Trip to Cali!!

This NC girl is back from my trip to California to see my friend Jen Peet. She is on staff with Campus Crusade for Christ at the University of California at Santa Barbara. Jen was in our wedding and has been a great friend for a long time. I went to visit her during my break from the swim academy and I had a wonderful time. I saw lots of sights including the Curtis Winery in San Luis Obispo county as well as Santa Monica and Santa Barbara. Jenn was such a pal to take me along to her Christmas parties that she had. Let me tell you... those Californians know how to throw themed parties... I went one night to a "Christmas is better in a sweater party" where you wear those crazy knitted sweaters with the jingle bells and pom poms on them. It was a hoot. Then I went to a "Preppy" themed birthday party and I fit right in here. They were all decked out in their pearls and their sweaters tied around their necks. I wear that sometimes here!! It was a blast. I will try to post some pic later!

I also made a southern meal for Jenn and her roommates. It consisted of Country style steak, mashed potatoes, green beans, and of course my favorite thing... SWEET tea. They really enjoyed it but I don't think they could eat stuff like that everyday. But never the less it was fun to fix it for them.

Chris made it ok without me but he got a little anxious when I was supposed to be home on Monday night and I got stuck in the Atlanta airport. My flight was late from L.A. to Atlanta but the airline told me my flight from Atlanta to Charlotte was late as well... They were wrong! I had to stay in a hotel for the night (just happened to be the Hilton) for a discounted rate provided by the airline. I got home on Tuesday at 5:00 and I was ready to be home and I think Chris was ready for me to be home too after the long awaited arrival.

Now to finish up everything before Christmas!!

My Sweet Husband!!

Yesterday Chris had an MRI done for the first time. He has been having some problems with his back where his leg will go numb when he stands up or several other everyday movements. So our great friend Brian who is a "Clinical Support" member (that is what his name tag says... he's official) at Orthocarolina got Chris an appointment with a doctor there. Chris decided that he might freak out when put into the MRI machine so the doctor gave him a prescription for 2 Valium to relax him a little. Well Chris took the 2 Valium and he said that he remembers going into the machine and coming out but nothing in between! PRAISE THE LORD! I just envisioned him going crazy throwing the panic button at the nurse and banging on the machine to be let out because of course he couldn't drive himself! But never the less he made it through and he was so sweet when we left there...

Luckily he doesn't read our blog that often so I can tell you this... When he was little if he did well at the doctor his mom promised him that he could go for a milkshake. So when we get in car he said "I think I need a milkshake" and I responded "A milkshake, you never want anything sweet really", then he proceeded to tell me about what his mom used to do... I thought that was so sweet... Chris truly is an elephant because he doesn't forget anything!! So needless to say he got a strawberry milkshake and I got a chocolate one from the Christian Chicken!! Thanks Chick-fil-a for making my sweet husband's day!!

Christmas is Coming.... You better watch out!!

I am getting so excited about Christmas!! I just love all of the decorations and the anticipation of the season! Chris and I decorated our house before we left for Thanksgiving so we would come home to a house ready for the season. We spent Thanksgiving with Chris' parents in Valle Crucis outside of Boone, NC and it was wonderful! The weather wasn't that cold and Dakota got to go to the mountains for the first time! This is a family picture we took while we were up there.

Chris even went with me on Black Friday to do a little shopping and we got most of our list taken care of! This season gets me so excited and I cannot wait to celebrate Jesus' birthday with our family! You know He is the real reason for the season! God has truly blessed Chris and I and I look forward every year to taking time out as a family and celebrating this day.

The First Cold

This morning when I took Dakota out it was absolutely freezing... no joke it was 32 degrees outside. It was the first cold morning that I have experienced this year and it took my breath away. I am looking forward to this time of year that is approaching where you put on sweaters and scarves and gloves to bundle up. I am reminded of years when I was younger and we would pile up the leaves and before we would burn them (we lived in the country) we would jump in the big pile!! The smell of this time of year just triggers all of those memories from years past.

On another cold note we bought a fake Christmas tree this year... I know I know it is so sad... But my sweet husband is right about the justification behind it. Every year it just about kills us getting it up and then the needles fall off everyday and then after that joyful eve we have to take it down and dispose of it. I just love the smell of a real tree but I guess we will just get some of the yummy smelling Yankee Candles. I will also be anxious to see how sweet little Dakota does with the emblem of the yule tide in our living room with presents all around it!!

