Oh December 5, 2011…….the day my daughter Stephanie leaves her life as a teenager (she is 20 today!) and also the day my sister-in-law Rhonda hits the big 25 (again).  They are both holding children (Steph holding her brother and Rhonda holding her daughter in a family picture from a few years ago)

And I do miss them both.  Steph will be home later in the week (as will I), and we will celebrate her birthday then.  But Rhonda moved first to Arizona and then to Utah, and I have not seen her in quite some time……and don’t know when I will.

But tonight I thank God for them both.  I could not have asked for a better daughter, and Rhonda is the very best!  Happy Birthday to them both!  I just wish we were all here celebrating together!

Goodnight my friends and God Bless!

Tommy+

On my way up to Michigan on Friday I ran across a Cabelas and went in to look around.  I had plenty of time with nothing to do other than to check in at my hotel, and it was a great break in the drive.

I took a lot of pictures too.  I am no hunter, but I am fascinated by all the animals that they have there.  Sure, they are stuffed, but what I like is that you are able to look at them closely.  In a zoo they are always either moving around our not still enough to see.  And it was a very interesting time to look at them all.

And about half way through was when I saw him, he was a large Canada moose, and it made me laugh.  After all, my grandma (my dad’s mom) was Canadian, and I am always on a diet……so there I was, a Canada moose!  It was pretty funny to me, and a JOKE, so I snapped this picture.

I had bee a rock star on my diet the entire trip too, and even on Saturday at the ordination/installation I attended, I was very good.  I only looked at the cake.  But as pictures began to appear on Facebook of the ordination, I realized that it really wasn’t a joke.  Holy Smokes, I really am a Canada Moose!  But I am working on it!

When I was a kid, I was always a skinny short little guy.  I was a hockey player and a scrapper, but I always had the desire to be big.  In college I went at it full bore……and succeeded.  I wanted to be “big” and although I was still 5’8″, I was a total monster.  I loved it as long as I was under control, but now it is not.  Moose is a great nickname, but it is not a great, or even good, description.  I intend to keep at it and win.  Keep me in your prayers.

On a side note, today is my mom’s birthday, and had she lived until today she would have been………..very old.  (She would love that joke!)  Actually, when I took over her care some years ago she actually lied to me about her age.  So I asked my grandma before confronting her.  She had a great sense of humor which you only saw bits and pieces of through the Alzheimer’s, but they were blessings.  (DON’T READ THIS:  Happy 65th mom, even though grandma told me you were really born in 1939!)

So tonight’s blog is now done.  I think I will go eat some grass and look for a lake in which I can take a swim.  The life of this moose is never done!

Goodnight my friends and God Bless!

Tommy+

I believe I bought a book called “Father Joe” a couple of years ago with the best intentions of reading it, but I didn’t……fortunately for me however I now know the REAL Father Joe, and the picture proves it.   My friend Joe Mlaker was ordained a priest tonight by Bishop Doc Loomis somewhere near the North Pole (Lansing, Michigan……home of the Spartans) and it was a great time indeed.

This parish had been served by another good friend of mine, Jack Lumanog, who had recently moved to Pittsburgh (home of Big Ben – I do not think it is the clock).  Jack became the assistant to the Archbishop, and that meant that Joe could move to Lansing!  (Motto…..no cheese here).  Of course that is the problem.  Joe is from Wisconsin, and tonight in particular, Michiganers HATE people from Wisconsin.  But apparently the air was infused with ether, because they not only ordained Joe a priest, but they made him their Pastor.

But here’s the thing…..I KNOW JOE, and it was a GREAT CHOICE.  But sadly, if Wisconsin beats MSU for the Big Ten Championship tonight (in Indiana of all places) Joe will probably be fired.  But then I will pick him up and take him to Indiana, because as a Notre Dame fan I am not threatened by anything….(because we lose to everyone).

But here’s to you my friend Joe. You are a man of incredible faith and determination and I am blessed to be your friend.  Congratulations.  You were a great deacon and will make a fine priest!  I enjoyed visiting your parish!  It was a blessing to me, and you will be a blessing to them.

AND……if you live within 300, okay 500 miles of this parish, get up there and worship with Joe.  He is a great guy and he has a great deacon (Steve…..whose wife is a friend of my wife’s).  You will not be sorry!  It is a parish that is going somewhere all of us would like to go!

Goodnight my friends and God Bless!

Tommy+  

Although my TomTom sent me all over the place, and even into some questionable areas, I finally made it to the ice rink with just about 50 minutes to go.  Their Pro Shop was closed, so I was not able to get my skates sharpened, but I felt they were good enough to give it a go.  Since I skate better than I walk I figured I ought to be safe.

