Tonight was one of those rare nights in our family where no one was working and we could all be home together. Ben went to bed however about an hour ago, so the rest of us are just hanging out and talking. As if gets a little darker we will be able to go up on our roof and watch the fireworks from Symphony on the Prairie at Conner Prairie. My guess is that Ben will be up by then. The fireworks are starting in our neighborhood.

I will do the normal legal fireworks thing with the kids over the weekend. I am certain that Stephanie and Scott would love the boom boom kind, but I am not too sure about Ben. Last year he was scared of the fountain! We will play it by ear.

But as for right now, I am going to spend some more time with my family. The explosions are just starting up, and Ben will be with us soon. I am just glad the five of us will all be together!

Goodnight my friends and God Bless.

Tommy+

My visit to the cardiologist today went well, and I am heading into a few more tests over these next few weeks. I told him my ultimate goal was to rid myself of doctors and medicine and tests. And though that may be a bit overly optimistic, at least in my mind it is a goal.

Last night the youngest of our adult dogs was placed in a home. Ginger, who is just three, (AngelCreek’s I am not Mary Ann) went to live just down the street with my fraternity brother and his family. They have four kids and have always wanted a dog. Ginger is so very sweet and loves the kids dearly. I saw her earlier this afternoon. She was loving all the attention!

We still have Cookie now to place (AngelCreek’s Best of the Batch). Cookie is a year older than Ginger and was the dog that had the emergency spay a couple of months ago. Neither of them can be shown anymore, but the puppy will be. We thought it would be a wonderful gift to them to forgo any more of living in the “herd” and live in one dog family homes. We were told that Ginger slept with one of the kids last night. I am sure she loved that more than sleeping with other Goldens!

So tonight the yet to be named puppy, the cat, and I are out on the porch typing. The puppy is into everything and the cat is giving him the evil cat eye. But soon his obnoxious little self will be not into anything other than pleasing the judges. From the looks of it tonight he has a LONG ROAD ahead. In time however, he will do just fine…..that is as long as there are no cats judging. But he, like all of our dogs, ……okay no prophetic praising words will be written tonight, he just about knocked over Amanda’s plant (to eat of course, it was no accident).

Anyway, off to supervise I go. And the best supervision I can think of that I will be successful at is to put him back in with his mom!!

Goodnight my friends and God Bless.

Tommy+

July 1, who would have thought it could come so quickly? I didn’t celebrate it though. I spent most of the day going to and from Ohio State to pick up the lacrosse team from camp. They had a great time, and I was hoping they were tired, but they managed to sing about every song they knew for half of the trip home. Of course that makes me tired, but I suppose that is worth it to get them all home safe and sound.

I can now look forward to concentrating on work and home. I have a cardiologist appointment tomorrow to decide what to do about the hole they found in my heart last year during “stroke week.” It unnerves me a bit to just know it is there, but as I tell Amanda, at least we can be thankful they found a heart! Gosh, I am still funny despite spending the day with teenage girls who think I am ancient and out of touch!

Anyway it is bed for me and the hope of a great day tomorrow. Keep me in your prayers. I am hoping to escape unscathed!!

Goodnight my friends and God Bless!

Tommy+

Today my youngest turned 2. It seems as if he just arrived and now he is officially a toddler! He is a real delight to all of us and we are so blessed to have him.

Happy Birthday Ben. The big 2! Way to go! We are so proud of you!

I hope and pray your day was just as blessed!

Tom+

I am not certain whether this is post 400 or if tomorrow will be, but I am in the ballpark regardless. I am out on the porch, my wife’s family has all returned home, and Amanda and Ben and I are the only ones who are home. Ben turns 2 tomorrow, and he is spending his last night of baby-hood wailing in protest of being put to bed too soon. The poor boy. He just wants to stay up and have fun.

As for me, I am just trying to get a handle on my week. I will work tomorrow, be in Ohio Wednesday, and then back to work the rest of the week. It makes planning things a bit difficult, but plan I must. I will say that I am just glad to get most of the summer celebrations behind me. It has been a cake-fest for sure, but even I can have too much! (I even had left-over cake tonight…it feels like too much NOW)

Anyway, I am off to relax. I need some down-time, and I will get a little tonight. Amanda and Ben are now in bed…..together. He is a brilliant man! I will catch them in about an hour. I am going to just enjoy the porch while I can!

Goodnight my friends and God Bless.

Tommy+

This was one of the rare days that I was not in church for services. I instead drove about half of our lacrosse team to Ohio State for a four day camp. It was a LONG 400 miles, but it was well worth it. The girls were great and very appreciative. It was a pleasure to take them there.

