Well it is official……Scotty has no wisdom teeth, and although he is a funny guy, he has been 10 times funnier sedated.  Amanda said he spoke in Chinese all the way home, though I can verify that he speaks no Chinese at all outside the influence of Versed.  He just rambled and joked, but soon he was in bed, and we did not see him for quite a few hours.  Like all of us however, his bed-ridden stage didn’t last long.  He is now up, and joking.  He has no swelling and is not in too much pain.  It has been a good day and  complication-free one at that.

As for me, the day has been one of both reflection and wonder.  Amanda took Scotty to the surgeon.  I took Ben to school.  But even though Scott is 18, I worried about him, as I have all day.  And it took me back to me getting my wisdom teeth out.  My parents were not involved, but if they knew I know they would worry.  I imagine I didn’t worry about that at all though.

And when I was a kid, I took a hockey stick to the mouth.  Yep, I have some nice porcelain replacements bolted into my jaw.  But once again, when it happened, it was all about me.  That’s all I worried about….but I am sure my parents were a mess.  I watched them both later in life struggle with the illnesses and subsequent deaths of my sisters Steph and Sarah.  Having kids is rewarding, but hard.  You worry.

It reminded me of a time when Steph (my daughter) was but a few months old and she had a cold.  I remember being on the phone with my mom and talking about how I was sure she was fine, but I just worried about her all the time.  AND, that I was looking forward to the time that I didn’t worry about her. Of course she chucked.  I was probably 30 or 31 at the time, and she said, “What makes you think I do not worry now?”  She was right….it never ends.

So as I worried today about Scott my mind drifted off to grandchildren I will someday have who will worry my children just like they worry me.

It really did make me smile.

Goodnight my friends and God Bless!

Tommy+

Of all the days I chose to travel it was today.  Of course since October it has only snowed twice significantly (for here, meaning it covers the grass)….that is until today.

I set out early to go and meet a nun friend of mine in Warsaw, Indiana which is only about 100 miles away.  But suddenly the ice and the snow came, and time seemed to stand still.  And my hopes of arriving  mid-morning deteriorated into an early afternoon arrival.  It was not that much snow, but the ice and the wind made travel unbearable.  There were plenty of plows, but they didn’t drive that fast, nor did they move at all without long lines behind them.  And my worry was the fact that I was to be back to pick Ben up at 5.  Worry worry worry……  Had I gone on any other day prior to today, I would have had plenty of time.

In fact, I had hoped to get up to Goshen to visit my grandparents’ grave, as it was just a little under 20 miles further than Warsaw.  But with my experience heading up to my meeting, that could mean a couple of additional hours.

I have to confess I was a bit depressed about not having the time, but just as I was leaving Warsaw Amanda called.  She was still working, but she wanted me to know that Scott was off and was heading to pick up his brother.  Time would not be an issue, and in my thankfulness, distance or traffic would not be either.  I turned around and headed for Goshen.

As you can see, I made it.  The cemetery had not been plowed, but I didn’t care.  It was important to me to be there.

And my ride home, although extremely difficult, was very satisfying.  There was so much ice and wind that it was like driving a Zamboni, but it was worth it.  I think of my grandparents everyday, and my life would be far different without them in it.  And I am thankful my day turned out the way that it did.

All and all, despite the weather, this has been a great day.

Goodnight my friends and God Bless!

Tommy+

Tonight was a night that I would rather not remember.  I had a busy day and Amanda met Ben and I in Indianapolis after her work to eat, as I had some things to pick up down there.  For the first time in a long time my cell phone was almost dead, but I really wasn’t planning on using it too much, so no big deal.

After we ate, Amanda and Ben went home and I made a few stops.  They would beat me home by about 45 minutes I figured, and that would give us still an hour till Scott got home from school.  But I was coming through Fishers (about 15 miles from home) when Amanda called.  A door was unlocked downstairs when she came home, which didn’t trouble her at first, but Viper (our 8 year old dog) who I have never heard growl, (yes this is his picture) was growling across Ben’s room toward the dark hall leading to Steph’s room.  He was protecting them from something.  So she locked them all in my office and called me.  

