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The pitter-patter of familiar feet……

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No, there is no picture for tonight…..not that I didn’t try. At about 11pm Steph returned home for the summer, and along with her Cassie, who will be living here as well. Cassie is from Missouri and is a Theatre Major. So we had two college girls arrive at 11…….and within seconds three more!

The funny part is that this had been our lives for years. The other girls (Celeste, Alyssa, and Molly) are really family to us, and they spent much of high school traveling between all their houses where the parents there felt and feel the same way we do too. It is always so great to see them, although at 11:30 I was more than willing to confess what an old fogey I was and went to bed. I think some of them spent the night, but I did not check. If I would happen to run into one in the middle of the night when “checking to make sure the house is secure” (what us middle-aged guys say instead of “going to the bathroom” because it sounds more masculine) I would think nothing of it. Our home is there home and it would be like running into Steph or Scott to either of us.
But the best part is how it feels, because it feels like home.
Goodnight my friends and God Bless!
Tommy+
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B B A……..

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Yep, it’s an expression where I come from, and probably quite fitting when you look at this picture. But tonight was Senior Night for the men’s team, and Amanda and I were privileged to be able to walk Scotty out on the field as the Seniors were honored.

It is amazing to think about getting to this point with him, not that we ever doubted he would grow up…..it’s just gone so fast. He then played a tremendous game against a high level team and it was a great night.
Scotty has turned out to be a tremendous athlete and it has been great to watch. He has a gentle heart off the field, but on it he is HIGHLY competitive. It has been a real gift from God that my team’s schedule and his schedule were not all that conflicted this season. I was able to see A LOT of games, and I was very blessed by that.
Scotty will be graduating in a few weeks and hopefully getting a great job to be able to save more for college. He will start in August at St. Louis Christian, just 10 minutes from where Stephanie attends school. They didn’t plan it that way, it’s just the way it worked out. He will study music there, seeing as he is a phenomenal musician.
It’s part of that gentle and creative spirit of his……..just don’t try and take away his piano….
Goodnight my friends and God Bless!
Tommy+
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The final game……

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Well it has ended. Tonight we were eliminated tonight in the first round of the Regional Tournament 12-6 by Guerin Catholic High School. It was too bad too. We played pretty well and showed periods of brilliance in the second half, but in the end, we did not have it, and our season ended much too soon.

It has been a difficult season too, one riddled with injury and illness. In my fourth year as head coach we placed 15th in the end…..dropping from the top 5 the last two years. We struggled and seemed irritated with each other at times. It often happens when you struggle, but that’s what made the end of it all so amazing…..for unlike any other women’s lacrosse team I have coached, at the end there were a lot of tears.
Sure, it has been a struggle this year, but I really have the privilege of coaching some of the finest young women I know. It has been a real gift to me, and they are important to me. They are always welcome back to help coach and most do when they are home. I miss them all, but they are all worth missing. They are my extended family, and I am thankful for them, because I am blessed.
Goodnight my friends and God Bless!
Tommy+
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Where am I……..?

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Yes, the picture is of Stephanie as Albert Einstein…….one of a few old ones that dealt with brilliance.

I was really committed to getting a lot done today, if only my brain would have cooperated. My Communion kit, which I normally carry with me was left on my desk at home AFTER I took the time to load it, and get everything ready. I felt like such a doofus when I was right by the home I was taking it to and realized I didn’t have it. It was a 45 minute drive to convict me of my own stupidity. Thank God I had already been convicted of it before……at least I didn’t bring my shaving kit instead.

But of course it meant I needed to reschedule, which I did for tomorrow. But in all honesty, I might need to move that to Wednesday instead. It will however get done.
I know many people say it is just a middle age thing, but quite clearly it is a big mind-change thing, I know. You have no idea how very dedicated I am to being meticulous about my life. It works well for me too. SO that’s why when I work so hard to do something and to remember it, and then forget it that it is a big deal to me. It no longer crashes me though…..I now just laugh it off and work harder.
Of course I wasn’t laughing until I got home and saw right where I left the kit. I put it there so I wouldn’t forget it. At least I remembered everything else!
So today is now in the past. Not my best day, but one I can improve upon tomorrow. And I do have something to do tomorrow……I only hope I can remember what it is.
Goodnight my friends and God Bless!

