(This is just an old picture of my dad and I at a dinner together….I could not find a picture for tonight’s blog, but I thought both he and I would appreciate a picture that we looked a little younger in.  I think he is about 95 in the picture and I have to be about 27 and weight just 150 pounds…..I could be wrong though.)

But as for what want to say……all of the sudden there just seems as if there are not enough hours in the day to get done all the things I need to get done.  I am currently backed up more than the traffic in Chicago, and it is not due to any adverse conditions……I am just behind.

And for those of you expecting emails and calls, I intend to try and catch up on all of those TOMORROW.  Of course I will also head to the dentist…..a NEW one since we have moved and it will be different as I have been with my old dentist for close to 15 years. It just doesn’t make sense to drive 20 miles to and 20 miles home to get a check up.  Don’t get me wrong I LOVE my old dentist, it is just not good stewardship of my time or resources as my new dentist is within walking distance of my house.

But around all this intended good dental hygiene, I intend to be productive.  I really DO want to catch up. If I were just thinner, younger, more energetic, and there were three of me, I might just get it done.

Oh well, I will get up early and do the best I can.  I really do think I am going to have a stellar day tomorrow!!

Goodnight my friends and God Bless!

Tommy+

Wow I wish my memory were better.  There were three or four things I KNEW I wanted to write my blog about today and I thought I would trust my memory on all of them…..sadly, I am recalling ZERO.  I am not too upset about not remembering them, because I often do not write them down intentionally as a way to exercise my brain.  Of course today’s verdict is that my brain is “out of shape,” but I am trying nonetheless.

All this is too bad too, as Ben shared something with me this morning that was hilarious, but that was ll that I can remember.  Of course I could ask Ben, but asking a 4 year old to remember something, even from a minute earlier, is like finding a needle in a haystack.  And this of course brings up yet another thing to ponder, WHY would anyone be sewing near a haystack, and why would you be searching for a needle if you lost one there?  GET ANOTHER NEEDLE!

But anyway, I will probably remember what I forgot just after I post this, but who cares?  My day way funny at the time, and it made me laugh.  There will be plenty of additional opportunities for me to remember again…..in the future!

Goodnight my friends and God Bless!

Tommy+

I suppose in German we might call it fledermåusegarten, or “garden of bats,” although as far as I could see there was just the one…..the little deranged one wearing a cape and rain boots.  

That’s right, tonight Amanda finally got her garden in, and she was protected by the Dark Knight himself. I suppose you cannot as for more than that, and I cannot argue with her as the garden went in pretty smoothly.  We already have a fake owl with a spinning head that seems creepy enough to scare off intruders.  But it is far more responsible to have the Caped Crusader guarding you lest the fake owl fails in his duty.

In all honesty. I really do not care about how he protected things, I am just glad her garden is in.  She LOVES to do this and every day we will get reports on what she sees.  Soon we will be reaping its benefits as well.  She does a great job of it and it really brightens her spirit.  It is a blessing to us all.

But for now, I am going to say goodnight to Batman and remind him that school starts bright and early.  He will fight no crime there, but he will learn the skills he will need to protect our gardens for many years to come.

Goodnight my friends and God Bless!

Tommy+

I am without a car for two days and I have to confess that it is pretty weird.  This morning I had to ask my daughter for a ride, which she was happy to provide, but did mention about 756 times how “tired she was.”  I tend to forget that college students are nocturnal, and perhaps the need to drop my car off so early was a bit too much for such a creature.

Scott of course is not nearly as nocturnal, as he works everyday beginning as early as 5:30 am most days. But he too comes with his own quirks.  He is heading off to the Marines this year, no later now that December 10, and trains incessantly for his time in boot camp.  He runs, he lifts, and he diets.  He is never without a USMC shirt of some kind, and wears them proudly.  But apparently what is too much for THIS creature is developing the ability to pick up the towels he uses in the bathroom that he and Ben share.  I am pretty sure it is too soft for him.  I have heard the USMC uses sandpaper rather than soft bath towels….after all it is the Marines.

And there then is the wunderkind, Ben.  I read yesterday that the average 4 year old asks about 437 questions a day, and all that I can say about that is that I am happy he will be turning 5 in June.  He well exceeds that!  He is convinced that the world is his, and he expects all of us to believe it too.  He just has no concepts of seniority or height and weight advantage.  And his habit of never finishing his dinner always bothered me until I realized he was using it as a way to save food and bribe the dog onto his side.  He is a 4 year old genius.

All of them however live with me, and it is a total blessing for sure.  I love them all and I know they love me….and I just hope they love me enough to give me a ride for one more day.  I will not be getting my car back until late tomorrow afternoon!

Goodnight my friends and God Bless!

Tommy+

We spent a good part of the day working on moving all the dirt and mulch we had delivered into the right spots.  We didn’t do this last year, so we had no idea of how much we needed, but our former home used about 5 yards of mulch so we ordered 8……it was nowhere near enough.

But Ben spent much of the day in a kiddie pool shooting all of us (and all the cars, as well as the dog) with a water gun as we went by him to get loads of mulch to put in the yard.  And although I could do that all day, apparently he tired of it and wanted to change into dry clothes.  Scott was the closest, and volunteered to help him.

Ben however, now that he had claimed stake to the “Ruler” of the yard, gave Scott a hard time about what he wanted to wear.  So….Scott told him to pick it out himself, which as you can see from this lovely picture that Steph took, Ben did.  The lack of a fashion gene is apparent in him, and we will save this photo for a slide show at his wedding rehearsal dinner someday (as long as we have his bride to be sign an agreement that she will not leave if she sees this).