I of course would have always wanted to be called, but I was concerned more for their safety.  I asked her if she had called the police, which was ‘no,” and she also said there was now no Internet…..which to me meant no phone and perhaps alarm.  I hit the gas as I called the police, and I am thankful my battery lasted through all of this….it was close.

The police in Edgewood are great.  It is a small town and they know every property.  I explained that the house was locked since she got home, but she could probably throw down a key to them from my office or wait for me to get there…..they didn’t have to, for they found an unlocked door and entered and searched the house.

By the time I arrived, Ben was playing with the two officers, and Amanda was getting a bit of a lesson about calling them right away.  I am sure she will next time.  And although I do have a permit to carry, I wasn’t tonight…..but regardless, everything pointed to the need for the real professionals, and I called them.  They train to sweep houses for bad guys and lots of other things too, and it gave me peace to know they were on the scene.

So thanks to the Edgewood Police Department and for their good work.  I really do love living here, and I thank God for the good people I live among.  I am also thankful that tonight they are all safe.

Goodnight my friends and God Bless!

Tommy+

Today was kind of a big day.  Scotty, who took last semester off thinking he was heading to the Marines this month, had a big change of plans.  He was intending to serve in the Marine Reserves through college, but now with everyone coming home the whole dynamic has changed.  He will now just do his degree and intends to go in afterwards…..at least that is the plan for now.

So tonight was his first night of class.  He has class four nights a week, and it is really kind of nice to know he will be at home for now.  His original spot is still open in St. Louis to study music education, but you can see the wheels in his head spinning all the time now.  He plays for one of our churches, he has a full-time job, he is a full-time student, and he is the drummer for a band that is getting quite a bit of attention.  Oh to be 18 again!  (Although when I was 18 I was really nothing but trouble!)

It was nice to see him excited about it though.  I know he had himself set to go now.  All that is rapidly changing for a lot of people in the military.  Had he decided on that early in his senior year he would probably be gone.  I know it disappoints him in a way, but I am glad to have him here.  He can still go if he wants, and as I said at this point he still says he wants to, but there is a lot of life to happen between now and graduation.  Time will tell and we will see.

Off to bed for me…..it has been a long and grueling day!

Goodnight my friends and God Bless!

Tommy+

A couple of nights ago I mentioned that I would be posting about the whole Tim Tebow thing, and I want you to know that I have not forgotten.  It just appears to be a much deeper post that I had envisioned.  It will come, and most likely this week.

But today has been a day filled with both work and Ben meltdowns, and all of which involve his mom being absent in some way.  The first was when she was at Zumba.  He needed to share every toy with me he has ever gotten, most of which were acquired for him by me.  And now he is doing battle with her as he wants to sleep in our bed, which is not really “ours” but “his mommy’s” and his case is being aided by a lot of wailing and tears.  It does make it hard to type, let alone think.

So I am taking advantage of his not being here (in his mommy’s bed) yet, and typing away at this entry.  She does think she is smarter than he is, but believe me, he is a real pro.  I am giving myself good odds that his little body will be here beside me in the morning when I wake up.  He is stubborn and determined like his mom, and with my DNA in there too, he is almost invincible!  I probably ought to just scoot to the side now!

But for now I have room and I am resigned to what sleep I can get.  I have a busy day on the docket tomorrow, and if there are just no meltdowns, I hope to finish it in time to enjoy the evening.

Goodnight my friends and God Bless.

Tommy+

Although I am the wrong kind of doctor to make such a diagnosis, I believe that Ben is getting better.  He was not well enough to accompany his mom and me to Nashville this morning so I went alone.  But he did manage to attend St. Anne’s with Amanda at 11:30.  I however was wondering how he was doing all day, and even bought him this “on sale” bean bag chair that you see in the picture.  Apparently my worries were unfounded……he seems fine.

