Life goes on...

So, last weekend was paint the porch weekend, and I was able to complete that. Yeah! Peri had a cheer-leading competition in Greenwood and they did great, except, according to the judges, missed having a back spot for one of their aerials, which resulted in a 20 point deduction. Having a back spot when doing any of the stunts is rather important, but according to the coach, that moved the girls from finishing 2nd to 7th(last). Ouch. But, they did great with all the team issues they had up to that point. They had 2 girls out with injuries, one which had been injured the night before, so they persevered and performed with changes that day. We are very proud of our little cheerleader. Way to go Peri. After they performed, 2 of the girls on the squad, Peri being one of them, had to be helped off. They had a trainer there and he iced their injuries, Peri's being her knee and the other girls ankle. Both were pre-existing conditions.. So, Peri's good friend Ricki's dad is a doctor and he asked us if we would like him to take a look at it. We agreed and he said it didn't seem to be serious, but she might have a slight tear and thought we should have it checked out by an ortho. So, this week, Peri went to an ortho and he had her get some x-rays, because they are cheaper than MRI and he would check them out. Those resulted in not much, and he said an MRI would detect tears and such that an x-ray couldn't. We have that scheduled for Friday morning, so we wont know anything till then.
Ella had her first meet against a Christian School and they had 4 girls. We won. Ella did fine in the events she swam. Somehow, my times didnt get saved on my Blackberry, but according to Ella, her times were better than her times for the 1st meet last year. Anyway, that is our life for this month and I hope all are doing fine.

Libby Update:
Libby does have an infection in her port. She's in a lot of pain and is on a Morphine drip as well as a pump Emma can push if she needs additional pain medicine. Libby did have to get blood on Sunday and Platelets on Monday due to her counts being down. She has blisters in her throat and unable to eat or drink so she's on a Nutrients IV as well. All of this they say is typical w/ a Bone Marrow Transplant and especially w/ the infection. That unfortunately doesn't make it any easier. Emma and Mike are doing well due to all the prayers being lifted up for them. Mike is playing "Mr. Mom" and is doing a terrific job at it! He took Mary to the Doctor for a checkup this morning and she is growing quickly. She was 6 lbs. 12 oz at birth and is now 8 lbs. 4 oz. It is so hard for Emma as she is only able to see Mary, Sean and Erica on the weekends, but she is so comforted at the way Mike is handling things.
Our entire family can't thank you enough for your prayers and concerns. I know Mike and Emma have been so overwhelmed w/ your love. This entire community has been awesome in supporting my sister and her family and I am so grateful for you all.

Our garage is takin a beatin', well maybe it is giving us a beatin'

OK. So Sarah goes out into the garage this morning to go to school at 6:55 am, and what do I hear... "The garage door won't open!". My little sleepy mind couldn't quite translate that simple statement, so I say, "Huh?.. what do you mean?" "I SAID THE GARAGE DOOR WON'T GO UP!!!" du du du duuuuuuuuuuuuuuuh.. Super Tom to the rescue. I go out and sure enough, the door will not go up. I'll just unlatch the automatic door opener and raise the door, as we have to do if the power is out. Click.. OK, unlatched. Grab on the handle of the door and push the door up... It doesn't even budge. OK. That was just a test attempt to raise the door.. Use your legs, man! UUUUnnnndtrrrrrrrrrrrggggggggg... What the.... I can't budge the door.. At this point, with Peri and Sarah standing there, I feel a little bit embarrassed. Am I too old to even lift the door.. I get a ladder and check the top of the door, to make sure it isn't somehow jammed. Nope.. I look over and what do my eyes see... The tension spring that at this time, I wasn't sure exactly what it's function was, was broke in half. OK, so that is apparently the problem, but Sarah and the kids need to get to school. So they take Ella's car to school (If Ella is driving, she normally leaves a bit after Sarah and Peri, but today, Ella was pretty much ready to leave so it all worked out) So, I call the garage door place hoping that those springs might have like a 10 year warranty, but no such luck, but they were able to dispatch a repairman this morning and he arrived around 9:45. 45 minutes later, he was gone and the door works again. He proceeded to tell me that a door our size is very heavy and even he and I could not raise it. OK, so I am feeling my testosterone slowly eeking back into my system. That door ought to know better than to kick sand in my face.. Haha.. Anyway, that is our little adventure for today and I hope all is well with everyone.
Love and regards...

