Although my day has been productive, it has also been a disaster in terms of my getting through it.  I am now at home IN BED, and that would be marvelous if I didn’t have to get up and leave at 4am for a work trip!!  Oh but burglars beware!!  We are well-prepared when I or anyone else travels.  And that is partially why I feel comfortable in sharing it here!

But my day began with having to miss bootcamp.  It honked me off, but there was no way I would be able to do what I needed to do if I attended.  In addition to that, I entered a meeting time wrong on my calendar and missed the meeting.  Fortunately he was VERY GRACIOUS and met me an hour and a half later.  But the whole day was like that, and to be honest, it has wore me out!!

I was able to both drop off and pick up Ben today though.  As we arrived at school he shared how nervous he was.  When the doors opened I walked in with him and when he looked at me I said, “Don’t look at me, I don’t know where your room is!”  And suddenly he got smart!  He led me right to the door.  My attempt to talk to him as we arrived there was ineffective.  He was there and he wanted to go!!  He was working me the whole time.

After school he was his usual self.  He could not remember a thing of what went on and wanted to play with the stash of toys he had in the car.  As the reality of bedtime hit later on however, Amanda said he suddenly remembered everything IN DETAIL as sharing would keep him up longer.  As I have shared as recently as yesterday, he is a pro.  I bow to his greatness.

But I am saddened in the fact that I will be just kissing him goodbye on my way out the door in a few hours…..at least I can wake the others up!!  (Not that they are looking forward to it)  But tomorrow I will get “the report.”  Hopefully the word “principal” will not come up…..but if it does I will admit, genetics is a hard thing to escape.

Goodnight my friends and God Bless!

Tommy+

Yep, it is official, today Ben started his regular school career, which in my family we defined as more of a “sentence.”  And to my great surprise, I received not one call from the principal, nor the police.  All in all, it was a pretty great day.

Amanda dropped him off, as she wanted to walk him to his room.  She was worried he would not be able to get there, and I was against it as it was probably his first and only chance to escape.  I mean, speaking from experience, once a teacher and all those administrative types know your name the leash gets quite a bit tighter.  PLUS….he milks the doting for all it is worth.  He swears he cannot remember his home room number, yet he remembers every single solitary detail about Spiderman and every other superhero.  And, in addition to that, all I need to do is offer a small bribe of some type and he suddenly remembers.  He is a pro……

So I picked him up.  He was wearing his backpack on the FRONT, and looked sort of like a paratrooper….if paratroopers were that short and wore Transformer backpacks that is.  He was in a group of other kindergartners and he of course was the second one to get corralled back into the herd as he, sure enough, started to wander on his own.   (It is not unexpected as he often has to leave to fight crime.)

But I hope you enjoy the pictures and I have a video too, but it will not on this site.  It however is great!!  The video is when I took him for an ice cream……and if you listen carefully, he tells me that he has graduated.

Pretty darn good for day one!

Goodnight my friends and God Bless!

Tommy+

If you were expecting something from me today, I am very sorry……..I have barely made it through the day.  I have been working at things non-stop, and there were two very important things I had to do TODAY that as a dad were non-negotiable.  First was to attend Ben’s Kindergarten Open House tonight to meet his teacher and get acclimated to the new setting, and then two, I had promised Steph weeks ago to change her brakes on her car BEFORE she left for school again.  I was out of time for both things.

Ben’s school and teacher were great!  Tomorrow will be such a big day for him (and for us).  We enjoyed the whole affair, and it is hard to believe that he is really going to the big house!!

And…… as you can see from the picture (photo courtesy of Kara Cashen Awesome Photos of her Friends Unlimited ©2012 all rights reserved), we did manage to fit in our brake job, albeit partially in the dark.  What I can say however is that I ONLY HELPED……Steph changed the brakes!  I told her I would teach her, and she did great!  She then test drove her car around the neighborhood and was quite pleased!!  Her brake pads had worn all the way down and it was quite an accomplishment for her!  It was awesome!

But tomorrow is Ben’s first day, and I will be then scrambling to make up all that I promised I would do today!  I never enjoy falling behind, but I thank God for a memorable day!

Goodnight my friends and God Bless!

Tommy+

A few months ago, my doctor gave me some news that I really was not expecting…….he felt my stroke had damaged an area of my brain connected to my metabolism as we have tried about every option short of cutting off my legs to get this weight off…..nothing was really doing it.  It was both comforting and discouraging at the same time.  It was comforting in the sense that I had an answer that made some sense, and discouraging in the sense that I really would have liked an easier answer.

