Today I had my semi-annual checkup with my neurologist. The appointment went well, particularly in that my next checkup with him is in a YEAR! That’s the good news! I am doing well, and though I am still often confused and stutter, I am clearly not getting any worse nor do I have any problems that they are very concerned about.

We did discuss a couple of things that concerned me. One, when I had my stroke they found a hole in my heart, which we were wondering if it needed to be patched….after all, it is a HOLE. So I will be going to a cardiologist here in a few weeks to see if I need to get all bondo-ed up. We will see.

The second thing was my weight, which bothers me to no end. It IS the medicine, which is good to know, but I will not be going off it anytime soon. So I need to regroup. I may have my mouth sewn shut and get Ben a cattle prod. Right now that is option one, but I am praying for more options SOON.

Tomorrow I will turn another year older…..48. It is no big deal to me, particularly since I do not feel 48, I actually feel 12 most of the time! Thank God for confusion! But I will officiate at a funeral tomorrow, welcome Father Kelly Irish to our home lead a retreat for us on Saturday, and then go out to dinner with him and my family to celebrate being just two years from my AARP card and the Senior Coffee discount at McDonald’s!

Anyway, it is off to bed. Tomorrow will be a long day, but I will be there for all of it.

Goodnight my friends and God Bless. Thanks for checking in…

Tom+

Tonight Stephanie and a few of her lacrosse buddies have taken over the basement and are having some sort of movie/sleepover type of thing. I have just stayed out of the way. 17 year old girls, their conversations and pizza are things that when combined together I just don’t understand. The pizza on its own I would have a shot at.

The big thing is that they are having a great time. But as for me, I need to head to bed. The days are long right now, and I have been filling them up indeed. An early bedtime will help to make me more rested…..AND, it will keep me from being sent out of more pizza if they ever do run out.
They are all great kids…..we are happy to have them here!

Goodnight and God Bless.

Tom+

Yep, today Scott turned 16! It was an exciting day for all of us too. He had school in the morning, and work in the afternoon, but tonight he, Ben, Amanda and I went out to dinner to celebrate. (Stephanie had to work)

We went to Red Robin, which was Scott’s choice, and watched Ben who was so pleasant in the car, throw just about everything he could get his hands on onto the floor. Scotty and I entertained him the best we could, but apparently only “Red” himself could get Ben’s attention tonight. After the bird and his friends sang that embarrassing birthday song, Scotty and his brother shared the birthday Sunday. Don’t worry, Scotty wasn’t too worried, after all Ben has a birthday to share with him in two weeks.

At home we sang and had cake and gave Scott his presents. Ben gave him a wiring harness, and good thing too. It was just what he needed to go with the new radio he needed for his car. That old Volvo has been waiting for him for about a year. He now just has to wait 30 more days. He however didn’t wait 5 minutes before heading out with me to install it. He was elated. I am guessing he will be sleeping in the car for the next few years!

Anyway, 16, 17, and almost 2…….thank God I am delusional, otherwise I would be pretty scared! They are all great kids, and today was a great day.

Happy Birthday Scotty. I am so very proud of you!

Goodnight my friends and God Bless. Thanks for checking in.

Tom+

I read the comics every morning, and I always enjoy this time of year in particular, in that Garfield the Cat and I share the same birthday (this Friday) and his strip is always about how old he is getting to be, on this, the week before our birthday each year. Of course Garfield is not only imaginary, but also tons younger than I am. He still complains though. He is totally self-absorbed…..a real cat indeed.

But where Garfield hates Mondays, I love them. Where he likes to eat fish, I am allergic. He is a friend of mice in his house, whereas I consider them unwelcome house guests. We both love naps, both are from Indiana, and lasagna is a favorite of us both. That is why I suppose we are both overweight too!

On a side note, I was just interrupted from writing this and lost my train of thought as to where I was going. I heard a screech and load crash while out here on the porch and went immediately to see what it was. A young man lost control of his car about a block away and went up into a lawn and hit a house! Everyone was okay, thank God, but the car and the house are in need of help. He said he lost control of the car, but from the looks of it, it seemed more than that. It is our neighborhood after all, and he went across a good sized lawn and driveway. It will be interesting to see how this all turns out!

But as for me, I am back on the porch now with my real Indiana cat and getting ready to call it a day. It has been a long one too.

So goodnight to you my friends and God Bless. I think in Garfield style Puddy and I will take a nap before we go to bed!

Tom+

I HAVE my planner with me, and though I didn’t write anything in it (I still used the electronic ones on my computer and phone) I had a very productive day. It may have been psychological, I do not know, but in truth nor do I care. The day went well by having it with me. I still need to find a plan that works all the time, and though I am not certain, it may involve a combination of both.

I only had one service today, and it was in Nashville. Deacons PT and Tony covered Westfield and Anderson. Deacon Dan was the busiest. He was with me in Nashville and then went up to Riverwalk in Noblesville for our Sunday service there. From there he went to Greenfield and had a prayer service with a group of people there. I talked with him tonight and he sounded pretty tired. I am just glad we all made it back to our respective homes and can get a good night’s sleep. (I want to point out I made it to mine without having to write it down too!)

I really do love to do what I do, and I feel so extremely blessed to be able to do it among the people I do, and with the staff the Lord has provided me. I just have the feeling that we are being called to something far larger than what we are doing now. I feel we are ready! We all (the staff) seem to have a renewed sense of purpose. Keep praying that God will reveal the next steps very soon!

Anyway, it is time for me to call this a day. Thanks for checking in.

Goodnight my friends and God Bless.

Tom+

Though things have been exceptionally busy these last few days, I was surprised to see that I had no entries yesterday or the day before. I really have done well, but now have decided to go back to the written lists and calendar, at least for a while. It is a more structured way of going through my day, but one that has proven its worth in the past. It will begin this afternoon.

