All posts by Fr Tom Tirman

Uncategorized

End of the rope……

I always wondered where the expression, “I am at the end of my rope” came from, but I am certain it does not matter…..I am at the end of my rope.

I think I just need some rest. There is just too much happening around me, and quite honestly I am not sure what to do with all of it. It is not that I am indecisive, or even incapable, it’s that it is just more than is healthy for me to deal with at the moment. PLUS, most of what is causing all this will wait for me (a lot of it will wait forever too!) So in the interest of health and even more importantly, sanity, I have decided to “let it ride”. (I think that is a gambling term, but I am not sure…….I have never been a gambler)
So I have set aside the day and hit the reset button as it were…..Dear Lord I hope it reboots! But the big part is setting things aside before they get out of control. I just need to regroup, reframe, and meet all of it with a fresh perspective in the morning.
At least that’s the plan!
Goodnight my friends and God Bless!
Tommy+
Uncategorized

Of potpourri and confusion……..

I had a long day, and it would have been a rough day if I did not have a sense of humor……or at least that is what I would like to believe.

I left this morning for St. Louis. Stephanie’s buddy Cassie (our second daughter) went home to Missouri a few weeks ago and I went to pick her back up today and bring her back to Indiana. It’s about 10 hours of driving, which seems long, but is something I enjoy.
The trip there was really uneventful. As regular readers know, I am weaning off some medicines and I wasn’t worried about this long a trip, but more curious as to how I would do. Even on meds, being tired or stressed can cause symptoms to arise……nothing like walking into a fountain or yelling at statues, this is stroke recovery, not college…but I digress.
Anyway I was quite proud by the half-way point. No runs, no hits, no errors as they say in baseball…..a real good day. But during the second half things went a bit awry. I made a couple of real Bozo-type turns despite having a Tom Tom. I then spoke to my wife on the phone who was irritated because she could no hear my on my hands-free phone, so I pulled into a gas station…..my low fuel light was on and talked to her while I pumped gas. Cassie went in to the bathrooms.
But after I pumped the gas I decided that I ought to go too, so I headed into the restroom. It was then that I got screwed up. First of all, this was a truck stop, and I wondered what kind when I saw the potpourri on the counter. The two, there were no urinals at all…..man was that confusing. I just didn’t understand. So when I went into the stall it was then I noticed the feminine hygiene thingys and was horrified. THANK GOD no one was in there! I ran right out and almost hit a guy heading into the men’s room across the hall.
NO POTPOURRI! I was safe, although he asked me how I liked the women’s room. I explained briefly about my stroke (not the meds) but then he confessed that he had done that same thing before. I thanked God right there for my brain injury (because that would have been my alibi for the police had I been caught in there!) otherwise I would have felt like a moron!
But we made it home with no further issues, or at least none that I can recall. Cassie thought it was hilarious, and that made me laugh……had I been alone it would have been frightening.
But I can see that this will be a challenge, but so far I am up to it….even after today. Tomorrow indeed will be another day!
Goodnight my friends and God Bless!
Tommy+
Uncategorized

Holes……

Well I am guessing that it may be Independence Day for procrastinators today, and I would join them if I were not so far behind. My predicament has not totally been in my control, and that has been a big part of the problem, but I hope to do a large bit of catching up in the morning. As I will have plenty of time to make calls!

I however have become an expert of digging out of holes over the years, despite being a guy who really likes to be ahead of the game. I am glad I have that skill, but would be happy to use it less. With 50 years under my belt in this life I guess I need to admit that I am going to have to cooperate with other people!
The good news is that this is not unfamiliar territory. AND, I expect by the end of the week I should be all caught up and prepared to fall behind at any time beyond that point too. Life is like the ocean, it is only completely still in pictures.
I however intend to ride the waves……
Goodnight my friends and God Bless!
Tommy+
Uncategorized

Happy 4th of July!

Happy 4th of July everyone! I am so proud to be an American, and I thank God for all the wonderful blessings He has bestowed upon this great land! I would like to say that I spent it eating hot dogs and potato salad, but alas, I spent it instead working on my truck.

The good news is that 1) it starts, 2) it runs, 3) it now has a wooden Hicksville bumper on it, and 4) it also had an almost completed wooden bed to cover the holes in the metal one (and they are plenty). The bad news is that the new sending unit does not tell us how much gasoline is in it. It does however send gas to the motor….which as I understand things is really more important.
But I am not at all worried as I will not be taking this truck cross-country or anywhere near that long of a trip. We will use it to move limbs and stuff out of the lawn and to get mulch and stuff like that. I do get a lot of looks driving it, and was getting ready to let Amanda know that it appears to be a real “chick-magnet,” but I think I probably need to get the muffler fixed first before I make such a pronouncement. It probably is just loud.
But the cool part is that it is mine. The dog likes riding in it, and I feel far more manly in it than when I drive my Matrix. (I did change the Matrix’s horn to make it sound less like a bicycle horn). I still have a lot to do on it, but for now I will just take it slow. It is just fun to tinker a bit. I am happy for the opportunity.
Off to bed to the sound of fireworks! Goodnight my friends and God Bless!
Tommy+
Uncategorized

Missed a trip I wanted to be on…..

