hockey, coaching the best 0-5, 6th grade football team in the city and going to several Buckeye football games I just haven’t had the time to sit down and hammer any blogs lately. So, here is a recap of September….
Health wise, I’m actually feeling pretty well. I felt a bit queasy a few days after my treatments but that lasted less than a week. A couple weeks ago I had a follow-up appointment to check my blood counts and everything looked very good. My white blood counts were as high as they’ve ever been and the red counts were also in the normal range. The nurse practitioner told me that she didn’t think I would have any problems but to let the doctor know if I experienced a temperature higher than 100 degrees. With about a week before my next treatment I feel pretty normal, continue to feel strong exercising and feel very optimistic that this treatment phase won’t be nearly as bad as my first experience 5 years ago. Round two will be October 6 and 7 – at that point I’ll be a third of the way done!
Abbey turned 18 on September 14 so we now have 3 ‘adult’ children. To celebrate the occasion she went out and bought a lottery ticket and a cigar but she was somewhat disappointed when the clerk at the store didn’t ask for her ID. Her field hockey team is having one of those roller coaster season – they win one, they lose one. Since they lost their last game hopefully they’ll pull out a win on Thursday at Oakwood! If you are in the vicinity feel free to stop by, I know she’d love to see some fans in the crowd. Game time is 5 pm and the field is close to UD.
We visited Aaron over the weekend at SLU and had a very nice time. He seems to be settled in and insists that he’s doing well in his classes. This trip we discovered ‘The Loop’, a restaurant/shopping district that claims to be one of the ten best ‘streets’ in the US. We had a great time and got to watch Ohio State dismantle Eastern Michigan at a fun place called Blueberry Hill.
Obviously I’m fired up by the start the Buckeyes have had so far. I think the two key games will be at Wisconsin and at Iowa. Win those and I expect Ohio State to be playing at the NC game in Glendale in early January, 2011. I’m hoping the running game kicks in to gear but with Pryor playing the way he is, it may be better to just let him improvise like he did in the Miami game.
I haven’t had a chance to see the Bengals play yet due to the football team I’m coaching. I read that they aren’t playing well but they’re still 2-1. Hopefully Carson Parson will quit playing like a ‘Sally Boy’ and start getting the ball to Chad and TO. I probably won’t get to see them play until our season is over but with an 0-5 record, it will most likely be over sooner than we’d like. We just can’t seem to score any points – we move the ball but we stall down by the goal line. Plus, we have so many injuries – we only have 14 healthy kids available this week…it has been quite a grind.
On the good side, it looks like the Reds will be back in the playoffs after a 15 year drought. With the magic number at 1 it would take the biggest choke in baseball history for them not to make the playoffs. (Editor's note - the Reds clinched since this blog entry was originally written) Obviously I’d love to see them do some damage in the post season but I’m not sure we have the experience to beat a team like Philadelphia. Nevertheless, things are looking up for the Reds and if they can stay injury free they should challenge for the playoffs on an annual basis over the next 5 years.
Here’s the next 10 songs on my top 50 songs featuring female vocalists…(I’m going to cut and paste this e-mail to my blog so you won’t have to read unless you want to make a comment)…
30. There’s Your Trouble/Dixie Chicks – I know this one will piss off my Republican friends but I have the ability to look past someone’s political views when it comes to entertainment. (Personally, I’m registered non-partisan.) I do think they shouldn’t use their status as a entertainer as a platform for their views but I still like the Dixie Chicks and this is the song that started it all for them.
29. Here You Come Again/Dolly Parton – This was a hit when I was in college and quite frankly, just about the only song by Dolly that I can stomach.
28. Rapture/Blondie – One of several songs that helped make rap a mainstream music genre. On second thought, maybe I should hate this song.
27. Stand By Your Man/Tammy Wynette – This song spawned some controversy back when it first hit the charts. Women’s Lib was a hot topic and I recall it didn’t sit well with women on that side of the issue. Still, I like it for Wynette’s vocals and how it still shows up in movie soundtracks some 40 years later.
26. The Rose/Bette Midler – Nice, simple song. Midler doesn’t over sing like she does on many of her other songs.
25. Still the One/Shania Fiessinger – This one is for our neighbor, Doug Fiessinger.
24. Respect/Aretha Franklin – A Motown anthem by the Queen of soul.
23. Chuck E’s in Love/Rickie Lee Jones – I really liked Rickie Lee Jones and this was her first big hit. She had one of the truly unique singing styles and if you want to hear a wonderful version of ‘Making Whoopie’, check out Rickie Lee’s duet with Dr. John – classic.
22. Fast Car/Tracey Chapman – Kind of a downer of a song but whenever I’m cruising the dial looking for a good tune to listen to, I’ll always listen to ‘Fast Car’.
21. Because You Loved Me/Celine Dion – Normally I compare Celine’s voice to the sound of finger nails down a chalk board but I really like this song because it tells us we are all who we are because somebody loved us which I believe is a great message to pass along.
