It is once again late, and I just got home. Scott and Ben are fast asleep in Scott’s bed, and Steph is in her bed not feeling well at all. And, as I begin this blog, Amanda is on the couch with the puppy watching TV. All alone again!! That also means I have dog duty tonight (not dog dootie). No worries though…..at least they will act as if they are happy to see me!

Hopefully this scenario does not worsen overnight, but we all know that it often does. I have had girls on the lacrosse team fighting something lately, and one girl was even sick at practice today. Another was riding the edge. With a game tomorrow, it makes me a bit worrisome.

Ben will be sleeping with us tonight. He took a wiffleball bat to the head at the babysitter’s by walking into the swing of a 5 year old. It was a hard swing and he apparently went down after being hit, only to stand up, dust himself off to the extent that a 22 month old kid does, and went back to playing. How he could stand it with that lump on his head was beyond me, but like his athletic siblings, his focus was apparently on the game. In our family he will be required to play ice hockey and lacrosse (Steph and Scott will insist upon it), but with his level of toughness already at this age, God save those he will play against. He’s going to be a monster!

With that, I will head back to the infirmary. I am the doctor on call. I know I already will have one patient for tomorrow. Pray for us that there may not be more!

Goodnight my friends and God Bless!

Tom+

Yikes….I was waiting for Steph to come home and then we sat out on the porch talking till 11:20. I hate it that she is up so late, but I rarely get the opportunity to talk with her anymore. Kids grow and they have their own lives. I am just thankful to have her here for the time I do!

But with that, I must call it a day. I have had two services today, a lacrosse referee certification, some Ben and Scott time, I made dinner AND cleaned up, plusssssssss about 100 other things too, so I am beat!

My apologies for this short post.

Goodnight and God Bless.

Tom+

Today has been a “scare-free” day, and I have enjoyed it. We played out of town in Culver today and went 1-1, beating Homestead and then losing to Culver. We were blessed in that we played pretty poorly today….not our finest hour, but half our team (most of our starters) were dragging from the late night of Prom.

The good news is that the little fatty we have living in the whelping box with his mom (with every feeding port open for him) had a great day apparently and more importantly, NO PUPPY DRAMA. He may be just a few days old, but I am very proud of him!

With that, it is 10 and I need to run over to St. Patrick’s to make sure we are ready to go there. And THEN, I am going to bed, because I am very tired and I do not want to give time for something to happen!

So goodnight my friends and God Bless…..I hope you, like me, have had a wonderful day.

Tom+

The last pup made it to the vet, had its dew claws removed, and got an initial check-up. He was doing great, but we did have a close call. Scotty decided to sit with him while he watched “Beverly Hills Chihuahua,” but when he went down to the whelping box the pup was tangled in his mom’s hair around the throat. Jenny was noticeably upset, as was the pup who was now wailing. Scotty pinned her down and called for me. I took over while he went up for some scissors, and we cut the fur loose. The pup and Scott are now enjoying the movie. If I only believed in curses I would say that this litter was cursed, but I just think has just been a bad week. It is so very nice to see him snuggling with Scott and enjoying some peace.

But the scary part was to see my daughter heading to Prom. Don’t get me wrong, Stephanie is a wonderful daughter and I couldn’t ask for better, but she looked 25. She went with her boyfriend and 9 other couples, 5 of the girls are on the lacrosse team. But it was just another marker in my life of how soon she will be leaving. She was genuinely excited and it was so great to see. I used to laugh when she would go to school with an empty Barney backpack bigger than she was. Now she is a beautiful young woman who is riding the edge of adulthood. I am proud of her, but it will be the death of me yet!!

Anyway, I will now wait till she gets home! Worry worry worry. But I am pleased to say I have made it now till 10:30! I am doing pretty well, all things considered…..as long as Amanda talks me down!!

I am gonna wait up, but you should go to bed!

Goodnight my friends and God Bless.

Tom+

We are doing our best here, though failing miserably. The two pups who were struggling did not make it through the night and then another died this evening. We are watching very closely the remaining pup, who has an appointment as the vet opens in the morning. Breeding Goldens is one of the best things we have ever done, but sometimes it can be heartbreaking. Generally yo do not have problems like this, but something is wrong. We knew the first two pups were riding the line, but these last two looked great and acted great all day…..fine at 6, and not at 10. I am praying that we get to the vet with him in the morning. It is Jen’s last litter, and the hardest on us all.

With that, I am going to go back in and check on him. Occasionally a mother dog will accidentally lay on a pup without knowing it, and that is what I suspect happened to this last one. We have a ridge in the whelping box to help pups avoid that, but sometimes they just can’t…they are too little. It generally happens when the mom is exhausted though…here she is not. That’s why we will check all night, and get to the vet in the morning.

We have probably delivered 30-40 pups over the years, and most of them are still living the life of leisure in their owners homes! We were ready to temporarily retire after this litter until Scott graduated and we moved to a farm (in 2011), but this has been a real hard way to retire. We don’t do this for money, we do it because we love the breed and put quality dogs into homes. It has been a real blessing. We will continue in the future, but for now, we will concentrate on tonight.

Keep us in your prayers.

Goodnight my friends and God Bless.

Tom+

Today, though very busy, has not been as intense as tonight. Tonight Amanda and I are keeping a close eye on two of the new pups, one in particular that I had to resuscitate. We are struggling to keep them warm, and suckle, and have even tried to bottle feed them. Neither seems interested in that, so after we got them warmed back up I took them down and manually got them latched onto Jen. We will see, but this has all the makings of a long night!

