It looked oh so lonely, but we stopped just so we could take this picture.  Fortunately for me, Father PT got out and stood in front of the building.  Poor Father Dan…….a dilapidated building with just one friend.   Please keep him in your prayers!  (ALSO…..it is OUT OF BUSINESS!!!!)

Of course Father Dan has LOTS of friends, like most retired State Troopers do because people need guys who can tell them how to get out of tickets.  But in all seriousness, he is a good guy.  And he will take this like a man but I will confess that PT and I are expecting to be (and will be) PAID BACK.  Most people would call that a friendly game of back and forth, but Danny will consider it revenge.  The Bible says, “Vengeance is mine says the Lord,” but Danny doesn’t like reading that part of the Bible.  He prefers to strike back “sans the guilt.”

But it is all in fun.  It is not our best joke………..but a joke it is.

Goodnight my friends and God Bless!

Tommy+

Every day Stephanie, quite faithfully, gets up and hauls her littlest brother to the YMCA for swimming lessons.  The first few days she will tell you were awful as he fought going in the water, but he eventually did. (Far better than her however, as she would not let go of my leg OR get in the water!) But there are fruits of her labor!  Ben can now swim, although he is no Michael Phelps, and he even goes off the diving board!

Yes, Steph is his “Nanny” for the summer.  This is not to be confused with his “Nanny” which is what he calls Amanda’s mom either.  Steph is truly “her brother’s keeper,” and they are pretty funny to watch as she has him moving through each and every day.

Steph also conducts some academic activities for Ben as well.  She has been given a bit of direction however prior to conducting these sessions though.  It is not that we do not trust her, but Steph used to not want to play or be a kid when she was young…..she would rather stay inside and do math stuff.  She is nowhere near that weird today, but we do keep a sharp eye out on her as she does give Ben some math (and in addition to a biochemistry major in college, she adds math and Spanish minors….she could just go all “mathy” at any point).

But speaking of points, mine is that they are doing a great job together.  This summer will probably mean a lot to them both down the line, but it give great meaning to me now!  I am proud of them both and enjoy watching them each and every day!

Goodnight my friends and God Bless!

Tommy+

In my life I have had the blessing of meeting some fine people, particularly through my kids.  We have had their friends practically growing up in our home.  And many of them still stop by and are still like family.  I know that my kids too are seen the same in their homes as well.

There’s a website called “WheresGeorge.com”  It has been around for years, and it is where people register the serial number of a $1 bill and stamp it with the “WheresGeorge.com” seal, or write it on there after registration.  It is always interesting to see where dollar bills come from and go to.  It takes just a minute or two and it is a lot of fun.

Well a couple of days ago, after stopping at the Home Depot, I received a dollar with the seal on it and I took it home.  I have looked them up and posted my receiving the bill lots of times, but it was never more interesting than this one.

I apparently was the second poster of this bill.  The original poster was from Indianapolis, which is just about 20 miles away, but it said that he had received it as change from a male stripper at a dance club in Indy.  From there it went to the Home Depot where this guy probably bought something.  But from there it went into my wallet, a priest of the Church.  And tomorrow it will go into an offering plate at Church to be blessed and reconsecrated for God’s Work!

I did find it pretty funny though. And it will be interesting to see where it goes after tomorrow…..particularly after giving it to the Lord for His Work now!

Goodnight my friends and God Bless!

Tommy+

Today has been an exceptional day, and one I will not soon forget.  It was not only unbelievably hot for the millionth day in a row, but I ended by doing a funeral this evening for a remarkable woman and friend whom I wish I had spent more time with……Lynn Udrasols.

The funeral however, if you can believe it, was the highlight of my day.  Three of her grandkids spoke, as well as other family, and it was filled with joy and laughter and wonder.  I last saw Lynn a few days ago when I gave her Last Rites.  Her body was broken, she could not speak, but thank God right now she is free!

The grandkids did such a great job that if I had the money (if I had any money) I would gladly have hired them all right away!  They were a gifted bunch…..something of course I would attribute to Lynn being so close to them in her life.  It was really very cool!

But now I am home.  It is still way too hot, but I so very thankful I went out in it.

I could just focus on the heat, but I won’t!  God’s blessings are all around us, and sometimes to see them we have to look at other things!

Goodnight my friends and God Bless!

Tommy+

As if we needed our home to get any weirder……. Ben’s last birthday present arrived this evening.  It’s just too bad he was not here to see it.  What, or better yet, WHO appeared was a ninja who seemed to me to be familiar.  For the life of me however, I am sure I will never figure it out.

This however, is far more realistic than the last ninja we had in our home.  It was well over a year ago, and I am pretty sure it was Ben with one of his sister’s hair bands across his face.  This ninja requires far less grace in terms of costume believability.  Plus this ninja has “authentic” foam ninja stars, whereas our former ninja just had sound effects.   My only regret is that his grandma left for home, or I mean my mother-in-law left for home (as I am not really sure of the identity of this ninja) a few hours before he appeared.