OK, so I am still a slacker

Been a little while, so here goes nuttin'. Peri and Ella both got straight A's for the first trimester. Way to go, girls. Peri is busy with dance, cheerleading, cross-country. She hasn't run in a meet since her knee injury in the first meet that she ran. She is planning on running next week in an invitational. We are not expecting her to burn the course up due to the fact that she has only practiced on a very limited time schedule. Ella is doing conditioning for swimming which starts the end of this month. She is taking the SAT this Saturday, so good luck to her. Peri has just signed up for the Washington DC trip with her school in May. Sarah has been busy with work, home, aerobics and hauling Peri to all her activities. I assist when I can. I have been nursing a shoulder issue and it appears I might have rotator cuff tendinitis. It is just kind of painful, but I can still play ball and do stuff, except my shoulder has some weakness. I really noticed it affecting my jump shot, and that just isn't going to work. So, I started some physical therapy last week to strengthen and loosen the tendons. It seems to be going well. It may take a little time, but I will get it there. Last weekend I had my 30th year reunion. I had a good time and Sarah, well, at least she knew a few people and there was a live band that she seemed to enjoy. Anyway, that is about the extent of our life in the ville for the moment and I hope all are doing well and love ya'll.

Libby Update:
Libby finished her last round of chemo after they did not find any cancer from the tests that she had. The reason she still needs it is because it is protocol for this type of cancer. Sometimes with neuroblastoma there can be microscopic cells that hide. The chemo was quite a bit stronger than the regular rounds and she got rather sick. She came home Sept 24 and has limitations on where she can go because her immune system is low. Her mother is due with child this month. After the baby is born, Libby will have one more round of chemo that will be stronger than the last round. Just keep her and the family in your prayers.

Weekend fun

It was fun seeing everyone this weekend and as always the food was extreme... Thanks Gary and all else who made all that food. It was all wonderful. I just wanted to also post a few pics from the weekend and also a picture of our new driveway that Sarah continues to fret about. I hope everyone had a glorious weekend and good luck to Josh and Abrah as they begin their move. Love to all.

Been awhile

Sorry for the long delay. It has been awhile. We have been busy the last month or so with many activities, some good and some bad. I will post some pictures when I get a chance. Well, the girls are back in school. Peri is running cross-country, dancing, doing gymnastics, and cheer leading. Ella is taking a ballroom dancing class with one of her cousins, she has gotten a vehicle to drive, and I believe she is going to do some conditioning soon for swimming. She decided to not participate in fall swim club to work on her studies. That is the good stuff. The bad stuff is we had a tree fall on our garage, doing a little bit of damage, but we are about to have that issue resolved. A friend of ours who does construction did the roof repairs and such, and we are waiting on his gutter guy to come and put up some new guttering. This happened numerous weeks ago. That is about all I know at the moment, and my ankle, which was sprained about 6 weeks ago, is healing and I hope to be back on the court soon, with ankle brace on. Keep Sarah in your prayers because the teacher who was next door to her, and was 58, passed away on Saturday while mowing her yard. The calling is today and then she is being transported out to Missouri, I believe, where most of her family resides. It was a bit of a shock.

Libby Update: Libby finished her last round of chemo a 2 weeks ago. She was back in the hospital the next week after running a fever and she received some blood to get her counts up. She is in for tests this week and has her last test is today. So far, all the tests have come back positive, from my understanding.

Thanks and hope everyone is doing fine.

There's a new driver in town....

Congratulations to Ella who passed her written test and is now an official licensed driver. Yeah. OK, so she still needs a car(which she reminds me about every minute), but we are looking. I have also included a picture of my friend at work Le'gretta's baby, Keira, whom I visited this week. She was born 6 weeks early, but she is doing fine, as is her mother. She is 1 1/2 weeks old in these pictures. Also included is a couple of pictures of Ella, who got bonked in the face yesterday at swim practice while they were playing a game. It broke her goggles, but she is fine. Ella swam this weekend in Seymour at an outdoor meet and she did fine. It was rather brisk out there for the swimmers, but not bad from a spectator point of view. It did not rain either. While we were at the swim meet with Ella, Peri had a cheerleader lockdown at the middle school with the other middle school cheerleaders. She was there from Friday night through Sunday morning when her grandparents picked her up. I have also included a couple of pictures from Peri's camp. I hope everyone is doing fine and have a good one!

4th pics and congrats to Ella

Ella passed her driving test today, so now all she has to do is take the written part. Way to go Ella. She and her mother were nervous. I knew she could do it. I sprained my ankle last night playing basketball coming down on someones foot. Needless to say, I took the day off and "RICE" it. Also included a picture from being "TP"ed by some of Ella's swim friends which happened in the wee hours of the 3rd.

july 4th weekend

Hi everyone! This is Sarah doing my first blog. We had a terrific weekend surrounded by family. I hope everyone else had as much fun as we did. Tom and the boys put on a terrific fireworks show. Who needs the big ones high in the sky. We sure did have a lot of yummy food. It was so nice having most of our out of towners there(we missed you , Michael). Tom is very thankful to Richard and Ryan for bringing his camera to him at the airport, since he left it at Tuttles. Too much excitement , he just forgot it!!!
I hope Chelsea did ok on her first day back. Lucky that Rease had a grandma to take care of her. I was thinking of you, Chelsea.
I hope Micah found her car!

