Monthly Archives: November 2010

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Stress relief…..

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I think I might buy myself a decompression chamber. I am not sure whether you can get one on Amazon, but I am pretty sure they probably have them on EBay. Of course I am not sure if they alleviate stress anyway, but at this point I am about ready to try anything.

The big issue for me right now is to just get to the closing. This of course require everyone to be on the same page, and sadly, the ONLY part that is lagging behind is lagging on our side of the transaction. It is both frustrating and embarrassing, and something that makes me feel pretty powerless in all of this. One of my friends has said to just put it in God’s Hands, but as I have always replied (and did today) my life seems a lot less stressful when the Lord Himself operates on my schedule. He never seems to want to do that, so for now I am just going to have to deal with the stress.
The good news is that beyond this post all I am waiting for is to take the acid, I mean the medicine, that I have been ingesting for the lion’s share of the week for the infection I had. It has been an “icky” week, and although the stress will carry into next week (we intend to move the day after Thanksgiving) at least there is victory in the fact that I have survived this week.
As a distraction for myself, I have been reading Peter Sellers’ quotes, especially since my complete set of Pink Panther movies are packed. But at least I can still laugh at it all. In time all this will be but a memory, which my mind I will probably forget anyhow. So why should I worry? There are plenty of people with more pressing problems than me. Perhaps I should just pray for them…that I will.
Goodnight my friends and God Bless!
Tommy+
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Boiling over……

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Yep, I am clearly over the top, and I wish there some peace in sight, but today it just wasn’t happening.

If you read this often, you will know that we are in the process of buying a house and the details of just ONE PART of it are delaying things. We are both working, raising kids, and doing other things…..plus Amanda it transitioning jobs. SO…..it is a lot on our plate. AND, for me it is just a bit too much.
So tonight I have called it a day. I have poured a vodka tonic, taken a deep breath, and am praying for a better day when the sun rises tomorrow. After all, when things boil over, the best thing you can do is to turn down the heat.
Goodnight my friends and God Bless.
Tommy+
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Still ticking…..

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Some days are a real challenge, and today was surely one of them. Closing a house, packing, working, and remembering everything I need to do got the best of me a couple of times today. As a matter of fact, I cannot remember a more stressful day for me for quite some time.

On top of that I have been fighting a pretty significant infection that has me on medicine that is so often I can hardly keep it straight. Actually, I have two infections, one in my eyes and the other in my body, and if anyone wants to trade bodies, regardless of the condition, I just might consider. If I just didn’t have to think or do anything but sleep for a few days I think I would feel better, but as they say, “there’s no rest for the good-looking”……at least I think that’s it.
The good news is that sooner or later I will either get better or my wife will put me in a home….but either way, I will be making progress. The latter however, will not require a lot of packing. So I imagine I am heading to better health. There is no way I am getting out of packing.
So for now I will go and grab a box and fill it up. One step at a time….but at least I am still walking.
Goodnight my friends and God Bless!
Tommy+
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On the Polar Express……apparently.

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Life is pretty much back to normal here and Ben and I spent the day together. I worked and he interfered. It was a great day though. I didn’t get quite as much done as I had originally hoped, but as Amanda arrived home, ate, and then went to another meeting, she mentioned something I didn’t know we had……”The Polar Express.”

Ben apparently watched this with his mom and grandma in Kansas last week, and although I had not seen it, I wondered as we watched it, “what in the world were they thinking?” It’s so intense it gives me the willies!
But for some reason he likes it, and he seems committed to watching it. And the plus is that while he is on the Polar Express, I can catch up on a lot of this work!
Goodnight my friends and God Bless!

Tommy+
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The wait is over…..

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The dog will no longer be depressed and we will be in trouble because the house is just a tad bit messy when we promised it wouldn’t be……..but Amanda and Ben arrive home tonight. There are some travel problems and delay in KC and a tight transfer in Chicago, but how hard can it be to transfer planes with a 3 year old at a major airport? I m sure they will do just fine.

But let’s not worry, Soctt and I will be fine. She will be too tired to notice the “yet to be folded” laundry (it sounds so much more positive than “unfolded”) and probably will just sleepwalk upstairs to bed……at least that’s the plan.
But for now it’s back to counseling the dog and getting stuff done as much as I can here. Tomorrow will be a normal day, everyone will be home and we will all be in trouble. But to be in what I know is far better than guessing. And more than anything, the dog’s world will be back to normal.
Goodnight my friends and God Bless!
Tommy+
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Dog Day Afternoon…..

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Yes, the last full day before they return. Viper and I “Skyped” with Amanda and Ben tonight (as much as a dog that sleeps all the time could) and apparently some laundry that was not quite yet folded caught her eye. I really thought that was the cat’s job, but apparently not. It certainly will be folded before she returns tomorrow evening (or we are getting rid of the cat).

