Tonight’s picture is one that returned with the crew from Kansas.  Yes, it is probably staged……I am sure they were miserable without me…..at least that is what they told me. But I suspect that they just may be patronizing me.  I will pretend however that I was constantly in their thoughts.

That is hard to do though, particularly considering that I was told that Ben woke up crying this morning knowing he was going to have to leave his grandparents and come home.  I seriously doubt that this was for show, yet I must confess I have not ever seen it before…..particularly as it relates to me.  Me: “Daddy is going on a trip.”  Ben: “Okay Daddy, bring me something.”  Me: “Okay”

I did however have some fun upon his arrival.  I asked him where he had been.  He said in Kansas visiting Nanny and Grandpa, and I said “Well that explains it…..we have been looking for you for days.”  He was absolutely fascinated that I didn’t know, and that was despite talking to him on the phone a few times too.  As you can tell he is “center of the target” focused on me.  It is good to have him back.

Well at least it is good to have him back part of the time.  He brought back all his multiple superhero and evil villain personalities too. Quite a few of them made appearances in the couple of hours before bed.

So things are well on their way back to normal.  And for it, I am quite thankful.

Goodnight my friends and God Bless!

Tommy+

Tonight I was hoping to get over to my dad’s to a celebration for my brother Mike, who leaves for law school in just a few days in Minnesota.  That’s right, he too will enter into a profession like mine that was once considered noble before all the dirt balls ruined it for all of us.  Unlike me, however, Mike will probably improve the reputation of lawyers!! (As some of my cousins have over the years as well.)

He follows our grandfather, my dad’s dad, who died before Mike was born, but who was an attorney.  I have no memory of him, but I do have a picture of me sitting on his lap as a baby.  Rumor has it that I peed in my diaper and he threatened to take me to court.  Yes, I just made that up, but I do understand that much of the twisted Tirman sense of humor you see in my blog, and in my children, and in most of those who bear his DNA can really be traced to him.  It was a shame he died so young.  I imagine I would be much further along had I grown up with him.

But regardless of all the warning signs, Mike will become an attorney, and I am certain a good one too. I will catch him before he goes and my family will too.  Time are a-changing as they say.  I am just glad that I am keeping up.

Goodnight my friends and God Bless!

Tommy+

Communication, I hear at least, is essential in a marriage.  And that is why tonight I must confess that this is on my mind as I asked my wife what time she would be home from Kansas tomorrow.  Her answer?  “We are coming home Monday, remember?”  Oh yeah, sure I do, because as a husband, and like all husbands, I am committed to the theory, excuse me I mean concept, of listening.

But as a person who serves in a vocation where listening is so very important, this intrigued me.  For instance, how is it that I hear every bit of detail in my clergy meeting this morning, but miss something like this?  And more importantly…..1) does she know this, 2) is she irritated by this, and 3) how can I blame this on my stroke or old age?

But tonight I had an unlikely ally, and that was my son Ben.  Amanda and everyone was out at the lodge where they had all been staying together, but Ben went home with his Nanny to spend the night saying, “Don’t worry mommy, I will be back in the morning.”  A true natural distraction and gift!!

But she was a bit wounded by it and I understand why.  Ben is TOTALLY dedicated to her, and only has interest in the rest of us when he needs a new nemesis, or like the older kids needs money.  He chooses NOT ME ALL THE TIME……but this was a first for her.  What she failed to see however in the woman who raised her was the “grandma factor,” which children almost always gravitate to in time.

But as for me, I will rejoice, not in the distraction from my mistakes and shortcomings in listening, but in the reality.

That’s right…….Scotty and I now have 24 extra hours to clean the house, and of course wash Amanda’s blanket.  Viper misses her and pulled it off our bed to sleep on!

Goodnight my friends and God Bless!

Tommy+

Talk about being torn.  I have had a marvelous and productive day and was looking at an early bedtime when on the TV I ran into AMC and a John Wayne Marathon!  And with an early start in the morning tomorrow the tension was really getting high.