Tommy+
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Mother’s Day…….

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Well, we are at the end of Mother’s Day, and it has been a pretty great day. Ben got his mom some flowers and had made cards for her at Cindy’s house. He “re-gave” them to her with the flowers and saved us approximately 75 dollars! Steph called from college (she is less than a week from returning home) and Scotty had Amanda on some sort of scavenger hunt with clues scattered all around the house tonight. And since we could not find him, she was certain that he would be popping out of some closet to scare her to death (because they like to do that to each other)…..but alas, it was just a fun way to send her a Mother’s Day note.

The day really started in a way that a finish like this would not have been expected. I had two services this morning only to return to my house with Scotty girlfriend calling in a panic. Someone had texted her that Scotty was being taken to the hospital.
Of course this scared the daylights out of us, and especially since we had not talked to him. He was on a trip with his lacrosse team outside of cell coverage, so my frantic texts and calls were not returned because they went nowhere. So we called the hospital. No, he was not listed as a patient. We were to head to the nursing home to visit my mom and then take off for the 2.5 hour drive to Goshen to see my grandma who was in the hospital last week, but now was home. She just turned 95 and still lives alone. But this was far more important, and we were scared to death, frantically calling anyone we could who was on the trip.
That was when Scotty called. Apparently some kid thought it would be funny to scare the daylights out of Scotty’s girlfriend, but in all honesty it scared everyone. So to make a long story short, Amanda talked to this kid’s dad. The kid called me an apologized personally (I hope he does to everyone else too), and I am dead-dog tired because I started the day thinking my son was in peril and I was completely helpless and ineffective in finding out a thing. It emotionally killed me, and yet after we had answers, though we were relieved, we were now an hour behind for about 9 hours of stuff to do. But we made it and all the moms in my family seemed happy……and even Ben seemed relieved by the end of the day (the picture is from the car ride home)
But as for me, I am just ready for tomorrow. Today has been a rough day!
Goodnight my friends and God Bless!
Tommy+
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The end of Superman……

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If he were not wearing it, I would throw the dang shirt away. Yep, the Marvel COMICS company has decided to go PC and apparently now Superman is going to renounce his American citizenship. I will NEVER buy anything from Marvel again, and I encourage you to do the same.

And it’s a crying shame too. I have been a big fan of Superman all my life. I have worn the shirts and stuff , all way before Shaq, and I even used to wear it under my shirts and let Steph and Scott get all wide-eyed when they would see the big “S” under my clergy shirts….I used to say, “please don’t tell anyone,” and they didn’t….but they grew up thinking their dad was Superman.
But not anymore. Sure, Marvel owns the franchise, but how dare they inject there political nonsense into the minds of children? It disappoints me a great deal, and the shirt will indeed go in the trash tomorrow.
I did however put up a shed/barn with it today, and Amanda was upset when she saw I had torn it. Thank God however that I didn’t tear an old t-shirt. She agrees…..it is going away.
Too bad too, Ben and Scott both love Superman. But we will patronize the kinds of heroes that love America.
Shame on you Marvel Comics. Go ahead, renounce your citizenship. But as for us, we are proud to be Americans, and will do business and raise our children with businesses that are proud of it too.
Goodnight my friends and God Bless!
And God Bless this great country of ours as well!
Tommy+
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Sixo de Mayo……..

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Okay, I am a little behind the times and I do not speak Spanish but today will go down in recent history as the day it did not storm in Indiana…..okay it did sprinkle a bit. BUT there were no gully-washers to report, and even if there were I couldn’t tell you because I am not quite sure what they are.

But beyond this earth-shattering news, I will say that life is behind as well. There’s nothing like being away for the better part of a week without much cell service or Internet to screw my life totally up. My day was filled with phone calls and emails and apologies. I do love the place where we meet in Arkansas, but its remoteness is difficult to stay in touch. My preference would be a hotel where I can at least keep up with my work when we are done for the day. It would make these days a lot less stressful.
It is good however to be behind amidst all my “own stuff.” I am thankful for that, even if I am a bit overwhelmed.
Goodnight my friends and God Bless!
Tommy+
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Home, home at last………

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I am pleased to say I arrived home and managed to get a few things done before this post. Scotty has an away game tonight, and I would have liked to have made it, but in all honesty, I was surprised to have enough energy to get home. I am receiving texts from the game, and at the half it is 4-4 playing a VERY good team. Scotty is apparently doing a great job.