So onto the ice I went with about 40 minutes to skate, and it was truly paradise!  I never stopped and skated till the very end.  I was a little stiff and rusty, but considering I was the old guy out there it didn’t really matter.

As I skated by the glass I caught my reflection.  And in my mind I went back to a practice in 1979 when I was a Senior in high school.  It was rare, but we were practicing that night by playing some team from the old man’s league (anyone out of high school or older) and at the start of the game I was getting ready to face off when this guy came up do it with me……I still think he looked like a very old Drew Carey.  He even had tape on the bridge of his glasses.  And what I remember “second most” was how I laughed inside and thought “Buddy, I am going to make you miserable all night.”  But what I remember most was how after that puck dropped he took it and I could never get it back.  I followed him hopelessly all night, and had the most significant injury of my entire sports career……my pride.

Yep, he schooled me, and in that reflection tonight I saw a bit of him there.  I learned a lot that night, not just about hockey, but about myself and life.  It was a good memory to have as I glided about the rink.  And I have decided that it’s now, with me at 50, that I would love to have a rematch of that night.

After all, that guy has got to be about 80 now……….I might just have a chance.

Goodnight my friends and God Bless!

Tommy+

I remember typing this blog from a hotel in Akron, Ohio at the beginning of November where I spoke of how happy I was that it was my LAST out of town trip for the year.  I was looking forward to just staying at home.  But as they say “the best laid plans of mice and men generally get screwed up.”  Or something like that.  I was to host the meeting I will be leaving for tomorrow, because we moved it to Michigan.  And of course being a northerner myself, I know that there is generally no better time to visit Michigan than in the winter.  (Their motto:  “Snow 360 days a year!  Enjoy our beaches!”)

Of course I am not too broken up about it as I will be taking my skates and will probably get quite a bit of time on the ice while I am there.  I miss skating, and really miss hockey more, but for now I will just reunite my skates with some ice.  THAT will be one of the highlights of my year!  The picture tonight is of the LAST TIME I skated when I took Ben skating for the first time last year!  SHAME SHAME SHAME!

And I will also TRY, with my whole heart, to not think about skating while in my important meetings.  Obviously I hardly think of it at all now, so my best guess is that it will be easy.

But tomorrow I will first head to Ohio.  I have a meeting at 11 in Maumee.  (It is the Indian name for “Panera, just south of this exit.” As opposed to Toledo, which means “dirty chickens” and Sandusky that means “the beach closes at dark.”)   It should be very productive as the Churches and Clergy of our Order are presenting a Church that has lost its building in a lawsuit with some of the basic things they need just to hold a service.  We are pleased to be doing this as we consider it a part of our ministry.

So my next post tomorrow may be post a “rink-visit.”  I don’t know for sure, but maybe.  I just know I will need gloves and a hat and a coat for the next few days.

And please keep my family in your prayers………I know they hardly even get by without me.  Bwhahahaha!

Goodnight my friends and God Bless!

Tommy+

I suppose I ought to change all the pictures that are posted of me in various places as profile pictures with a moustache, since I not only no longer have one, but I never intend to have one again either.  My face, or  my hair, or whatever it is that has damaged my ability to grow one will never return and I will just let it go I suppose.  After all, you should never cry over burnt milk….or something like that.

But to be honest, I just cannot find a good picture of me, and that includes the ones already posted.  I guess I am not that photogenic, but that does not surprise me in the least.  I have really always had a “face for radio,” and cannot manage a smile.  We had family pictures scheduled for last weekend, and I was thankful my eye swelled up just prior to them.  I couldn’t be in pictures for good reason but at least I wasn’t in trouble for not smiling!

Anyway, my time is coming, but hopefully before it does someone will get a good picture of me.  To be honest, I really would like one.  I love to laugh and I am sure I smile.  I just can’t artificially.  I guess I will just have to settle for now this picture of Amanda driving golf balls in hopes of going into labor with Ben in June of 2007 as a substitute.

It’s not me, but as I look at it I guarantee you I am smiling without a mustache now!

Goodnight my friends and God Bless!

Tommy+

Okay, it is not the real one, but even before the move it was my favorite horse…..I saw it all live too.  But this horse’s name is actually “Sandy” and this ride cost me approximately ONE CENT at the Noblesville Meijer.  It however, was worth it.  It was the best piece of a long day that saw us trade in Steph’s car for a different car for Amanda.  Steph took the hybrid that I tried, but gave back and Amanda gave back too.  And now Amanda is happy, I am still in my dinky car, and Ben rode a horse….albeit a plastic one.  Life is good, just not for me.

