So many things are happening that are good that I decided to post this awesome picture of Father PT eating the “bacon sundae” I bought him (as a joke).  He is a big fan of bacon and there was no way I was not getting him this after seeing it on the menu!

So two big things happened to day.  One, Viper passed all his tests at the vet.  He is on antibiotics now for what they think may be going on, but the believe that this will clear him up.  He had x-rays, blood work, and an exam.  But no masses or anything dangerous.  The second thing was that we saw A LOT of rain (at least in Muncie) where we were today.  It was to the extent that we though we probably should be building an ARK….yes, it was that bad.  And at lunch at the Pizza Hut, as the ceiling was leaking everywhere, we saw on the news that in terms of Indiana, it was the worst in the STATE!!  Go figure, but it was RAIN!

So enjoy your bacon sundae my dear friend.  I am glad you enjoyed it.  And I will also enjoy a future blog I have yet to write about the successful visit to cardiologist for you….for as I understand, most cardiologists have big money invested in the bacon industry!

Goodnight my friends and God Bless!

Tommy+

We are a few days into an intense renovation.  We have acquired a facility for our newest church plant and we hope to have it ready to show by early next week.

The name of the Church is St. George Anglican Church and there will be a Chapter of St. Raphael’s Campus Ministry (for BALL STATE) there as well.  St. George’s is just about a half mile off campus!

We will work hard to reach the people of Muncie, and the mission of this particular church, in addition to making and deepening disciples, will be to support the Campus Ministry as well.

I have been taking pictures and I do intend to post them, but I would like to wait until I can show the whole transformation.  We should have most of the facility done tomorrow, but the furniture may be closer to the weekend.  I appreciate your patience about the pictures, but I ask for your prayers as we plant.  First of all, we are not young guys doing this renovation.  But most of all pray for the success of this endeavor in faith.  And if you would like to be a part beyond praying for us, please know there is a donation option for the work of our Order on our website at The Order of St. Michael Donation Site (Paypal)  Please use the donation for the ORDER option.

Thanks for your support!

Goodnight my friends and God Bless!

Tommy+

Yes, this is a picture of our garden.  It is now mowed under, but before it left us it did yield 3 jalapeno peppers, one green pepper and approximately 60 million cicada killers (please see my prior posts for information concerning these lovely “hornet-looking, aircraft-sized flying insects)!  Sadly the drought proved too much, or in this case too little (in terms of water), and we are now looking ahead to next year.

What disappoints me most about all this however, is the fact that gardening really gives my wife a lot of joy.  She enjoys every stage…the planning, the planting, the care taking and the harvest.  And one of her favorite parts is the tilling that she has me do….which of course this year I had Steph join me in as I love to share all that joy!

So now I have my “burn area” back, and I was not expecting it until later in the year.  Of course it means nothing with a burn ban on, but at least I can pile branches and stuff there just in case the ban is ever lifted.  I am just saddened for Amanda though.  It is a hobby that gives her joy, and one that she is quite good at.  I am just thankful she has a trophy-husband like myself to keep her mind off all that desolation.

I am sure that helps a lot!

Goodnight my friends and God Bless!

Tommy+

WOW….my prayers have been answered.  At 51 I cannot see small print and I FAKE seeing far away. If I go to a restaurant without glasses I am hosed, and reading messages on my phone is a real challenge for sure.

This is why I am in CONSTANT CONFLICT with Ben.  He STEALS my glasses ALL THE TIME and feigns blindness so he can wear them.  Of course it totally honks me off, not just because it is not good for his eyes, but because I NEED THEM TO SEE!  Okay I know I hardly EVER wear them, but sooner or later my cheating will not get me by.  BUT I need Ben to quit stealing my glasses to give me more time.

So he and I had a talk tonight.  I had actually purchased him a pair of clear glass glasses about a year ago.  They were kid-sized and SAFE….plus they were HIS and not MINE.  He lost them within days (a $10 loss).  But I reminded him of this tonight.  I told him that from this point on he would no longer be wearing my glasses (or stealing them).  He agreed but asked me to go with him to the basement to find his lost pair (it was the last place he had them MONTHS AGO).

So to humor him I went……..AND we found them.  They were actually sitting in plain sight on a chair. And this is a MIRACLE as he says he can now see better than ever, and we KNOW I CAN as I have MY glasses back!

But the life lesson here is that if you do not want your things messed with then do not have kids!!!  But as for me, I think I will keep mine.  Sure they mess with my stuff, but what is life without the adventure?

And of course, I have plenty!

Goodnight my friends and God Bless!

Tommy+

I was able to spend some time with my dad today as I was in Indianapolis for a hospital call.  He lives not too far from there and I needed to return something of his, so I gave him a call.  He was home and we had a nice visit.

It is quite a contrast to priors years, not in the sense of it being a nice visit because they ALWAYS are, but in the fact that I can almost always find him available now.  Just a year or two ago he was constantly busy with something and those things often revolved around my brother and sister and their school stuff.  But with Mike going to law school in a month and Anna heading into her junior year at Butler he is often much more available.

And I am probably good for him too.  I am pretty much maintenance free and just like to shoot the breeze with him and he with me.  I am his oldest and I get good advice because my retirement is in sight, and he is already there.  It is always a good time.