Until next time enjoy the cold and blustery weather!!

I Know.... It has been a while.

I am sorry for such a long hiatus from the blogosphere... There has been a lot going on and little time to do it all.

I want to start out with an update on Mr. Hood. He is at home and doing pretty well. He has a home health care nurse that comes twice a week to do therapy and check on him so that is good. Martha Sue is having to spend a lot of time there just making sure that Mrs. Hood is handling everything ok and that he is taking all of his medicine and eating. Also the initial surgery that was supposed to be done has been rescheduled for December 4th so hopefully he will be recovered enough to have the gall bladder removed... FINALLY!

Chris was away most of the weekend on a men's only fishing trip. They had a load of fun and Chris caught several fish including one pictured below.

Chris and the 17" Black Drum

Chris, Kirk (Chris' Dad), Jonathan (Chris' brother)

On the other hand I crammed a lot in to one weekend. Let me explain.... Dakota was being spayed on Friday and I had to drop her off on Friday at 7:30am. She stayed over night so I had to pick her up Sat. before one. My step sister (my step dad's youngest daughter) got married on Friday night in Salisbury so I got off work at 12 and drove up to help my mom with some decorations. I left the wedding at 8:30 drove home and got up to go to work . I got done at work at 12:40 drove up the street to get her and headed home. I threw a jewelry party for my friend Kellie at 5:00pm so I had a lot to get ready. Sunday was more low key but still it was a lot but I made it.

Until next time....

Not Yet Fallen Leaves

It is that time of year again when we anticipate the leaves changing colors and people make mad dashes to the mountains an pay crazy hotel room prices to see the leaves change. I for one am really excited about this fall. I think that our summer was milder than last year so the color change won't happen as quickly. The only thing I am not looking forward to is the weather becoming freezing cold. This is not going to be so good when little Dakota has to go potty at 5:15am. I am not looking forward to that.

To add to my dismay... I usually love Halloween but since I have lived in my town house I have decorated and gotten all ready for those little costumed trick or treaters and every year for the past two years NOT A ONE!! All those bags of candy I bought and no one to eat them. It makes me so sad to even think about it. I know we have kids in our neighborhood because I see them walking to the bus stop in the mornings. Maybe I will have to decorate more this year and I might just do that this weekend!!

Just a brief note about Mr. Hood... He got the results back from the blood work and there is no sign of lymphoma, praise the Lord. However, they have put him on an anti-biotic that is supposed to protect his immune system so that he can fight infections such as colitis. Thanks for your prayers!

Taking a Turn....

I have two turns to report to you today... Chris has taken a turn for the better although he is only eating a 1/4 of what he usually eats. When I work late he fixes himself a Lipton rice side (which is enough for two) and some Purdue frozen bourbon chicken (found at Costco). He will usually eat almost all of it in one sitting but yesterday he made 3 meals out of it. His stomach definitely shrunk during this whole sick thing. He is at work today and feeling much better so thank you for all your prayers.

The turn for the worse I have to report is about Mr. Hood. He had a great weekend and seemed like the antibiotic was helping but yesterday morning Martha Sue got to the hospital and they were putting a low dose of intravenous chemo into his IV. She didn't know what was going on. She talked to the hematologist (Doctor specializing in blood) and he was running some extensive tests to determine why he had contracted this type of colitis that he is being treated for. Most patients who have this rare form of colitis usually get it from cancer treatments. This news is not so good. They are considering Mr. Hood possibly having lymphoma which is a cancer that affects the lymph nodes. They will know more this afternoon as to the final diagnosis. Please continue to pray for him and for the medical team as well as Martha Sue who has pretty much moved in at CMC-Main.

Sick Baby

Yesterday (Sunday) was my first true test of taking care of my husband. His test happened on our honeymoon when I get sick from eating some Jamaican Chinese food (go figure) and he passed with flying colors. Chris coincidentally got food poisoning along with three of his friends after working the Charlotte Shout Festival downtown on Saturday. All 4 of them are were in the bed sick as dogs and couldn't move and if they did they would vomit. Chris did a total of 4 times and in between he would mumble every time I would ask him if he needed something so I interpreted the best I could. He had a fever at one point and I put a cold rag on his head and he woke up an hour later and said, "when did you put that rag on my head?" He was pretty out of it all day. I finally got him to eat some crackers at about 5pm and then a little later I made him chicken noodle soup and he just drank the broth. He was so pitiful!

