Yes, I know I have been a bit less than faithful about daily blogging, but it (my short absence) really indicates what I feel is a healthy pattern for myself in my life.  You see, I do not blog to get “hits” or a lot of viewers, I blog out of my need for structure and therapy “post-stroke.”  Oh sure, ORIGINALLY (before the stroke when I started this blog) I intended to be God’s gift to the unenlightened.  But fortunately for YOU…..I had a stroke and just blog about my super screwed up and boring life.

So to fill you in, TOMORROW begins HOLY WEEK and I have discover that this is very important as I am a PRIEST.  But I have been working day and night for over a week, with an ordination, Confirmations, traveling to Michigan to take the vows of the first WOMAN in our Order, and doing a very special project at St. Patrick’s Church (the Church that Amanda and Ben are members of (and technically Steph and Scott) that is not quite yet finished, but well on its way!

And as it always seems to happen, something ALWAYS happens about now.  Usually, in my many years of ministry, it is something like a funeral or tragedy of some other kind.  But THANK GOD that all that seems to be happening right now is a HUGE BLIZZARD coming our way.  Now of course when I say “huge blizzard” I mean anywhere from 6 to 10 inches of snow, but I ONLY say that to make the people here in the “deep south” (central Indiana) feel as if it is a major thing.  You want to help people along.  But as a kid in Mishawaka, Indiana (home of the Cavemen) the superintendent of our schools would go out in the morning with his cup of coffee and any snow less that 116 inches would require us to go to school.  School has only been cancelled once there in 1500 years.

But Holy Week is tomorrow and I am ready.  I will be in MUNCIE tomorrow for the 10:30 service and am looking forward to it.  It is Palm Sunday and the beginning of Holy Week.  It is the first of many services I will be a part of over the next 8 days, but I am ready, and taking a shot at making them all. (Thanks Ben for the apropos picture tonight too)

Goodnight my friends and God Bless!

Tommy+

It is just after midnight on a day I took a work trip up to Michigan and back, and now I am faced with moving that little monster (pictured incognito here) because he THOUGHT with me gone that he would sleep in my bed with his mom…..BUT I CAME HOME.  The last I talked to him though he told me that I was not coming home and that he had mommy all to himself.  He is in for a bit of a surprise.

But such is the life of a dad dealing with his 5 year old son, his 5 year old son who would throw him under the bus to get his mom to himself.  Oh sure, he does love me, but the second we compete for anything (like for his mom’s attention) the gloves come off and he goes for the jugular.  He is a pro, but tonight a sleepy unconscious pro.  He will wake up wondering how he got there.

And of course I will be me on the way to school and tell him I never left and how he and I went to dinner and played canasta or something like that.  He will engage me for a little while but soon move on to his next evil plan.  He keeps me on my toes, which is an amazing feat for a guy my size.  And all I can say is good for him, I am up for the challenge.  Or as the young people now say, “Challenge accepted!”

But in all honesty, THAT is for the morning which technically it already is, but I mean the morning AFTER I sleep.  You never mess with a cobra when you are sleepy, and this mongoose is tired.  I will fill you in tomorrow, that is if I win.

Goodnight my friends and God Bless!

Tommy+

In preparation for the complete waterproofing of our house, we had glass block windows installed in two of our basement windows.  I generally do most of that kind of work myself, but as I have not ever done glass block, I decided to have a pro do it.  They look spectacular.

But in truth, it has been a day in which I have struggled anyway, so this is more of a report than a post. I am really having a tough time, and could use your prayers.  Glass block aside, my life is not all basement security.

SO OFF TO BED I GO.  I am so sorry for the short post, but at 5’8″ I am a short guy, and sometimes you just have to take care of yourself.

Goodnight my friends and God Bless!


Tommy+

What a great day to celebrate St. Patrick!  We did with an ordination and some Confirmations.  And tonight’s picture is of the now Father Jon Back, our newest priest holding the first present he received post-service, a picture of St. Patrick himself (I think) drawn by his good buddy Ben Tirman.  Ben and Jon get along marvelously as Ben likes to talk and Jon is always a willing victim.  And I thought the gift, as well a the picture were wonderful gestures on both their parts.

Father Jon also made his Temporary Profession in front of the Bishop.  Bishop Ames is a longtime friend and it is always so great to have him among us.  It was just an all around great day, and thanks to the good people of St. Anne’s for hosting, and to all our churches and clergy for making this gathering such a memorable one.