Well, that is about it for now. Hope you all enjoyed my blogging. I don't quite have the knack for writing that Tom does. Byeeeeeeeeeeeeee.......

Family Vacation

We are having a fine time here in Myrtle Beach, all 30 of us in a large house. Sarah is surviving, out of her element, but she is such a big girl.. LOL!! All is good and we are having a good time. Love to all.

Peri's Powder Puff Play

Say that 5 times fast. Peri and her East Middle School 7th grade team dominated the West Middle School 7th grade team winning 52-32. Or something like that. They played 2, 20 minute running halves and Peri played defensive back mostly. One of the highlights of her play was a run around her end. She dodged the runner as best she could (Peri, the object is to go after the runner), but Peri was able to grab the runners shorts and be pulled down the field about 10 yards. She eventually let go and then proceeded to catch and pull the runners flag. Way to go Peri!!! Anyway, all the girls seemed to have fun and the West 8th graders ended up defeating the East 8th graders by a similar if not larger margin in the 2nd game. The girls get out of school Thursday and Sarah on Friday. Ella has been rather stressed with finals this week, but I am sure she will do her best and that is all we can ask. It is all good.

Libby update: Libby went into the hospital this weekend with a fever, and they had to replace her line with some surgery. She is fine now and was able to leave the hospital today. Continue to keep them in your prayers.

Love and Happiness!

Weekend over

Wow, what a busy weekend. Saturday Ella had to be in Columbus at 6:45, so we departed our house before 6. Ella swam in 4 events on Friday and 5 events on Sunday.
3:08.72 200 IM
1:13.58 100 free
3:08.68 200 back
1:40.73 100 breast
32.73 50 free
1:23.55 100 back DQ
2:58.00 200 free
1:42.48 100 butter
3:36.40 200 breast
These events are in meters, which are different from high school. Good job Ella, although we know you dreaded having to swim so early!
Peri had her dance competition on Saturday and received a gold for their performance and she attended the swimming with us on Sunday, which also merited a gold.
We also attended numerous Senior graduation open houses over the course of the weekend. It was busy, but we survived. I hope everyone else is doing the same.
Have a great one.

Track is done, but the fun is not done

Peri competed in her last track meet of the season last night. It was the conference and she was only long jumping. She jumped 12' 4 3/4" and finished in 9th place, missing 8th by 1/4". She had a very fine season and we are very proud of her accomplishments. Ella found out this week that her summer job working at the pool is not happening. The pool is having some issues and is not going to be opening this summer. She is working on lining some other things up. Ella is also continuing her swimming in club as is Peri continuing her dance and gymnastics and cheerleading. This weekend Ella has a swim competition and Peri has a dance competition. So, still busy here.

Libby update: Libby started her 4th round of chemotherapy yesterday. Please continue to pray for her and her family.

Peace and Love to all.

Ella's Confirmation

I forgot to mention we went to Lucas Oil Stadium last weekend for Ella's confirmation. It was a really nice service and there were like 3000 kids that were getting confirmed. I believe there were about 25000 people in attendance. Joanne was Ella's sponsor. The entire ceremony lasted about 2.5 hours. We went out to eat at Buca's in Greenwood after the ceremony. Our niece, Nicole, Mark's daughter, was chosen as one of the first communion children for their parish and she was also there.

Latest updates

I hope everyone is doing fine. Peri is recovering nicely from her knee sprain, or whatever it was. She jumped in the county meet Wednesday and placed 5th, jumping
11' 9 3/4". She did not run in any events, but they only took the top 2 in those events. Peri has the conference meet coming up on Monday that she is only long jumping in. School is out today and Sarah took an overnight adventure to Madison with our friend, Cindi. Peri went home with a friend after school and spent the night. Ella went out with some friends for dinner last night. I dropped her off and then went over to Tim's to check out his new flat screen and surround sound that he had just gotten a few days before, thinking I could hang out there while she had dinner. Ella had informed me beforehand that she would just be an hour or so. Well, apparently, more than just her 3 friends that she was having dinner with "showed up", and needless to say, over 2 hours later, her friend brought her by Tim's house. I did get to see Bolt, the new movie cartoon. It was good. Today, Ella just hung out at home. I went to work.

Libby Update:
Libby had some stem cells harvested yesterday and can continue her chemotherapy next Thursday. They had some tests a few weeks ago and said that the tumors had shrunk by approx 2/3. It appears the treatments and the prayers are working. Please continue to pray for Libby and the family.

Love to All...

A new record...

