I am sure happy today was today and not any other day this week, because sometimes my brain shuts down and I just need to sleep (my grandma warned me of this post-stroke) and today was such a day. Fortunately we had no games, and it was raining, so no practice. I had gone to bed at 10 pm the night before and just couldn’t get up till around 3, and only because I had to.

These zombie-like states don’t happen all that often, and fortunately for me, when they have they have always been during down-times like today. (at least that is what I remember) I am not cognizant of any during times I had a lot going on, but I suppose my staff might tell you different. In truth, I have been worried about this happening for a few weeks. I have really had to struggle these past few weeks in terms of my concentration. My focus has been hard to manage, and all I really had to hang my hopes on were my chiseled good looks, my Mensa mind, and my tanned 6’4″ frame. Yep, foggy and still quite delusional…….

But is is almost 9 and I have been up since 3. I am tired still, but an early bedtime may help to get me back on track. I have a big weekend ahead with the girls, and I want to make sure I am there as their coach and not Napoleon Bonaparte. Time will tell and sleep will help. Who in the world would have ever thought that one stupid blood clot could make me crazier than what being married to Amanda already has? (It’s a joke honey……most people think you are crazy. I am the one who married up!)

Anyway, it is a short but successful day for me! More rain is coming and hopefully it will help me to sleep.

Thanks for checking in my friends! Goodnight and God Bless.

Tom+

Yep, we did it. Tonight we upset Indiana’s only undefeated team 11 to 9, and we did it on their home field too! In doing so, we earned a trip to the Final Four to be played this Friday and Saturday at Park Tudor High School in Indianapolis.

Though we struggled a bit in the first half, I had no doubt in my mind that they were capable of winning. They seemed all depressed at halftime, but we made some adjustments and made it happen. I was so proud of them. I have always believed they were the best team in the league, and we are on our way to proving it!

Anyway, it has been a long, stressful, but WONDERFUL DAY! Onto the Final Four we go!!

Thanks for checking in! Goodnight my friends and God Bless!

Tom+

Today I was able to visit one of my favorite parishioners and one of the most loyal and dedicated followers of this blog…Flo Kinworthy. Flo was admitted to Clarian North Hospital yesterday with fluid around her heart, and today I got the privilege of competing with doctors and nurses for her time! Flo looked great, and is in a great hospital getting great care! (Ben was born in the same hospital!) And we expect her home soon!

One of the things you should know about Flo is that her eyesight is failing. She cannot see well enough to read my blog. So each night her daughter Jo (also a parishioner) reads the blog to her! Flo always comments, as she did today, how she feels like she knows our family from reading it. And in truth, she really does, not just because she reads the blog, but because she cares to be a part of our life. I really only started blogging regularly as a discipline following my stroke. But Flo knew me far before I started blogging, and she and Jo are dedicated Christians and friends. Keep her in your prayers!

Ironically, Flo had just purchased a couple of chairs for the new Narthex of St. Patrick’s. I did mention to her she ought not to buy any more chairs, because every time she does, she ends up in the hospital! She did promise no more chairs, but has a few other pieces she wants to get. And in truth, she will. She is a wonderful woman with a lot of miles left! Deacon Dan and Merry Ann will bring her Communion tomorrow, and I will see her a few more times this week. She will probably be surprised to read about herself, but she is special to us, and we are glad she is in the right place and getting better!

Keep it up Flo! We love you and are looking forward to your healthy return!! Keep her in your prayers!

Goodnight my friends and God Bless.

Tom+

Happy Mother’s Day to all the mothers out there. Here in Indiana it was a beautiful day, and we enjoyed it very much.

Unfortunately in our family, with me always working, celebrating today with Amanda is always hard. We gave her flowers and cake and cards last night to not look as if we were behind, and tomorrow night we will take her out to dinner. Steph had to work today too, so after I got home Scotty and Ben and I went to see my mom in the nursing home. We brought her a turtle sundae, which she totally enjoyed! And all the little old ladies there just love Ben!

But today my thoughts are all about Amanda. Amanda, though she never really thought she wanted to be a mom or thought she would be good at it, turned out to be the very best mom I know. (Sorry, everyone else ties for second place!) Sure, she was pretty pathetic at picking a husband, but don’t we all thank God for that? I know I do! But the mom-thing is a place that she is always at the top of her game….at least in my book.

And get this…..she wants us to fix her dinner tomorrow night instead of going out! NO WAY! We already do that all the time anyway, and we are onto her cheap little ways! Tomorrow we have a “no dishes” policy in place. Instead we will go out and honor “Supermom.” She is certainly the best in our eyes, and we love her. And she’s going to get a dinner whether she wants it or not!!

Happy Mother’s Day!

Goodnight my friends and God Bless!

Tom+

We WON our game tonight putting us into the Sectional Final against Zionsville High School on Tuesday night. It was a great game against a great opponent. Heritage Christian gave us a great game, but in the end we won 13-9. And since we are the second seed, and since the first seed (Zionsville) won their game, we will have to travel to Zionsville to play next. We intend to win there as well.

Tonight our girls looked like the athletes they are. They hustled, they showed great skill, and LOTS of heart. They were in control of most of the game, which helped my heart! I really do not need the stress of a close game, and they did their best to make sure I was okay!

So now I am home and getting ready for work tomorrow! They say there is no rest for the wicked, nor will there be for the Noblesville Lady Millers Lacrosse Team! Practice on Monday!! Sweet!!

What a great day!! I hope yours was as great s mine!

Goodnight my friends and God Bless.

