Hey, Amanda and I got Luigi (Scotty) a shirt……a real chef’s shirt, and he loves it. It was really kind of a joke after the big dinner he made for the girls the other night. But you have to admire a teenage boy who wants to learn to cook. We all love to eat, and there is not too much worse than having to horse down a bad meal. Amanda has agreed to teach him Kansas cooking (which I interpret as following a recipe to a tee – except for the part of servings) and with that, so far, he has done a fine job.

I however was heavily influenced by where I grew up. There was a lot of ethnic food in the South Bend/Mishawaka area and most of the people I saw cook didn’t seem to be reading anything. Cooking was done by remembering and “by taste.” It is a methodology that appalls my scientist wife, so it is indeed one that I am anxious to teach him.

Sadly, being on this diet, I will not be able to do much more than just sample anything that we cook. It is worth it though. I hit the scales this morning at 228.4! I am committed to hanging in there, and intend to up until starvation has me really committed.

In truth, the quick weight you lose at the beginning of a diet helps to make the changes your body goes through tolerable. I am fighting off headaches, a bit of jaw pain, and the desire to scarf down Ben’s leftover macaroni (that I MADE….by taste). But I am doing fine and moving ahead.

Anyway, I am off to tell a few Ratatouille jokes to Scott in his new shirt….not too many though. I am afraid he might start eating in front of me!

Goodnight my friends and God Bless!

Tommy+

Yesterday I not only really watched what I ate, but I went to the gym….something I intend to do every day, hopefully not just until April 4th, but forever. As I have mentioned, the first part of my diet and workout plan looks spectacular. It’s not the top end of a diet that is hard, but the bottom end. The closer to your goal, the more time seems to drag. But I do consider these days to be progress and I am thankful for a happy start.

On the downside, that rat in Pennsylvania saw his shadow, meaning 6 more weeks of winter. Not that I believe you can trust a rat (or any rodent) for anything….I have met quite a few, many in the Church, and they do not ever instill a bit of trust towards them in me at all. But I am a northerner at heart, so even if he gets it right I can handle the weather. All that I take delight in is how the global warming crowd must be angry with him. Not only does Punxsutawney Phil use bad science, much of it causes a questionable frenzy…….I guess they may be mad at him for using the same methodology. Of course Phil has been at it longer.

As for me, I am just glad that it appears we will not need to install French doors on our house so that I can get in. I am sure everyone is happy about that. Sadly, all the fast food places within 5 miles of my house will probably be cutting staff by 50%. I was just eating for the economy.

But please keep me in your prayers. I am certain I will have days ahead that are not so jovial, and I will need your support. Thankfully, I know I can count on it.

Goodnight my friends and God Bless!

Tommy+

Okay, I have had enough. I have gone back and forth and back and forth on the whole diet and get into shape thing that it has been killing me….literally. Today, I pledge myself to go down down down, with the goal of losing 50 pounds by Easter, April 4, 2010. That’s a little less than a pound a day, which of course seems like a lot, but the first parts always come off so fast, and I do not intend to push it in an unhealthy way.

There are big problems for me that make this even more of a challenge. One, as a “former” athlete, (see my college picture above) I really do not look all that heavy. They say that muscle weighs twice as much as fat, and I know my brain must weigh a ton (yes, that is a joke) BUT in truth it does not matter if your heart has to carry it all around all the time. A 40 pound bag of salt is heavy to carry from the car to the basement, and if you think about never putting it down, well you can imagine the stress it puts on your system. Two, I am a busy guy and always around food that I should not be eating, and though I do pretty well, it is still everywhere. Three, since my stroke in 2008, I take daily meds that make weight gain more probable than loss, and I will not get off them. And finally four, though all my levels are great for a man my age (blood pressure, cholesterol, etc), having a stroke at any time puts you in a different risk category….my numbers need to be lower.

The big thing is to just get back into great shape, as I was pre-stroke in April of 2008. (Yeah, I cannot figure that one out too). But to get there I ask for your prayers. The horrifying thing is to share my weight each day on the top (at the end of the title of the blog) I start at 240 (okay 239.8) but you get the idea. From this point on I hope to go down.

Thanks for your prayers and support in advance. I have talked about this issue before in this blog. I pray for me that this is the last time.

Goodnight my friends and God Bless!

Tommy+

How do I know that this little guy is really his mom’s son????? BY THE LOOK! Geez….I get this all the time, but never really by him. Apparently all I had to do was pick him up from a play date (involuntarily for the both of us) have his old car seat in the car, (not the illegal big-boy booster seat that he really loves when Scotty had my car seat in his car at school) and mention the word “nap,” and this is what I get. I have been gone for a week, missing him like crazy, and it takes just one wrong move and I am in time out! The poor little guy had no idea, even at this point, that I was going to win.

But win I must. It doesn’t bother me though, it is a look that I am used to. My wife looks this way at me the majority of the time and I am not just immune to it, I have grown quite fond of it too. I have found that it’s when they smile (my family) that I have to worry! My daughter insists that I am the real life version of the Steve Martin character in “The Father of the Bride,” so if you have seen the movie you have a good idea of how my life often goes.

In reality, I enjoy confounding them. It’s all in good fun, even as “the look” is most of the time coming from them (I think…..I hope……..okay, I pray). But it’s my life and I enjoy it.

I hope you have had a blessed Sunday!

Goodnight my friends and God Bless!

