Please keep Scotty in your prayers….Scotty came home from practice last night pretty sick. He thinks it was the lunch he ate at school, from which he didn’t seem to recover. But as of 11 he was still sick, and not a real good candidate for school tomorrow.

I didn’t know about all this until he called me. Everyone was at home, but I had left before he got home from practice to go to the men’s group at St. Patrick’s When I got home around 9 he was pretty miserable. PLUS, with his room still not done, he is sleeping on an air mattress (a nice one though) downstairs (he actually likes it….what a loon!) but there is a lot of foot traffic down there! I hope being a teenager means he can sleep through anything and anywhere,but time will certainly tell that for sure.

So this also means I am without my help to finish his room, though I intend to tomorrow. God never promises smooth sailing, only that He will be with us throughout our journeys. If He would just pick up a hammer, that would be so great…….but I have this feeling I will be doing the hammering while He supervises. No worries there though. I always do my best work when He is watching.

Goodnight my friends and God Bless.

Tom+

Scotty and I have been working on his room all week in our spare time. We ripped out carpet and pad, painted, and with great determination, we should have flooring installed in there by Thursday night. It has actually been a lot of fun. And I miswrote, because Steph and Amanda stripped the old Noah’s Ark wallpaper off the walls over the weekend.

Last night Scotty and I went to the Lowes and he picked out the paint. Amanda was not all that pleased because she felt it was too dark. She said get some sort of beige. I thought it was fine, and Scotty was excited. The problem was not Scott…..it was male genes….we have a much more generous spectrum of what we consider beige. But it is his room and we don’t sleep in it. Personally, I think it looks fantastic, but what do I know. Amanda thought I was a loon when we painted inside and I asked why we needed to paint walls in contrasting colors. Apparently I don’t get it.

I am not worried about it though. I wear black shirts and black pants to work and jeans and t-shirts beyond that. I am not dissatisfied…..just comfortable. I am the painter and carpenter, not the decorator. And once Scott puts all his stuff back in his room you can’t see the walls anyway……after all, he’s still a teenager!

Goodnight my friends and God Bless.

Tom+

Well it is finally upon us…..lacrosse season. We held our first practice outside on our practice field this afternoon in weather that would make a polar bear long for a coat. My hands were cold even with gloves, and despite my pleas with the girls about wearing the right clothing, a few looked absolutely miserable.

But the good news is that we are our of the gate and looking towards a great season. I cannot even begin to tell you how enthused I am about it either. It is a great group of girls, and we will have a lot of fun.

The boys’ team started practice too, and Scott was out there with them. The boys go pretty rough right away, so there is not a lot of opportunity to freeze as there is in our practice. “Technically,” women’s lacrosse is “non-contact,” whereas the men’s game is like hockey on steroids. The great part is that both kids came home excited about the season getting underway. It has made the Tirman home a more than happy home all night.

But that night is now done and off to bed we go. We are finishing a few projects around the house and getting it all back to normal. I am tired and thankful for my bed. Amanda however appears more thankful, in that she is already asleep and heading toward tomorrow.

Stay warm out there my friends. The high tomorrow here is just 32!

Goodnight and God Bless!

Tom+

I want to report that the day has been very good so far in terms of my Lenten disciplines. As I shared a few days ago, I really want to get my weight down and keep it there, yet my first few days of Lent have been more of a struggle than a success. I was originally scheduled for Nashville and Greenfield today, but that got changed late in the week, so I found myself at the St. Patrick’s pitch-in…….an amazing smorgasbord of tasty treats, all of which were off my diet.

It was hard, but I did great! I had a coffee and then headed out for Anderson. I did eat later in the day, a salad and then an eggbeater omelet. I weigh in the mornings, but with a day like today, at least I stand a chance of not being discouraged. Please pray for me that I continue to do well. I know I do not look overweight, and I am still very athletic, but I am clearly at risk, and want to put this behind me once and for all. Let me put it our there here. I hit 228 lbs and as of this morning I was at 223.8 (which is 224 in my book!) I am heading to 175…..please pray for me to get there and stay there!

Anyway, it has been a good one, and tomorrow will be better. Tomorrow Ben starts in daycare full time, and lacrosse starts. For the next 2.5 months I will be busy and running as the high school women’s lacrosse coach. If I am not down by the end of the season, shame on me. These girls will run me ragged.

Thanks for checking in, and for your prayers and support. Life is always better with support, and I appreciate yours.

Goodnight my friends and God Bless.

Tom+

As amazing as it seems, this is the 300th post on this blog. It really has not been what I thought it would be, but it has been a great discipline for me as well as a tool to help me recover from my stroke. I remember last year having to have Amanda read and edit for me because I did not have the ability once I decided to type. It has been quite a journey!

But as for the 300th, it will be rather short in that I am a bit tired and fuzzy from the long busy day. My disciplines are not quite going as well as I would like, but I am still moving ahead. I would still appreciate your prayers!

So apologetically I will call it a day and wake to a new one tomorrow.

Goodnight my friends and God Bless.

Tom+

Praise God! I have just completed my Level 2 USLacrosse test and now just have to wait until a clinic is developed to pass my Level 2 certification! Lacrosse is something that I would have never imagined I would be involved in, but when I do get involved I like to do things right. I coach our varsity and JV teams here in Noblesville, so I wanted to get the best training. I am just glad it is out there to take. AND, I am glad to complete all the training.