I also need to catch up on things like my yard and a few things around the house too. I like mowing though, and the projects I have at home are ones that I will enjoy doing too. It looks like rain, so the yard may be out today, but the other projects are inside. The puppy is large enough to take down his whelping box, and then the “dog room” can be remodeled into a usable space. I am aware that Ben is asleep for his nap though, and all that noise might wake him. AND, the idea of a nap is pretty alluring.

With that however, I will move towards something more productive. I apologize for my lull in keeping up, but hopefully the next few days will see me getting back on top of my game.

God Bless, and thanks for checking in.

Tom+

As much as we intended to do another 6 miles today, the rain prevented it. I didn’t even know it was going to rain either! So the day was indoors, and that was not good for me. I not only missed the walk, but had lots of opportunities to not do myself any favors at home with food. We then went downtown (Indy) to have dinner with some friends at an Italian restaurant. They were going to see “Wicked” with Amanda, so the kids and I joined them for some food!

I am pretty sure I do not need to eat again until December. It was wonderful, but we all ate too much. And if that were not enough, we stopped by my dad’s on the way home (after all Amanda was at a play) and they were doing a Dairy Queen run shortly after we arrived. I ended up not just screwing up yesterday, but perhaps all of June!

Anyway the kids and I are home and we have yet to hear from Amanda, but expect to soon. I am up in my bed trying to convince Ben that he has talked enough today, but he appears to have a lot more to say. I am just happy he is in his pj’s and home. Sleep will come, but not quite yet.

My schedule has been thrown on its head with Ben this past week, but we have someone watching him tomorrow so I can hold a clergy meeting and get to the hospitals. Our regular sitter will be available on Monday and things for me can get back to normal.

But for now I am going to tickle attack this little jackrabbit who keeps poking me in the head and laughing. I am done for the day and he and I can get a few laughs in still before bed!

Goodnight my friends and God Bless. Thanks for checking in!

Tom+

I got a lot done today, but more than anything, I was able to walk 6 miles pushing Ben’s stroller. We went to a park in town called “Potter’s Bridge” which runs right next to the river and has the path covered mostly by trees. It is a beautiful and restful place.

Ben and I enjoyed it too. Ben talked constantly for approximately 5.75 miles before conking out. He did stop to take a drink here and there, but for the most part he was a jabber box. The whole walk was significant though, especially since I really needed to get out and get back to exercising. Walking six miles is really no big thing I suppose, but for me it was monumental. I hope to do six more tomorrow.

But now I am out with Scotty on the porch getting ready to check his homework. After that, I hope to sit on the porch swing for a while and relax. It has been a busy, but productive day! Maybe tomorrow that scale upstairs will reflect a 20 pound loss. (I can dream!)

Goodnight my friends and God Bless. Thanks for checking in!

Tom+

A lot of things I have been needing to get behind me are now there, and over the next two weeks I hope to catch up with everything I need to. It is quite a tall order, but it will get done I assure you. I turn 48 in less than two weeks, and it is my goal to be caught up by then.

I also need to redirect my life in terms of my health. I feel like a slug much of the time. I struggle with losing weight, and though I know part of it is the medicine I am on, the truth is that it is unlikely that I will ever be off it. I need to make some adjustments so my health doesn’t overtake me!!

Tonight Scotty and I put together a porch swing that I bought for all of us to relax on. I thought it would be a good way to cut some stress and a fun way to hang out as a family. I am sure it will be. I was on it a bit tonight.

Anyway, I am in bed with Ben between Amanda and I because either Scotty or I woke him up when Amanda was checking on him in his crib. It really doesn’t matter who woke him up, we were both in trouble. But he came in and went right to bed like a little angel. Thank God! It make her smile and she coasted off too…..no one is in trouble anymore!

So off to bed for me as well. Keep me in your prayers. I need some help getting my body to move in the right direction. A good night’s sleep will be my start!

Goodnight my friends and God Bless.

Tom+

Tonight was a great end to a difficult day, and it was just what I needed in the end.

Earlier in the day we transferred our youngest mission, St. Paul’s in Greenfield, from a Parochial Mission (under our direct care) to a District Mission (under the Bishop directly). One of our priests, Father Conover who is 80, has resigned from our staff and became their vicar today also. And though all of it worried me a great deal, I still showed up with Deacon Dan (their former vicar) to make the transfer. Father Chuck was not there much to my surprise. He had apparently been in the Heart Hospital for a few days, which I was notified in an email I had received when I returned home last night, but the email said he would be there on Sunday for the 1pm service. I was notified right before the service by a parishioner there that he would not be there. My uneasiness of course has gone up considerably.

I often tell people to give back to God things that trouble them, and today I have taken that advice. Sometimes people just want things their own way, and despite what you do to guide them sometimes you just have to let go. Please keep Fr. Chuck and the remaining people of St. Paul’s in your prayers.

After I returned home and took a short nap, I had the great privilege of watching Ben and Scott play in an inflatable pool that Scott had bought as an early birthday present for his brother. The water from the hose was freezing but it didn’t bother those two. They just played and laughed and kept pushing each other in the water.

I needed that. Life will have its ups and downs, its joys and sorrows, and its victories and challenges, but there is so much more to my life than all the back and forth. I have a great life filled with many blessings, and I thank God for reminding me of that on a hard day. I wish the best for the people we let go their way this afternoon and for Father Chuck as he leads them. And I hope Chuck is restored to full health.

As for me, I am going to make sure that older blessing of mine has his homework done. He is taking English 11 (composition) early in summer school to get it out of the way. And with this composition out of my way, I am just going to relax out here on the porch.

Thanks for checking in!

Goodnight my friends and God Bless.

Tom+