But despite my stroke I do have memories of Secretariat, who won all those races by 350 lengths.  And is is pretty cool when they make MOVIES out of events that you loved and witnessed.  And as certain that I was that my kids would be impressed by this, I must admit that I was WRONG.  They could care less.  I am old to them, and all they hear is rambling.   I am clearly just in the way of their inheritance as is my 20 year old wife!!!  Hahaha….who has the last laugh now???   (Of course it is my wife, because I will be dead!)

So why would I need to complain being this old and so close to my eternal demise???  I won’t!  But I am an “older” guy living in a young guy’s world.  I remember THE horse, but to everyone else the horse is but a character in a NOSTALGIC movie.

Oh well, what do I care?  I am old and confused, and most of all I AM ENJOYING IT!  My horse won the race, and actually ALL OF THEM.  And you cannot take that away from me……even if I am old!

Goodnight and God Bless!

Tommy+

The picture is of what I turned around to find this morning as I was driving him to Cindy’s.  All I know for certain is that it is NOT BEN.  Apparently that would be giving away his secret identity.  But perhaps I have already shared too much.  Please forgive me.

There however, is never a dull moment for me, and although I was clearly surprised as I looked behind me, I was comforted in that I was most probably the safest man in the world at that point.  After all, what criminal would even dare to mess with us with him in his full crime-fighting gear?

It really cracked me up, but it did even more so when Amanda and I went to pick him up in her car.  He was soon dressed in character again, but there was just one time when she turned around to talk to him for just a second, but he had his mask up on his head.  He went ballistic and she received a short but poignant lecture on why he needs to protect his secret identity.  It reminded me at how she cried at her ultrasound when she saw he would be a boy, as she had her heart set on a girl……BUT now she always shares how her life with him couldn’t be better.  After all, Barbie talk and my little ponies would be far less entertaining for her, and he sees his mission primarily to protect her from not just the Decepticons, but anything evil that is afoot.  She used to laugh at me, now she laughs with me…….at this strange superhero who lives in our house and rides in our backseats.

He seems a pretty swell chap……..I just wish we knew who he was.

Goodnight my friends and God Bless!

Tommy+ 

I have a small balcony off my office, and the cat always likes to go out on it and sit on the ledge an survey a kingdom that she believes she rules, but will never go out in as she is an indoor cat.  The ledge however seems to satisfy her, for from it she feels quite majestic.

In out last home we had no balcony, but she had a routine there as well.  We would let her out the window of Scotty’s room where she would climb the roof to its very peak and sit for hours looking down on us.  She hardly ever came in, and being a small cat I was always worried about a hawk or an owl coming for her up there, but perhaps that was her plan.  She is feisty and packs a punch.  I often wonder if she might be armed.

But tonight her royal highness beckoned me to the door of the balcony and I faithfully opened both the outer and screen doors.  She then proceeded to stare angrily out into the darkness…….rain.  How dare it?  And somehow the look I got as she walked away made me feel as if it were my fault.  I clearly am going to have to do a better job tomorrow.

But I suppose she deserves her due.  She is 9, and she is living with a 4 year old.  It’s not all bunnies and flowers for her that is for certain.  Plus, she and I gave up our back porch, and although we have a side porch now where she can see squirrels on all sides, sadly without a table in there it is less conducive to typing for me.  She will have to live with the balcony.

And apparently I will have to continue to live with her and her demands.  After all, I do not want to make her angry.  She fears nothing and rules the roost.

Goodnight my friends and God Bless!

Tommy+

Arrrrghhh, and not in a pirate way either.  Steph is out visiting friends tonight and in the morning I will only be able to see her when she comes to church…..then she is heading back to Missouri.  Why do things like visits fly by, and things like trips to the BMV drag on forever?  It just kills me to see her go.

And of course, we had family pictures scheduled for this afternoon which my stupid eye cancelled me out of.  My right eye has been a problem pre-stroke.  The doctors have said that my stroke in 2008 was probably not my first, and I can bet right when another happened, because my vision in that eye went south immediately.  It has been problematic ever since too.

But for the last year or so my right eye often looks like I have pink eye.  I don’t, but it hurts, and the trips to the ophthalmologist always include, “wow the pressure in that eye is a lot higher than normal,” yet nothing is ever accomplished.  I have drops, I use hot compresses, I use cold packs……I do everything but gouge it out.  And to be honest, I am miserable from it.  I just want to see out of it and have it be normal.  I don’t care about having to wear glasses, I just don’t want it to hurt and I want to LOOK normal too.

But the nice part is that when I tear up tomorrow when she leaves, I can blame it on my eyes.  She will only be gone for two weeks until Christmas break, but that is long enough.  Oh if I were just really a pirate.

But no, I am just a dad. who wishes he could hang with his kids everyday.

Goodnight my friends and God Bless!

Tommy+