And, it is not a minute to soon. Practice for our team starts on Monday. We are just a few weeks away from our opening day as well. There is a lot to do between now and then, but i am sure the girls are up to it. They are a remarkable bunch t say the least.

But the most amazing thing I need to share is that I made it to the end of the day! I have had a couple of rough ones over the past few, so it was nice to do so well today. I needed a win…..desperately!

So off to bed “while the getting is good” as they say. Peace to your house and I pray you have had a blessed day. I will report some more tomorrow!

Goodnight and God Bless.

Tom+

Today has been unbelievably productive, although I am not certain that I could recount all that I have done. I know that I was busy beginning to end, and that I felt satisfied at each point. I am obviously having some trouble with my memory, and though that always makes me nervous, the best thing I have discovered to do is to just push through and make the most of it. My mind seems there for the work, I just don’t seem to have much recall of what I have done.

But despite all of that, I still feel remarkably confident that I am doing well. And that means I am either completely delusional or onto something…..I think the latter. My life and my job are a blast and lacrosse season is finally here. The next few months are my favorite of the year!

Soon the weather will be warm and the cat and I will resume our nighttime work out on the porch. The top will come down on the Volkswagen and the hair on my head will get shorter as well. I am certainly looking forward to that. It cannot come too soon.

And in addition to struggling with my memory a bit today, I struggled with my Lenten disciplines as well. But I am supposed to struggle, after all if they were easy things they wouldn’t be my Lenten disciplines. But I do ask for your prayers. I really want to be successful in them.

Okay, off to bed for me! I hope you had a great day….I think I did!!]

Goodnight my friends and God Bless.

Tom+

Today is Ash Wednesday, the beginning of Lent. I did two services today, one with Deacon Conley in Nashville, and then St. Patrick’s tonight in Westfield. Ash Wednesday is a very meaningful service to me, and it is always an honor to be a part.

For Lent, one of my disciplines will be to get my weight back down and keep it there. I was pretty close to my goal when I had my stroke last year, and in all honesty it depressed me. I was in great shape and my life totally changed! How frustrating is that? All that salad and a stroke! When I was eating cheeseburgers I was fine! Go figure.

Anyway, after the better part of the year, I have come to see clearly. I don’t need to live my life in the past, I need to move ahead. I am no longer that young athlete that I was, but if I want to be an old man and a burden to my wife and children for many years to come then I need to get on the ball. Keep me in your prayers…….I am going at this with a lot of determination!

So off to bed it is for me! Ben and I will take it easy tomorrow and may even get a little fun in….I have been too busy! But I hope and pray for you that this season of Lent will lead to a deepening for you and lasting positive change.

I pray that for myself as well.

Goodnight my friends and God Bless.

Tom+

One of the things about having a stroke is that when things happen out of sorts your mind goes right toward questioning if it is related, or God-forbid, happening again. Such was my day today. I got a lot done, including the delivery of 60 Ash Wednesday programs that I made myself to Deacon Morgan for the service in Anderson tomorrow night. They are 15 pages including the cover, and I not only copied them, but collated and stapled them too. It was a large feat for someone such as me, but tasks like it make me really feel as if I have accomplished something. I was waiting until after I delivered them to Deacon Morgan tonight at St. Anne’s Shrove Tuesday Pancake Supper to finish the others. And when we got home and Ben to bed, Amanda helped me do just that. She was stapling the piles I had copied and laid out.

Amanda is a pretty good soul, and she soon came to me and asked me very gently about the program. I had not only copied the cover incorrectly, I had stapled and delivered 60 to St. Anne’s tonight. It was one of those things that was out of sorts. I had checked and rechecked 1000 times. I had assembled 60 and this mistake was not just ON the cover it WAS the cover. A kindergartner would have caught it, and it really hit me hard. I don’t mind doing more work. I just mind worrying about my mind. It may seem trivial to the average Joe, but it is a lot to handle for me. It makes you second guess yourself.

Anyway, Amanda sent me to type while she finished them up after I fixed them. Sleep will do me good and tomorrow should be a great day. It will include one extra trip to Anderson (I have to drop something off!), but I am excited about the beginning of Lent. I will explain more about that tomorrow though.

Off to bed for me! Goodnight my friends and God Bless.

Tom+

I have three things back tonight that I value very much……my wife, my youngest son, and my house key. That’s right, my family has not only returned, but the house has been completed as well! I am very thankful for all of it too!

Oh but wait, it gets better! AND, then last night at the high school the science fair was held. Yep, the kids’ projects are done too. There will be no more papers, display boards, eggs and Tupperware, or plants listening to different genres of music taking over the house……at least not until the next big project that is.

And it is a good thing too. Lent begins tomorrow and I have a ton to do. Ben and I will put together the finishing touches on all the service books for Ash Wednesday tomorrow. Hopefully he will not forget anything too. He likes to help, but at 20 months though he thinks he knows what he is doing he mostly just provides comic relief. But as we enter into Lent, he is exactly what I need.

So things here are back to normal at the Tirman home, and full of many apparent blessings for us all. I intend to enjoy it. God has given me a lot for which to be thankful. I will not waste the day at all.

Keep the faith my friends and God Bless.

Tom+