Tommy+

Scotty is absolutely amazing. He is learning to cook, and tonight he made a multi-course meal for Stephanie and her friends Katie, Alyssa, and Molly (three of the larger group that we consider extended family here). He set it up like a restaurant (even with assigned seating) and called himself “Luigi” since the cuisine was Italian.

I am currently in my room upstairs typing this while the dining room is ablaze with laughter and joy. It is a great night to be home and a great gift to be able to see and hear this event. I am sure they will all talk of it the rest of their lives, and for me as a father, it is one I will remember too…..a special gift from brother to sister (and a gift to me indirectly…I sure am proud).

Of course part of why we are up in “the apartment over the restaurant” together is that my young assistant Ben decided that spitting his milk was funny (probably when his brother laughed at him) so he did it again! (and again and again) He was then banished by the restaurant owner (yes, she is still here) and part of his banishment included me….as if I were an accomplice.

So he is in the tub with me typing while watching. Neither of us are eating, but we hope to later. It is just great to be home amidst the chaos and confusion that is my normal life. I would say it couldn’t get any better than this, but it could…..we both could be eating something from Luigi’s.

Goodnight my friends and God Bless.

Tommy+

I am writing this from a hotel in COLUMBUS, OHIO where I am staying just about 200 miles from home because I am just too tired to go another foot. As I was in meetings all through the morning in North Carolina, word came in that SNOW was heading into the area and about 8 inches at that! And though for a guy like me (a Northerner) 8 inches is a tolerable amount, I have to admit that tolerable is defined by having these little things called PLOWS in the community…..I am not sure North Carolina has even 1 in the state.

As an affirmation of my decision to try and beat the storm (they were all admitting that if we stayed no one would be going anywhere till Monday) I watched in absolute awe as maintenance guys were throwing “ice melt” down in anticipation of the snow all over the main drags of the parking lot. Don’t get me wrong, ice melt does work….but it really is a waste with 8 inches of snow. So I left and according to the radar, remained just slightly ahead of the storm all the way into mid-Ohio. I went pretty far north and cut across. The more direct route was through Kentucky. Many of my friends live there and had to go home that way. It looked quite treacherous. Please keep all who travel this day in your prayers.

My learning for today however is this: even though I am an experienced northern driver, in reality I need to count on a lot of other people to do their parts as well. Thank God today they have…I am just 3-4 hours from home.

It is great to be back home in the Midwest! Just one short day till I ride in the Activity Bus!

Goodnight my friends and God Bless!

Tommy+

Yep, I cannot believe it. I offered to drive to the restaurant for a gathering of clergy and my car was positively, absolutely DEAD, and dead in Greensboro, North Carolina. And being fairly mechanical, I was soon able to assess the problem. Some idiot left the lights on, and that is despite not driving it at night AND despite a warning alarm on the car. Being here on this trip by myself it also come to me (after not a lot of thought) that the idiot was me.

Fortunately there was another vehicle and even more fortunately, after the dinner, that same vehicle had jumper cables. And for that I was very thankful. AND, let’s all thank God I am not a surgeon! When the nurse would say, “what’s that beeping and doesn’t it mean something,” I’d apparently say, “what beeping?” I have failed hearing tests and been told I would benefit by getting a couple of hearing aids, but I really do think I do fine. My wife would disagree, as apparently does my car, but in my mind, jumper cables are like 20 bucks…….that is sure a lot more affordable than the hearing aids. Plus the cables would be a lot harder to lose…..even for me.

Anyway, my night has included a roughly 20 mile drive to charge up my battery, and though it now works, my personal battery is low…..so it is off to bed I go. Hopefully tomorrow I will have a better day. I have already prayed that I will be idiot-free.

Goodnight my friends ad God Bless.
Tommy+

When you are a dad, despite where you are, your mind often is drawn back to your children. Though I have not been gone long, I miss hanging out with them. Of course Stephanie and Scott, being 18 and 16, don’t hang with me as much as they used. They have jobs, school, lacrosse, and lives. But as the father of a 2.5 year old as well, I can say that Ben loves to hang with me, on me, and all around me. Two year-old children have no concept at all of personal space.

Hotels however do. All my stuff is still in its place and it is eerily quiet…..all the time. There are no toys to step on, the TV can be on something other than Disney, and not one person here starts any sentence, let alone every sentence with the word “daddy.” I miss it.

But the nice things about trips, no matter how fruitful or wonderful they sometimes are (this one is both), is that you can always go home. And as they say in Kansas, home of the Wizard of Oz, “there really is no place like home.” It is actually the first sentence of the preamble of their Constitution…… I will be home soon!

Goodnight and God Bless!

Tommy+

I drove and drove, supposedly out of the snow though it seemed to follow me almost all the way to Greensboro, North Carolina. Though exhausted, I checked into my room and was surprised to discover that I am almost all the way to heaven….the 26th floor. (the picture is of out my window) I do not think I have ever been up so high. And my nervousness about being up this high has confirmed just what a hayseed I am!

But I am glad to finally arrive. It has been a long trip and I appreciate your prayers. I am now in bed, and have meetings beginning tomorrow at 9:30 all the way through Saturday at noon. But it is a real blessing to be here. I got to spend some time with the Bishop tonight and meet his new assistant (his daughter) and his wife Ellen even shared some of the Good and Plenty with me…..these are GOOD PEOPLE.

But it is late, I am sleep deprived, and I need to get to bed. Look for a much more informative post tomorrow. But for now I call it a day!

I have driven a million miles today, but I hope and pray your day was much more fun!

Goodnight my friends and God Bless.

Tommy+