So I was able to get home with the chair to a quiet house…they were all asleep.  I did my sermon twice today, and recorded it twice, but listening to both twice on the way home didn’t help me decide which one I would post on our podcast website  http://www.smaac.podbean.com/  After much internal struggle, I decided on the first one.

But my afternoon turned out to be pretty empty.  I saw the end of the Houston loss, and then the highlights of the Packers loss too (I do not know if you can tell who I was rooting for or not).  So it was a pretty depressing afternoon/evening.  The only blessing is that I have a meeting in Washington DC the weekend of the Superbowl, and the tickets in the Eli Lilly luge with my wife I will not be using, but who she and my son Scotty will, will not be watching the teams I wanted.  Of course I am now cheering for the 49er’s as their coach is a former BEARS quarterback!  But I digress……..

Tonight I am on the cusp of the week in which I will catch up with all I need to do!  AND, I am pretty excited about it!  It gives me a great vision for the future, because planning is always easier when you are ahead!  I just hope it is not a “pipe-dream” and I wake up in the morning feeling the same way!

Goodnight my friends and God Bless!

Tommy+

Boy I wish things were different, but Mr. Ben has been sick all day.  He and Amanda had intended to go with me to St. Matthew’s in Nashville tomorrow, but about 30 minutes ago we made the decision to scrap those plans.  He is just too unsettled right now, and once I leave for Nashville there is little time to stop or take detours…..it is 100 miles from here.

So Ben and Amanda will be staying home, and hopefully Ben can pull it together before school on Monday.  He has really not been himself, and it is hard to not be able to make him feel better.  He is now back in our bed with his mom, and he is watching “Monsters Inc,” which I believe is a documentary about those guys who changed the formula for Coke a few years back, but I may be wrong…..Ben is a big milk drinker.  I cannot imagine that capturing his interest.

But I have put my last thoughts into my sermon, and I will hopefully bring it all into some sense of coherency on my drive to Nashville in the morning.  I very rarely write things out anymore, as post-stroke, I have trouble focusing and delivering when I am looking up and down.  But we record them now and post them online (this will be our second week) so you can hear it and tell me then that you are feeling ill too!

So I will now head to find a TV and see the Tebow/Brady showdown (at least for as long as I can stay up.)  But I am rooting for the kid!  He is a great quarterback and a pretty dang decent human being.  And I will write more about all of that tomorrow.  But what I can say now as a preview is that I have been a bit shocked as to what people are saying and thinking about him…….as I am one of those Christians myself.  I just had higher hopes.  Check in tomorrow and I will write more.

Keep Ben in your prayers!  And pray for me tomorrow!  Lord knows what I will be saying…….and yes, I suppose that is a literal statement, though it was not intended to be.

Goodnight my friends and God Bless!

Tommy+

I should have known something was wrong.  Yesterday Ben said he didn’t want a candy bar, and then after dinner tonight he had a bite of his ice cream and then said he didn’t want it.  He had his dinner, but clearly he was not himself.  An hour or so later he was pretty sick.

Fortunately it came and went pretty quickly.  He was miserable for a short while, cried a lot, then took a quick bath, got in his pajamas and is not Skyping with Steph and Cassie.  He seems to be fine now, and for that we are thankful.  It was definitely a stressful turn to a busy day that I thought was just about over.

And after all that, plus the 10,000 other things I did today, I am hoping that perhaps now the day is now over.

Oh no……he’s now here in my office with a toy that sings a Biz Markie song….the red one.

It’s gonna be a longer night than I thought.

Goodnight my friends and God Bless.

Tommy+

Dear Lord, I might as well live in Bermuda.  There is a WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY here and why????  Well, because we may get a couple of inches of snow!  Oh the humanity!  How will we ever survive?  I am so confused by living in this “non-northern” environment.   I even had to use a picture from 2007 of Scotty (his picture is AWFUL), Stephy and our niece Kayla because it was the only snow picture I could find.