Well, for Peri at least. Last night at the track meet, Peri jumped 13' 5" in the long jump against Jackson Creek, in Bloomington, besting her last meet, personal best jump of 11' 11". She did have a tailwind that would have probably not counted it as a world record, had she jumped that far, but great job Peri. Peri also came up lame in the 800, but she did finish the racing limping the last 700, but she was going to finish, whether she had to crawl across or whatever. It seemed that she hurt her knee, but I don't know to what extent. Dr. Sarah Wood diagnosed the issue as Osgood Slaughter, which she had in her youth, and the symptoms do seem to coincide with its description. We will keep an eye on her for the next few days and see how it progresses. Ella is still swimming club, but is done with the swimming lessons for now with the younger kids. Other than that, all is cool and I hope the same to everyone.

Life goes on...

Well, been awhile, but Peri is into track now and is doing great. Ella is working at the HS pool teaching swimming lessons and doing club swimming. This past weekend Ella did a retreat for preparing for her Confirmation at Lucas Oil Stadium in a few weeks. Her group leader approached us and spoke very highly of Ella and told us what a special daughter we had. We already knew that, and that we have another very special and talented daughter, also. At least they know how to act when they are around others. Ha ha.. Anyway, Peri has had 2 track meets thus far, the first last Tuesday when it was misty and 45 degrees and miserable. Peri participated in the long jump, 800, and 4x400 relay in both meets. The first meet Peri got 2nd in the long jump, 1st in the relay, and I think 4th in the 800. The second meet was a three team meet and Peri jumped over 11' which was the best of the season for her. She also ran a 3:15 in the 800, another best for her. Her relay team, which was a little different than the first meet, got 3rd, I believe. We have another meet tonight if it doesn't get rained out. Peri also had a dance competition this weekend in which her group got a High Gold performance evaluation. Great Job Peri!!! Love All.
Update for tonights meet. Peri got 1st in the long jump, going a season best 11'11". She also ran a 2:59 in the 800.

Ive been busy, OK?

Work has been very busy, but now my busy time is over. I spent a few days at the hotel during selections, and had some other duties assisting with some stuff for the officials and a website that I helped create for officials to see if they got chosen for the tournament. So, tonight was the final check for the officials for the women on the website, so it is back to my normal workload, now. Yeah. I think I am going to take a vacation next week, then go to the Final Four in Detroit the week after that. Yeah, I think that is what I am going to do....

Libby Update:
Libby is doing 5 day, approx 6 hour a day, chemo, which started Monday. 2 hr hydration, 2 hr chemo, 2 hr hydration. Last I heard she is doing OK with it so far. Just keep her and the family in your prayers.

Love All

Peri's Birthday Weekend

Happy Birthday to my newest teenage daughter, Peri. She had some friends spend the night Friday night and then we had a party at West for approximately 25 of her friends. We played a blind man musical chairs, which was pretty fun. We also played dizzy ball. Everyone seemed to have a nice time and no one got injured... At least to my knowledge. A success. It has been a very busy week at work. I spent the night at the Westin Thursday for selection stuff for the tournament. I have been on call all weekend and I am at work on Sunday night, also. It is all good. I am looking forward to going to the final four in Detroit. Well, need to do some work for a little while and head home and then probably do a similar thing for women's basketball tomorrow. Have fun all and be good.

{Libby Update}
Emma says Libby is eating, and sleeping well and Erica is being a little mother hen. Keep praying that everything keeps going up hill for them.

Swimming Banquet

Tonight was the swimming banquet. It was a pitch-in and the food was excellent. Ella received the mental attitude award and the girl's team won the Superintendent's Award, an award given to the sports season(winter) team with the highest GPA. The four seniors spoke and there was a nice slide show.

We talked to Tia, Libby's aunt and she said that Libby was doing much better today.
The blood infection is gone and the Dr. says that the blood test shows that the white cell count should start coming up soon!!! She said that she has been playing with the nurses and has been much more active today and has also eaten some. Her fever has dropped and also heard that the tumor in her check is going down. It is back to where it was when this all came about!! GOD IS SOOOOO GOOD!!! PRAISE THE LORD.
Lets continue to pray!!

PEACE, LOVE, AND ROCK N ROLL !!!

Cat Burglar Part II - Sherlock Paul on the case

OK. You thought it was over, but it wasn't. If you haven't read Cat Burglar below, definitely read that one before you read this one, so you will understand. We were sitting around the table talking at dinner with the delicious meal my beautiful wife had prepared and Peri was being quite adament about not leaving the door ajar. I said that there was only one other thing that might have happened and explained it just like a Sherlock Holmes mystery. I stated that the only other possible explanation would have been that Sarah, while performing her numerous tasks that she feels she needs to perform each night for this household to remain intact, might have put the cats out and then came inside with every intention of returning to the garage for whatever reason, and then once inside got busy doing something else and forgot. We all looked at Sarah who had a look of mmmmmmmm uhhhhhh oh yeah.... I fed the cats and then came inside and was going to get some water for them and then... I just can't stress the awe and admiration that was exhibited in my lovely daughters faces at my brilliant deduction.... I said.. Elementary my dear Watsons.... and the case is closed.... Thank you for your participation in this wild ride we call life.. and have a good one.. Love yall :)

