I was going to post tonight about how my youngest, Ben, was spending his last night as a 4 year old…..it is a pretty unique thing, but then again, so is what happened this afternoon.

Yes, as amazing as it may seem to share, TODAY it RAINED!  And, it rained hard and long.  I was actually at the Wal-Mart when it started and as I went to the car it was really coming down.  In fact, I got CLOCKED by some hail right into my eye (my right eye, the bad one) but who am I to complain…it was RAINING!!!!

And it was a pretty good storm too.  The picture shows how it ripped off the bottom of one of the Mike’s Express flags in Anderson, and I was detoured a few times on the way home due to fallen trees. (Yes we have stuff in our yard down, particularly as I paid for stuff to be removed last week) BUT IT RAINED!!!  YEE HA!

The other picture is from the house behind us…..the storm snapped a big tree in half.  You can see from the guy in the picture that the snap was at least 50 ft high.  These are BIG trees!  It’s a mess, but it rained…..and ultimately, today, that’s what we are thankful for the most!

Goodnight my friends and God Bless!

Tommy+

It has been an interesting day, as I joined my daughter and mother-in-law in their supervision of Ben in swimming lessons and Kid’s Zumba.  It was a pretty cool day!

And although I took a TON of pictures of Ben swimming and jumping off the side and the diving board, the funniest part was his attempts at rhythm as a member of the kid’s Zumba class.  The class is taught by Jett, Amanda’s personal trainer, so I KNOW she knows Ben well……but he has the rhythm of   a dead animal.  Lord knows he tries, but he just cannot seem to get it right.  But fortunately Jett is the mom of young children, so her class is a labor of love.

But Ben loves it, just like he loves swimming.  It was a great day to get to be a part, and for it I am thankful.  He is swimming, he is working out, yet he is still as bizzarre as ever.  But he is more so Jett’s problem than mine.

All and all however, it was just cool to see…..

Goodnight my friends and God Bless!

Tommy+

I would love to think that I could say something witty or even deep this evening, but in all honesty, that will not be the case.  I am totally pooped from today, and although  I accomplished a great deal, I am also very far behind.

Fortunately for me, the high is going to be 106 tomorrow, meaning that I will not be highly motivated to leave the house and therefore can make a dent in all the stuff I intended to do today.  I will confess though that I had hoped to be caught up already.  Perhaps it is because I am now 51, or perhaps that it is because I did not estimate things right…..but it is what it is and regardless of the reasons, I need to get at it.

As a reflection on my life, today finds me older than I have ever been, over weight, a bit depressed about both those things, and needing to move ahead to fix them.  So tomorrow I have decided to begin to lie about my age, but the weight still presents a problem.  We will see…..but if I cannot get a handle on this (read my prior posts about my doctor speaking about my stroke and metabolism) I will be actually sitting WITH my mom and sisters rather than hanging out for lunch at their graves.  Listen, I get it.  I have to beat it, and I am certainly trying.  Just keep me in your prayers.

So it is off to bed for me….tomorrow will be a hot one, yet I intend to make a few things happen.  Keep me in your prayers….Lord knows I need them.  I really do want to live long enough to be a long term burden to both my wife and children.

Goodnight my friends and God Bless!

Tommy+

Honestly I was ready to kill him, not in a literal sense, but I am of the school that when a parent or authority figure asks you something and you CLEARLY HEAR it, that you also CLEARLY ANSWER it too.  So when we were driving to the Mounds State Park with his grandma, sister, and dog and he wasn’t answering me, I was none too pleased.

But now I understand, as this is who was in the car seat in the back when I turned around t complain……so I asked my question in a different way, addressing Captain America instead of my son Ben.  And not surprisingly I got an immediate answer.

I wish I could say that he was just staying in character, but I am afraid it is far deeper than that.  You see, he really does believe he is Captain America, or any of the other superheroes he loves when he is in their costumes.  He will not answer to his name, but to the costume’s.  And in all honesty I am tickled by it all.  I must have great DNA because my youngest child is about 10 different superheroes and he alone holds the key to keeping the world safe, today from “Red Skull.”

So our hike was a success.  The evil squirrels and the evil birds, as well as any of the other evil wildlife, kept their distance……for justice was at hand.  Captain America, with shield and all, is on the prowl.

Goodnight my friends and God Bless!

Tommy+

I am now home after 5 days of travel and 1800+ miles…….. It has been a whirlwind of sorts, but I am taking tomorrow off to process it all through my mind and to get some things done around here that I am responsible for that were neglected due to my absence.

BUT, I thought I would post this picture tonight.  I took it yesterday, and it is a picture of downtown Montgomery………..INDIANA.  It actually cracked me up, as I left Montgomery, Alabama on Saturday and it was just a bit more congested.  Montgomery, Indiana is really what you see.  This may have been a traffic jam there too, but I am not sure.  Indiana is just a bit different, and that’s why I love it here.  In truth there is no place to me like home.

So here I am, safe and sound, and thankful for a very blessed journey.  I am also thankful that I need not worry about getting up at 5, or driving anywhere unless there is some sort of emergency.  I actually dreamed about this moment days ago, and I am happy to be able to say……

Goodnight my friends and God Bless…….from HOME!

Tommy+

Yeah, I know they have passed away and are as we say “working from the home office,” but it didn’t stop me from taking a short detour through that part of Evansville and eat an early dinner after putting some flowers on both their graves.  I really wished I had more time than just a “drive-by,” but on this trip unfortunately I did not.  I left after my short dinner for home and unloaded my car, and I put in a load of laundry that I need for tomorrow…..and tomorrow begins with Father Robert and I leaving for Ohio at 6am!