This life is stressful enough and quite often a mess.  But I have a lot to be thankful for.  This picture of my dad is probably from 2004 or so (maybe even earlier) when we were all at the 500 Festival Parade.  It is a great picture of my dad and of Steph.  BUT I cut Scott out of it as the small piece of AFRO that you see next to Steph’s head leads to a hideous picture of Scott and BAD HAIR.  And considering he soon will be a US Marine, I thought I would not take my chances.  But my point is connecting with my family keeps me sane….even if it is my dad!!

So I will chalk this up to a good day.  I am at home, tired, and ready for bed.  Tomorrow the rat race continues…….but at least today I got a few glimpses of sanity!

Goodnight my friends and God Bless!

Tommy+

Hey….it has been raining these last few days, and I am not wondering what to do with all the tumbleweeds I invested in and the wild west ghost town makeover I gave my house.  The irony is not lost on me that at the beginning of the week Amanda actually gave up on her garden for the year.  The cost of watering it was just too high, and all the equipment was pulled out of it.  It was already dying but giving up made it worse.  The rain was just a taste of what it should have had all along.  Sadly we will have to wait until next year.

Plus we have been dealing with what are known as “cicada killers,” and not just a few but a convention of them.  They had to be sprayed, TWICE SO FAR, and that included the garden, so that was done then for sure.  I will say that these bugs (actually small bird-sized bugs) are annoying…BUT I also have no cicadas and apparently probably won’t until next year when THEY take over my yard.  I bet however they will be easier to deal with.  After all, these cicada killers kept complaining about my ghost town motif.

Goodnight my friends and God Bless!

Tommy+

Yep, this is in my office and this is what I often deal with.  You might THINK that this is Ben, but I am pretty sure it is actually “Hawk-a-guy” or “Hawkeye.”  I am not sure which, but I am hard of hearing and quite honestly, they really are the same guy.

But as I was looking at this I decided to say “Kudos to me,” as despite these kinds of constant visits by superheroes in my office, I still get a ton of stuff done.  PLUS, I love superheroes.  I really am honored to have so many good guys hanging out with me.  Of course right now I am finding it pretty awesome and wonderful, but if he is still doing this when he is 25 then I will get him some therapy.

But I thought you would enjoy the picture….I know I do.  I am not as familiar with Hawkeye as I am most of the others, but it is always a great conversation nonetheless.

Goodnight my friends and God Bless!

Tommy+ 

There was a reason why he was hiding……he is sick.  Viper made a trip to the vet today where he is well-known and treated as a “celebrity” (his words, not mine.)  But he got a shot, some pills, some temporary food, and A LOT of attention.  The picture is him on one of his usual poses there.  He is a dog who LOVES his vet, and unlike many animals, he is happy to go see her!

It was pretty funny too, as he had to have the shot she said it would burn.  He didn’t even feel it!  He just loves it there and wags his tail.  He however is home now, and is less peppy than he was on his visit, but she said it would be tomorrow before he should show the progress.  He is a patient boy though and will wait.  And I am sure when Scotty gets home we will see a bit of energy.

But I am thankful to get him in.  He is an amazing dog, and we hate to see him not feeling well.  Hopefully tomorrow will be a better day for him, and for us all.

Goodnight my friends and God Bless!


Tommy+

Yep Viper, our 75 pound golden retriever is hiding here in my office behind my desk chair.  Apparently he is afraid of Puddy, our 9 year old 5 pound cat, who is apparently mad at him for some reason and had penned him in here.  I do not blame him.  The cat can be a total psycho sometimes, and tonight she is really on her game.  But if he were any other breed she would be the one hiding.  Goldens are pretty wonderful dogs.

He however has had a couple of bad days.  I do not think he feels well and he has just not been himself.   I am more than willing to run interference for him (protect him) as I am clearly not afraid of the cat.  You see, although Ben SAYS he feeds her, I actually do about 99.9% of the time.  And if she messes with me I have a way to get her attention.  My concern at this point is for him.  I have plenty of grouchy mammals available here (none of them are my wife….mostly kids who get tired of me asking them to be mammals that are NOT pigs) so she can get in line.  Viper however, needs sympathy.

So back to defending the (obviously oblivious to reality) helpless I go.  I need to be useful at something at least while everyone is not at home.  This gives me a bit of meaning and purpose which I find rewarding…..rewarding that is until Scotty comes home and Viper abandons me.

I’ve got to reassess his loyalty.

Goodnight my friends and God Bless!

Tommy+

It really was a great end to a long day.  Amanda suggested that we go to dinner, and although we all were tired ALL FIVE of us were able to go eat together.  Scotty’s girlfriend Molly was not with us, but all three kids and Amanda and I made it a special time.

And of course as much as I enjoyed it, I could hear the clock ticking.  Steph has about a month left here and Scotty, although scheduled to leave for boot camp on December 10th, could go at any time.  In addition to this, I know that times like this are just a blessing as there are no guarantees that they will all be together like this again very often if it doesn’t happen like this occasionally over the next month.  2012 may be it for this, but in all honesty I have been preparing for it for years.

So tonight was nice, real nice.  Steph was the real trooper tonight as she had been with her friends in Bloomington all weekend and I imagine she did not sleep too much.  She was very tired and not hungry, yet she got up to go with us.

I will always appreciate these times.  I am certain they will not have the meaning that they have to me for them for quite a few more years.  But when I am long gone, I hope that they remember them fondly, and more than that, I hope they get the same joy that I have by spending time with their families.  And maybe then, they can share a story about their goofy old dad.  Good times!

Goodnight my friends and God Bless!

Tommy+