Cat Burglar

Did I ever mention how much I loved our cats? Well, last night adds to the love. At approximately 2am last night, our house alarm went off. It was the warning beep first that occurs when you enter 1 of 2 doors and allows you time to shut the alarm off if you don't have an alarm remote or whatever. It showed the door as being the garage entry door that leads from the garage into the house. Well, by the time I sat up from my deep slumber and figured out what was going on and had gotten to the alarm control at the entrance to our bedroom and attempted to enter the code, my 30 seconds were up and the intruder alarm went off. Now, if you have never heard this alarm, it shakes your whole body. Also, when this alarm goes off, our alarm company calls to check if everything is all right. Well, they called and I verified myself and they wanted to know if they should contact the police. Well, I asked them to hold on the line, not knowing anything to this point but that our alarm went off and there was a door open. I handed Sarah the phone and proceeded cautiously into the kitchen to check the outside door of the garage to see if it was open. It was not so we saw that the entry door previously mentioned was open and the light was on in the garage. And there in the hallway are our lovely cats. Sarah asks me if I had gone out in the garage after I had been on the computer before I went to bed and I said I had not. She said that she had put the cats out and thought that she had secured the door and she never leaves a light on. OK, my heartbeat has slowed down to a slight jog at this point, but I went out to the garage and looked around. (Don't worry all, I had a large flashlight in my hand.) Well there was nothing there and all exterior door and windows were secure. Hmmmmm... Well, so now I need to check the house. I went downstairs and all around, but nothing. During all this activity, Ella didn't even wake up and Peri, well she was right beside Sarah and me for the duration of the evening. I think I was able to finally fall asleep around 3:30. We figured that perhaps Sarah somehow didn't get the door shut all the way, which, if open enough, wouldn't have allowed me to set the alarm when I went to bed, but it is possible that as long as the sensors on the door are touched, the door doesn't have to be completely shut to register as being closed on the alarm. I tested that out this morning. Anyway, Eliza, the fat yellow cat that had the mouse adventure in a previous blog, tends to put her paws up on a door if it is slightly ajar and open them, so I am sure it was her. Now as to the mystery of how that door may have been left ajar, which Sarah may have figured out this morning on her way to school, was that Peri had left her IPOD in the car earlier in the evening and went out to get it before she went to bed, Sarah thinks after she had put the cats in the garage(Peri admits that she did this, but she said it was before the cats were out there. I'm sorry Peri, but I am going to have to vote against you on this one). So, being the preteen that she is and with the habits that she has, this definitely fits the prospective actions that she is capable of. So, there you go, another night of fun and adventure in our house. Well, all take care and get your rest because when you don't, you are tired the next day. Love you all!!

Our brush with fame

Sarah asked me to share the "burden" of taking the girls shopping this weekend. How can it be a "burden" if it is something you enjoy doing?... Anyway, I got off track there.. Did I ever mention that I hate shopping... Sorry, another off track.. Anyway, we(we in this case meant me sitting in the shoe department at Dick's watching the big screen of Purdue and Michigan State, and Sarah and the girls shopping for clothes) were looking for something for Peri for her upcoming birthday, and I figured shopping wasn't all that bad at this point, until Sarah tells me I need to go with them because they were done at Dicks, and the reason at this point doesn't matter, because she is just reminding me of my second off track mentioning above. But, as we were checking out, the cashier at Dick's mentioned that Miss America was in the mall for a few more minutes. I've never met a Miss America, although I did know the 500 queen one year, a girl who graduate with me. So, we decided that we needed to have our brush with celebrity on this lovely Sunday afternoon in the Bloomington mall, outside of Target.
I think it was all just a ploy just to get me down to Target. Ha ha.. We met Miss America and she gave us all a signed photograph, and she seemed genuinely nice. There were only a few people waiting in line, so we waited like 2 minutes. We thought about having the girls pose for a xmas card photo with her, but they weren't allowing any posed pictures. So, that was our brush with fame, and I was able to snap off just some regular photos of the girls talking with her. I will add them later. So, shopping wasn't as unbearable as I thought, well, as long as you have some beautiful young lady to speak with of some fame or notoriety, besides my beautiful daughters and wife, of course. Or, you have a big screen television to watch some sporting event.

(Libby Update) This weekend, Libby got the flu and an infection in her central line. She has lost another 8 oz, and is down to 15 lbs. She was put in isolation at Riley.
Today, Libby's white blood count is at 0. They are giving her medication to get it up. The meds are making her sore, so she is not wanting to be held or touched. The white blood count needs to be up to 1000 before she can have her next chemo. treatment in a couple weeks. Emma said that they could be up there for 2-10 days.
Keep her in your prayers.