As I was reading about the “advisory,” my mind went back to the countless times we would get a ton of snow up in Mishawaka (Indian for “God’s favorite city”) and how we would listen to the radio praying earnestly that the Superintendent would close school that day…..it rarely happened.  And yes, there was ice and snow, lots of it in fact…..but life went on.  After all, if we issued warnings like they do now I would still be in 3rd grade.  In truth, we live in an area where it snows, although here really not that much, and we ought to all just come to grips with it.  I mean I am now 50, and I have only had a snow blower for a year but it’s because my driveway is about 10 miles long…..not for the inability to shovel.

But I am getting tired of complaining about it.  I chose to live here in the deep south, and I guess I should just come to grips with the fact that people are a bit timid about snow and ice here.

But I think it is a bit deeper than that, in that we have become a people in need of drama.  It is January 12th, we live in Indiana, and it may snow 2-3 inches today.  Why that needs to surprise anyone is beyond me, but there needs to be news…..and apparently dramatic tension.  But considering it can snow here as early as October, yet this is just the second snow for us in the central part of Indiana, I would think we would be talking about how fortunate we are.  I guess not.

But a month ago I moved the snow blower from the back of the shed to the front, where the mower sits in the warm months.  Last year at this point I had used it at least 10 times.  This year I wonder if I will use it at all.  But regardless, I thank God that I grew up where I did, and I also thank Him for the snow.  I really love it.  Christmas wasn’t quite right without it, and although I have enjoyed getting out to do some work still outside, I really want 4 seasons.

So bring on the snow!  Let’s break out our skates and sleds!  Let’s make a few snowmen and have a snowball fight.  Unfortunately this hyped “advisory” isn’t gonna do it for me………

Goodnight my friends and God Bless!


Tommy+

Last night I felt that the well was a little dry, as I wrote a preview to today’s blog as it was big news here and I didn’t have much other than that on my mind.  I have to confess, it concerned me, since I figured today would be just a rehash of what went on.  But like so many other times in my life when I feel this way, suddenly I find myself in the land of abundance.  And that is where I find myself today.

First of all I should let you know from the start that Ben overcame his genetics, and not only finished his first day of school but did so without incident.  No principal, no police, no angry girlfriends or suddenly retiring teachers…..he did great.

But the material started flowing again just about 3am, when I looked next to me in my bed and I saw him there.  His “promise” of sleeping and staying in his own bed, which I understood as permanent turned out to be only temporary….and very temporary at that.  But I let that slide.  He needed his sleep and so did I.  I decided to save that battle for another day.

In the morning however, when he was getting dressed to head to St. Mary’s, I asked him if he knew who Mary was, but he didn’t make the connection.  So I asked him who Jesus was, and he knew that, and then I asked him who His mother was and he said “Mary.”  So I said, “your school is a school named after Jesus’ mother.”  He thought for a minute and then asked, “Is this school going to be about Jesus?”  And I said, “well I suppose at least some of the time.”  So he said, “Well I do not want to go to a school that is about Jesus.”  So I told him that was something I preferred he not share at school.

But soon we were off.  He walked right in.  He had no tears, no fuss, and apparently no anxiety.  Amanda was a little upset, but she did better than I expected her to as well.  We got out of there and he began his day.

Amanda called me at 2:30, since I was supposed to pick him up at 3, and seemed surprised that no one from the school had called.  Yep, Ben stayed out of trouble, didn’t need his parents, and when I arrived he got up like an old pro and went with me to get his backpack as if he had done it a hundred times.  He was as cool as they come.  The report from his teacher was great, the kids seem to like him, and soon he was in the car with Viper and I heading to the bank.

I did ask him how school was, which he defined as “fine.”  When I asked him what they did he said, “we played, ate, and did our homework.”  (He didn’t seem to bring anything home to work on, so I am guessing he finished his calculus in class.)  But when I asked him if he drew any pictures today in class he looked at me very seriously and said, “Dad, we don’t draw at St. Mary’s.”

So he is well on his way to wherever he is going and God save the teachers ahead of him.  The nice thing is that he enjoyed it.  I am glad too.  He is a great boy, and a life of adventure and learning is on the road right before him.

Goodnight my friends and God Bless!

Tommy+