But all and all it has been a wild day. I was to celebrate at the service in Anderson, but upon my arrival was just not feeling great. Fortunately PT was there and was doing the sermon anyway. He took care of it and I headed home to take some meds. I felt fine in no time and finished the rest of the day just fine. And I feel pretty good right now.
But the dog is asleep once again. He fascinates me. How he can sleep so much I will never know. He fell asleep when we were talking to them on the computer, and when I put this sticker on his nose he woke up for a little bit. Oh the life of a show dog, and a stud show dog at that….sleep, eat, sleep, maybe get studded out and sleep. If that isn’t the perfect life, then what is?
And though the day appears to be done for Viper as early as 7am, the day is REALLY over for me now. Yep, I will need to wake him up to go out one last time and head upstairs to sleep…..but it will be worth it.
He is a great dog and we love him.
Goodnight my friends and God Bless!
Tommy+
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Lonely, I’m Mr. Lonely…….

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I turned on my computer tonight and my Skype account automatically signed in. It is a program that allows video chat between two computers, and we use it to talk to Steph, Amanda’s mom and Amanda’s sister.

But shortly after it signed on a message appeared on the screen from Steph……..”Hi DAD! Is Ben around?” I miss her, but I am apparently not her first choice to talk to. Of course I cannot be mad about it, because as I survey all of them, I am often on the bottom of the list.
Yep, I hear about important stuff for all the kids mostly from my wife. They all talk frequently and, quite honestly, are probably deciding what they will do with the insurance money when I finally kick. (I however intend to live past 100) I often learn things well after they happen, and am getting quite used to my “need to know” status.
But tonight the house is empty and it would be great to just be a little closer to the top……I mean with someone other than the dog.
Oh well, at least I am number one with him…..after all, no one else is home!
Goodnight my friends and God Bless!
Tommy+
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You’re hired…….

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I am not sure why this is happening, but when my wife is away (this and the last few times) I tend to be pretty productive.

This is the case this week. I have made preliminary arrangements for my mom to be transferred from the nursing home here in Noblesville to one in Anderson. I have hired a moving company. I have hired an insurance agent. And, had I not been so exhausted today, I would have hired a leasing agent for our current home.
But the good news is that it is all behind us, at least that part. There is a TON of packing to do, a little bit of paperwork to work out, and a lot I am probably not even thinking about because my wife is not here to tell me. So this is to say, I will just enjoy my delusion through Monday night!
And I chose my blog picture carefully, because I am actually a fan of Donald Trump. He, like me, is savvy, is known for his great looking hair, and is married to a woman more beautiful than his pay grade. And both of us have a solid grounding in reality.
So for now I will just call it a day. Yep, at 8 o’clock…..what a wild man. But while others might consider going out, I’ll be plotting my next move. Who knows who I could hire next? Maybe there is a future for me on reality TV.
I doubt it…..Goodnight my friends and God Bless!
Tommy+
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Living in a ghost town…..

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Stephanie is at college. Ben and Amanda are in Kansas. Scott is 17 and not often around with lacrosse and all his other commitments. So……the house is empty and very quiet, even with a dog and a cat living here. But what would you expect from two animals who sleep about 23 hours each per day?

So I am living a pretty peaceful existence until Monday night. It’s not that there is nothing for me to do, it’s just that I am not used to doing it in a ghost town. But I have nothing left to fix, very little left to prepare for Sunday, and I need to figure something out. No telling what it will be, but as they say, “Idle time is the devil’s workshop,” so I am going to try to find a productive plan for my time.
But at this point, I think joining the dog and the cat is my number one answer.
Goodnight my friends and God Bless!

Tommy+
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In the presence of Tirman genius…

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Genetically he is doomed to be a clown, but nothing is more fascinating that a clown with brains……and in a family of comedians, he may be the most brilliant one ever.

But there was nothing funny about tonight. Ben was a grouch, and it really didn’t matter what was going on or offered, he just didn’t like it. First of all, he wanted fudge for dinner, and not just any fudge, but fudge Amanda made to send to his sister in college. He was not only ready to send her down the river for it, but through an absolute fit about it not being a healthy choice for his main course.
In round two, the dinner we made he decided he didn’t like and after being put in time-out, got to watch a plate with 6 tater tots cooling on the table for him to come try. And though prompted to get out of time-out to eat them, he had deeper, darker plans. He threw a second fit, because he suddenly didn’t “like” tater tots, so I instructed Scotty to eat them.
Of course that was a big mistake, because now we had wronged him. Amanda was at the store, so he was playing the room, and he was doing it well….so well in fact that he got me to make him a peanut butter sandwich, something he never turns down.
It turns out he turned it down tonight. I thought it was just because he was stubborn, but clearly it was part of his brilliant master plan. So as Scotty and I asked, begged , and then demanded that he eat that sandwich he got me to take a step too far…..reverse psychology (which often works). I said, “don’t you eat that sandwich Ben, don’t you dare eat it.” He looked up at me, and I said again, “Don’t you eat that sandwich…..its Viper’s (the dog)”
Yep, he smiled, patiently took a hold of the sandwich, and walked across the room and gave it to the dog. We were dumbfounded……he had us all along. I told Scotty dinner was over and to take my debit card out of my wallet and get them some ice cream. I was in the presence of sheer genius. Scotty conceded the same.
So tomorrow morning, very very early, Einstein and his mom will board a plane for Kansas until Monday to see his nanny. It will give me some time to recover. I just cannot believe I was schooled by a 3 year old!
Goodnight my friends and God Bless!
Tommy+