Today I had to work, so I missed a trip put together by my father that I was invited to to go see my niece in Evansville. Amelia is the daughter of my sister Stephanie (Steph died in 2001) and I have not seen her in quite some time. BUT Steph and Scott, as well as my sister Anna, were able to make the trip yesterday.
I will say that the picture is NOT EVEN REMOTELY RECENT. Amelia is 16 now! But apparently everyone had a camera on their phone, but no one thought to take a picture. This is Amelia as a little kid! I am sure she has all her adult teeth and everything now!
But bothers me a great deal that I have not seen her, and of course that is my fault and not hers. I have been through the area a few times and always have visited my sister’s grave, yet it has always been spontaneous and not planned. I will not use that as an excuse, because it would be a poor one. But I will commit myself to doing a better job in the future. My nieces and nephews are great kids and I can do a better job. I love them all.
So I will take a look at when I can get to see them all. Two live in Virginia (Griff and Katie), two live in Utah (Kayla and Logan), and of course Amelia lives in Indiana. Maybe the next few months will find me doing a better job.
Goodnight my friends and God Bless!
Tommy+
Uncategorized

Truckin it……

The old gas tank straps are off the truck, and it took forever. The bolts clearly held out through three steel-bit saw blades and their resistance took away the rest of the daylight we had to work with. I need to get this truck running, because if I don’t soon I might as well buy 4 blocks to put it up on in the drive. It is an eyesore when not running. (It is a blurry one when it is)

But we may not have time to take on such a project until the 4th. With services tomorrow and the kids heading out of town to visit their cousin, it will make a two-man job too much. But of course nothing says 4th of July like waking up early and working on your old Ford truck! It will be a proud day I am sure.
The hard parts however are done and we will get it up and going. It has been fun for me. I not only get to do this with my son, but there is often the absence of tangible things in my vocation, so it is great to have a project to work on that I can see……particularly when I get to work that project with my son!
Goodnight my friends and God Bless!
Tommy+
Uncategorized

July 1st…..YEE HA!

Dear Lord, this post was up and then suddenly disappeared. But I will do my best to retype it as I remember.

But the very best thing I was able to do today was to REMOVE all the leftover birthday cake from Ben’s birthday and take it to the trash. There is no longer anything here in the house that calls my name like that stupid cake. Sadly however, that is all I remember from the post!
But it was also a day that Ben and I spent together. Cindy is still on vacation. AND, Amanda, Steph, and Scott were all working. The job fell to me…..as it had all this week. My job is a bit harder with a 4 year old in tow, particularly now that he asks me something detailed about Star Wars or the Transformers every 4.3 seconds. I always am wrong in my response (after all, he is his mother’s son) but he asks me nonetheless. And I intended to get onto some work that I could not have him talk through when we got back home, but he had exhausted me, so we took that nap together…..though I am sure I may have fallen asleep first.
So it is July 1st. No more cakes, some cookouts, but nothing too dangerous. I am glad it is here. I was beginning to believe I was going to need cake rehab.
Goodnight my friends and God Bless!
Tommy+
Uncategorized

Happy Birthday Ben………

Believe it or not, Ben is now FOUR! And until my phone is fixed I am counting on Steph for pictures, HOWEVER she always gets them up quicker to Facebook than I do! But who I am to complain? Pictures in this era are instantaneous. Pictures from my era were black and white and often hard to identify.

But there is no denying that this is our birthday boy. We took him for pizza and then to bowl (we live in Indiana where this is the law). It was a total blast, other than the pink ball for his picture. It was the lightest, but kind of reminded me of Barbie. But in all honesty, as time went on I began to use it as the heavier balls had either too small or too large of holes for my fingers. I would just palm the pink ball and roll…..it was not quite as manly an image as I wanted to project.
But Ben came home to cake and gifts and great time. The day had been a total adventure for him, and it was fun.
I will say however that it started out poorly. Ben woke up and refused to be four until someone gave him some cake. I told him it was not happening and then argued with him about that for close to an hour. We finally resolved it by offering to take him to pick out a gift with Scotty at the mall……but ONLY if he were four. Oddly enough he became so instantly. Problem solved.
So that’s the birthday report. It finishes a long line of Tirman birthdays, graduations, and cakes. It has been fun, and I am sorry to see them go. But I have a Biggest Loser competition to win, and the absence of all that cake it going to make it a lot easier!
Goodnight my friends and God Bless!
Tommy+
Uncategorized

Making it home…….

Sadly, when Amanda returned home tonight from her trip to Belgium she had with her gifts of chocolate, but NO waffles. It was great to see her anyway. But I was really wanting a waffle. I don’t know for sure, but maybe Belgium Waffles are really like French Fries…….having nothing to do with the country.

But the big thing is that Amanda got home, and more importantly, in time for Ben’s birthday tomorrow. He will be FOUR and with international travel, coming home just a few hours before the big day is cutting it close.
But we are all exhausted and with the blessed event in our sights, I must just give in and call it a day. Today was day one of weaning off my medicine and so far so good. I am just hopeful everyday goes as well.
Off to bed I go……sans Belgium Waffles.
Goodnight my friends and God Bless!
Tommy+
Uncategorized

A request of a serious kind…..

I am going to ask you this evening for your prayers. After over three years since my stroke, I finally came to the realization that the medicines I am taking are preventing me from losing weight….and in fact have been the reason I struggle with my weight.

This was confirmed today with my doctor, who is actually my NEW doctor, but the one who was the one to tell me I had the stroke. (My doctor then, his partner, was on vacation) But the bottom line was that I was 60 pounds lighter at the time, yet my activity level was the same. It is a glaring reality to me, yet the very idea of going off this medicine is frightening. I however, agreed with him…..we need to see if I can. After all, what’s the use of being sane if I die of a heart attack. I have been on this stuff for three years……we have no idea of what I will be like without it…other than thinner.
So please keep me in your prayers. To say I am not petrified about his would be an understatement…..but I begin to wean off the meds tomorrow. AND if all goes well I will be off ALL of them in 60 days….and thinner.
I personally believe it is worth the risk. I spoke to Amanda tonight from Belgium and she supports my decision. I have yet to reduce the does, yet it is already a hard road stress wise. Please keep us in your prayers. I intend to walk this road, and with God’s help I hope it is a good one!
Goodnight my friends and God Bless!
Tommy+