But as for me, I am tired, and quite put off that I did not receive a picture of St. Patrick myself.  I mean I changed his diapers (Ben’s) and I even take him to school and pick him up everyday.  I suppose I will just have to settle for being the father of a Picasso and the head of an Order.

So Happy St. Patty’s Day to all.  I am drinking my nightcap out of a green cup and heading to bed.  It has been a great day for me, and I hope for you too!  Congratulations Father Jon!

Goodnight my friends and God Bless!

Tommy+

This picture reflects A LOT of progress as it is a picture of my wife doing part of the installation of a ceiling fan in Ben’s room WITH ME.  The most significant part of that sentence is the “with me” too.

In truth, I have a lot of talents when it comes to home repair.  There are some things that I will not do, like get up on the roof, but things like plumbing, electrical, and construction are fine.  And I work and play well with others, meaning the kids.  We have built tons of stuff and repaired things too.  It is never a challenge with them, but if you want to test your relationship try doing any kind of project like that with your wife.  It can be a challenge.

But of course that is part of why we do things like this, because of the challenge.  We should be able to work together in these situations (which can be often difficult) AND, it is important to me that she and the kids know how to do these things too.  It costs a TON of money to have an electrician come in and put up a ceiling fan or rewire a switch.  It costs just the amount of the fan to do it yourself.

But the good news is that we made it through this project AND we did it TOGETHER.  AND…….we are still married too.

But the best news is that the fan and the light are working fine and Ben s quite pleased.  It is good for him to see us do this together successfully too.  It is so much better for him to share than something like “mom hit dad with a hammer right before they called the paramedics…….and the electrician.”

Goodnight my friends and God Bless!

Tommy+

Yeah right……just like any other time, by the time you set dinner in front of a hungry child you are proving him to be either a liar or grossly misunderstood.  I am betting on the prior however as I have never seen him not eat at Panera.

But prior to our arrival, he WHINED about how he wanted to eat at the “country club” or the “Hibachi Grill” (and Supreme Buffet!).  But I was the evil giant who took him to meet his mom at Panera.  Granted, hundreds of children are tortured there with their kids meals and caffeine free soda, but it has never stopped us from taking him there as we love to torture him and we like the food.

AND he bemoaned the whole experience up until that very moment that his food arrived. And from then we stopped talking about it.  He ate a lot of chicken noodle soup, in which he LOVES to dip his bread, and his mom bought him a chocolate chip bagel (I wouldn’t have) because she is the mom.

So Ben ate all sorts of stuff and I choked down yet another stupid salad, which is better than normal at Panera.  And Amanda kept the peace.  It was not ideal, but it was dinner.  And with diet and bootcamp, I figure in about 30 years I will lose all the weight I want……..probably at my embalming.

Goodnight my friends and God Bless!

Tommy+

Well among the many things I am pleased about today……I am back at bootcamp, there is a new Pope that I really like, and the snow is melting, I am also reminded that my youngest does love me, but he loves his mom more…….and yes, I am happy about that.

Tonight’s picture is from a couple of days ago.  He had a chair up against the wall in my office and wrote “I love you” (meaning his MOM) on it……then for some strange reason he also wrote “The factory of love.”  I am not sure what in the world that means, but I am pretty sure that whatever it is, I am not involved in it.  Any type of loving for a guy my age either requires my wife’s permission or my doctor’s.  In truth, it sounds like the title of a questionable movie, but all he watches as far as I know is “Ben 10” and “Transformers.”

But he thinks he is pretty cool, and I just let him go at it.  He is fun to watch and listen too and he is more full of bull than a cattle farm.  BUT he is my son, so I will keep him.  And although I was about to also say he is cheaper than cable, reality brought me to my senses.  He is however in a long-term contract with me and will be staying regardless the cost.

For now however he is downstairs with his mom and I am apparently not worthy enough to merit a visit.  Of course he goes to be in 15 more minutes and the closer we get to bedtime the more important I become!  (I am his regular delay for bedtime.)

But for now I will just be pleased with my day.  I am done and it is in the books as they say. But of course I do not say that……I was an athlete and books give me hives.

Goodnight my friends and God Bless!

Tommy+ 

WOW….I left the house tonight and forgot my cell phone and I have to confess that it was DELIGHTFUL.  I didn’t feel tied to it, I didn’t look at it, and I knew it was waiting for me back at home (which it was).  I had about an hour of total freedom.

