Apparently I have become a “snow magnet.”  I thought it was odd that the trip to Chicago seemed so easy.  The roads were clear and the weather, although cloudy, seemed fine.  But growing up in the north, all I knew was that I was scheduled to come up to Chicago and that it was winter and that it snows in the north.

But as we got to the hotel and I watched the news I saw something for which I was ill prepared……people in the north using words like “ground zero” and worrying about how the area would handle it.

This is to say that we came to Chicago at probably the worst time of the year.  It snowed, and it snowed, and it snowed.  And then as I talked to Amanda I found that it was snowing there too……and when I say that, I mean it was snowing.  So our drive back will not look a thing like, or go as quickly as, the drive here.

But it is what it is I suppose.  I am blessed to be here among some of the most talented minds in terms of church planting I have ever known.  But even more than that I am blessed that the good Lord had me grow up in the north………sure it is Chicago, but after all it is only snow.

Goodnight my friends and God Bless!

Tommy+

Tonight I am writing this in Chicago, Illinois where I am attending the annual Anglican 1000 Conference in Wheaton, Illinois.  It is an annual gathering surrounding the planting of Anglican Churches in North America.  It is always a fruitful time and I was pleased that this year we were far closer to home.

But of course I have already been traveling too much over the past week.  Visiting Steph was great, in fact a lot better for me than work.  And now I find myself without my family, a bit lonely, and really wishing I was home.  Don’t get me wrong, I think it is important to be here, but the timing for me just makes it hard.  I was home for less than 9 hours.

While I am here though I am able to test out my first real trip with my iPad.  It seems odd to me that I have this cutting edge technology, as I am really much more than technologically challenged.  I am a technological moron.  But…….I was able to see a few things when I plugged it in to charge as apparently pictures taken on it automatically transfer to my computer.

So what you see is evidence of BEN getting a hold of my iPad and taking some pictures, and t be very honest, it was just what I needed.  I will be home in a few days, and everything will be fine, but tonight I am thankful for my goofball son who took about 10 pictures of his lap with my new iPad just for me.  Or at least that’s what I would like to think……but either way, it made my day!

Goodnight my friends and God Bless!

Tommy+

Yes, the heck with everyone else…..this is a picture of ME and my daughter Stephanie today in West Virginia before she got on the team bus and headed back to Missouri.  We got to see her play in two games, one I posted about yesterday, and another today….both big wins.  They are currently undefeated, although none of these teams presented any significant challenge.

But I made a radical decision……take a picture with ME IN IT.  And although we are home and my hair will be cut in just a few minutes by my wife, I thought I would post this of Steph and me, my bad hair and all.  I have no regrets.

In fact, going to see her play was exactly why I gave up (I retired) from coaching high school women’s lacrosse.  You cannot be a high school Head Coach and take time off to travel to see your daughter play…..BUT I WANTED TO SEE HER.  So today I post the proof.

Thanks for the great weekend Steph, and although Amanda and Ben enjoyed seeing you, I want you to know I got the most out of it.  You are playing lacrosse at an extremely high level AND majoring in CHEMISTRY.   I can barely get out of bed in the morning and to even spell chemistry, I had to use spellcheck.   But thanks for being a great daughter!! You make me VERY PROUD!

Goodnight my friends and God Bless!

Tommy+

As an ice hockey player, I cannot tell you how offended I was to see this picture……it seems like everyone wants to muscle in on our sport.  It looks almost like an ice rink from afar.  But this picture is actually from Phillipi, West Virginia and is the home field of Alderson-Broaddus College, and this picture in particular is of them playing the Lindenwood Lions, the NCAA Division II team my daughter plays for.  And yes, there she is in the middle.

But I couldn’t believe how much this looked like an ice rink from above (AND FAR AWAY).  The ABC field was “under construction” and there were NO SEATS and we were all forced to watch the game from the side of a muddy and snowy hill.  It was a mess, but the Lions got up 10 real quick to make it a running clock and the game then went far faster than it would have been.  (Although I am sure the other team felt like it went on forever!)

But it was great to see her and the team play.  Regular readers will know that being able to do this was one of the primary reasons I retired as a high school women’s lacrosse coach.  Steph has this year and next, and then maybe I will hop back into it again, but for now I am enjoying just being the dad!!  It is pretty cool, I do not have to yell at anyone!!  All the refs seem to like me again!

