I was on my way to Peoria, Illinois where we will be planting a church over the summer when I wrote my blog last night from a hotel in Bloomington, Illinois (where I also intend to plant a church). I had forgotten my sleep apnea machine, which I need not because I have had a stroke, but because I do not want another, after all, I have sleep apnea….and mine is pretty severe, particularly post-stroke.

As a matter of fact, I do not have a C-PAP machine, I have what is called a Bi-PAP. A Bi-PAP machine looks almost identical to a C-PAP, but a Bi-PAP machine cuts down the pressure when you exhale, and is made for people like me who need the pressure of an F-16 to keep their airways open. But I have a real and evident handicap in all of this, in that I AM A GUY, and I was too stubborn to turn around and drive back and get it. In retrospect that was a mistake.

I was actually up most of the night, not because I couldn’t sleep, but because I was waking myself up constantly. I have a high prescription for air pressure, and without it I am apparently toast. I was not only miserable all night long, which was not the purpose of going out the night before today’s meetings (rest and being sharp was) I also woke up with a terrible sore throat from apparently gasping for air! My good friend Pastor Connie Thomson wrote me this morning on Facebook wanting to know, as Paul Harvey used to say, “The Rest of the Story,” which I replied that I had indeed survived the night……but there were times I wondered if that were indeed the best thing.

I am back home now, with Ben in my bed talking his brains out to me, and Amanda passed out from exhaustion on the other side. The big news is that my machine is next to me and ready to go. When I had my sleep studies they told me I had probably not entered real sleep in years. I can tell it has been a couple of days…..I will resolve that problem in just a second.

Goodnight my friends and God Bless.

Tommy+

One of the things I have come to grips with is my ability to do things I used to do when I was younger, and how I do them as a bit older, and especially post stroke.

As an example, when my Monday meeting was scheduled for a hotel conference room by O’Hare in Chicago, I made the decision to fly. Driving back and forth in the same day would make the day close to 20+ hours of concentration, which I can certainly do if I am not doing anything like DRIVING in heavy traffic during the latter part. But the reality is that I would have not been my best after the long drive, nor would I have done well on the way home. Trips like that usually end up seeing me sleep for about 24 hours straight after I get home. So all this is to say that flying was the best choice.

But even with that I was home just before midnight and exhausted. I made myself get up and get things done all day. I then packed, and drove to a JV game in Indianapolis that we won handily (24-7) and then headed to first Champaign, and then Bloomington, Illinois to scout locations to plant churches. I meet the Bishop in the morning at 11 in Peoria to meet with some people helping to plant there. He and I will then drive back to Indiana where he will stay the night at our house before leaving Thursday.

But in all the confusion and busy-ness, I left without my apnea machine. It is the first night I have ever been without it post-stroke, and I have it quite simply so I will not have another. AND it unnerves me to be thinking about sleeping without it. My prescription is quite high, and though it seems odd to say that I sleep with a pretty strong stream of air being pumped into me, in reality it is true….and I worry about not having it. I cause myself to wake up about every minute (I am considered severe) so the morning will be the judge. If I have a rough night, I will not dream and will be exhausted. But if I am not dead, I suppose I will consider it a victory!

So off to bed I go! Actually I am already there. I need the air, but will not miss the mask. I usually wear it every night and tell Amanda that I look like an astronaut, though she is not buying it. I just hope and pray I do okay. Keep me in your prayers…..it really does make me nervous.

Goodnight from the Comfort Suites in Bloomington, Illinois and God Bless!

Tommy+

Okay, in retrospect it probably wasn’t a good idea, but as my wife would tell you, many of mine aren’t anyway. You see, I have been in Chicago all day where I flew to attend a meeting with our bishop and other leaders from our region who are all pretty great guys……two of whom I probably should apologize to in this blog for potentially getting us arrested in an international gate.

You see, three of us, Fr. Boysel, Fr. Kannapell and myself, rode the shuttle back to the airport after our meeting, went through security, and with about an hour till the first one’s flight decided to get a beer (of course I don’t drink beer, so I had a wine) and because there were no seats in the restaurant, they gave us “to go” cups (after all it is Chicago) and we walked just a few feet to the adjacent international gate to sit and talk.

But that’s when I saw her, and my oh my was she beautiful. It wasn’t that I had been away from home since 5 in the morning, or because I was lonely or tired, it was that she was cute, playful, and a girl in uniform. Who could resist? And that’s why I snapped a picture of her with my cell phone.