But really, this is one of the reasons I became a priest.  I open my closet and have black shoes, black socks, black pants and black shirts, which I rarely screw up.  And I have gotten so good at it now that Amanda will sometimes actually leave before I do because she trusts (although not fully) that I can get that right.

But for now, we clearly cannot trust Ben in this.  Even two weeks ago when he was to dress as a famous person for school he went as Ironman.

He’s apparently pretty confident, albeit delusional.

Goodnight my friends and God Bless!

Tommy+

Yes, Ben got the movie “Puss in Boots” tonight and I didn’t even know about it as I was working.  It peeved me in a way, as I want to watch it and watch it with him.  Tonight’s picture is of him watching it by himself in his bed.

And this is a big thing, as I am not really a movie buff by any means.  In fact, I hardly watch any movies at all unless I am dragged to them.  Sadly, this is a problem of mine that is pretty obvious to me.  And this is because when I SEE movies, I generally enjoy them.  I saw “Moneyball” two weeks ago with a clergy group, and I saw “The Avengers” with my family on Mother’s Day.  I thought they were both good.  But somehow I just choose to not take the time to go see them.

I did see that “The Three Stooges” was playing when we went to see “The Avengers” and I am a BIG FAN.  So we will see…..

But for tonight I will just have to resign myself to the fact that I will be seeing neither.

Of course there is always tomorrow……

Goodnight my friends and God Bless!

Tommy+

All I can say is that I am thankful that congress did not outlaw children working on family farms, because if they did, who would have moved the 4 yards of dirt we had delivered this afternoon?  Amanda is planting her garden tomorrow and wanted the extra top soil, and we have quite a few places in our yard that need it as well.  We also had 8 yards of mulch delivered too.  Ben is going to be a busy boy.

Actually, he just mostly got in the way.  First he tried to climb the dirt pile in his school clothes and new shoes, which is just like touching that “red button” in all the old science fiction movies…..not good.  But after a quick change and promises of good behavior, I allowed him to go up and have at it.  He even brought out a pail, a small shovel, and a front end loader (a toy).  He had a blast.

Of course tomorrow is the big work day on all of it, as well as Sunday.  Steph and Amanda will be workers tomorrow, while Scott is not available until Sunday.  But Scott is going to ask a couple of his buddies who are going into the Corps too if they want to join him.  It is a pretty strenuous workout.

But anyway, after an afternoon and evening of shoveling and hauling dirt, as well as tilling an 18’x27′ garden, I am pretty well done.  I will be with Father Robert in the morning at a class we are offering and that seems to be feeling earlier than it probably is.  Advil, take me away!!

Goodnight my friends and God Bless!

Tommy+

For the least few days Viper and I have been able to get a pretty vigorous walk together.  We have been doing this at Mound State Park, which is just a few miles from our home.  Viper likes it because it is a walk. I like it because it is exercise.  And both of us benefit from the time spent together, albeit for different reasons.

You see Viper, like most dogs, likes the attention.  He is a retired show dog (we showed him in AKC until he was almost 5) and he is a good-looking and friendly dog.  People see him on the trail and want to talk to him, and they do.  He gets some pats, he takes his compliments, and we are on our way.  We do stop at a few streams for him to drink, and he really could not be happier.

I, on the other hand, get complimented by no one.  We are hiking on the trails up and down the hills at a good pace and I am probably a bit more sweaty than attractive.  Plus I suppose it is kind of creepy to have someone say that I am a “handsome boy” when we are just out walking.  In all honesty, I suppose I am glad they don’t.  But I do it to burn calories and kick up my metabolism.  So it is a win-win for both Viper and me.

And since it is a fairly quick walk (under an hour) we can probably do it most days.  Tomorrow is already scheduled……the poor boy is going to get a big head with all that attention.

(And the picture is from the CAR on the way there, as we tried to take a picture together at the park but when I put my arm around him and tried to put the camera up in front of our faces I think he thought I was head locking him to give him medicine…. oh well, this one will have to do!)

Goodnight my friends and God Bless!

Tommy+

Okay, I am back, although it will probably be with a vengeance……as I was struggling all day with personal issues when I read a story about a church softball league in Missouri where teams pulled out because one of the pastors was bisexual.  I immediately decided to get myself together.

No, I have NO objection to the stance made by the other teams, but I am wondering why in the name of God that any one’s sexuality needs to be shared from the pulpit.  If the truth be known, I am a CONSERVATIVE, and by that I mean even right of Republican, but I cannot share that from the pulpit…..because if I do my church will risk losing its tax-exempt status.  Apparently however I can share all I want about my sexuality, as if it is more important that faith in Christ.

No offense intended, but all this has made me more than sick.  I retired from my ministry in the Episcopal Church in 2006 rather than going to battle with them, and transferred into another Anglican jurisdiction.  Ironically, they filed charges against me and tried me (although they had no right nor authority) finding me guilty of abandonment of communion.  They send me stuff addressed to “Mr.” now.  Oddly enough, to them it is about sexuality.

Here’s a bit of truth for them and this moron of a pastor in Missouri.  God cares what you do in private, but keep it in private.  That is between you and Him, and all I can do is give you my opinion.  But if you bring your sexuality into a church softball league you probably have more insecurities than you should to be a pastor.  Get out and get some help.

In all honesty, church is about faith in Christ, not about working out your problems.  I want to see people led to Him, not sent off on a personal tangent all because you have not got your ducks in order before entering the ministry.

This world is a mess…..let’s all pray for some sanity and for moving it in the right direction.

Goodnight my friends and God Bless.

Tommy+