Yep, that’s Ben in my bed.  He has been having a “melt down” (his words, not mine) since his mom has been away at a conference.  Of course this conference has been at a hotel in Indianapolis, allowing Ben to see her a few nights for dinner, which has made it seemingly harder for him.  He is clearly a “mommy’s boy” (my words not his) and tomorrow he thankfully will be happy again….and so will she.

As for me, I will be happy too.  These past few weeks have been exhausting, and it will be a blessing to get things back to normal.  So Friday will be a reunion of sorts for them both and I may be happier than anyone.  The melt downs will be gone and the future will look bright, or at least that’s the plan.

So tonight we have headed down to Indianapolis to spend the night at the hotel with her.  Since we have her car, being here is probably a good idea as well.   Plus being here has earned me some “dad” and “husband” points, even though neither of them even seem to know I am here.

Yep, paradise!  I am happy, and I am feeling like a genius today!

Goodnight my friends and God Bless!

Tommy+

Oh sure, I did TRY to post my blog on the 18th, but sadly my Internet was down.  Of course, I could have waited it out, but as I have found, most of the time my waiting on things like this is never successful.  So I set it aside, and I am posting this for the 18th instead.

The picture is of my rehab bike, but obviously that is not ME on it.  Ben seems very taken with it, and it is really quite comical to watch.  Ben can either use the handlebars or the pedals, but not both at the same time.  So to get his best workout, we switches between the two.  What he doesn’t do is to like me to be on it…..it seems to be his.

Really though, it is typical of a 4 year old in terms of their understanding of the concept of “sharing.”  At 4, what is yours is theirs, and what is theirs is theirs as well.

Oh well, at least I have this post up….and to me, that is progress for sure!

God Bless!

Tommy+

Yep, I finally found a stationary bike!  It took me a few days, but I was successful!  The sad part is that although I was able to get it together, I was unable to get onto it, because Batman had to work out.  Batman cannot reach the pedals mind you, but since the handlebars move back and forth, he felt it was a good workout!

The good news is that beginning tomorrow, I can begin to rehab my knee.  It seems a lot better already to me, but a big part of that is just delusion.  I do believe something is wrong, but regardless, I also know I can strengthen it and get a bit more out of it before giving into the doc!

And the bike I got is certainly not the Cadillac of bikes…..it is more like the Ford Pinto of them.  I however do not need anything with 70,000 programs.  I just need one that keeps me mobile.  AND, this will certainly do.

But when I say that, I mean certainly do as long as I can ride it.  Life with a 4 year old is invaded in every bit of it.  But he has school tomorrow and I do not!  So after a few meetings, perhaps I can do a little rehab and get things moving along!

Goodnight my friends and God Bless!

Tommy+

My wife is staying at a hotel for work that I actually remember pretty well.  I was there many years ago for a lunch meeting on pensions and I remember asking the waitress what the salad dressing was, which she said was ranch…..it wasn’t.  It was Caesar, and Caesar is made with anchovies, and anchovies are seafood, and I am allergic.  And I remember the wife of a good friend of mine jokingly say as my throat was tightening up, “how ironic to die at a pension fund lunch.”

Fortunately for me I had just a small bite, mostly because I could tell immediately when it touched my tongue.  I was miserable and scared, so I did the responsible thing……I DROVE MYSELF all the way up to my doctor’s office in Noblesville where I got steriods, a lecture, and a RX for epi-pens which I now carry.  It was a long drive and a scary day, and one that if the circumstances were the same, would probably do again because I just am all about denial, but honestly that was stupid of me to do.  But I always will remember her line, because all in all, it was pretty funny. (and it was never intended to be serious either.)

But tonight Ben and I stopped by to see my dad, and as we were leaving I was admiring his new car.  It is a little foriegn thingy that I do not know how to spell, but it does begin with an “H.”  And he was complaining that although he loves it, it didn’t come with a spare tire.  He has ordered one, but it still has not arrived.

I however, in my great wisdom, shared that it probably didn’t matter as I tires are different these days and I probably hadn’t changed one in about 20 years.  We soon parted ways and he went back into his house and I backed out his driveway.

The bad part is that it was dark, and I was driving Amanda’s car (since she doesn’t need it) and my glasses were in MY car.  So when I hit the driveway’s side curb that didn’t surprise me much. (everyone does it there)  But what DID surprise me there was the FLAT TIRE I had by the end of the drive.  The irony was incredible.

And of course changing that stupid thing in the dark with my dad playing with Ben and all of us laughing made it quite tolerable.  The tire is destroyed with a big cut on the side.  My knee is no very bad as this whole thing was probably one of the worse things to do with it.  The spare was one of those goofy ones that meant we had to go home on the slow roads.  And now my already packed day tomorrow will include finding and buying a new tire.  Happy happy joy joy!

But I am certain that will all be resolved tomorrow and I will not need to be worried about any of the other tires……after all, tires are different these days, and I haven’t had to change one for about an hour and a half!

Goodnight my friends and God Bless!

Tommy+

I must not be living right.  I spent the majority of this past week finishing the things I NEEDED to finish in the basement so we could reclaim the bottom third of our home. So the past two weeks have been insane with Holy Week, Easter, travel, construction, and all the other stuff I needed to do.  Never mind that Amanda was out of town on Friday and Saturday.  All was well as I began to look into this next week.

