Category Archives: Uncategorized

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On the Polar Express……apparently.

Life is pretty much back to normal here and Ben and I spent the day together. I worked and he interfered. It was a great day though. I didn’t get quite as much done as I had originally hoped, but as Amanda arrived home, ate, and then went to another meeting, she mentioned something I didn’t know we had……”The Polar Express.”

Ben apparently watched this with his mom and grandma in Kansas last week, and although I had not seen it, I wondered as we watched it, “what in the world were they thinking?” It’s so intense it gives me the willies!
But for some reason he likes it, and he seems committed to watching it. And the plus is that while he is on the Polar Express, I can catch up on a lot of this work!
Goodnight my friends and God Bless!

Tommy+
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The wait is over…..


The dog will no longer be depressed and we will be in trouble because the house is just a tad bit messy when we promised it wouldn’t be……..but Amanda and Ben arrive home tonight. There are some travel problems and delay in KC and a tight transfer in Chicago, but how hard can it be to transfer planes with a 3 year old at a major airport? I m sure they will do just fine.

But let’s not worry, Soctt and I will be fine. She will be too tired to notice the “yet to be folded” laundry (it sounds so much more positive than “unfolded”) and probably will just sleepwalk upstairs to bed……at least that’s the plan.
But for now it’s back to counseling the dog and getting stuff done as much as I can here. Tomorrow will be a normal day, everyone will be home and we will all be in trouble. But to be in what I know is far better than guessing. And more than anything, the dog’s world will be back to normal.
Goodnight my friends and God Bless!
Tommy+
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Dog Day Afternoon…..

Yes, the last full day before they return. Viper and I “Skyped” with Amanda and Ben tonight (as much as a dog that sleeps all the time could) and apparently some laundry that was not quite yet folded caught her eye. I really thought that was the cat’s job, but apparently not. It certainly will be folded before she returns tomorrow evening (or we are getting rid of the cat).

But all and all it has been a wild day. I was to celebrate at the service in Anderson, but upon my arrival was just not feeling great. Fortunately PT was there and was doing the sermon anyway. He took care of it and I headed home to take some meds. I felt fine in no time and finished the rest of the day just fine. And I feel pretty good right now.
But the dog is asleep once again. He fascinates me. How he can sleep so much I will never know. He fell asleep when we were talking to them on the computer, and when I put this sticker on his nose he woke up for a little bit. Oh the life of a show dog, and a stud show dog at that….sleep, eat, sleep, maybe get studded out and sleep. If that isn’t the perfect life, then what is?
And though the day appears to be done for Viper as early as 7am, the day is REALLY over for me now. Yep, I will need to wake him up to go out one last time and head upstairs to sleep…..but it will be worth it.
He is a great dog and we love him.
Goodnight my friends and God Bless!
Tommy+
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Lonely, I’m Mr. Lonely…….

I turned on my computer tonight and my Skype account automatically signed in. It is a program that allows video chat between two computers, and we use it to talk to Steph, Amanda’s mom and Amanda’s sister.

But shortly after it signed on a message appeared on the screen from Steph……..”Hi DAD! Is Ben around?” I miss her, but I am apparently not her first choice to talk to. Of course I cannot be mad about it, because as I survey all of them, I am often on the bottom of the list.
Yep, I hear about important stuff for all the kids mostly from my wife. They all talk frequently and, quite honestly, are probably deciding what they will do with the insurance money when I finally kick. (I however intend to live past 100) I often learn things well after they happen, and am getting quite used to my “need to know” status.
But tonight the house is empty and it would be great to just be a little closer to the top……I mean with someone other than the dog.
Oh well, at least I am number one with him…..after all, no one else is home!
Goodnight my friends and God Bless!
Tommy+
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You’re hired…….

I am not sure why this is happening, but when my wife is away (this and the last few times) I tend to be pretty productive.

This is the case this week. I have made preliminary arrangements for my mom to be transferred from the nursing home here in Noblesville to one in Anderson. I have hired a moving company. I have hired an insurance agent. And, had I not been so exhausted today, I would have hired a leasing agent for our current home.
But the good news is that it is all behind us, at least that part. There is a TON of packing to do, a little bit of paperwork to work out, and a lot I am probably not even thinking about because my wife is not here to tell me. So this is to say, I will just enjoy my delusion through Monday night!
And I chose my blog picture carefully, because I am actually a fan of Donald Trump. He, like me, is savvy, is known for his great looking hair, and is married to a woman more beautiful than his pay grade. And both of us have a solid grounding in reality.
So for now I will just call it a day. Yep, at 8 o’clock…..what a wild man. But while others might consider going out, I’ll be plotting my next move. Who knows who I could hire next? Maybe there is a future for me on reality TV.
I doubt it…..Goodnight my friends and God Bless!
Tommy+
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Living in a ghost town…..

Stephanie is at college. Ben and Amanda are in Kansas. Scott is 17 and not often around with lacrosse and all his other commitments. So……the house is empty and very quiet, even with a dog and a cat living here. But what would you expect from two animals who sleep about 23 hours each per day?

So I am living a pretty peaceful existence until Monday night. It’s not that there is nothing for me to do, it’s just that I am not used to doing it in a ghost town. But I have nothing left to fix, very little left to prepare for Sunday, and I need to figure something out. No telling what it will be, but as they say, “Idle time is the devil’s workshop,” so I am going to try to find a productive plan for my time.
But at this point, I think joining the dog and the cat is my number one answer.
Goodnight my friends and God Bless!