Of course that was what attracted the attention of the DEA officers. Did you know that it is illegal to snap a picture of them? But that cutie was THEIR DOG, who apparently just got done sweeping the plane heading to Germany, (so she was not only cute, but a specialist) but the picture also captured her handler and the officers around them, so I was told to produce my phone, display the pictures, and then erase it in front of the officer, which I promptly did. Three priests, a drink for each, and an illegal picture of a dog would have certainly made a great jail house story, and a pretty good joke, but because Fr. Joe’s flight was drawing near I made sure I did what I was asked.

The good news is that DEA agents, like most of the fine men and women who stand in harm’s way on our behalf, are pretty great folks, and this group was no exception. I was allowed to take a picture of the dog, which was all I wanted in the first place, but the other agents kept blocking the shots. So she posed, and I made sure she was the only one in the shot. And then I cropped it again at home, twice, to make sure I didn’t violate federal law. These folks are not just law enforcement, but they are heroes too, and they will always get my respect.

Goodnight from home my friends and God Bless!

Tommy+

My kids are weirdos, all of them, and sadly for them I have the pictures to prove it. (see photo evidence) Every time I see them acting all mature (Stephanie and Scott) I think, “wow, this is the very same kid I have the incriminating weirdo pictures of.” Of course Stephanie and Scott have had it easier. Ben, like tonight in the picture, is often blog-fodder. The older kids were not as truthfully exposed due to the lack of an appropriate medium.

What I want to assure you of however is that deep down they are all the same. Even Stephanie, in all her seriousness and academic prowess, has the deep dark blessing of the Tirman sense of humor and weirdness. You see to us Tirmans it is really a badge of honor, a genetic marker of our DNA, and it is what makes being a Tirman such a blast. There is no time I laugh harder than around my family.

With that, I should say that many people have asked me about my diet, and though I thought about it, at the last minute decided to post this picture rather than the one of me shirtless in a cowboy hat. They really look kind of the same, but my hat is nicer and diaper is not as small, but so you know I am still at the diet and about half way to my goal.

Anyway, the youngest Tirman cowboy is ready for his bath. He has been walking around with his feet in two plastic fish bowls telling us they are really ice skates, but we know better because Steph already tried to fool us with that trick just last week. But I will finish up so I can send him off skating towards the tub. I have a flight for Chicago that I need to leave the house at 5am to make, and I would like to send him to bed smelling great rather than stinky. Cowboys can be fun, and Amanda loves hers, but she will love him more smelling like baby shampoo. Let’s just hope we can get that fish smell off his feet.

Goodnight my friends and God Bless!

Tommy+

Today, the day after prom, we went u to Culver Academy to play the undefeated Culver Eagles…..who incidentally remained undefeated all day. It was a day that we just did not have it, and although we could hardly get a call going our way, in sports that really doesn’t matter…..you play the hand you are dealt. And we were dealt a loss.

We entered the game 4th in the state, and have been going up and down all week as games are reported. The number one team we lost to earlier by just 1 goal, our only loss up till today, and to be honest I was certain we had a pretty good chance. We immediately went up by two, but began to fall apart as son as they started scoring. And nothing bothers a coach more than a team that panics when another team starts gaining.

Sadly, we didn’t seem to recover from that first loss and then got clocked by the #9 team (at least this morning #9) It was a bad day, and really not reflective of the team we can be. Our ranking will drop drastically tomorrow and though it will be hard to swallow, it reflects where we should be. You earn your right to the top, it is not handed to you. And starting the day at #4 means nothing if you do not play well enough to back it up.

Of course the team will be out on the field on Monday afternoon with Coach Gunter and she will drill them on the fundamentals we seemed to lack today. (I will be in Chicago) But even though we played below our level today, we will have quite a few chances to make up for it in the weeks to come. We have beaten two of our three regional rivals, and if we can beat the other two we can claim the top seed in the Regional. We are the defending regional champs, which of course means nothing unless you win, but I believe wholeheartedly that we will be again too. It will require some digging in though.

Anyway, I have to get ready for tomorrow. It will be a long day, but there will be no games! I need a break from the day.

Goodnight my friends and God Bless.

Tommy+

Yep, tonight Stephanie went to her last prom, and we once again were there for pictures. Each year I get a picture taken with a group of my lacrosse players, and tonight it was with 5 of my 7 Seniors. It is always odd to see them this way. Normally they are all in uniforms or workout gear, with killer looks on their faces, trying to win games. Tonight they are just girls, heading to their last high school prom.

Oddly enough, all these girls and a team of others will meet me in Culver, Indiana to play two top ten teams in the morning. My guess is they will be tired…..BUT, they will be in their familiar uniforms and cleats. No heals, just athletes with a gritty determination to win a couple of important games.