John Denver used to sing that it was almost heaven here, but I am sure he never stood in the middle of the mud and the snow just outside the scope of his vision.  I have, and I therefore believe that almost is a stretch.  But seeing Steph is what makes it worthwhile, and I can get that vision anywhere we see her.    And I am glad we did!

Goodnight my friends and God Bless!

Tommy+

Scotty is now out of combat training and in North Carolina where he will start his school sometime soon.  But because he is no longer out with a bunch of guys in the wilderness somewhere with a bunch of rifles and grenades, he now is able to call when he is off duty.

It really did surprise me, that my wife who does not encourage me to carry cash (as I don’t spend it, I tend to LOSE IT) would suggest to me that we get me an iPad.  We bought her one about a year ago, and she loves it, and the kids do too, but in all honesty, I never use it.

BUT, my wife is pretty insightful.  I have programs on my computer I use for work (it is a Macbook Pro) and they sync seamlessly with my phone (which is an iPhone).  The problem is that when I need to READ something off the phone like a file, it is way too small, meaning that I am “middle-aged” and cannot see.  My guide dog is worthless, as he is wet most of the time and sleeping, plus he cannot read! And in dog years he is considered to be in his mid-60’s if he hasn’t kept that theory at bay by all the “rest” he gets.

But anyway, Amanda got me an iPad, and it is a MINI one.  The big one was not too much smaller than my laptop, and to be honest when we talked about the possibility I made a cardboard cutout of the size of a Mini and carried it around for a few days……it seemed to work fine…..other than it was cardboard.

And I will confess, the real Mini works far better than that cardboard one, and for it I am thankful.  Will it be helpful?  Time will tell, but I think so….at least as I am getting used to adding it to the mix it seems pretty plausible, especially as the fonts of the programs I use are now what we used to call in the old days “readable.”

So now I have no excuses to keep up with life other than that whole age thing.  But in time I suppose Apple will find a solution for that as well.  I am just doing my best to keep up with the times.

Thanks Honey!

Goodnight my friends and God Bless!

Tommy+


And this was not sent from an iPad, cardboard or otherwise

Yes, this moron dog was so stubborn about taking a ride in the truck today that he made sure he got himself nice and stinky by standing out in the rain until I let him in the truck.  And for those of you who do not know, you can smell a wet dog from about 6 miles away, making locking yourself into the cab  of a truck with one not so pleasant.

But as for him, he loved it.  We take Ben to school each day and pick him up together too.   And if I am not heading to something that I cannot take him to, he rides along……a real truck riding celebrity.  He doesn’t live the life of a dog, nor does he think he is one………so that is why today I got my revenge for His Royal Wetness.

We live in a great town, the Town of Edgewood.  And on our way back from the post office, I stopped at the town hall and got his license for this year and then took it home and put it on his collar.  That’s right, my revenge was to tell him he was a DOG and to prove it to him as well.  It was hard to strike back in any other way as his world is so diluted.   NOTHING smells bad to a dog, so what else could I do?  Sure, perhaps I could take the cat for a ride instead of him, but I am certain that would be more punishment for me, let alone the cat.

But much to my chagrin, the license did not have ANY effect on him.  A wet dog, sensory overload, and tomorrow it will be different, but similar.  Such is my life…..priest, husband, father, and dog chauffeur.

Goodnight my friends and God Bless!

Tommy+

I actually took about 5 or 6 pictures of this, which is a nightly ritual at our house.  Ben and Amanda have a little “homework” section in our house in which they do “homework.”  Imagine that.  And when there is no homework they do workbooks, which I know is an important part of “skoolin,”but as a Tirman male, even the word “homework” causes an allergic reaction.

And yes, Ben’s hair is in a “moo-hawk,” as it is “Spirit Week” at Lapel Elementary School (Bulldogs get your paws up!) and his mom did that for him.  Of course I am certain he would far more want her to do his homework and just muss up his hair himself, but she is an academic slave driver (as most scientists are) and only does the hair thing as a hobby and a mom.  His sister is actually ultimately responsible.  The “Moo-Hawk”(capitalized because I think she has it trademarked) is something that Steph started with him a few years ago.  And I think that that may be why Amanda came downstairs in the kitchen where I was pouring a coffee to tell me she had given him one, because when I saw him I would probably start looking for Steph.

But the homework is done now, and the moo-hawk is fading.  The day is done and everyone is just a little bit smarter than they started the day.

