Yes, tonight’s picture is of Ben next to the scarecrow he and hos nanny worked so hard on.  I decided to find a pole and put it up today, in between work things, as a surprise.  It had been in our garage for over a week.

But they both loved it, as they should.  It was a labor of love for both of them.  And with all the stuff going on in our country and world right now it was nice to see a grandparent and grandchild do something so meaningful together.  It makes me miss doing things with my grandparents…..I miss them so much!!

But the scarecrow is spectacular and it fools even me, even after I put it up.  I have looked outside more than once and thought, “who’s that in my yard???”  It is pretty realistic.

The sad reality is however, we have no crops that need protecting.  Our garden was a victim of the drought, and of course not much grows in November anyhow.  But I will say, it is pretty cool to have the only scarecrow on the block.

And sometimes being the only one is enough.

Goodnight my friends and God Bless!

Tommy+

Oh sure I know that most people may think I am referring to the popular phrase “on” holiday, but in the words of that old pharaoh in the movie “The Ten Commandments,” “so it is written, so it shall be done.!”  We were at Holiday!

Ben and I had a choice to make this afternoon.  We had a few choices too.  We could either go with his mom and nanny to a concert of choirs at Butler University (my Alma mater – Go BU!)  or we could stay home and selfishly watch the Bears play on TV.  But I imagined someone asking me this…..”How did the Bears play Sunday?”  To which I would have to answer, “Well I do not know because I decided to attend a show, by my own choice, of a variety of choirs singing.”  I know there is a beer commercial that talks abut turning in one’s “man card,” but there is really no such thing……kind of like seeing me at a choir concert when the words “hostage situation  are not involved.  I will GO SEE SOMEONE in such a show, but it is not on my bucket list for sure.

So the second choice was to drive them to the concert and then go visit my dad who lives about a mile from campus.  No, he is not a Bears fan, and yes he would have loved the choir concert as my brother and sister BOTH sang in some of those choirs (And yes, I WOULD go to see THEM because that would be enjoyable), but we never gave him the option.  Instead I asked if Ben could come and see him which he LOVES.  And Ben, remarkable as it seems, decided that the concert was not for him either as he wanted to go see his grandpa.

And I probably could have caught the game at his house, but grandpa wanted to go someplace…..Holiday Park!  And it was spectacular too.  It had about the largest playground of any I had seen and Ben was a nut on just about every piece of it. I decided to post tonight’s picture rather than any on a swing or slide or anything like that, because Lord knows I have posted tons of that.  Plus, Ben guessed that my dad was 100, so with that information I may not have him around long and need to post all the ones I can of him!

But the bottom line was that it was a lot of fun (for everyone but my sister Anna who was studying all afternoon!!).  It went by far too quick.

And the Bears ended up winning anyway……by 31 points!  Great day!

Goodnight my friends and God Bless!

Tommy+

Sure, the picture is from tonight.  It was taken in the men’s restroom at Meijer and is yet another bacon reference, as if the world needs another.  This one is what someone wrote on the hand dryer over the drawing for people who cannot read.  The drawing indeed does look like you put your hand under it and it dispenses bacon.  But two things made me believe that it was not going to be true.  One, it was the bathroom at the Meijer, and then two, if it really were true I would imagine I might run into Father PT there.  It turned out to be a hand dryer……the crappy kind too.  I used it for just a minute and then wiped my hands on my pants as I left the bathroom.

But why am I posting about the hand dryer in the Meijer bathroom?  Well because tonight it was Amanda and I’s intention to have “date night,” and like an automatic bacon dispenser we found out there was no such thing.  In fact, we were at the Meijer to get some supplies for St. Patrick’s, one of our churches that we were heading over to CLEAN.  (Yep, how romantic is that?)  So date night…..no such thing as well, at least for tonight.  Ben is at a sleepover and you would think we could do better than that.  And the real tragic part is that the vacuum at the church was well past Last Rites too.  So we didn’t even get to finish!

But the truth is, I appreciated the help.  I have been the primary cleaning crew for St. Patrick’s since it came into its own building, and to be honest, she is a bit more talented at such things than I am.  And since it was date night, who am I to deny the girl a good time?

So now we are at home and exhausted.  Daylight Savings Time “falls back” tonight and now I will need to be at Church an hour early to tell people the time changed and to come back in an hour.  AND, I also will need six additional weeks to get used to the time change……I hate it.  But at least we are finished for the day.