But the short personal stop was an important one.  I miss them both, yet I also remember both their struggles at the end of their lives.  My sister faced hers bravely and was amazing, my mom’s ability to do that was taken away by Alzheimer’s and not knowing, I believe at least for her, was a gift.

So my trip was productive and I was able to meet some amazing people, and that was a deep blessing to me!  Tomorrow really continues that trip, although we will be back around dinnertime.  The big blessing however tonight is my own bed…..that I will get into just as soon as I put everything in the dryer.

Goodnight my friends and God Bless!

Tommy+

For those of you who are regular readers, you may remember how I became frustrated with flying and decided to drive instead.   That, for the most part, has worked out well….that is until THIS trip.  I was intending to get to my hotel in Illinois tonight about 7 but was nowhere near that mark!  The highlight of my drive was this picture in Alabama just before Tennessee….that’s right $2.99 a gallon.  It is STILL way too expensive, but cheaper than anything I had seen.  Unfortunately I had filled up a few miles earlier and therefore lost about $.10 a gallon….a dollar in my car.

But in all honesty, I still like the driving,  I like seeing the countryside, and I like meeting people in different places…because for as much as the news would have you think we are all going to hell, the world is full of some pretty nice people…..and I have met a ton of them on my trip.

But sadly, I do not have the energy to tell you about them tonight.  These past few days have had very few breaks, and I am feeling it.  I am in the hotel, in bed, and even if there was a fire, at this point, I might consider if I were motivated enough to wake up and leave.  My meetings are late tomorrow by design, and had I scheduled them for tonight I would have had to cancel.  I am thankful tonight for my skepticism about traffic!

So it is off to bed I go!  I have driven 1000 miles in just a few days and I am exhausted…..at least my bed just welcomes me to go to sleep!

Goodnight my friends and God Bless!

Tommy+

Although I travel quite a bit, one of the blessings of such a life is the gift of being able to meet some very remarkable people.  And today the blessings of my travels come here at Christ Church Anglican in Montgomery, Alabama.

I am at a Provincial gathering of the Anglican 4th Day (A4D).  A4D is a renewal movement within the Anglican Church and has many similar cousins in other denominations such as Cursillo, Walk to Emmaus, The Great Banquet, and Paseo among others.  I am on the Provincial Board (our Province is North America) and the people are so very inspirational.  If you read this blog regularly you know that I  “get around” (in a travel kind of way…after all, I am a priest) but this was my first venture into this area of the country for work.

I have to confess I have been completely overwhelmed by the hospitality I have experienced here as well as in the teachings and wisdom shared by the clergy and people I am with here.  I feel very blessed by it, especially since I have made new friends that I will be able to continue to learn from and be blessed by in the future.  I think it is highly unlikely that I will travel down here all the time for the delicious meals, but it is very tempting for sure!

But my point is, that every once in awhile, it is nice to receive.  And here in Alabama, that is exactly what I have been able to do!

Goodnight my friends and God Bless!

Tommy+

When I took this picture last night I had no idea how prophetic it would be.  All I saw was all the wine bottles and the dog seemingly passed out next to the table.  He looked whooped.

Tonight I feel the same way.  I really did well on my drive and it was just shy of 10 hours.  But I had very little sleep, I spilled a coffee all over my desk right before I left which delayed me, and then just about 30 minutes out from my hotel and meeting I received word that our air conditioner on our old house needed to be replaced and immediately.

Regular readers may remember that we were not able to sell our home when we moved and had to rent it out.  It has not been without problems, but having a company manage it for us until the housing market recovers and we can sell it makes things a bit easier.  That is up until today.

You see, the price is just shy of $6000, and we do not have $6000.  Of course this would be less stressful if it were not 150 degrees outside AND if I were not out of town with responsibilities.  It is a mess for sure, but I have a call into the management company to see if the furnace people from our new house can come out and give a bid tomorrow.  Either way, we will have a furnace/air conditioner installed by Saturday.

But as I look at the picture I’d just like to think it was me…..tasting some good wine and just taking a well-deserved nap.  I have yet to sleep, but plan to take care of that right now.

Goodnight my friends and God Bless!

Tommy+

I am a bit worried……It is 10:45 and I am still awake, yet I am scheduled to get up in less than 6 hours for a trip (a drive) to Montgomery, Alabama.  I have a meeting tomorrow at 6:00 pm there, and I am not packed or asleep.  It is going to be a difficult day tomorrow for sure.

And to make matters worse, Scotty came home and he is sick.  I therefore have moved Ben out of there since they are “bunking” together while their grandma is here.  Ben is still jacked up, and Scott is sick and exhausted.  I just have to drive, and if my day gets messed up and I miss that meeting, well then, I suppose I would have chosen the good portion.  Parents take care for their kids, and that’s even when they are adults.  I hope Scott can get some good sleep.  He’s a mess.

But Ben has already tried to rouse his mom, but to no avail.  I have told him to give up, and although he seemed hellbent on having a conversation with SOMEONE, he has run out of options.  The nice part is that when I get up to leave I will see him right here without the chance of waking him up.  In a way, it is nice…..it could only be better if Scott were not having such a hard time.

So for now I will end this post with the hopes of sleep.  I am exhausted, but my mind is racing about the trip.  I pray that sleep will win…..and of course that I set the timer on my coffeemaker correctly.

Goodnight my friends and God Bless!

Tommy+