And I am too, though I had no personal instruction today.  In my experience, any day I steered clear of the principal (who was never my “pal”) was a day that I learned something.  Today was one of those days….

Goodnight my friends and God Bless!

Tommy+

Yes, it has been a few days, and yes, both Amanda and I have been struggling to get back from whatever it has been that has zapped both our energy and heads.  I think in all honesty, I am doing better than she is, but as of late we sort of take turns being in the lead as to who feels the worst.  Today however, she wins.

And as for me, I went to Nashville, Indiana today to celebrate with the good people of St. Matthew’s (it’s in Nashville, Indiana, but if you were paying attention you already knew that).  And as I left this morning I got this crazy idea that I might take Viper with me.  1) He LOVES to ride in the truck; 2) the service in Nashville would not be too terribly long; and 3) he really has done a great job since Scotty has been gone….he deserved it in my mind.

So I told Amanda that he was going, and suddenly Viper, and the “Squirrel of Pain” were in the truck heading south, and everything was right in the world.  And when we arrived, I parked by a window, so Viper could see in.  He is a happy boy and I figured, once again, that he deserved it…..what I didn’t take into account was that people could see out.  SO SOON I was confronted with a congregation that insisted that Viper “attend” the service, and although voting is not an Anglican form of polity, that is still what they did, and he won the right to attendance only fielding one dissenting vote, mine, which I was told didn’t count.  (The evidence is in the fuzzy picture above)

Of course Viper is an AKC show dog by “profession,” so to him this was no big deal.  And although he listened to my sermon with the rest of the congregation, I do believe he was laughing at me and getting tons of attention.  He was far from the needy poor lonely dog I started the day helping out.

But soon we packed up and got back into the truck for the trip home.  He was invited back “anytime,” and yes I noticed I was not made the same offer, though I will just assume they would welcome back his driver.  And as we made our way through Columbus (also Indiana) I stopped at Subway for lunch, and wouldn’t you know it that some canine scored a Perry the Platypus lunch bag (pictured with the Squirrel of Pain) with his turkey sandwich kid’s meal (he is still under 10).

And if that were not bad enough, I decided I needed a coffee (for MYSELF) to give me a little boost to make it home.  And to my surprise, the young, attractive, red-headed girl at the Starbucks drive-thru was happy see………MY DOG, or at least my son’s dog!!  And she asked him (yes, the dog) if he wanted a “pup-cup”.

No, this was not any type of protective gear, nor was it a “real” dog treat.  That sly fox scored a Starbuck’s cup FULL of WHIPPED CREAM!  Now I do not drink girly drinks there, just a large coffee with skim milk, which they always correct me in Italian, since we live apparently in Italy……BUT, I am ALWAYS behind someone getting something with whipped cream and I have heard how much those drinks cost!!!  So I figured Viper scored again somewhere in the 8,000 to 10,000 dollar range in Starbuck’s whipped cream.  He is a PRO!

But now we are home, and all fed, and all ready for bed.  Viper is sleeping, as he does for about 23 hours every day (he is a Golden Retriever after all), and because he now sleeps in Ben’s room I will need to rouse him when I get up in the morning.  But tomorrow after Amanda goes to work and Ben goes to school I will work in my office, and Viper will lie at my feet.

But after today I am convinced we have it all wrong.  That dog is amazing, and I need to be at HIS FEET.  I can learn a lot from a dog like that!

Goodnight my friends and God Bless!

Tommy+

I wish I could tell you what this picture is about, but I am sworn to secrecy.  Sure, it is Ben in “spy” goggles, and he even has now received a “spy” watch, but that was all to be the topic of a post I would write YESTERDAY, but didn’t, or better yet, couldn’t.

Yes, I am “under the weather” or SICK as they say back at home.  And tonight I am posting just because I felt guilty for not doing it yesterday.

Ben however, is as happy as can be.  If he really does become a spy he will probably be killed immediately, because the first thing he does is say, “I’m a spy.”  Now I am not a spy, but I am pretty sure that saying or even talking about being a spy is not something in the CIA manual, the manual that really doesn’t even exist.

But I hope this explains my absence.  I am sick, Ben is a spy (but not really….he is just a diluted boy), and Austin is the capital of Texas.

And as for me, I have had enough.  I am tired, and I am going to bed.

Goodnight my friends and God Bless!

Tommy+