Of sure, she will be at a pretty important conference for her work this week, but it is in Indianapolis, so that makes it almost just like she is at her regular job…..or at least that is what I THOUGHT.  You see, this morning she asked me what time we would be back from Nashville were I was serving today, and I told her.  Not a big deal, nor a surprise, as we often have stuff to do when we all arrive home.  But when I asked why, because I wanted to know what kind of projects might be in my future, she mentioned the “conference,” and I immediately got worried.

And soon my fears were confirmed, my best laid plans had gone awry…..yes indeed, the conference is in Indianapolis, but as it is a special conference of certain company wide leaders, they schedule it all day, and yes, that means into the evening as well.  This means that even the locals are required to stay at the conference as well.

Yes, my vision of what this week would look like needs to be taken back to the drawing board.  No worries though, I am an expert at screwing up my life without supervision anyway…..

Goodnight my friends and God Bless!

Tommy+

I went to pick my wife up at the airport from her surprise trip to my mother-in-law’s retirement celebration (yes she flew there yesterday and home today) and although I THOUGHT I was taking Ben with me, it turns out that I took BATMAN.

Yes, just out of our driveway I looked into the backseat and saw the Dark Knight riding in my very car in a booster seat.  The Dark Knight never smiles and is the most serious of all the superheroes that live at our house (and there are many).  And he not only went to the airport, but he went INTO the airport as well.

It was amazing at how many people recognized him too.  I suppose most don’t get to see Batman everyday like I do, so there was a lot of excitement there.  People shouted “Hey Batman” and “look, it’s Batman,” but Batman just took it in stride.

I just hope there were no bad guys there, because when he saw my wife he yelled, “Mommy,” and even posed for this picture with her.  Bad guys just might get the impression he is my son, and his secret identity could be compromised.  Fortunately, when Batman is around, most bad guys take off.

So the good news is that all is well and even Batman has something to smile about…….but not in his mask of course.

Goodnight my friends and God Bless!

Tommy+

Well, today is a big day.  Today my mother-in-law is retiring from her job as a librarian at the Topeka Public Library.  It is a big thing and I dropped my wife off at the airport, very early, this morning so she could surprise her.  As it turned out, miscommunication with Amanda and her sister Rhonda made this less of a surprise than it was intended to be, and that surprises me, as I have never ever heard of siblings not communicating clearly with each other!  The good part is that Amanda was there for the big day!

And retiring is a BIG THING, as it is something I think about close to every 15 minutes.  Okay, I will confess that this is just a fabrication in order to be funny…….I actually think about it every 10 minutes.  BUT, I was reading on the computer tonight that IF I retire at 62 my Social Security will be at 75% for life.  If I retire at 65 it will be at 100%.  BUT….if I retire at 70 it will be at 132%.  So my bet is to head for 70.  Ben will be about 10 then and Amanda close to 30.  And getting close to $100 a month for the six or seven months I may live seems well worth it.

Of course retirement is probably not in my future.  I can at some point give up being paid, but I cannot imagine not functioning as a priest, albeit a very old one.  But those old ones are always the coolest.  They tell all the stories over and over again, and complain about how today is nothing like the “good ole days.” And I agree!  I hope to be one of them forever and live to be a long time burden to my family.

As for my mother-in-law, I really hope she retires here.  She would be fun to have around, and there is no better work than to hang with grand kids in those retirement years.

But what do I know?  I will work forever!  Or at least that’s the plan until some grand kids come my way!!

Scotty is out doing something, Steph won her game which I listened to the broadcast of, and Amanda will be home tomorrow.  As for Ben, he is here, and yes, he is still just Ben.

Goodnight my friends and God Bless!

Tommy+

Yep, today’s picture is from our lunch.  Ben and I went to the Edge, and he was able to sit in the Reynold’s Farm Equipment race car that was in the only place at the Edge we were allowed in under 21.  It seemed to be a good choice too.  He loved the race car.

But lunch was just the break in a busy day.  I am happy to say it is over, but tomorrow will start soon enough.  Tomorrow however, there will be no race cars…..just school for Ben, and work for me……not quite the day we had today.

The good parts are that the basement is almost done, all the taxes are done and filed, and the big tree branch is no longer looming, but cut up and ready to burn, thanks to Scotty helping me out!

So it is off to bed for me, as I am putting this one in the books!!  I hope your day was as productive as mine!

Goodnight my friends and God Bless!

Tommy+

Currently, my whole life is in a bit of disarray.  The plumbers are gone, but they are coming back SOON, as I have all but completed the new bathroom in the basement, minus their final part.  But my basement is a mess still, my garage is full of stuff I have been using to complete all this, my knee is close to qualifying me for handicap parking, and this morning as I was in the process of FILING my taxes, the Turbo Tax site went to some sort of “maintenance” mode, and by the time it was done, my taxes (OUR TAXES) disappeared.  Needless to say, today has not been stressful at all!!!

Well I would like to say that my knee is better, but that would be a bit of a fabrication.  I did buy a brace, as I could not find the 150 others that I am sure my two older kids have commandeered for their injuries over the course of their sport’s careers.  But this one will do, and if I am able to find a stationary bike over the next day or two, perhaps I can get back to the land of the, at least, limping like 50…..

The good news is that it is not any worse.  As I stopped at the “Play It Again Sports,” the helpful young clerk (female) asked me, “Don’t you think you ought to go to the doctor?”  I of course shared my philosophy that he would indeed just find something wrong with you (they all do), so I wanted to just get a stationary bike instead.  After all, if I need surgery or not, they put you on one of them anyway.  It’s a standard part of therapy (physical).  So I intend to give it a shot myself.

So……so far so good…..both legs still appear to be attached!  But keep me in your prayers!!

Goodnight my friends and God Bless!

Tommy+