So, with that news, I was very to look at viable options for me short of pre-planning my nursing home care and funeral in anticipation for an early demise.  I am 70 pounds over my pre-stroke regular weight, and you just cannot make that work for decades.  Ideally, stimulants would be the best option, yet they are not an option for someone with a stroke in their history.  So needless to say, it has been a real physical and emotional beating trying to figure this out.

Ironically, that also seems to be the answer too.  If I am to recover fully I need a beating, and I am pleased to say that I have found such a beating at Indy Boot Camps.

Yes, although I am just one week in and quite often the first to die in these sessions, I am at it, it is working, and I am sore.  But more than that, it is jarring my memory to times of busting my tail like this for sports and enjoying the results.  I am in for a month, but if this works like I am seeing and feeling, it may need to be with for a long time.  As a young man, I remember wanting to be a “monster” and working towards that.  Now I am still a monster but just in personality!!  I want to get back and stay back!

So keep me in your prayers!  I would if I could…..but I can no longer put my hands together….I am so sore!!

Goodnight my friends and God Bless!

Tommy+

I have considered using this picture many times.  It is Ben, and he is pretty little, which is not the case any longer.  He will be heading to KINDERGARTEN this week!! And a lot of that preparation has made us long for, and remember him as this little guy.

Kids however, grow, and he has been no exception. He still has the giraffe, which was a gift from his brother and sister before he was born.  He keeps it in his room though, as most superheroes are not in need of stuffed giraffes too often.

He still of course is 5, and when he is not fighting crime we do see bursts of age appropriate behavior…. particularly at bedtime.  He will start with not wanting to sleep alone, to he is afraid of the dark, to he hears stuff, to the scary pumpkin (it is packed away in a box in the basement…a Halloween toy) scares him, to he is worried about us, to (generally and finally) he has leg cramps.  And nightly he just goes through the list hoping that something works or that he wears someone out.

Tonight however, I went to check on him as he hasn’t been in our room in quite some time, and I ran into Scott coming out of Ben’s room where he went in to say goodnight.  I asked him if he was asleep and he said no, and that Steph was in there.  Ben is a snake.  Steph was in there with him because Ben went to HER room and said he was scared….and he sucked her right into his sneaky world.   He is a pro for sure.

But the picture is of him when he was a newborn…cute and sweet.

Who would have thought that such a cute little baby would have everyone hopping some 5 years later to meet all his made up fearful needs?

Goodnight my friends and God Bless!

Tommy+

Well, I spent the day in Muncie at St. George’s training one of our Deacons, Kim Akers, about the Eucharist…..in all honesty, I think he gets it!  But if there is ONE THING I HAVE LEARNED, it’s that Open Houses are not very effective.  This Open House had ZERO attenders.

But in a ministry that has always been and remains ever-fluid, I am not really concerned.  In Greenfield as we planted we held “Informational Meetings” and offered “dessert and coffee,” and they WERE well-attended.  We just do things differently each time to see what happens and what we like.  BUT, the bottom line is this….we already have a CHURCH AND CAMPUS MINISTRY IN MUNCIE, and it will open whether people are there or not!!!

But the hard part, and the most DEFEATING PART of all was COOKIES!!!!  (AND LOTS OF THEM)……yes, despite not announcing desserts, we had them and half went home with me.  Now this would not normally be a problem, but I AM ON A DIET AND WANT THEM BADLY!!!!  But I am not complaining.  They are all still in my house and if I cannot take it, I will indeed gain 6000 pounds….but I believe I am going to be fine.  and that’s because I really do want to be thin.

So I will just set my sights on tomorrow and see what it will bring.  My hope is ANYTHING BUT COOKIES.  But in truth, I am on a diet, and I tend to be diluted!

Goodnight my friends and God Bless!

Tommy+

One of the coolest parts about tonight’s blog is that the picture is a graphic for a beverage company!  I love it, and just possibly will visit!!  Too cool for sure!!

BUT…….I do sincerely hope that my last Saturday with all my family here is better than my last Friday.  Scotty has been gone all day.  Amanda worked late.  And as I was mowing, Steph, Amanda and Ben (who had turned down a dinner invitation from me) all went to the Target (or Tar-gggjjay as my mom would say) without me.

Oh, not that I do not think that mowing is more fun with possibly the last few days I have EVERYBODY around and can do things.  Steph will head back to school, and then Scotty’s ship date is now November 5th.  Getting everybody together is going to be hard form now on and dang it, I WAS HUNGRY TOO!  I re-heated some soup I had made on Monday, and it was good, but I really am a bit focused upon my family suddenly scattering.