Dakota even knew he was sick because she laid on the floor beside the bed for about an hour and decided that wasn't helping him very much so she decided to jump on the bed (for the 1st time, she got some hops!) and snuggled right beside him for another 2 hours. While they were snoozing I got so much done around the house! Chris missed work today for the first time but he can't hardly sit up because his back and his head hurt so badly. Pray that a day of rest will help him! That is all she wrote!

Gas Catastrophe

It is getting a little ridiculous here in Charlotte with the long lines on busy roads all over the place. If people would stop freaking out thinking that we are going to run out of gas we wouldn't have this problem. What people don't realize is that gas stations are receiving 30% less gas than usual because of Ike (only one national pipeline to the southeast is working)... that is it! But with people blowing it out of proportion and filling up their car plus 5 gas tanks we are all out of luck. There have been so many fights that have broken out and I heard one woman say that she waited in line 2 hours and the gas station ran out two cars in front of her. This is absurd!

Now is definitely the time to pray for our country and for the leaders of our country. I will go no further politically but I think it is time that we act and act fast no matter if it is wrong or right at the time. This could only go down hill from here.

Long Time No Talk

Sorry that this is my first post in a long time... Life has sort of happened and I have been swept away in the whirlwind with nothing to do but follow... Hopefully things will start to slow down here soon. Last night we had small group and we decided to leave Dakota out but shut all the bedroom doors and pick up everything that she could eat. Well, when we got home she found my journal that I use to write about bible things in a MILLION pieces all over our entry way... Other than that she did a great job. I guess it was my fault!

For an update about my boss' dad Mr. Hood.. They did an endoscopy and a colonoscopy yesterday and found some swelling in his large intestine. They are doing a CT Scan today to see what it really is but the spectrum the doctors gave Martha Sue is either colitis (inflamed intestine) to colon cancer. Please pray for the doctors working with him as well as Martha Sue who has been up there everyday all day to make sure he has the proper care he needs. Thank you so much for your prayers and the next post will not be so far away!

Wedding Pictures

I am so excited because we got our wedding album back from our photographer last week and it is SO great! Chris also did the sweetest thing this weekend... He went and got all of the pictures that people had taken with our cameras at the wedding developed. I put them all in order in an album yesterday and it felt so good to have it organized. Our photographers really did a great job and a big thank you to my uncle Fred who took some amazing pictures with our camera!

I also wanted to give you an update on Mr. Hood, my boss' dad. He was moved to a rehabilitation floor in an adjacent building to the hospital where he would receive three physical therapy sessions a day to help him start walking and swallowing again. Since the tracheotomy tube has been removed he has also developed a fungal infection on his tongue which has caused him not to eat. Please continue to pray for this family as the make decisions as to the direction they should take in making the right decisions for him.

The Sun is Coming Through

For the past couple of days it has been a monsoon in Charlotte and for this very reason little Dakota has a little stage fright of going to the bathroom outside. This morning she finally went outside I think because I held the umbrella for her to go potty. It has been pretty miserable because she has gone in the house a few times but now the sun is coming out again and we are back to a house trained sweet little beagle!!

On a less sunshiney (I know I made it up) note, my boss Martha Sue's father, Harold Hood, is in the hospital. Chris and his friends rented the house beside Mr. Hood and his wife. He went in for a routine gall bladder surgery and while they were waiting for the coordination of the OR he went into septic shock (no oxygen to the brain so your body starts to shut down). They had to intibate (insert trachea tube) and give him a sedative last Thursday. The doctors tried to gradually wake him up this weekend but there hasn't been much response. He started to open and flutter his eyes but when asked to squeeze a hand or look at you nothing happens. He is in the Trauma ICU at CMC in Charlotte. Please pray for him and for Martha Sue as she and her brothers have to make some decisions in the next couple of days. The fall session here at the swim academy due to Martha Sue's absence is going to be a tricky one for us so pray for that as well. Sorry it is such a long post but prayer warriors are needed!

Introduction

I have decided to enter the blogosphere after much deliberation and coaxing from a few friends.... This blog has a purpose to inform those who care about the Hopkins family... At least this little cell of the Hopkins family. Today on this rainy August day I have begun the introduction of the Hopkins family to the blogosphere world.... So sit back and enjoy the laughter and the excitement of our family!