Tonight’s picture is our attempt as Brothers of the Order of St. Michael the Archangel to support our brothers and sisters in Greenwood, Indiana as they not only take part in “Senior Skip Day,” but also did so in TOGAS at the Bob Evans in Greenwood where we were meeting this morning.

You might think that this was the ONLY group of people in togas at the Bob Evans, but we ran into another group coming in as we were leaving.  We did not take a picture with them, but they were just as colorful and every bit as enthused.  My hope and prayer was that they had a GREAT DAY, as their willingness to pose with us made ours.

In addition to this, as I picked Ben up from school today I informed him that we might go over to Mounds State Park and buy a state park pass for the year.  I also mentioned that if we had time, we might take a short hike together, but we would need to avoid the bears. (There are no bears in Indiana outside of zoos).  So Ben replied how today might be a good time to give the bears a “day off” so he and I could hike in the woods…..as if hunting us would be their job.  So I told him it was a “good idea” and that we might just go….although we did not.

But now we are home, and Amanda is on a trip, and Ben has managed to entertain Steph and I all night.  No, he is not wearing a toga, but then again he is not a senior.

I just thank God for days like this though, because I could not make them up even in my most creative state.

Goodnight my friends and God Bless.

Tommy+

Although this is the first Mother’s Day without my mom and my grandmother, I was able to spend a good portion of the day with Amanda and the kids.  We got her a gift, went to the movies (The Avengers) and went to dinner as well.  It was a great time and we all enjoyed the day.

It was however, very different.  As long as I can remember, a portion of my day has been carved out to either visit or call (or both) my mom and grandma.  It feels uneasy to me to not hear their voices today, and that is despite my mom not being really with it these last few years.  I am sure they would both tell me  that it is what it is, and to focus upon the mom I live with here and the kids.  And I am sure of that because that is what I would probably say to them after I am gone.

But today I celebrate them both, and I celebrate my wife (hoping that she has had a good day.)  I admit that it makes me nervous that here at 11:15pm she is up packing.

She says it is a business trip tomorrow, but I am just gonna make sure by reviewing the day!

Happy Mother’s Day!

Goodnight my friends and God Bless!

Tommy+

Today my brother graduated from college.  Yep Butler, in my mind one of the finest universities in the country.  And although the graduation was this morning, tonight our family gathered together to celebrate for a dinner together.

It was for more than just Mike though.  Mike’s girlfriend Anna also graduated this morning and the picture is of them both together at the dinner.  It was a great time, and in addition to a wonderful dinner with wonderful people, it was pretty cool to see how happy they both were.  She is looking for a job as a teacher, and Mike will head to law school.  It was just an evening full of lots of joy!

And my Uncle Mickey and Aunt Judy, and my Uncle Al all came to attend the graduation festivities.  It was great to see them as well, and it reminded me of what an anomaly my brother is.  Mike was never thrown out, or dropped out of college.  Nor did he spend time on academic probation….he got great grades.  The norm for Tirman males has been just that though.  I wonder if my brother has finally broken the curse…..let’s hope so.

But instead of pondering what so many of us have thought was impossible, or asking my dad to check his DNA, I raise my glass to my brother Mike and his girlfriend Anna.  Congratulations to the both of you and thanks for the great day!

Goodnight my friends and God Bless!

Tommy+

If I just had a dollar for everyone who said how energetic and peppy I looked today I would have no money at all.  In fact, I looked pretty whooped all day, and in truth I was.  I really didn’t have an excuse for it, but coffee, soda, anything….none of it was keeping me awake.

But some days you have it and others you don’t, and despite not having it today, I do know my tomorrow will be excellent.  My brother Mike will graduate from Butler tomorrow, and my daughter should be home for the summer.  In addition to that, my Uncles Al and Mickey, as well as my Aunt Judy will be in town for the big event.  I will write more about it tomorrow, as it has yet to happen, and although we are all expecting it to go well I have to remember that Mike is a Tirman, and something can always go wrong.

I did however take Ben to the Walmart today and got him a batting tee.  I forgot to take some pictures but he hit pretty well and it appears he will bat “right-handed.”  I am using this picture from a few weeks ago in Missouri so you can see what he is hoping for for his birthday.

I also bought a set of Bocce Balls, which I was so very pleased to show my wife, as I thought it would be something we could all do together.  She of course replied, “we just had this conversation when you bought the other set of Bocce Balls a few weeks ago.”  Oh well, perhaps we will start a league.

But with that, I will call it a day.  Amanda is already asleep, Scott is out, and Ben is in here on my bed acting like I might not be noticing him.  Of course his feet jammed under me to keep them warm is hardly stealth.  Then again, this is just Ben and not some sort of Marine sniper.  I will just deal with it.

So here’s to an early morning tomorrow and a day of celebration and “awake-ness.”  At least that’s the plan.  I am looking forward to it too.

Goodnight my friends and God Bless!

Tommy+

One pretty uncool consequence of getting older is the myriad of embarrassing stories that one amasses  as they make their way through this maze we call everyday life.  All my days tend to run together anyway, and I often have to gauge things up against people who are close to my age, as I need to be aware whether it’s an age thing or a brain damage thing.

Such was the case this past weekend when I drove my wife’s car a couple of times.  I generally don’t unless we are on a trip of some kind.  But as I came out of the store, I thought my car had been stolen.  It hadn’t been, because my car was at home in the driveway.  But I didn’t see it anywhere.