Sure, my lawn looks good, and I look good (mostly in my diluted mind) but this next week to me does not look good, because I always hate it!!!  I will say that I have been blessed this year to have Steph come home and everyone together, but she is a JUNIOR now and the clock is ticking.  I just need to focus upon enjoying this time that I supposedly DO HAVE IF IT WERE NOT FOR TARGET.

No, I am not bitter, really. My family just chose to shop there over dinner with me.  So tomorrow I will ask again……..but this time in a red polo and tan pants.  It just has to work!

Goodnight my friends and God Bless!

Tommy+

As a pretty serious fellow, I often find myself pondering the deep questions in life……..”Why am I here?”  “What’s my purpose in life?”  “Is this all there is to my life?”

But today I was out with Steph and Ben, who were fresh back from their trip to the Indiana State Fair (voted by Indiana residents as the “Best State Fair in Indiana” the last 23 years straight).  We were getting Steph’s oil changed (in her car) and had some time to kill, so we stopped at a couple of stores.

So imagine my surprise as I came upon a car, or what I believed to BE a car, being held together (no doubt) by a bumper sticker asking one of the most alluring questions in life.  Here it is below…….

In all honesty, I never really pondered it before.  Sure, I have heard and seen the “used to be popular” “What Would Jesus Do?” But as soon as people began attacking Christians (sans lions this time) that gave way to the recently popular “What Would Tim Tebow Do?”

In truth, people never really agreed on what Jesus would do, and I do honestly believe that Tim Tebow would probably just ask Jesus.  But in terms of something of which people would not and could not argue about, this one was clearly a winner.

And as we toured the Kohls, looking at stuff we could not afford to buy, Ben and I came upon this hat (which incidentally, we did not buy).  I took it as a sign that I ought to blog about this tonight.  I am sure Scooby would.  And I made sure it was okay…….as I called Tebow and asked him as well!

Goodnight my friends and God Bless!

Tommy+

Well, I THOUGHT I might have some pictures to post today of Stephanie and Ben’s excursion to the State Fair (ALWAYS capitalized in Indiana!!) but apparently I was not send a one.  So tonight’s picture is of Ben and Steph on vacation eating a smore together at a campfire.  (yes, she is wearing Ben’s Spiderman hat)  It is now also Steph’s profile picture on Facebook.

Steph has just about a week and a half here before she heads back to school.  But over the this break, she has been not just Ben’s big sister, but also “her brother’s keeper.”  Yep, it has been her summer job to take care of Ben.

And, it has been something they have both truly enjoyed.  All the kids are pretty tight, but each has a special relationship with the other.  Ben was devastated when Steph left for school last year, and this year we anticipate it being worse.  (And Steph gets pretty broken up about her littlest brother as well).

So today Ben and Steph (and Kara and Molly) took on the State Fair (it will even be capitalized when it is not going on…..this is Indiana!)  Ben said he saw a lot of animals and had a lot of fun.  But Steph’s junior year is looming as well as kindergarten for Ben.  Just a few more days left.

But in Indiana, there is no better way to enjoy them than hanging out at the State Fair…….

Goodnight my friends and God Bless!

Tommy+

I must confess, I have NO INTENTION of offending anyone, but I have had an extremely bad, or as they say “challenging” day.  I will not put you to sleep with all the details, but I will say that the “low-light” of my day is when I rubbed my eye and the stint I had put in in March CAME OUT!

Oh this would not be a problem had I known a way to get it back in place.  I did try, but at some point (see the picture) I decided that I could NOT get it back in, but I might be able to get it ALL OUT.  So I did what any other capable and smart guy would do…..I PULLED.

In retrospect, that was not such a good idea, since as my FACE seemed to follow the tugs, I discovered that the stint was LOOPED.  But since in a conversation with my doctor two months ago I discovered if it was not working it would be removed, I weighed my options.  1) I have two weeks left to the 3 month mark where it might be removed.  2) I had an appointment in two hours.  3) A trip to the ER to fix this or cut it out would be pricey, OR 4) I could cut it and pull it out for free and make my appointment and NO HARM NO FOUL.

So I chose option 4.  I cut it, pulled it out, called my doc (who will call me tomorrow) and ended the whole affair.  My eye, in time, will heal from me tugging on that stupid stint, and hopefully it will drain.  My doc will call me tomorrow and probably give me the prednisone drops he would have in two more weeks to keep the hole open…..we will see.

But as for now, I am “stint-less” and still a bit amazed. Hopefully tomorrow will be a better day!

Goodnight my friends and God Bless!

Tommy+