I have been working hard all day, but in my personal time I was able to plant 4 fruit trees in our back yard for my wife.  One was an apple, another pear, another plum and the last one peach.  They will produce an awesome amount of fruit over the years, but they will also attack bees to which I am allergic.  So I probably just contributed to my demise.

BUT, I did ask Ben tonight if he was hunger for some fruit.  He said YES and we went out to look at the trees until he caught on.  I cannot say that he was amused, but what does that matter when I am???  He will enjoy the “fruits” of my hard labor in years to come, and we all agreed that we wish we would have done it last year.

I have one more tree to plant tomorrow to replace a crab apple tree that our Arborist (a tree guy) said had disease.  We have a big October Glory Maple to replace it, and that will happen tomorrow….along with my working on our bridge.

I have a lot going on with work, and a lot going on at home.  I leave for a 5 day trip to Alabama and Illinois next Wednesday.  I would like to know that the house projects, by that time, are done.  After all, who wants to worry about that stuff at the ripe old age of 51…..which is what I will hit next Tuesday.

Goodnight my friends and God Bless!

Tommy+

He is not kidding anyone, particularly me.  Scotty and his girlfriend Molly went to Brown County this afternoon to celebrate his 19th birthday, which will take place on Saturday.  But he sent this picture to Amanda to share with me, as my phone will not receive texted pictures, and it was a clear salvo fired across my bow.  The picture is of the breaded tenderloin at the “Holy Cow” in Brown County and is one of my favorites.  And the picture was meant to make me jealous, not to share the joy!

I have three kids, all of whom I have more embarrassing dirt on than any many should have the privilege to have.  Of course the amount I have on both Steph and Scott is far greater than Ben, but what I want to share is that Ben is quickly catching up.  And at the rate he is going, he may surpass his other two sibling morons by the time he is 10, if not sooner.

I will confess that I am saving A LOT of material for rehearsal dinners, as I figure it is well past the point that people will back out of all the planning, even after such disturbing material.  But I will also confess that all three continue to provide me with ammo (I mean material).  In all honesty, there are many DOOZIES that still crack me up, and in my mind will prove as to whether their new potential spouses really love them or not.

A case in point is the picture for tonight.  Ben wears ties because his brother wears them for work.  But Ben always wears them inappropriately, and Scott does not.  (PLUS Ben poses).  You might think that this picture is a set up, but NO….this was of Ben getting ready to GO SOMEWHERE…….and that somewhere was THE POOL with his sister.  How this could ever be interpreted as normal?

You cannot change or escape DNA.  No one will be surprised to hear me say it is mine!  So pray for my kids!  It is not their fault!  Genetics can be a blessing or a curse!!

Goodnight my friends and God Bless!

Tommy+

In over 1420 consecutive posts in my blog I have never deleted one, that is until this morning.  My blog of June 9, 2012, which I considered funny, was something of which my wife did not agree.  She was the indirect subject of the blog, and I even joked about it on Facebook with a few of her friends about it as well.  I intended nothing to insult or to wound her, yet I did both and for that I am sorry.

I am re-posting the picture, as it was a great one, but not the blog post.  I am sorry to my wife Amanda and I will be posting this on Facebook as well.

Goodnight my friends and God Bless.

Tom

I really do wish the last 24 hours were different, but they have been one of those rare times when my life was riddled with insomnia, and it has been brutal.

Of course insomnia is brutal at almost anytime and in anyone’s life, but when you are a priest, to get insomnia on a Saturday night is the worst.  You will try anything to get to sleep, and thinking about it just makes things worse.  And for me, this was compounded by the fact that I no longer write out my sermons, so with all that “awake time,” which with insomnia can be not all that rational, I started to think and rethink what I was going to say.  And I have to confess that as I stood up to deliver my sermon at St. Patrick’s this morning (the first one I did) I was still pretty garbled in my mind in the two foot walk from my seat to the podium.  I am just thankful to God that it all worked out, even at the second place, St. Anne’s.

I did get home around 3 to take a nap.  As it was not my first rodeo with insomnia, I did make sure I got up and didn’t try to sleep through to the next morning BUT I WANTED TO!  The good news is that it is now just slightly after 11 and I am tired again.  I do not deliver ANY sermons tomorrow, so I hope to be in good shape.

It was something to watch I am sure, and I hope and pray that it never happens to me again…….a guy can dream can’t he?  And as for me, that’s what I am heading to do right now!

Goodnight my friends and God Bless!

Tommy+

I spent a good portion of the day with Scotty waiting for a tow truck, as his car would not start and needed to get to the shop.  AAA is great if they can get there quickly, but today it took them close to 2 hours to arrive.  But the car has been towed, and the verdict is a new alternator for it, probably sometime on Monday.

BUT what it does is put me behind, and I hate that.  I had my entire day scheduled and finding a place to put an entire morning, as the drive there and back cost us time too, has been difficult.  And of course he needed my car then to do his stuff, which was not a problem today, but will be over the next three days.  I really hate that too.

I suppose however that things will all work out in the end.  They always do, and I will just go with the flow.  No one wants things to break down, but at least it’s not someone’s body!!

I am just disappointed that he is not yet through boot camp…..because as a Marine he will not NEED a car.  He can just run everywhere he wants to go!

Goodnight my friends and God Bless!

Tommy+

At times I really do not know what is worse, to be the parent of a son who is heading into the Marines and is working to push up his ship date, or the parent of a daughter who is a high level college athlete.  Both make you feel pathetic about the shape you are in, BUT we have “hired” Steph to train us over the summer, so I am squarely coming down on the decision that she is worse.