Great to see you all this weekend

It was nice to see you all this weekend. Josh, I hope you are feeling better. We made it home after stopping in Indy for a "quick" Target stop and then to Cracker Barrel for dinner. I am so glad to be off crutches. I am still doing exercises to strengthen my Achilles, but it feels fine to walk on. So many people are telling me I should quit playing ball that I will consider it.. OK..... I considered it. I will continue to play ball. I know that someday I will have no choice but to quit, but I just don't think that day is here yet. I do enjoy playing basketball and I hope I can play for a few more years anyway. Thanks for all your concerns.

{Libby Update}
Libby has gone through her chemo treatments Fri. Sat. and Sun. with another today. She seems to be doing OK and will have a chance to go home tomorrow for a couple of days if everything works out. Emma said that she got a little sick after treatments yesterday, but did eat last night. Just keep Libby and their family in your prayers.

Live and play hard and try not to get an Achilles injury :)
Love Y'all !!

Needed Prayers

I just ask that you keep our cousin Emma, her husband Michael and kids Erica and Shawn and their 2 year old daughter Libby in your prayers. They have discovered a malignant tumor in Libby's cheek and a mass in her stomach. They take her back for more tests tomorrow to determine what course of treatment they may be taking. Thanks for your thoughts and prayers and love you all!

It sucks getting old

OK.. I should clarify the title. Some parts of getting old suck. I was playing basketball last night, as I normally do on Wednesday nights, and I broke for a pass and something popped in my achilles tendon. It was a rather sharp pain and when I tried to put some weight on the foot, it just wasn't there. I sat on the floor and felt my tendon to make sure I hadn't completely blown it out, and it was still intact, thank goodness. One of my friends that plays ball is familiar with this type of sports injury and said I should have it checked out by my doctor. Well, that was it for the night and I figured I had done something just because of the pop. I put some ice on it at the gym and then limped to my car to go home. It wasn't hurting terribly bad, but I continued to ice it until I went to bed. I knew it would be worse in the morning and it was. I went to my doctor and found out that I had a slight tear in my achilles, which is better than complete tear. So, I am on crutches for the next 10 days, doing some light stretching, and my doctor recommended some physical therapy, at my convienience, if I didnt think it was healing properly or the pain worsened. So, I am waiting on the therapy for a few weeks if I dont think I am healing properly. Sarah had a boot for her plantar fasciitis and he said that would be great to keep my foot imobilized at night. So, all is well, besides that, and I plan to follow doctors orders till I am healed and ready for some more ball. Have fun all!

Swimming Officially over for this year

Ella finished swimming, finishing 5th in the 200 Medley Relay in the finals and 5th in the consolation round for her 100 backstroke(11th overall). The team finished 5th by 1 point over the 6th place team. Way to go Ella and the rest of the swim team. Coach and all of the parents are very proud of our girls and the accomplishments they have achieved this season. It was a lot of hard work and dedication, but they all did great and had a wonderful season.

Sectional Final Results

Peri and Sarah had a fine time this weekend also at the dance convention. One of the instructors in one of Peri's classes was in a video with Britney Spears, supposedly. I saw the video and, well, it was rather risque. What was I expecting anyway.. Ha ha..
Oh well, hope everyone is doing fine and "See ya when we see ya".

Basketball Cheering done for the year

Peri cheered her team on in the final games of the season for the 7th and 8th grade basketball teams Tuesday, winning both games against crosstown rival and employer for the women we all know and love, West Middle. Both games were rather one-sided, but the kids played hard. So, now it is just dancing and gymnastics for Peri and this weekend, she and Sarah will be attending a dance convention in Indy. Sarah is so excited that she can hardly contain herself. I am sure she will survive because she is staying with her friend, Suzie, whose daughter is one of Peri's friends and dance buddies. Suzie is also Sarah's principal. Talk about brown-nosing your boss. Ha ha..
I am sure with those 2, they will spend some time in Circle Center over the course of Saturday and Sunday. What torture, huh Sarah? Well, that is about all we have going on currently. It is suppose to warm up this weekend so make sure you get out and enjoy. Love Yall.

Swimming sectional

Ella swam in the preliminary of the sectionals last night. She swam in the 200 Medley Relay, 200 IM, and the 100 backstroke. She did great. You can check out the results here:

Sectional Prelim Results

Their relay team is in the finals and she is in the consolation of the backstroke. That time was her second best and her split in the relay was the best she had done all year. So we swim again on Saturday. Great job Ella. We are proud of you!!