Now I am certain regular readers have heard me say, “This ain’t my first rodeo,” and this too wasn’t.  Generally as a practice, when something like this happens to me, I do not panic, but I think “Hey, this is probably just me and it is a memory thing.”  So I then go through possibilities and on that day, one of them was that I might not be driving MY car.  So I started pushing the lock button on her key, and sure enough I heard a beep…….problem solved.

That’s why I try to blog each day at roughly the same time, park in the same places when I go somewhere (particularly places I go to a lot), and mostly why I am a priest (black shirt, black shoes, black socks, black pants…….I hardly ever go wrong).

But I say this, and I write it, as I am confessing that I am writing this on the morning of the 11th because I indeed forgot…..AND it has taken me quite some time to figure it out. (things like this are not my friends) But I WILL post and date this for yesterday, because if I do not it will confuse me tonight.  But for now I believe I am alright, or at least I think I am……who knows?  I better call my wife and let her tell me what I am so I do not get anymore confused!

Tommy+

I have very tragic news to report tonight.  Ben informed me this morning that he no longer wants to go to school.  He apparently will now not be heading to Kindergarten.  And when I asked why he told me that he was just tired of spelling and homework.  And as you can imagine, I am worried that this will make it a lot harder for him to enter med school.

But since I am hard of hearing, I dropped him off at school anyway….something that he appeared to forget when he came home.  He then spent his time playing in between multiple”time-outs” for not listening.  I did try and get him to spell a few things on a trip this evening to Menards, but he would have none of it.  He appears to have the attitude of a dropout before he has actually done it.

Tomorrow however will be another day.  I did check his room tonight for a leather jacket and some cigarettes…….I am glad to report that I think he is okay.  In truth, I think it all may have just been a bad Pop Tart or something.  I really think he likes school.

Only 13 more years to go before graduation!

Goodnight my friends and God Bless!

Tommy+

I have made it to my goal, although I have somewhat of mixed feelings about it, as Amanda is staying overnight in Indianapolis with both late meetings tonight and early meetings tomorrow.  It is Ben who is struggling with this, and it makes it far harder for me to shift gears into being “off work” for a short period of time.  He is really upset she is not here.

But I did get the opportunity to take him and his brother out for dinner tonight.  It is always such a pleasure and I am always struck at how it makes me want to pray for their two future wives….the poor girls.  But we talked about the Marines, and we also talked about all the strange stuff Ben wanted to bring up too.  My sons are pretty cool to hang out with, and their world is getting ready to change as Steph should be home for the summer on Saturday.

But now we are home and although Ben has school at 8, I will be working from home tomorrow and trying to take it easy.  I have been going non-stop for quite some time and need to rest a bit and recharge.  Of course rest means mowing and a few other things around here too, but that really does relax me.  I am just glad to get to this point.

I voted, I am home, and I am ready to just plug in and recharge.

I just pray it works!

Goodnight my friends and God Bless!

Tommy+

Although these last few days are beginning to catch up to me, I intend to make it to the finish line, which should be sometime tomorrow afternoon.  Two more priests, who are also good friends, showed up for the meeting that we held today and will conclude tomorrow.  And in an attempt to show them a bit of Indiana culture, I did not play basketball with them but did make sure that their dinner was some good ol Indiana Pizza King.

It has been a really good time, and it has been a very fruitful time as well.  But I can say that I am clearly not made to sit and not move around that long.  That kind of thing I find pretty challenging.  I always think of what I once heard about sharks and how they need to always keep moving.  Sometimes I feel just like that, and if I sit for too long it kind of messes me up.

But I hope to have plenty of “get up and go” tomorrow.  It too will be a long day, but the end is already in sight.  And I intend to make it……….if only I had the energy of Ben!!

Goodnight (yawn) my friends and God Bless!

Tommy+  

Today I was able to be more of an observer in two of our churches, as we had a consultant here with us and plenty of clergy already assigned.  It was actually a real blessing to be able to see everything from a perspective I never get to see.

It made me think about the decision we made to plant the first church a little over 5 years ago.  And as I thought about it, I realized that a whole lot of people all over the central part of the state we worshipping together today all because of that first decision we made.  Some of the works we still staff and some are now on their own, but connected to us still through the Anglican Church, but all of them trace their roots to a small group of people who first chose to say “yes” to God when He called.

And of course we have been doing that ever since, but we would admit that we have been a bit slow to plant another church.  We will be taking care of that soon.  But for today I just am thankful for all that we have done.  It was a gift to see……I truly am blessed to work with some remarkable people.

Goodnight my friends and God Bless.

Tommy+

We have a consultant in town……the Reverend Canon Ron McCray.  Ron is a great guy and a good friend, and he came a day early as we (the members of the OSM here in Indiana) just happen to enjoy gathering together for a little shooting on the range.

So that’s what we did today.  We gathered together in Nashville and shot at some targets.  It was pretty fun, and no one was harmed in the destruction of targets in Nashville.  But it is always a great bonding time.  Ron had blast too (puns are not lost on me) and we ended the day with lunch at “The Holy Cow,” which seems to have nothing to do with religion OR bovines, but it does have good food.

And Ron came up a day early to do just this…….go on our adventure day together.  We were glad he came.  We are a serious bunch with a serious ministry.  It is just nice to be able to unwind sometimes and do something fun…..particularly with good friends.

Sorry about the picture.  We DID take some, but they are on Father Robert’s phone……I will try to get them tomorrow.

Goodnight my friends and God Bless!

Tommy+