So I thought about it for………okay, I really didn’t think about it at all.  The movie was “El Dorado,” with James Caan and Robert Mitchum, and it went an hour later than I thought it would.  And of course the first few minutes of “Cahill, US Marshal” made me consider if sleep was even needed at all.

But alas, I am in bed and wondering how many bad guys the Duke is reigning in while I am typing and pondering sleep. But in all honesty, I know the answer……..ALL OF THEM.

All I can say is that I hope and pray I dream about some of this stuff tonight.  Sure I will be tired in the morning from riding the range with the Duke.  But it would be worth it!  John Wayne was not just a great American hero, he was one of my personal heroes as well.

What a gift to get to watch him tonight!  Rest in peace Duke!

Goodnight my friends and God Bless!

Tommy+

I got an email this morning from a reader who was a bit disappointed in my post.  The station wagon from “National Lampoon’s Vacation” was the picture, but my post was more of a reporting than a writing, and he said that I was really more on my game when I was wry (which I had to look up)…….but in all honesty, he was right.

For regular readers, you know that my primary reason for writing this blog is discipline and daily therapy from the stroke I suffered in 2008 (my daughter and wife will let me know if that is right because I have screwed the 2008 date up before).  But in all honesty, although I DO USE as daily THERAPY, is often has become a chore rather for me rather than a therapy session.  I do it because I feel the need to have to, BUT I also need to confess that when I am being actually WRY (see above) I feel far more satisfied.  In other words, the reporting has little to no therapeutic value for me…..it is h=just doing for the sake of doing.

So as I have processed this ALL DAY, I have come to understand that this blog is more than therapy for me.  I originally wanted to blog about the injustice and immorality that I was attempting to battle in this world……but in the end, I have come to the conclusion that I can post anything at this stage of my recovery, but it would be no more than obligatory fulfillment of the minimum agreement I have made for myself.  It an easy task, not challenging in the least, and only pressured by the restraints of my time. And I will share that I have thought about this most of the day!!

So yes, yesterday’s post COULD HAVE BEEN FUNNY……after all, Clark Griswald and I live truly parallel lives, other than the fact that in real life Chevy Chase is a lunatic liberal.  But yesterday’s post was not funny, yet if there were ever an award in blogdom for mediocrity, I may have been a contender!  It was just a picture to go along with the word “vacation,” of which I was, and am still not, on.

In the future however, I want to change my blog.  It started as a blog about the injustice of the Episcopal Church, which I still think is VERY unjust….that’s a lie….they are like honor’s students for immorality, but beyond that, I just want to be relevant!

It is just too bad that I do not know what relevant means…..

Goodnight my friends and God Bless!

Tommy+

Well my wife, Steph, and Ben (along with Steph’s friend Celeste) are in Kansas visiting the people who I USED to call Amanda’s parents, but we will now call for the sake of honesty, Ben’s grandparents.  Scotty, who I swore was staying home with me over the next few days is not home, but he is not home and it is 20 minutes until tomorrow.  Viper and Puddy are my constant friends, but beggars cannot be choosers…..they are all that I have!

And I spoke with all the Tirmans in Kansas just a few hours ago.  It is never a good conversation.  When you are on vacation you really never want to remember that old boring place you will need to return to.  Only my niece Kayla, who is rooming out there with Ben, seemed interested in talking with me….at least for a few minutes.

But in all honesty, I really do not mind being alone anywhere.  I know most people who know me would define me as an extrovert, but in all honesty, I am more of an introvert.  I enjoy the solitude, and tonight I have it, or at least I have it as much as you can when you are rooming with a dog with a stuffed squirrel.  It will be a good night’s sleep with no wake up time scheduled, although I am sure it will be early.

AND, I stayed IN TOWN today for the most part and got some things done around here.  It has been “sort of” a restful day.  And I hope that tomorrow may be as restful as well!!!

Goodnight my friends and God Bless!