Cat fun

Well, it's been awhile, but we are still here. I was walking out of the bedroom a couple nights ago, and there sits Eliza, our big fat yellow cat all hunkered down in the hallway, which, being the disturbed cat that we all know and love, and she would always run down the hallway or into a bedroom if you entered the hallway and she was there. So, I asked Eliza in my best cat whispering voice ( Sarah really needs to teach me how that works ) what she was doing and she fled down the hall, leaving behind the remnants of a half eaten mouse. I told Sarah about it as she was coming from the shower, so I went to get something to remove the carcass. Well, when I get back, apparently, our lovely little cat had been tossing that poor little mouse around because there were little blood marks on the wall. I removed the carcass and Sarah told me that she had let Eliza in a very short while before I made the gruesome discovery. She apparently brought her little meal in from the porch. When she discovered that her little friend was no longer there, she went to the porch door and wanted to go back out. It was freezing out and she rarely wants to go out. I let her out and she got in a crouched position by the door that leads to the outside, apparently waiting for her next victim. She sat there in that position for a long time, so I have to assume that is where she caught the poor little mouse. That was fun. Have a great one!!

Whoa, the snow - enough already..

Thanks to all who sent me birthday greetings. You guys ROCK!
We have had a fun week it seems with all the snow we got. I think we got around 12 inches. The girls were out of school on Tuesday and Wednesday and my office was closed on Wednesday. In the morning, some local farmer plowed a path up our drive and then was off to the next drive before we could thank him. Isn't it wonderful to live in the country and have neighbors like that. Our next door neighbor, who, by the way has so many "Man toys", I am jealous, was out with his snow blower and offered it up for our use to Sarah. I wasn't out at the time, but Sarah yelled into me that he offered it up and was waiting for me. I guess it was time to get dressed and do something constructive anyway. It was nice, but still took a little while to clear the concrete pad because the snow was so deep. I thanked our neighbor, and he responded: "That's what neighbors are for." What a great place to live! Peri had a friend over and they sledded and walked through the woods. So, the girls have one more built in snow day, then it is school into the summer or on some holiday. Anyway, I hope all are doing fine and having an enjoyable winter and looking forward to seeing you all when we meet again. Keep your blogs rolling!

Senior Night Swimming and conference bball tourney

Senior night was fun for the kids. The 4 girls and 1 boy were honored after the diving and they all swam, even the young lady who was manager and another was only a diver, both, who had not swam in anything all year. We swam against Terre Haute South Vigo, and they beat us pretty handily. The boys are down to 8 swimmers, but one had gone home sick and they had like 30 boys on their team. Ella got to swim the 500, and she did a nice job (6:26) or something like that and she placed 3rd. I got to do timing on a lane by myself ( I am just talented that way ), so it was kind of hard to follow everything else that was going on in the meet. I believe Ella also finished 3rd in the backstroke which was only 2 events after she had swam the 500. Her time was 1:11, far off her best of the season, but she swam in 4 events on the night.

Peri was cheering for her 7th and 8th grade basketball teams who both had advanced to the finals of the conference tournament. They both won, beating teams they had previously beaten, I believe.

Oh yeah. Yeeeeeaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!! Wooooo hooooo.... Today was the last day of early morning swim practice for the girls. I got up at 4:50 and took Ella in, then decided to sleep in a little this morning. I am on a flex schedule and had no meetings or deadlines at work, so I just decided to take advantage of that. I have been called numerous names from my loving wife for this action, although, it doesn't really faze me right now. I am sure she will shower me with kind and loving words when I actually see her. Love ya, Sarah!!

So, that's our Life from "the ville" for the last few days. Peace Out.

MLK weekend

Friday night, we attended the Catholic spaghetti dinner. Ella was waiting tables there until we got there and then proceeded to eat like 3 plates of spaghetti. Way to go Ella. Peri had a friend with her because she had spent the night there the evening before because they did not have school on Friday for records day. It is always fun to watch some of the older people that we know that attend this event each year, because they haul in their coolers of wine and beer and make it quite a party. They are all wonderful people.

Saturday, Ella had a few of her friends over after swim practice to make posters for Senior night for her fellow Senior swimmers, which is this Thursday. Peri cheered for her 7th and 8th basketball teams, which both ended up winning the Morgan Co. basketball tournament.

We went to the bodies exhibit on Sunday and it was very interesting. It was quite graphic and I think the first full body we saw was a posed person dribbling a basketball in all his glory... minus all his skin. And, as Sarah pointed out, they didn't hold nothing back, as in privates and all. It made me think of the quote, "Mom, I ride the bus". So, that was the beginning of the self walking tour which had so much. It pretty much covered the spectrum of the body. It was muscular, skeletal, nerves, organs, reproductive systems, fetuses.... Quite a lot I thought, but the girls thought it was pretty cool and nobody got queezy to my knowledge. There was no touching the bodies, except at the end, we did get to pick up a human and monkey brain, but that was the extent of the touching that was allowed. There was nothing that surrounded any of the bodies, so you could get within 1mm of any of them. The organs and nerves were encased, but it was pretty amazing. Of course, this exhibit was beneath the Webber Grill at Circle Center Mall, so we enjoyed a meal there and being so close to the mall, we had to, of course, go there (Hmmmm, I wonder who's idea that was?). That was the weekend in a nutshell. Don't forget to hug someone.