Tommy+
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In the presence of Tirman genius…

Genetically he is doomed to be a clown, but nothing is more fascinating that a clown with brains……and in a family of comedians, he may be the most brilliant one ever.

But there was nothing funny about tonight. Ben was a grouch, and it really didn’t matter what was going on or offered, he just didn’t like it. First of all, he wanted fudge for dinner, and not just any fudge, but fudge Amanda made to send to his sister in college. He was not only ready to send her down the river for it, but through an absolute fit about it not being a healthy choice for his main course.
In round two, the dinner we made he decided he didn’t like and after being put in time-out, got to watch a plate with 6 tater tots cooling on the table for him to come try. And though prompted to get out of time-out to eat them, he had deeper, darker plans. He threw a second fit, because he suddenly didn’t “like” tater tots, so I instructed Scotty to eat them.
Of course that was a big mistake, because now we had wronged him. Amanda was at the store, so he was playing the room, and he was doing it well….so well in fact that he got me to make him a peanut butter sandwich, something he never turns down.
It turns out he turned it down tonight. I thought it was just because he was stubborn, but clearly it was part of his brilliant master plan. So as Scotty and I asked, begged , and then demanded that he eat that sandwich he got me to take a step too far…..reverse psychology (which often works). I said, “don’t you eat that sandwich Ben, don’t you dare eat it.” He looked up at me, and I said again, “Don’t you eat that sandwich…..its Viper’s (the dog)”
Yep, he smiled, patiently took a hold of the sandwich, and walked across the room and gave it to the dog. We were dumbfounded……he had us all along. I told Scotty dinner was over and to take my debit card out of my wallet and get them some ice cream. I was in the presence of sheer genius. Scotty conceded the same.
So tomorrow morning, very very early, Einstein and his mom will board a plane for Kansas until Monday to see his nanny. It will give me some time to recover. I just cannot believe I was schooled by a 3 year old!
Goodnight my friends and God Bless!
Tommy+
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(re) Living my superhero dreams…….

Nothing much to report today, but at least I have a great picture posted. Ben was Buzz Lightyear for Halloween, and although just about everyone either called him Buzz or asked him if he was Buzz, he was more than irritated, because he was just Ben. Oh yes, the one dimensional toddler mind.

But it is great to deal with when you are a parent. When Stephanie and Scott were little I used to often wear a superman t-shirt under my clerical shirt. I had, and still have, no delusions….at least not of that sort. BUT, I would often unbutton it enough in a nonchalant way so they would catch a glimpse of it. I would then turn to see the wide-eyed and then hold up my finger to my mouth and say “shhhhhh, make sure you do not tell anyone.” Yep, they both believed I was Superman for years.
And Scott has apparently picked up where I had left off, because Ben thinks Scott is Spiderman. How he arranged that I do not know, but who am I to interfere? After all, I did it for years, and although Scott does not need his little brother to idolize him one bit more, it is hilarious to see. Hopefully we will still be insured when Ben’s therapy bills come in.
So I suppose I am the “retired” superhero of the house now, particularly since there are no superheroes I know who need to lose a few pounds, can’t see all that well, and are often confused. I will just need to live through them for now, for my days of leaping over tall buildings are long gone. Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy may be getting a new roommate sooner than they think.
Goodnight my friends and God Bless!
Tommy+
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I can see the surface from here……

Yep, underwater……at least for now. I am keeping up, but not catching up, although I hope to be caught up by the end of the week.

And because of it all, Scotty, Ben, and Amanda got to go to Veggietales Live tonight while I installed two new bathroom faucets and drains. That leaves me with just one major “to do” project here…….I need to replace a fan in Amanda’s craft room. It should take about ten minutes if I do not electrocute myself, and much less than that if I do.
But the good news is that we have got most of our ducks in a row and should be able to move right around the time we close. Of course that whole “packing” thing still awaits, but I am hoping to just break a few valuables in the first 10-15 minutes or so and get relieved from duty. It’s always worth a shot.
So Captain Veggietale is now watching TV with me while I type. He had a great day, and so have I. My hope and prayer is that you have too.
Goodnight my friends and God Bless!
Tommy+
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Oh no…….

One of the coolest things about living in a state that has always not followed daylight savings time (yes, it is not capitalized because it is not important!) is that people here are used to a lifetime of leaving their clocks alone. So this is to say that now we are living under this ridiculous concept, it will take people like us weeks to get all the clocks set to the correct time.

But of course, I took advantage of it tonight. Scott was working and was going to be home at 9:30. He had been busy all day and really had not paid attention. So when he arrived home (at 9:30) I took the opportunity to ask him (in my best “I’m your dad and you are in trouble” voice) “Hey, what happened to 9:30?” He of course looked up at the three clocks he could see and all said 10:30. He was horrified, albeit just for a minute, not know what to say. But then he remembered and we laughed off a pretty decent joke.
But for now, he and Ben are watching some sort movie, I am typing and Amanda is hiding upstairs. All of us are hoping that Steph is studying hard at school, which we believe to be the case since we have not been contacted by any bail bondsmen.
The nice part though is that another Sunday is in the books and bed is just a short time away. The time change is only confusing in the fall, but at least it does not exhaust me. And I am really enjoying that fact that everything I HAVE to do for these next few months is an hour extra away!
Goodnight my friends and God Bless!
Tommy+