And Ben of course does not understand. To him the puppies are just another thing to play with, and he becomes quite agitated when he is not allowed. Fortunately he is now distracted, so there is at least a sense of peace. And his bedtime is right around the corner.

Please keep us in your prayers though. Amanda’s back is still out, and I am doing my best. It is a tense time, but as I always learned…..you play the hand you were dealt. We are praying here for a big win!

So off to my job as a veterinary whatever I am! I hope to have a positive update tomorrow!

Goodnight my friends and God Bless.

Tom+

Sometimes things just ignite and the flames get pretty high, and I suppose that would be a good way to describe my day today. Amanda’s back has incapacitated her, and it has been a lot of extra work to take care of Ben, her, and still work. I moved a meeting to the church this morning and was not even able to to shave this morning……and still haven’t.

What made this day totally on fire was getting home at 2pm and letting out our dogs. Many of you know that we both breed and show Golden Retrievers, and yes, we have one dog who is pregnant. Jenny however didn’t look due at all. We have delivered lots of pups, and we had planned to move her into sleeping in her whelping box within the next few weeks.

When I let them out for their afternoon walk, they all came running and were happy and energetic, including Jen. But there was a high piercing crying that I just couldn’t figure out. But as I went further into the pen I saw her, a small scared, crying pup, that I went and picked up immediately.

What I could not understand was that Jen wasn’t acting in labor, nor did she show any signs of delivery, nor did the pen. We are experienced breeders though, so this warranted a quick call to our vet, the amazing Dr. Vicki Barker Hagerman. Sure enough, Jen and I and the pup went to see Dr. Vicki for a check-up and x-ray.

The diagnosis was that Jen was carrying a small litter, just four, and tonight would be the night. We hustled back home, with the hopes of no car-delivery, and we were successful. I got the box ready, and over the past few hours have seen the other three enter the world. One girl and three boys. Mom and all the pups are healthy. I still haven’t shaved and feel gross. But the day is done and the flames are going down. Thanks especially to the girls on my lacrosse team for being so understanding about needing to cancel practice.

Anyway, I need to check on my wife….she has been a trooper, warming cold puppies on her chest while unable to move herself. Steph and Scott have helped too, and Ben just wants to hold the new puppies. Today has been a mess, but the next few weeks should be awesome!

I hope your day has been wonderful! Goodnight my friends and God Bless.

Tom+

I am home from Columbus, and had a nice time. The new Church there was very nice, and Bishops Minns and Ames did a wonderful job in terms of dedicating it. Not too many clergy from our other churches were there, so Kelly and I were asked to take part. It was a great honor!

It was nice to see Kelly as well. He is a great friend and really gives great advice. I always run things by him on the phone, but it is always so much better in person. We had a nice dinner and evening. He and his family will be out here in June to lead a training on Intercessory Prayer, and with how time is flying lately that is just around the corner.

Things here are back to normal though. Amanda slipped on the hardwood floors while wearing her sock and hurt her back. So Ben is here between us snoring away to keep her company. He is a weasel for sure, but I admire his talent. He gets what he wants!! I only wish I were as successful!

Anyway, it is now bedtime for me. I wanted to catch a short nap today because I was exhausted, but there was just no way Amanda could watch Ben…….we has to play all afternoon! My lacrosse game was rained out, so kid stuff filled the entire day! No worries though. Exhausting or not, they are my favorite days!!

It is great to be home but I am beat….so goodnight and God Bless.

Tom+

I wrote this post late Saturday, because tonight I am in Columbus, Ohio for the dedication of a new Church. Probably a few times a year I have an overnight trip, and usually I end up rooming with Fr. Kelly Irish, a seminary buddy of mine (just a few years ago……over 20), and what makes this even better is that it is his birthday.

Kelly is like that much much MUCH older brother I never had. (I am the much much much older brother in my family). Kelly is 52 today, an age I’d have to live a long time to even attain. But he doesn’t look his age at all……most people think he is a lot older.

No no no…..Kelly is not just one of the finest people I know, but the finest priest I know as well. He has been my confidant for over 20 years, and I certainly would not be the priest I am if it were not for his influence on my life. And sure, I figure if I say enough nice stuff about him I will not have to buy him dinner too. But seriously, I will. Kelly is a pretty good egg as they say.

Over the course of my life the Lord has put quite a few amazing people into my life, and Kelly is one of them. I give thanks to God for him on this day, and am honored to get to see him and buy him a dinner on his birthday. Happy Birthday Kelly.

I hope you have had a blessed day as well! God Bless you, and thanks for checking in!

Tom+

Amanda is home, and thankfully in a great mood. The games went well in Fort Wayne apparently, and Ben was an angel as always! And though I seriously doubt the latter, she still seems to be quite happy to be home, which is of course good for me!

The Noblesville Lady Millers won all their games Friday and Saturday which makes me happy as well. The Varsity is now 6-2, one of the best records in the state, and the JV is undefeated at 4-0. It is a grat year so far, and we are enjoying it more than you could ever imagine.

As for me however, I am exhausted. It is just 8 and I have a tom to do before bed, but I am happy that the day seems to be under control. Tomorrow will be a long day, but tonight is joyous because things are back to the normal type of chaos that at least I understand.

Anyway, I hope you have enjoyed this most beautiful and wonderful day!

Goodnight to you my friends and God Bless.

Tom+