Tom+

Well it has been a wild day. Amanda and Scott are up in South Bend. The boy’s team played in Elkhart (my birthplace…blame them) and the team is staying overnight for games tomorrow….one against South Bend Washington, and the other against LaPorte. Scotty did score last night taking him into “double-digits” for the year. Why he cannot just say “ten” I do not know, but nonetheless I am proud of him. Hopefully he will add to it today.

We played our last JV game of the season last night. They went 7-0-1, and give us great hope for our future!! It was a blast and it was nice to play it against such a great team. Westfield and NHS are very close geographically, the girls have a great relationship with each other. We hope to do a few things over the summer too.

Tomorrow is the second round of the Sectionals, and we play at home at 7pm. We will face Heritage Christian, a team we beat by only one earlier in the season. It was their first loss, and I know they are coming to attempt to avenge it. We however are no longer the team that beat them. We have really developed. And though I am sure they have improved, we intend to put on our best game yet. In the end, we hope to be heading to the Sectional final next week.

Anyway, Ben is with me (and Steph) though she is at her friends watching a movie. It has been a pretty great day and tomorrow should be even better!!

Goodnight my friends and God Bless. Thanks for checking in!

Tom+

What a goober….Ben looks like he has been beaten! His nose is all cut up and he has a big goose egg on the center of his forehead. Oddly enough it was a graham cracker (and sidewalk) injury. Injured by his favorite snack food….how ironic!

But Ben really doesn’t care. He still is full steam ahead, and he scares me….even more than Steph did. Steph was one of those kids whose legs were always bruised from running into things. It wasn’t that she was a klutz, she just had no fear (or common sense). Ben however makes her look like a pansy! He has speed, no fear, no common sense, and a male brain. Good Lord please save him from himself! I am just glad he is alright.

This is a big lacrosse weekend for us. Scott has three games up north, and we have a JV game tomorrow and the second round of sectionals on Saturday night. Amanda and Scott will be at a Comfort Inn on Friday night, Scott in a room with players and Amanda in a room by herself. I on the other hand will no doubt have no luck convincing Steph to sleep with Ben. I will surely spend yet another night with his stinky little feet on my head.

But truly I will enjoy it. This is the end of our most hectic time of the year and we are all excited about these games. All of us that is but Ben. He seems so innocent, but is no doubt plotting some other daredevil stunt to scare us to death.

Kids……you gotta love em!

Goodnight my friends and God Bless.

Tom+

Mercy…..if I didn’t have enough problems. Ben is addicted to the outdoors and if you are going out the door for even a minute he has to go with you or you will pay!! (Yep, a tantrum!) He is such a sweet kid, and he loves to just hang with you, so when I was unloading groceries from Amanda’s car tonight he had to go with me.

He was SOOOO EXCITED when I handed him the box of crackers in the driveway and told him to “take it to mommy.” I know he felt like such a big boy, and was just excitedly dancing up the walk to the door.

When he tripped, and tripped in an unbelievably awful way, it was like slow motion. I dropped the bags of groceries and tried my best to catch him before his head hit the walk, but I was too old and too slow. The sound was like a bat to a ball and though I was there in a fraction of a second, he was screaming. Please don’t be offended, but I was glad for that. Had I fallen like that I would have been unconscious. His screaming was a great sign.

He however was no longer the “big boy” he was pre-fall, he was a baby in need. I scooped him up and brought him to his mom who had a brand new white blouse that she of course let him bleed on. Had my arm been severed she would have told me to not bleed on her blouse, but this was Ben and he can bleed on anything she wants! I am glad she loves him so.

Ben seems fine. Perhaps just another opportunity to horse himself into our bed, but I am happy he will be there. All the kids can scare me more than I can ever express, but at the end of the day I am thankful for each one of them.

I am just glad it was not Scott. He is 2 inches taller than me and a lot bigger. Who’d want to sleep with a monster like that???

I am heading to a crowded, but thankful bed.

Goodnight my friends, and God Bless.

Tom+

Tonight we ended our regular season with a Varsity win and a JV tie at Brebeuf Jesuit High School. We had never beaten Brebeuf before, so it was a nice win. And our undefeated JV team was a bit disappointed to not put it away. They have one more game Friday night at home. BUT we ended the Varsity season in style, and it has been an amazing run.

We now head to Sectionals which is Varsity only. We are the second seed in our region (Zionsville, the number one team in the state is 1st) and we play Covenant Christian Thursday night at home (Hare Chevrolet Field). If we win that, which we expect to, we play against either Westfield or Heritage Christian at home again. If Carmel would happen to beat Zionsville in the other bracket, we would play the final at home next week. Otherwise we are in Zionsville for the final. The winner of that game goes to the final four!

Keep us in your prayers! It feels funny, but I am just sure God wants us to beat all these Christian high schools!! (yes, that’s a joke!) We are just enjoying it and having a ball! Check them out at http://www.eteamz.com/noblesvilleladymillerslax /

Okay it is off to bed for me! Goodnight my friends and God Bless….and go go go Lady Millers!

Tom+

With less than two full weeks left in lacrosse season, things are coming down to the wire. Our last regular season game is tomorrow. Even without it, we have already posted our best season ever, but one more win will just be the icing on the cake! Our JV team played tonight and remains undefeated. And sectional play begins Thursday.

Lacrosse season is always intense, but it goes by quickly. Last year’s was a blur because I was smack dab in the middle of my recovery…..everything was a blur. But this year is a lot of fun. We have great players on our team, great opponents, and lots of celebrations! June will be a real lonely month for activity in comparison!

But with that, it is off to bed for me. I work all day tomorrow and then two games tomorrow night. And Wednesday is our only practice day before Sectionals!

Keep us in your prayers. We are going into the final stretch!

Goodnight my friends and God Bless. Thanks for checking in!

Tom+