Sadly I missed seeing off my sister in law and niece. They were flying out about the time I was arriving back home. My mother in law stays until tomorrow afternoon, and I will take the day off to spend with everyone here. It should be a nice day.

But of course now I am achy and tired. My legs hurt more than I can describe and it doesn’t matter whether I am standing or sitting or in bed. Ouch ouch ouch! But I suppose tomorrow morning things will be different….at least I hope so,

I missed being with everyone in church, but I have a lifetime left to make it up…..I intend to too. I am just happy that the girls arrived at OSU safe and sound. Keep me in your prayers…..just a few more days until I do it again!

Goodnight and God Bless….

Tom+

I woke up into a busy day. I went to meet my favorite Family Life Missionary Mike Constantine (okay, he is the only one I really know, but even if I did know more he would be my favorite). Mike came up from Little Rock, Arkansas to be at the celebration of my ordination anniversary last night. It was so great to see him. We had breakfast, and said our good-byes. He will be back in October when we hope to have him speaking at our churches about Family Life’s ever so important ministry.

We also celebrated Ben’s family birthday party today, though he won’t be 2 until Tuesday. He didn’t seem to mind, unlike his mom who holds out on the younger age until the very last second, and then some. We had a good time and of course more cake. I now weigh about 450, but I have had a wonderful time getting there. There are no more birthdays for quite some time though, so I should have a cake-free diet back to my optimal weight.

But tonight is the last night we are all here, so I am off to watch Transformers (1) with my kids and sister-in-law. They swear it is good, so I will give it a go.

I did however want to post this first. Family and friends are important, and God made them all. I am happy to enjoy them, and blessed by their presence in my life!

Goodnight my friends and God Bless.

Tommy+

Tonight me, and as much as I can guess about 100+ of my good friends, gathered at Our Lady of Grace Catholic Church to celebrate (a surprise party) my 20 year anniversary of ordained ministry. It was a great time, filled with joy, blessings and laughter. It has been an honor to walk among such wonderful people.

It was also my biggest challenge since my stroke. I really do struggle speaking extemporaneously, but I seemed to do fine. I suppose that assessment may be the product of my mind, but the important part was that I didn’t feel I did all that bad, all things considered. My only regret was not having the time to talk with everyone. It was quite a crowd.

Anyway, I am currently trying to type in bed because I am exhausted and Ben is with me driving his car around my laptop. It is an unusual way to do it, but it is my life.

It has been a long but blessed day! God Bless you and thanks for checking in.

Tom+

Wednesday was a bust. Not that i didn’t enjoy it or get a lot done, I did. But I did so very much that I didn’t have time to sign online at all.

I began the day with a meeting south of Indianapolis….it was a 45 minutes drive. I had already taken Scott to school, and did the meeting and a shopping trip before heading back up to Noblesville High School to pick him up again. I then went to meet with the postmaster in Westfield about our mail, and got home for a short break about 2. I then got Scott to his work at 2:40!

Of course we needed to go pick up Amanda’s mom at the airport who was coming in for Ben’s birthday. Traffic was STOPPED on 465 so it was a LONG TRIP. We did manage to get her and and get her back to the house. It was just in time to leave to get Scott from work, and then drop him off so I could go to a premarital in Anderson (another 45 minute drive) at 8:30. It was fun, but it got me home again at 10:30. Whew, huh?

After doing all my stuff I needed to do at home, I did lay down for a few minutes, and I say a few minutes because Steph and I left for the airport again at 12:30 to pick up Amanda’s sister and daughter. We did manage to get home and to bed by 2:35, and it was a good thing too…..because I was up at 6 to get ready to take Scott back to school….which I did. (I picked him up at 12:30 and dropped him at work again today too).

So let’s just forget about Wednesday. It’s over and as you can see, I barely remember it anyhow. Everyone is here and we are having a blast. And I don’t have any more driving on my schedule until Sunday!

Thanks for checking in and God Bless!

Tommy+

Today is June 23rd, and I am posting early today because we are on our way to my dad’s house to have a June birthday celebration. My dad, Scott, Ben and I all have June birthdays and we thought it would be fun to celebrate them together.

Today also marks the 20th anniversary of my ordination. June 23rd, the Eve of St. John the Baptist, I was first ordained to the Diaconate. I was priested 9 months later.

I probably would forget about it more often than not if it weren’t for the fact that I was ordained on my grandpa’s birthday, and that is something that I never forget. It has always been such a special day to me throughout my life, and today I remember him, I miss him, and know through faith that I will one day see him again!

So off to the party I go, but I will raise a glass to my grandpa tonight as well. Times change, but it is our pasts that help to make us who we are today. I am thankful for being blessed with such a wonderful grandfather.

Thanks for checking in and God Bless!

Tom+