I saw this tonight and it cracked me up.  I had to find something as I was typing my blog here in my bed, and Amanda actually vetoed my picture for tonight.  Why she didn’t want a picture of her and Ben asleep with their mouths open in the car on the way home from the airport, I do not know.  Some people just are so very selfish……

But the picture is from a gift shop in Washington DC.  I would like to say that they are both okay now, but as you read posts about their little brother, you can see that the “moron gene” is strong.  Having them all around this week is a hoot too.  They are funny in all combinations, but it is the best to see them all interact together.

I used to remember sitting with my grandparents at family functions and seeing the insanity, I would remind them that ultimately they were responsible for the entire mess.  Now that they are gone, I need to confess that I still blame them!   You see, the kids really are not morons, at least most of the time, but they are instead the descendants of some pretty amazing people.  And for me, that makes it all the better.

So an old picture it is.  If however you want to see the other picture, send me a note.  After all, I have never ever been in trouble before……….bwhahahaha…..!!!

Goodnight my friends and God Bless!

Tommy+

Yes, I know I am a priest.  And yes, I know that Easter is less than two weeks away (meaning also that Holy Week is coming as well….it is not my first rodeo).  BUT……..Ben is on break next week, Stephanie is as well and is home, and the weather is beautiful!  I know I am busy, but I intend to enjoy it, at least for a short while, while I can!

I even got my wife out into the yard for a time today and shared with her all of my “cool” ideas for the yard……none of which we it appears will be doing.  But the great part is that we will all be together for a week and can at least get SOME stuff done.   I am not under any delusions that times like these with all of us here will be few and far between in the future.  After I left for school, I cannot remember that many times when my whole family was together in one place for more than an hour or two.  Now of course many of them are working out of “the home office” as we say in the priest-business, so to get what I will get with them like I will have this week with all my kids, is going to require my departure for heaven at some point….with the Las Vegas odds boards still betting against me!

But at this point I am just thankful for the week ahead.  I didn’t even know that Steph was coming home till a few days ago.  Yeah, they act like I should have known.  And they play on me thinking that they told me but because of the stroke I forgot.  But in all honesty they just didn’t tell me.

Yep, I am the dad…..the last to know.  But who cares?  My week is going to be wonderful, and I can hardly wait!

Goodnight my friends and God Bless!

Tommy+

Today I wrote a check to the plumbers for all the hard work they have done.  Had the excavating company done their job correctly, the plumbers would not have had to work nearly as hard, but they are a very reputable company, and did really about twice as much work as they should have had to do.  They will be out again to hook up and plumb the bathroom after it is done, and then again ANYTIME I need a plumber.  They have earned a customer for life.

But Steph will be coming home tomorrow for Spring Break, and when we talked tonight, she agreed to be my contractor for the bathroom.  We have two walls to build, electrical to install, drywall to hang and finish, a door, and paint…….all between Tuesday and Saturday.  It is not a new thing for us, and now that she is 20 she may be even better at it.  When we refinished our basement in our other house she was a big help, but half as old.  She is, I am certain, more expensive now.

But it will be a hoot for sure.  She and Ben are both on break, and I am sure he will be in the mix.  I am just thankful to have the opportunities with them and then the memories.  Yes, I will miss my new plumber friends, but I will gain a pretty familiar construction crew.  And in all honesty, it makes all the difference.

Goodnight my friends and God Bless!

Tommy+

I have to admit he is highly motivated, although I am sure you would not have guessed it by looking at his picture taken only moments ago. You see, his mom is landing at the airport tonight at around 10:40 pm and he was quite put off, angry in fact, that I told him he would not be going.  He would be staying home with his brother and going to bed.  Tomorrow, after all, is a school day.

But Ben is a thinker and a kid who would totally throw anyone under the bus to see his mom…..including me.  He HATES naps, but he offered to take one after dinner so he would be well-rested enough to not only head to the airport, but to be up and awake for school tomorrow as well.  It was not my first choice by any means, but he is a complainer about such things and relentless.  My belief (acquired from prior experience with him) is that he would stay here whining and crying about how unfair I was to his brother, making it impossible for Scott…..AND he would make sure he stayed up to see her anyway…..to TATTLE ON ME for how mean I am.  Not that I am mean, but my belief (acquired from prior experience with him) is that his mom would see him as a victim, and I would not only be overly tired and grouchy from dealing with him, but in trouble in some way (also acquired from prior experience with him).

So he will be getting up in a minute and I will be taking him for an hour drive to the airport during which he will talk non-stop (generally about Transformers).  He will then get his mom at the airport and the lovefest will begin.  We will get in the car and he will talk for yet another hour (generally repeating the very same Transformers stories we heard on the way TO the airport).

Of course I cannot complain.  I entered into this life of my own freewill!

Goodnight my friends and God Bless!

I feel like I am treading water but way too fast!  I am accomplishing tons, yet I am not getting anywhere!  I have so many calls to make tomorrow that I am not really sure if I can make them all.  I will however, try.  And the day will end after midnight as I will be picking Amanda up after 11.

What can a guy do?  Just keep at it is my plan.  I am still very tired and I have moved some things away from the day tomorrow, but I have my doubts.  I plan on starting early though, and should make a good dent (if there is such a thing) on all of it.

The best news is that the plumbers should be completed tomorrow!!!  Not that I will enjoy writing them a check, but it will be nice for them to move to other jobs and it will be nice for us to get back to our normal lives.  I will say however, if you EVER need a plumber, Paul Delmolino and his crew are really the best plumbers I have ever worked with.  I really do like them, although I hope to not need them again until the next remodeling thing.  But they were rated very high on Angie’s List and will be getting another high rating from me.  Honestly, they are all great guys and I will miss chatting with them.