Hope all is well with you and hope to see you soon….
Vince
Health wise, I’m actually feeling pretty well. I felt a bit queasy a few days after my treatments but that lasted less than a week. A couple weeks ago I had a follow-up appointment to check my blood counts and everything looked very good. My white blood counts were as high as they’ve ever been and the red counts were also in the normal range. The nurse practitioner told me that she didn’t think I would have any problems but to let the doctor know if I experienced a temperature higher than 100 degrees. With about a week before my next treatment I feel pretty normal, continue to feel strong exercising and feel very optimistic that this treatment phase won’t be nearly as bad as my first experience 5 years ago. Round two will be October 6 and 7 – at that point I’ll be a third of the way done!
Abbey turned 18 on September 14 so we now have 3 ‘adult’ children. To celebrate the occasion she went out and bought a lottery ticket and a cigar but she was somewhat disappointed when the clerk at the store didn’t ask for her ID. Her field hockey team is having one of those roller coaster season – they win one, they lose one. Since they lost their last game hopefully they’ll pull out a win on Thursday at Oakwood! If you are in the vicinity feel free to stop by, I know she’d love to see some fans in the crowd. Game time is 5 pm and the field is close to UD.
We visited Aaron over the weekend at SLU and had a very nice time. He seems to be settled in and insists that he’s doing well in his classes. This trip we discovered ‘The Loop’, a restaurant/shopping district that claims to be one of the ten best ‘streets’ in the US. We had a great time and got to watch Ohio State dismantle Eastern Michigan at a fun place called Blueberry Hill.
Obviously I’m fired up by the start the Buckeyes have had so far. I think the two key games will be at Wisconsin and at Iowa. Win those and I expect Ohio State to be playing at the NC game in Glendale in early January, 2011. I’m hoping the running game kicks in to gear but with Pryor playing the way he is, it may be better to just let him improvise like he did in the Miami game.
I haven’t had a chance to see the Bengals play yet due to the football team I’m coaching. I read that they aren’t playing well but they’re still 2-1. Hopefully Carson Parson will quit playing like a ‘Sally Boy’ and start getting the ball to Chad and TO. I probably won’t get to see them play until our season is over but with an 0-5 record, it will most likely be over sooner than we’d like. We just can’t seem to score any points – we move the ball but we stall down by the goal line. Plus, we have so many injuries – we only have 14 healthy kids available this week…it has been quite a grind.
On the good side, it looks like the Reds will be back in the playoffs after a 15 year drought. With the magic number at 1 it would take the biggest choke in baseball history for them not to make the playoffs. (Editor's note - the Reds clinched since this blog entry was originally written) Obviously I’d love to see them do some damage in the post season but I’m not sure we have the experience to beat a team like Philadelphia. Nevertheless, things are looking up for the Reds and if they can stay injury free they should challenge for the playoffs on an annual basis over the next 5 years.
Here’s the next 10 songs on my top 50 songs featuring female vocalists…(I’m going to cut and paste this e-mail to my blog so you won’t have to read unless you want to make a comment)…
30. There’s Your Trouble/Dixie Chicks – I know this one will piss off my Republican friends but I have the ability to look past someone’s political views when it comes to entertainment. (Personally, I’m registered non-partisan.) I do think they shouldn’t use their status as a entertainer as a platform for their views but I still like the Dixie Chicks and this is the song that started it all for them.
29. Here You Come Again/Dolly Parton – This was a hit when I was in college and quite frankly, just about the only song by Dolly that I can stomach.
28. Rapture/Blondie – One of several songs that helped make rap a mainstream music genre. On second thought, maybe I should hate this song.
27. Stand By Your Man/Tammy Wynette – This song spawned some controversy back when it first hit the charts. Women’s Lib was a hot topic and I recall it didn’t sit well with women on that side of the issue. Still, I like it for Wynette’s vocals and how it still shows up in movie soundtracks some 40 years later.
26. The Rose/Bette Midler – Nice, simple song. Midler doesn’t over sing like she does on many of her other songs.
25. Still the One/Shania Fiessinger – This one is for our neighbor, Doug Fiessinger.
24. Respect/Aretha Franklin – A Motown anthem by the Queen of soul.
23. Chuck E’s in Love/Rickie Lee Jones – I really liked Rickie Lee Jones and this was her first big hit. She had one of the truly unique singing styles and if you want to hear a wonderful version of ‘Making Whoopie’, check out Rickie Lee’s duet with Dr. John – classic.
22. Fast Car/Tracey Chapman – Kind of a downer of a song but whenever I’m cruising the dial looking for a good tune to listen to, I’ll always listen to ‘Fast Car’.
21. Because You Loved Me/Celine Dion – Normally I compare Celine’s voice to the sound of finger nails down a chalk board but I really like this song because it tells us we are all who we are because somebody loved us which I believe is a great message to pass along.
Hope all is well with you and hope to see you soon….
Vince
# posted by Vince Hopkins @ 8:15 AM 
