Amanda Update #1

Hi friends,
Well, tomorrow, Friday January 18th, we start messing with Amanda's medications in preparation for her testing in the seizure lab at Vanderbilt Hospital. The upside to this is that finally, after 12 years of what feels a bit like wandering in the wilderness waiting for answers, we may finally be closer.

Right now, I'm sitting in an airport waiting for a flight that is hopelessly delayed, thinking it's as good a time as any to start chronicling our journey. I suspect at this point that the testing will lead to brain surgery, though Bob is reminding me to take one step at a time. I wish I could, but of course, my thoughts always lead to the next place, and I can't help but wonder where that place will be.

Today, some of my team-mates at work laid hands on me and prayed for Amanda and our family. It was a profound experience. I am so lifted by their prayers, and over and over again, I am hearing from others who are reminding me that they are praying for us. I know that if God created Amanda, he can control the details involved in her body and her brain.

I've met a bunch of new friends on an epilepsy e-board. I have not participated in one of those for years, but now that things are getting pretty heavy-duty, I'm experiencing a desire to connect with other folks who have been through the same thing we are going through now. Many, many of the folks are very encouraging.

Yesterday, Amanda had a seizure at school--and this is before we removed the med that has been giving her fairly decent control. The next week, prior to her admission into the hospital, will be very, very interesting. Hope you continue to watch here and read her updates. And we covet your prayers!

Fire Island

Summertime greetings from the Hawkes family!

Here's a few pictures from "Fire Island," our back yard garden. We put in a pool this summer and did a whole bunch of digging in the yard. We've gone for the maximum garden effect, but it definately seems as though there is always more to do.

We've named it "Fire Island" because we have the very best in redneck outdoor lighting--tiki torches!! Without all the trees in the back, we'd probably be visible from the Space Shuttle when everything is burning. I'm not sure it's the best thing to have tiki torches over pine-needle mulch, but at least it will be interesting if it ever goes up.

I'm actually writing this from one of the back yard swings right now, but the pictures were taken during the day. Sorry. You have to come visit for the full effect. We went for the whole Feng Shui thing and did the fire, wind, earth and water thing. Both swings are lit up by torches, near the creek, and have windchimes. Oh, and they are on the ground. That's the 4 major elements, right? And to top it all off, they are all wi-fi enabled. I guess that's 2006 Feng Shui!

Here's a few pictures as we trudge through the dog days of summer.

"Miracle" kittens

Some of you may have heard this story, but this past October, our neighbor moved out. Before he left, he asked us if we'd take his little kitty cat, who was spayed, declawed and very sweet. We declined, because we just didn't feel we needed to add a 3rd cat to our family. Two is probably 2 too many.

Well, they moved out and left the little kitty behind, which shocked me a bit, especially since it was the coldest day of the year up to that point and she'd never been outside. We adopted her immediately, and found out pretty quickly that although she was not declawed, she was definately sweet. Shortly thereafter, she began going outside with her 'brothers'.

We've recently confirmed that not only was she not declawed, she also was not spayed. Either that or we have a real miracle on our hands.

She is definately still sweet though. Anyway, we now have 3 calico kittens, a grey kitten and a black and white kitten to add to our menagere. We do plan on giving them all away...but I'm already becoming pretty attached to the little one pictured here. Really-what's not to love?