Stephanie’s team also plays tonight in Arizona. They made the National Tournament, and are 0-1 in it now. They lost last evening in triple overtime to Cal Poly. It was heart-breaking for all of them I know. They went in #5 and will need to play well the rest of the way. But it is VERY cool to see them in the finals in her freshmen year.
I took this picture of our house tonight. The grass is a mess because of all the rain, and Scotty’s car is in the driveway because he likes to drive mine when I am gone, but despite all of it, it is my house and I am so blessed to be here. I left this morning from Little Rock pretty early and flew to BALTIMORE, because nothing says “between Little Rock and Indy” like Baltimore, and arrived here before the sun went down. Tonight I will sleep well. I am home…..home at last!
Goodnight my friends and God Bless!
Tommy+
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A tail-wagging good time……..

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It is my last night in Arkansas, and as I was walking back to my room after lunch I was surprised by my good friend “Dempsey the Camp Dog.” He was following me on the walk, and it was a happy reunion. He was more than willing to get few pats and to hear how happy I was to see him. What he was also happy to do was to chase my new duck friends quickly and efficiently out into the pond when they cam up to greet me too. By the look of both dog and ducks I can without a doubt share that this was not there first encounter. And he was very proud of his accomplishment and came back for a congratulatory pat.

It really did make my day (not the chase, but to see him). When you are away you don’t just miss your family, but the pets who are a part of your family as well. And in the three times I have been to Frencliff (amounting to 12 days), Dempsey has always been there to fill in. I was just glad to know he was still around and will look forward to seeing him next time…..as opposed to the ducks who do not want to see him at all.
But I will leave tomorrow in the morning and be back in the afternoon. My family, and my home life awaits. It will be good to get back too. It has been a long week, and as Dorothy says, there really is no place like home.
Goodnight my friends and God Bless!
Tommy+
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Sure enough……

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Well today has not been all bad. I was able to get a page out to my wife, who called my uncle, and who then was able to speak with me late this morning. Yes, the call was indeed about my grandma who was hospitalized yesterday in Goshen. She has been having a lot of trouble, and will be staying there as they get things under control. It is not anything I need to leave here for, so I will be staying until my scheduled return. We will head up to see her after church on Mother’s Day. And as for the situation down here, retreat center has repaired its Internet connection, meaning I can make and receive calls as well as get online…..that it as long as I walk down to the conference area where there is a signal. My room is not close enough to get connected, but at least I am not completely cut off. I have not seen my buddy Dempsey, which is disturbing. I have written about him twice before, the Ferncliff Conference Center Camp Dog. I really am afraid to ask. If he has moved away then so be it. But if he was carried off by some mountain lion of bear I just do not want to know. I watched a lot of “Lassie” as a kid and know things like that are real possibilities in places like this. I just hope to see him tomorrow. I have however been stalked by the “camp ducks.” It’s not that anyone has told me that is who they are, I just named them that. They see me and the start quacking loudly from wherever they are at. They are all females, and I think they see me as their king or something. I am sure it has nothing to do with the crackers and cookies I have snuck them out. But regardless, I am blessed by the attention. I need a good distraction here, and quite honestly they are it. And I will be supplying them for the rest of my time here. But as for tonight, I am done. A large group went to the movie theater, but I am just too tired, plus I am stressed by home and the fact that my team is playing tonight without me there. I have GREAT assistant coaches, but as my cell phone came back to life I had messages from a bunch of players who were going to miss a probable WIN that without them may be in question. It is upsetting. I hope I have assistant coaches tomorrow. I am sure they are livid. But from here I can do very little but pray. My grandma is in great hands and so is the team. I hope to receive a positive report about it all via spotty cell coverage, sometime tonight. Goodnight my friends and God Bless. Tommy+