Anyway I need to get into a new paradigm.  Instead of WWJD (What would Jesus do?)  I need to wonder WWCND (What would Chuck Norris do?)  I am not certain of all of it, but I am pretty sure he would think this was one cool ninja.  I think that too….I just wish we could find our son Ben.

Goodnight my friends and God Bless!

Tommy+

Today we celebrate the 236th birthday of this great nation of ours.  Yet in my 51 years, I have not lived through a time such as this.  We as a people are more polarized than ever.  We speak about what separates us, rather than that Great Melting Pot we learned about as children in school where we come t realize we are all Americans first.

I am proud to be an American. Sure, I have a family heritage, but I am an American first.  I am blessed to live and to raise my family here, and I will dedicate today and every day to giving thanks for our Country.

God Bless these United States of America and Happy 236th!

Goodnight my friends and God Bless!

Tommy+

Sometimes while making my way through life I look at Viper and think “wow, what a great life you live.”  He has very little stress or responsibility.  He is happy to see everyone and everyone is happy to see him (except 3 year old Jack next door who is afraid of dogs).  He hangs with his fake squirrel, satisfied that he will not be catching a real one (he will not take a part in fulfilling the Peter Principle). And he eats and sleeps when he wants…..which is pretty much all the time.

My life, on the other hand, is often chaotic.  It is quite regularly filled with stress, change, and uncertainty.  It is mired with too much responsibility, and as much as I would love it, not everyone is happy to see me…..although Jack and his family seem to like me!  I do feed all our squirrels, but do not have one of my own or even a fake one.  I am however considering buying Ben a “Secret Squirrel” costume so at least one will talk to me.  And of course I probably live my life as the poster child for the Peter Principle.

But no, I am not jealous, I just admire him.  He is a good and loyal friend (unless Scotty is around) who helps keep me sane and being able to do what I do.  And today, on a pretty rough day, I thank God for him.  Viper, you are one awesome dog!

Goodnight my friends and God Bless!

Tommy+

Today Stephanie had her heart procedure performed and they felt it was a complete success.  She was nervous, as we all were, but fortunately everything went extremely well.  Steph is a very fine-tuned athlete, and that was well in her favor.  It just made my day to be able to bring her home with this all resolved.

AND here is some exciting news……Steph is now responsible for what has come to be known as “The Mystical Camel of Healing,” and as you can clearly see from the picture, she is TOTALLY THRILLED.

The camel made its original appearance in 2008 on the week that I had my stroke.  As the story goes, the kids were cracking up about it as it was for sale in the gift shop (St. Vincent’s Hospital….probably a remnant from a Nativity set) and just “had to buy it.”  That camel stared at me all through my hospital stay and recovery…..that is until my dad got sick and had surgery either last year or the year before.

Oh yes, he received the camel, not willingly but as a good sport……he himself waiting the day when he could unload, I mean pass it on.  He seemed a little too excited a few months ago when I had my knee problem.  Asking in a very concerned way if I was having surgery.  Of course we are all now on guard.    So when I hear the words, “I hear you may be having surgery,” what it translates to is “I am hoping to unload this stupid camel.”  Sadly for him I just needed my knee drained and shot up….and sadly again I forgot to mention that eye surgery I had in March.

But of course we are not nearly as pastoral to Stephanie, the co-originator of the camel tradition.  My dad was glad to give it up, and quite honestly there will be hell to pay when she finds out that Scotty reminded my dad and even went to pick it up.  He may be having a surgery of his own sometime within days.

But the camel is hers to worry about for now and she is waiting for one of us to need it.  I am sure it will not be hers for long.  But although it is just a stuffed camel, it has also meant a lot in terms of joy.  It made me laugh in quite a few tough times in my life, including today.  I am just glad she is okay.

Goodnight my friends and God Bless!

Tommy+

Yeah, I don’t get it either.  Why a traveling circus would be sponsored by a hand cream I do not know. I was just blessed by the fact that my wife and mother-in-law went to the circus (escaping our own personal circus here) and they had a great time.  But if I want to see men in tights, I will watch Robin Hood.  It’s really not my thing, plus I am brand-loyal to the hand cream I buy at the Tractor Supply.

But my main request is not for this, but for my daughter Stephanie who will be in the hospital tomorrow for hopefully a successful procedure.  Steph’s heart goes into wildly fast rhythms off and on, and although she has worn a monitor for quite some time, they have yet to catch what they need to see for recording.  Tomorrow the doctors will attempt to make her heart go into those wild rhythms and then find the circuits causing them and permanently sever them if they can.  As regular readers will know, Steph is a pretty high level college lacrosse player, and she needs this to be resolved in order to keep playing.  (She is also a biochemistry major who would continue with that even if she is not allowed to play.) But to Steph, her passion is on the line and I can understand the anxiety.

She is a great kid and a wonderful daughter.  Hopefully tomorrow night’s post will have a very positive resolution.  Please just keep her in your prayers.

Goodnight my friends and God Bless.

Tommy+