And this capped off a great night.  I am VERY tired as I got home very late last night after a long travel day.  I didn’t get a nap, nor did I get ANY rest, but I did drop Ben off and pick him up from school and he and I made dinner for his mom yet again.  This time he made his very own cheese pizza and I have to admit it was very good.  He told me that tonight I could be the waiter, but I had none of it.  But we had a great meal (I did not eat the pizza but tasted it….it was delicious) and a great night.

So tonight’s picture is of what we in the culinary world call “the presentation.”  If Chef “LITERALLY BOY” RD, wasn’t such a goober, perhaps the whole thing would look a bit better, but he is what he is, and his mom was happy to oblige.  He is only 5, but he is learning and he does a pretty good job.

Of course I wish I could confess that his whole night went well, but he actually got sent to bed an hour early for being a bit of a snake.  He was not happy, but then again neither was his mom, and IF I have a choice in who I am to please in conflicts such as these, he is clearly going to be disappointed every time…..as he was tonight.

But he needs to sleep.  He has been sick and is on antibiotics.  Even with tubes, he has an ear infection. But that did not hold back his culinary masterpiece.  Chef Ben is now asleep and his mom has been fed his pizza of the heart.  You would think I could get some traction out of this, but I would not bet on me.

I am just happy to survive the day!

Goodnight my friends and God Bless!

Tommy+

Yes, yet another gratuitous picture of our trip to West Virginia, as I have been gone all day to the far side of Illinois to take the Novitiate vows of Father John Hellrung at Grace Anglican Church in Edwardsville, Illinois.  I was too involved however to remember to take any pictures, so I had to use this one instead.  AND, this sleepy little monster is actually what I found in my bed and ON my pillows.  He told Amanda before bed that when daddy gets home if we did not want to move him that it would be okay…..that he would be “one happy boy.”  SO I may let him stay, but I have yet to make a firm decision.  If he were wearing the eye black tonight, I would most like let my fear of him guide my decision…..but he doesn’t look so tough tonight.

But the big thing is that it is great to be home.  Father PT and Deacon Jon Back traveled to Illinois with me.  It was a great privilege to be with Jon especially as next Sunday he will be ordained a priest here in Indiana.  So PT and I saw his last Sunday as a deacon and will be a part of his first Sunday as a priest.

And what made it even more special for me (in addition to that and the vows) was that 23 years ago TODAY I was ordained a priest.  I was just 6 years old at the time, but I have learned a lot through the years.  Father Kelly Irish delivered the sermon at that service, and we were once known as the “boy priests.”  Now of course we are known as those “two guys that ought to retire.” But at our age we rarely listen to good advice.

So it has been a busy and productive day, and a meaningful day as well.  What an honor it is to do what I do!!  It is a real blessing……..a real blessing just like coming home!

Goodnight my friends and God Bless!

Tommy+

Yes my bribe is this, a gratuitous picture of Ben and Steph (after her game last Sunday and her shower) with Ben wearing some of Steph’s eye black and carrying her old phone.  It hopefully will make up to my readers for my being behind.  I have been out of my routine coming from WV and heading right to Chicago.

In truth, nothing throws me off more than getting out of my routine…..I, in fact, hate it.  It seems as if it takes me days to catch up with things, and if you are a regular reader you can plainly see it also means reconnecting with stuff I have just plain forgotten.  And if there is any reason in all of this to be thankful I think it should be to be thankful I am not your doctor.  If I were, you just might be in trouble.

But alas, I am home and figuring it all out.  I was able to get my office all cleaned up and am prepared for tomorrow.  I hope there is nothing that I am forgetting in this apparently smooth running day, but I think it is Saturday, so I am sure Ben is not standing in the parking lot of school wondering where I am.  In fact, I saw Ben here not too long ago.  I also saw my wife, which makes me feel mildly in control of things.

Of course like many people in middle age, I can get confused sometimes, and when you add the stroke to it then I can make the most forgetful middle aged person look pretty sharp.  But I can only do what I can do, and it is what it is.  It was good to be at Anglican 1000 in Chicago this week, and although it put me in this little sanity delay, I think it was worth it.  It is far better however to be here at home.

One of the things I have learned over the years is that Dorothy was right, there really is no place like home, and being away makes returning even better.

I am just glad to be here, content, prepared for tomorrow and probably just plain old delusional as that never happens.  I am probably forgetting something!

Goodnight my friends and God Bless!

Tommy+