Tommy+

Well Ben is now officially registered for kindergarten at Lapel Elementary School, something I am SURE you can see in the quality picture I have posted tonight.  Steph, Amanda, and Ben are in the picture, and Ben is wearing his first “Lapel Bulldog” shirt.  And unlike where I grew up where the mascot changed at each school, in Lapel he will be a bulldog all the way through graduation.

We had hoped to be able to see his classroom and meet his teacher today, but that has yet to be assigned.  We still took the opportunity however to celebrate.  It is a big thing for him and us.  I am just happy that both Steph and Scott will be home to be able to see him on that first official day.

But that’s really all the news I have tonight.  Amanda, Steph, and Ben (along with Celeste!!) are leaving for Kansas at 5am…..and driving.  So the clock is set, and I am out of energy!  I did however want to share the big news!

Goodnight my friends and God Bless!

Tommy+

When things get into the “zone,” it is just amazing at all that gets done.  I got home this evening after 11pm, and would have been later had not Amanda and Ben come up to help me at St. George’s (okay, they both came but only one really helped).  We were able to get the refrigerator cleaned up, installed and on.  We also got the sink into the kitchen area, plumbed and working as well.

Since Amanda, Steph, and Ben are leaving very early Wednesday morning for Kansas, Amanda wanted to come and scope out some decorating ideas for the church.  She and PT’s wife Jewel are generally the ones who do that work, not because we are chauvinistic in any way shape or form, but it’s because they both feel that PT and I are morons in terms of decorating.  She has just tomorrow to finish too, as Saturday we are hosting an Open House there for the public.

But things are truly flying along……at the speed of light (okay, perhaps a bit slower than that).  But it’s all looking good and for that I am very thankful!!

Goodnight my friends and God Bless!

Tommy+

My plans today went a little south, as I was under the impression that Steph and Ben were going to the State Fair tonight as Amanda had to be there for work.  I figured I would pick up some things I needed to finish some things at St. George’s Muncie and could get them accomplished without any time restraints.   As it turns out, I will be doing them tomorrow.

Steph and Ben never went to the fair, so Ben was with me for at least the shopping portion of my day.  I got the majority of the stuff I needed, and even considered heading up to do some work, but Amanda finished her work and was heading “home,” but asked if we wanted to “meet” her at the ice cream shop in Lapel.

Of course saying no to such an invitation with a 5 year old in the car is never going to work…..nor would driving past the house when your 20 year old daughter, who would eat a free ice cream, is just sitting there watching the Olympics.  So we picked her up and headed for our rendezvous….it was a smashing success too.

Tonight’s picture is of the three of them deciding what they want.  It was fun to watch.  And we ate our ice cream at the table then, listening not to a superhero tonight, but to Ben explain how he was now 21, married and has a son who will be 5 tomorrow.  

I think he is making it up, but who cares?  Everyone had ice cream!

Goodnight my friends and God Bless!

Tommy+

Of course with PT injured and Scotty doing something with the Marines, I was in desperate need of some help to pick up and deliver the used refrigerator we purchased for St. George’s.  So, as I explored my options, I came to the conclusion that my best bet would be the finely tuned college athlete who lives with us (my daughter Stephanie) and Molly, Scotty’s girlfriend, who is really not afraid of him at all.  And I figured that would be a pretty awesome crew.

And in fact, I was MORE THAN RIGHT.  It turned out to be most probably the easiest move of anything that I have had in my entire life.  They had fun, were very matter of fact about getting it done, and were quite surprised at the end that we were finished.  My only regret was that I had nothing else to move.

But it really signified something that happens at most of the churches that we plant.  People come in to help (our family always does) who may not attend there at all in the future.  They do it because they believe in what we are doing.  And that type of personal (and mostly nameless) gift is contagious.  It was a pretty cool afternoon, and I was blessed to be a part!

So tomorrow I will return to St. George’s and finish the kitchen in the afternoon.  Then there will be very little more to do.  Our first Open House is a week from today from 1-4pm.  I can hardly wait!!

Goodnight my friends and God Bless!

Tommy+