I am just thankful for the day…..even if that dang thing only dries hands.

Goodnight my friends and God Bless!

Tommy+

Today was the “Monster Mash”at Lapel Elementary School, and Ben went in a monster costume made with love by his mom and his nanny…..neither one incidentally are monsters themselves.  And the costume, as you can see, was a hit.  It had horns, three eye balls, and sucky octopus thingys all over.  On the back were spikes and spots.  He was a total sight!

But he went to school and joined all the other monsters, as this apparently is a Lapel Elementary tradition.  We love where we live, particularly in that there is often not a lot going on….the big city it ain’t!  But that’s what made it so cool.  Because after our grill caught on fire (yep it did) and I put it out (yep, I did that too) with a fire extinguisher (now I need a new one) we had to go out for dinner.  But we met a young lady there who was picking up some food and when she saw the costume she asked Ben if he was a kindergarten student at Lapel Elementary.  How did she know?  She has had TWO monsters of her own…..and the youngest is now in 3rd grade there!

Ah yes, tradition.  Without it, where would we be?  And that is a big part of why I love living in Indiana, and small town Indiana especially!!  No we are not New York, but we really wouldn’t want to be.  Here people know one another, they chat with each other, and the life is much slower in terms of pace.

Yes, the Monster Mash is about as edgy as it gets here. Yet it is still way over the top for me.  Let’s remember I was born and raised in this great state……..and I am not all city-fied with monsters and things like the currently popular Zombie Apocalypse.  I like my life a lot more laid back.  Let’s remember that where I live rush hour is defined only by how many tractors are out on the road.

Goodnight my friends and God Bless!

Tommy+

Although I hate to admit it, I am just about half way done with all the stuff I had slated for Tuesday, and it is Thursday night as I type.  I really do hate being behind, and even more than that, I hate to admit it.  I informed my wife that I would not be able to help her as a room parent tomorrow for Ben’s “Monster Mash” at school.  Her mom will go along, so it is not really about the help, but I know it was something she and I wanted to do together.

The good news in all of this is that it should free up some time to be together over the weekend.  And I suppose if we think about it, the agenda then can be our own rather than having it be dictated by what the monsters at the Mash need to accomplish.  It does break my heart because I would love it, but you really cannot do it all……and I know because I often try.

On the up-side, Amanda is far better than she was yesterday and although she was very groggy and had a late start to her day from the meds she took for her migraine, the bottom line was that she made it all day!  And even though she has had these forever and been to countless doctors, the close to immediate dosing of her meds seems to be the ticket to a shorter recuperation.  Yes, we are learning!!!

So I will just chalk it up to another day behind me.  And yes I know, “chalk” and “slated” are outdated words, you know, like album, cassette, and 8-track.  But I use them nonetheless.

I may be a dinosaur, but this dinosaur is done for the day.  And no one could be happier about it than me!

Goodnight my friends and God Bless!

Tommy+

Tonight was trick or treat night here in Edgewood, and we went out with Ben, oh wait excuse me……Spiderman.  Oh no it was not Spiderman until game time though.  We THOUGHT it would be a skeleton, and then we were told it would be a ninja.  But when I came down and was ready to leave, suddenly it was Spiderman.

So Spiderman and his Nanny, his mom, and his dog Viper went out for about an hour.  What amazed me more than how even more popular his dog was.  Viper apparently has a lot of fans here in our neighborhood.  He was identified by a lot of the other dog walkers and even people who see him walking by carrying his own leash.  And although he and I stayed at the ends of most of the drives, people often called to him or wanted him to come up and see him.  He is such a schmoozer.

But the whole thing was a lot of fun and we had a great time.  Amanda has been on antibiotics now for two days and was able to work.  She made the whole hour, but now has a migraine here at home.  She just cannot seem to catch a break.  We did however get her medicine in her sooner than we normally do and it seems to be making a difference.  With these headaches we often lose her for days!

So now I am typing and getting ready to post this.  Steph and her friends are waiting in Missouri to see the Spiderman picture and I have an ailing wife to attend to.  No, it’s not exactly all that I dreamed of, but in all honesty I have a pretty great life and a pretty wonderful family.  And at my age I need to be taking care of them as I can.

After all, it may have an impact on the type of facility they put me in, which may be but a heartbeat away!

Goodnight my friends and God Bless!

Tommy+