So here on my last night of freedom I have decided to get all crazy and GO TO BED.  I know, don’t hurt yourself Tom.  But the days are running together right now and Easter is still right around the corner.  I need to make sure that I at least make it!

Goodnight my friends and God Bless!

Tommy+

I really cannot express how very tired I am.  I seem to be awake, and able to get things done that I need to do, but I am clearly beyond where I need to be.  I hope I feel different in the morning.

Well it APPEARS I will be surviving this one, as will my wife.  Everyone is now in the land of the living, and just in time to head to the airport early tomorrow morning for the return flight to Utah.  Amanda will also be heading out tomorrow, but not to Utah…..to Texas for a meeting till late Thursday.  It is work for Amanda, but Rhonda’s vacation was marred by the flu!  I am recommending she fire her travel agent.

As for me, I met the flooring guy and the plumbers, who will be here tomorrow to finish everything up.  The flooring guy will come back next Monday, and that gives me a little time.  I spent a lot of today framing up part of the new bathroom, and quite a few other things as well.  We also were finally able to celebrate my niece’s birthday, though almost all of them just ate chicken soup.  I was glad we were able to  though.  She will be eight in a little over a week, and it was important.  I have missed her a lot, as we were very close, and I was saddened that she was in bed a lot of the time sick.  But it was great to see her smiling and opening a few presents.  Uncle Tom snuck over to the DQ too and got her an ice cream cake, because she deserved one.  I will miss her, her mom, and her brother when they leave.  As for my wife……I will enjoy three days of not being wrong!!!!!

So for now I will end this season of family and flu…….. I am glad Amanda and I did not get it, and I will look forward to the next visit with all of them that I will make up for all this lost time.  I love them all, and although it has not turned out like any of us had hoped, it was great to be a big family again.  I am thankful for that for sure!

Goodnight my friends and God Bless!

Tommy+

This has been the vacation from hell for my sister-in-law Rhonda.  Her 1 year old Logan, and Ben got the flu on Friday and bad…….her daughter Kayla got it right after attending the ordination yesterday and bad……Rhonda then got it herself, yep bad, last night, and Scotty finished playing for St. Patrick’s service today and then got it as well……bad.

I am now home.  Amanda has taken care of them all and I have helped when I have been around.  She talked to her dad today and guess what?  Yep, he has the flu, and bad…..Amanda is worried as she is beginning to feel a bit queasy.  In time, we may be down to just one………  (Sadly, on a side note, I just talked to Steph who was getting ready to board a plane in Colorado to return to Missouri after two big wins…..she is not feeling well….but that is unconnected to the plague going around here…..just ironic)

I however have made it past where I needed to be…..so I will be fine either way.   I am just glad to be home and available to help as needed.  I just want to see them all on the mend.  Right now however, it is truly a war zone. (Tonight’s picture is an old one too!  No one let’s you take their picture when they feel like hell…..that only happens in reality TV, which this ain’t!!)

So keep them all in your prayers. This was not what Amanda and Rhonda envisioned when they planned this time together.  I only hope tomorrow is a better day for them all.

Goodnight my friends and God Bless!

Tommy+

Well it was a great day, in that Brother Robert Jennings was ordained a priest today, and for that I am so very thankful.  Robert is not only a fine young man, but a great friend and brother in faith.  He is a fine man, and will be an exceptional priest.  It was a great service and a a wonderful celebration!

Of course you may be able to tell that I was able to make it!  And although my niece is now sick, all the adults, so far, seem okay.  Thanks to her sister Rhonda, Amanda was able to make the service, and that was a real blessing.  They both have had a lot more exposure to this kids though since I have been working, so please keep them in your prayers….actually keep all of us there, particularly the kids.

But today was a big goal I was worried about not being able to be a part of, but I am thankful for the opportunity.  I have one more day to go, tomorrow, that I need to be fine for until at least 6pm.  After that, it really does not matter, although my preference is to be feeling great all the time for at least the next 50 years.

Time will tell, but I am just thankful that today was a glorious day!

Goodnight my friends and God Bless!

Tommy+

Oh it is not as if we have anything going on here, like a family visit, the Bishop coming in tomorrow for an ordination in the afternoon that I have a role in, and him attending another service on Sunday.  Or even the little get together we had planned for him tomorrow night in our home.  Or the fact that on Sunday I just need to be in Nashville in the morning and Louisville in the afternoon…..plus, at some point I need to rough in a wall before Monday morning……so two kids puking multiple times (Ben and his cousin Logan) doesn’t worry me at all.  I am really used to contingency plans.

The good part is that for now all the grossness appears to have taken a break.  No one has been sick for about an hour, and in all honesty I will not be disappointed at all if that mess was all we see.

I will say that timing is everything, and we were very fortunate to be able to watch Steph’s game in its entirety via our computer and broadcast from the college they played this afternoon in Michigan.  They won, and Steph played great, and it was pretty cool to get to watch her on TV.  We had a little chat later (via text) and after I had completed my hospital work here at the house.  She and the team will board a plane in the morning for games in Colorado beginning Sunday.

For now however, I will just take some time to catch my breath.  I have A LOT to do before tomorrow and things need to fall into place just right now for them all to happen like I want.  We have moved the get together away from the house, as it would be pretty irresponsible to say, “Hey, come on over and risk being sick!”  So the beginning of a contingency plan is in place.  So far, just one part is being used.

Pray that it is the only part we need.

Goodnight my friends and God Bless!

Tommy+