Wednesday, November 02, 2011
What we got here is failure to communicate....
I believe I'm guilty of this line which was first made famous in the 1967 movie 'Cool Hand Luke'; I can't believe it's been since August 20 that I've made a blog entry. Needless to say quite a bit has transpired since then. As I've done the past 15 years, I coached youth football this fall and by the time I'd get home I simply didn't feel like getting on the computer and blogging. Now that football is over (at least for my team) I'll try to be a bit more active in my blogging.
So where do I start? Julie and I have been getting adjusted to that 'empty nest' phase of life. Judd is living at home but he's gone half the time and when he is home he's upstairs in his room trying to save the world playing video games.
Aaron has been in Spain since late August; he's literally having the time of his life. We also hope he's maintaining at least a 3.0 GPA with his classes. He's living in Madrid but has made his way to Ibiza, Barcelona and Milan, Italy - in addition, he's planning to go to Morocco in a couple weeks. What a wonderful opportunity. We had a heckuva a time getting him over there. He was set with a buddy pass for Delta but due to the hurricane in late August, he kept getting bumped from the flights. After the second attempt we realized we needed to get him over there so we bit the bullet and bought a regular ticket - needless to say it wasn't cheap! So he's in Spain for 4 months and he just passed the halfway point. We try to talk with him on Skype every Sunday and follow his escapades via Facebook the rest fo the week. He is scheduled to fly home on December 21 - just in time for Christmas.
Abbey is loving college life and has settled in very well at UD. We just got her midterm grades and at this time we don't need to worry about her maintaining a 3.0! We have been able to see her several times since she's been gone but she's also made a few road trips to see her high school friends; she's been to UC, Ohio State, Wittenberg and the University of Georgia! Last week she stayed at UD for Halloween festivities and we'll be going up this weekend to visit for Family Weekend.
As I mentioned at the start, I did coach a juggernaut 4th grade football team this fall. We had a pretty successful year; we went 6-2 but lost our first playoff game. We had a good group of kids and parents this season, my coaches were all on the same page - we didn't run in to any playing time issues and I think the kids had fun. We'll wrap things up with our post season party this Sunday.
In October we had a wonderful time at our niece's wedding. Lauren (Jeanne and Steve's oldest daughter) and Chris were married on October 15 and it was a beautiful day for a beautiful wedding. They are a great couple and compliment each other very well. I was very honored to do one of the readings during the mass and they did me a special favor by playing a sentimentasl song (Just the Way You Look Tonight) for Abbey and me to dance to - I wasn't expecting a solo dance at the reception but it was very sweet, Abbey was tremendously embarrassed and I couldn't help but cry thinking about the day it's Abbey's wedding and we're dancing to that song all over again.
I'm sure you'll recall my recent bike ride in Tahoe where I rode in honor of our little neighbor, Maya Collins, who has been fighting leukemia. In September Maya had a bone marrow transplant and a couple weeks ago she finally came home after nearly 6 months in the hospital. She continues to get a little better every day and it is so wonderful that she's back home with her family where she belongs. Please keep her in your prayers; this young lady has been quite an inspiration to many, many people.
Other than that, we're keeping busy. We've been to several Ohio State football games and I went down to Florida to play Sawgrass with some great friends in September. What a beautiful course and I was the only way to par the famous island green at #17!
I also had scans taken in early October. Dr. Leming said everything looked normal (or boring as he puts it) ,which, when you're hoping to not see any signs of lymphoma is a great thing. I'm now free from doctor's appointments until April, 2012. It's little things like that that keep me happy.
I guess I'll end for now. i'll try to communicate a little better as we move forward! Take care and hope to swee you all soon.
So where do I start? Julie and I have been getting adjusted to that 'empty nest' phase of life. Judd is living at home but he's gone half the time and when he is home he's upstairs in his room trying to save the world playing video games.
Aaron has been in Spain since late August; he's literally having the time of his life. We also hope he's maintaining at least a 3.0 GPA with his classes. He's living in Madrid but has made his way to Ibiza, Barcelona and Milan, Italy - in addition, he's planning to go to Morocco in a couple weeks. What a wonderful opportunity. We had a heckuva a time getting him over there. He was set with a buddy pass for Delta but due to the hurricane in late August, he kept getting bumped from the flights. After the second attempt we realized we needed to get him over there so we bit the bullet and bought a regular ticket - needless to say it wasn't cheap! So he's in Spain for 4 months and he just passed the halfway point. We try to talk with him on Skype every Sunday and follow his escapades via Facebook the rest fo the week. He is scheduled to fly home on December 21 - just in time for Christmas.
Abbey is loving college life and has settled in very well at UD. We just got her midterm grades and at this time we don't need to worry about her maintaining a 3.0! We have been able to see her several times since she's been gone but she's also made a few road trips to see her high school friends; she's been to UC, Ohio State, Wittenberg and the University of Georgia! Last week she stayed at UD for Halloween festivities and we'll be going up this weekend to visit for Family Weekend.
As I mentioned at the start, I did coach a juggernaut 4th grade football team this fall. We had a pretty successful year; we went 6-2 but lost our first playoff game. We had a good group of kids and parents this season, my coaches were all on the same page - we didn't run in to any playing time issues and I think the kids had fun. We'll wrap things up with our post season party this Sunday.
In October we had a wonderful time at our niece's wedding. Lauren (Jeanne and Steve's oldest daughter) and Chris were married on October 15 and it was a beautiful day for a beautiful wedding. They are a great couple and compliment each other very well. I was very honored to do one of the readings during the mass and they did me a special favor by playing a sentimentasl song (Just the Way You Look Tonight) for Abbey and me to dance to - I wasn't expecting a solo dance at the reception but it was very sweet, Abbey was tremendously embarrassed and I couldn't help but cry thinking about the day it's Abbey's wedding and we're dancing to that song all over again.
I'm sure you'll recall my recent bike ride in Tahoe where I rode in honor of our little neighbor, Maya Collins, who has been fighting leukemia. In September Maya had a bone marrow transplant and a couple weeks ago she finally came home after nearly 6 months in the hospital. She continues to get a little better every day and it is so wonderful that she's back home with her family where she belongs. Please keep her in your prayers; this young lady has been quite an inspiration to many, many people.
Other than that, we're keeping busy. We've been to several Ohio State football games and I went down to Florida to play Sawgrass with some great friends in September. What a beautiful course and I was the only way to par the famous island green at #17!
I also had scans taken in early October. Dr. Leming said everything looked normal (or boring as he puts it) ,which, when you're hoping to not see any signs of lymphoma is a great thing. I'm now free from doctor's appointments until April, 2012. It's little things like that that keep me happy.
I guess I'll end for now. i'll try to communicate a little better as we move forward! Take care and hope to swee you all soon.
# posted by Vince Hopkins @ 5:12 PM 