In fact, she really lit into Amanda tonight about her commitment level when Amanda came home from a full day of work and did not want to go running.  And I laughed, because that was a BIG mistake on Amanda’s part.  They have been out running for over an hour.  Steph is a zealot and it serves Amanda right for assuming she would be an easy mark.  She isn’t.  And although I do not hear the ambulance in our neighborhood, I am sure she is feeling like calling it.

For 8 years I was the priest of a woman named Betty Schembechler, who was the mother of the University of Michigan football coaching legend Bo Schembechler.  Bo was a coach with an incredibly tough reputation yet was a pussycat compared to his mom who was the head of my Altar Guild.  I loved her and she loved me.  But I mention this because I believe that Steph is harder than both of them.

God bless Amanda for thinking she could do this…….but I in no way want Steph beating on me.  She is paying back Amanda now….and I will be quite content letting my bride take the brunt for both of us!

Yes, I am writing this in my comfortable office chair with a vodka tonic in front of me and they are still out running.  Life is good!

Goodnight my friends and God Bless!

Tommy+

Yes, Ben thinks it is his right to decide just where it is he can sleep, and we are doing our best to convince him otherwise.  Every night he is put to bed, and every night he protests.  He usually settles for someone sleeping in the other twin bed next to him, and he creates monsters, bad guys, and all sorts of excuses to get out of there.  Yet every night he sooner or later falls asleep only to share how very brave he was the night before for sleeping in his own bed.  If he were just a little more delusional he would rival my high school sports career!

But the picture is of what he looks like after he coasts out……yep, he is clearly suffering.  I believe he sleeps like this to mock me, as I am never that comfortable and he has stolen his mom right from me.  His life is really cushy enough and how he became my adversary in all this was clearly unexpected.

Yet the battle rages on…….I fight to get my wife back and he fights to get her to sleep in that spare bed in his room.  Yes, he is younger, and has tons more energy.  But I have the brains and experience (I think).  I intend to see this to its conclusion.  I just hope it all concludes though before he turns 5 in 24 more days!

Goodnight my friends and God Bless!

Tommy+

I had a doctor’s appointment today with my primary doctor and although it was somewhat frustrating for the both of us, it did bring to closure a big issue that I have been struggling with for me.

You see, when I had my stroke in 2008 I was over 60 pounds lighter.  Sure, my medicines cause weight gain, and sure I cannot go off them, but even with that it seems I struggle to get things off much more than I should.  My meds change my metabolism, but it just should not be that had.

And we have tested a lot….thyroid, blood pressure, cholesterol…everything in fact is great.  I am very active too… it has puzzled us both.

But in our conversation he laid it out.  Even my vision changed and my face started changing to where my eye lid has a blond mark and about a third of my face went to almost “clear” hair shortly after the stroke.  My neurologists said it was unrelated.  My doctor today said, oh yes it was…..after all, how could it not be?

He also said that he has seen it only a couple of times, but he is convinced that I am one of them, but there are stroke patients whose area of the brain that deals with metabolism gets damaged and this happens…or for a better description doesn’t.

So why is this a good day?  Well because it puts it to rest.  I knew things were just not right, but I still believe this is doable.  So I have a damaged brain, so what?  I also have a great heart, good levels, great blood pressure and a lot of strength and determination.

Today’s picture is pre-stroke……I will get back there I swear…..all but the moustache, as you would not see at least half of it now…..I have a lot of ability….just not the ability to do that!

Goodnight my friends and God Bless!

Tommy+

Today was Ben’s first day under the tutelage of his sister, which will last till the end of the summer.  She, Amanda, and I have set a course of development for him that will hopefully get him up to speed for kindergarten in just a few months.

And quite honestly, he needs it.  He is plenty smart, but his motor skills are quite a bit behind.  And as the son of an athlete, and a kid who’s sister is a top notch college scholarship athlete and who’s brother is heading to the Marines, the poor boy is in trouble!  But I will say that after even just a day he has shown marked improvement.  Both Steph and Scott, who were very athletic, are highly motivated to see him come along……and when we labeled it as “superhero training” he suddenly was up to the task.

Now I do not remember Steph having problems too much in this same area, but I do remember Scott.  He wanted to play baseball yet could not swing a bat for the life of him.  It was downright embarrassing….VERY embarrassing in fact.  But I remember watching him as he put a ball up on the tee again.  What a moron, he put the ball up on the tee and stood on the WRONG side, and then BAM……he hit the ball not just toward our house, but OVER it.  He bats left-handed.

He continued on as a catcher and became a great baseball player….leaving it all to play ice hockey like me, yet even he would tell you it was nothing like me at all….he totally sucked!!  But I learned a valuable lesson in all of it….your kids are not you, and it is best if you let them be THEM.  Scotty gave up ice hockey and became a lacrosse player, a goalie, and one of the best in the state.

Steph excelled too.  She was a perennial all-state player in lacrosse and is on a college scholarship for it in Missouri.  She qualifies for an academic one as well, but you cannot do both.  She goes to college for close to free and majors in Chemistry.  She was a goober at the start like Ben as well.

So I am not at all worried about the youngest.  Boot Camp has begun and he will be far different by summer’s end.  But his Drill Instructors have good hearts.  Time will tell what he becomes…..we just know he will not be the same as he entered our program!!

Goodnight my friends and God Bless!

Tommy+