Tonight I hope they have fun….especially Stephanie and the other seniors. I have enjoyed watching many of them grow up, and they are a fine group of girls. Keep them in your prayers though. These games tomorrow would be challenging even if they all went to bed early. Staying out late just makes it a harder day. They are remarkable young women though. I am sure they are up to the challenge!

Goodnight my friends and God Bless.

Tommy+

I am not sure how I got here, but I am glad to be home. It seemed days ago when I got up this morning. I woke up early in order to head Indianapolis to do a hospital visit downtown. From that point I became the most well-traveled priest in Indiana…….finishing up with the lacrosse team for a game against HSE (which we won V but lost JV) before arriving here at home around 10pm.

The nice part is that the day is done….I think. I am sure there is something I am forgetting, but with Amanda asleep, I will not need to find out until tomorrow. It has been a tough day though. I have had a lot of confusion all day, and rather than trying to push myself to write something insightful or witty, I think I just need to call it a day. I am already well beyond my limit, and the blessing of it all is that I know it…

Goodnight my friends, my apologies, and God Bless!

Tommy+

It was just a matter of time before Ben thought he was smart enough to cook. Lord knows, like most two year-old children, he is smart enough to do everything else he wants. So tonight it was a battle of wills, his against mine, about just what I would and would not let him do to make his macaroni.

Mind you, he was already teed off that this wasn’t “Toy Story” macaroni. It was Kraft, just like the TS macaroni, but the TS macaroni takes twice as long to cook, so no more of that. An extra 7 minutes to an impatient kid that age is not worth even the coolest of patterns in your macaroni that you would never be able to identify.

So Ben helped me get the water in the pot and pour in the salt and oil. (I know, let’s not get into the argument about water and oil not mixing…..it is just my way!) He threw an absolute fit when he realized that he wasn’t going to be allowed at the stove, but a short time later, after registering his complaint with his mom, he was allowed to mix all the ingredients in a bowl. Of course none of that really mattered to him because he wasn’t old enough to make the connection…..he just wanted to eat the noodles. I shooed him away and mixed in the cheese. He seemed no worse for the wear.

I am sure this must be how all the great cooks start, by developing their prima donna attitudes when they are all young and stuff, you know, without the parts about being a woman, or Italian, or in the opera. But I am just glad it is over. Ben “cooked” and ate and now is asleep! Praise God! Maybe I’ll go see if there is any left over!

Goodnight my friends and God Bless!

Tommy+

I love sports, I really do. And now that I am no longer the athlete, I absolutely love the opportunity I have to be a coach. It is not quite the competitive battle it once was, and I never hear my name over the stadium PA, but I love the competition and the opportunity we have each day to make better for ourselves.

Tonight we played Westfield High School, who we handled without a lot of trouble. Westfield is not just our neighbor though, they are friends in the same region with a great coach and a marvelous bunch of girls. We love playing them, because they are a great team and just good people. They lost to us tonight, and for that tonight we are thankful, but that will not always be the case. Teams come and go, and someone having an off or on night can make a world of difference. Roger Bradley, their coach, has taught me a lot about lacrosse. Those girls are blessed to have him. Our lofty plans for a Hamilton County Team would be awesome. I cannot imagine exposing our girls to his coaching skills!

Anyway, tomorrow is another JV game and then Thursday another regional rival in Hamilton Southeastern. It seems intense, but it goes by so quickly. It does however, make a difference.

I am so blessed to be among some talented athletes, and to have such a wonderful coaching staff. We are well on our way. We want more this year than just the Final Four like last year. I believe with a real dedicated push we may be able to make a run at the title.

Goodnight my friends and God Bless!

Tommy+

Tonight I have had the difficult task of ciphering through all the data I have to decide who I will nominate for Academic All Americans from our lacrosse team. I only have five slots to nominate, and I have to say I am very blessed in the fact that I have about 10 girls who are academically qualified, and are fine lacrosse players to boot.

This time of year always reminds me of what a tremendous privilege it is to work with these caliber of girls. When I was playing ice hockey as a young man, I cannot remember even being asked about submitting AAAA forms, nor would I have been a great candidate. Most of us who played well didn’t lead well-balanced lives. That is not the case today though. I am amazed to really know some exceptional student athletes!

What I hate is the limitation of nominating only five. I think all of them are impressive. But just like a lot of things, I do not make the rules. They are all special in my eyes though. I coach some of the finest young women in the country, and I am truly blessed by their presence in my life!

Goodnight my friends and God Bless!

Tommy+