Is there some sort of evil cat spirit buried beneath our house?

Well, as posted previously, if I owned a gun, which I don't and probably never will and would never ever shoot anything that wasn't a threat to me or my family, but yet my idle threat still convinces me that our cats should have some home schooling provided by Sarah, who as you know specializes in teaching the handicapped. There is nothing like going into the kitchen first thing in the morning and seeing your 13 yr old cat (Marie) peeing on the floor. She is rather inconspicuous when she does it, usually peeing on some object ( a plastic bag, which was the case today, shoes, rugs, etc ) Now, although I felt like kicking the cat across the floor, my nature just doesn't allow me to do that, although, man, I surely thought about it. But here was my dilema... Do you smack the cat while it is peeing, possibly causing it to pee all over the place while fleeing? I thought about picking her up and putting her on the porch, yet, again, pee flying randomly while hauling the cat possibly getting on me in the process ( I was already dressed for work ).. I did try yelling when I determined that, yes, she was peeing on the floor. Anyway, by the time it was all said and done, she ran out of the kitchen with me in pursuit and then under Peri's bed. That cat knew she had done something wrong, and that just adds to the fury of this incident. I can shake the bottom of the bed (sorry Peri if I woke you up) and Marie will run out, usually to the front door, but today she stopped short of the door, apparently knowing it is freezing outside. I picked her up and gave her a "gentle" swat, so as to not have any allegations of pet abuse. She was then "gently" placed outside for a little while. So, it was back to clean up the puddle she had left in the kitchen, silently cursing the day she all of a sudden decided that instead of using either of the 2 litter boxes we have in the house downstairs, to blatantly just pee on the floor upstairs. We might have to put a litter box upstairs, because apparently the evil cat spirit that is aforementioned in this title resides in the basement and only haunts our old cat as the other cats go down there all the time. Marie, rarely if ever goes down there. Man, how long do cats live? Anyway, that is my wonderful morning that I thought I would share with you and hope you all are having a wonderful day. Love and kindness to all!

Franklin swim meet and cat drama

Ella had a swim meet last night at Franklin H.S. Both their boys and girls teams are very strong and we had seen them this past weekend at conference. Man, they have a new school and a new facility that is really nice. It reminded me of a small college campus. The coaches switched many of the swimmers to swim different events than they normally do, so Ella swam the 100 free, 100 breaststroke, and swam in the 200 relay and the 400 relay. It was a fun event for the kids, at least the ones that didn't have to swim the 500. So, that was the extent of our evening. Sarah and Peri caught a ride with my cousin to the meet and then we all rode home. We had a grand time on the way home as Sarah shared with us the drama of our little black cat Luna, who apparently was stranded on the outside of the screen of the porch by our bedroom window. He apparently had been out there from the time they got home from school until they left for the swim meet, approx 3 hours. Sarah tried being "cat whisperer" to lure him in, but nothing would work. She tried leading him around the ledge by holding turkey on the inside of the screen, but he just wouldn't go around the corner. She tried poking him with a stick, climbing on a table outside (she only had about 10 feet to reach him), getting a sleeping bag and trying to get him to jump into it (again using her "cat whisperer" ability. She got the other cat and tossed her onto the bag, as an example for Luna to follow, but I am sure Luna was just laughing his head off because I am sure that Eliza just ran like the dickens after being tossed into the sleeping bag. So, Sarah was certain that he would still be stranded there when we got home around 8:30. She was so confident, she bet Peri her chore of emptying the dishwasher that he would still be stranded there. Well, we got home and as we were entering the door from the garage into the house, yep, you guessed it, up strolls Luna. We laughed hard and of course Peri was pretty excited about that. Before we got home, there were alot of ideas as to how to rescue the cat. I thought I might swing down from the roof with a rope like a ninja, we could have tossed Peri up as a flying gymnast to grab the cat, grab 4 corners of a sheet and push him off to land in the sheet. I don't think shooting him was ever mentioned, but I think that could have been an option if we owned a gun. Ha ha.. Well, it's all good and I hope you all enjoy. Laugh whenever you can because it is just the right thing to do... Love y'all.

Sarah and Tom's activities

Well, Sarah is working out on a regular basis, twice a week with aerobics and other types of activities on other days. I play ball twice a week with some friends on a normal week, barring children activities or "old age" injuries. Ella has had early morning practices before school since the end of October and I have been taking her. We ride-shared with a friend of Ella's on the team every other week until December when her friend got her license. Sarah has taken on a few Saturday mornings. It is usually 5 days a week (either 5:15 or 6 am weekdays, 8 on Saturdays), unless they have had a swim meet, so we are looking forward to Ella getting her drivers license next year, at least for those early morning practices. Ella has also had practice after school, usually four days a week, again, unless they have a swim meet. We have had one morning practice cancelled due to the coach being sick and Ella missed one practice after she got sick last week at school on Monday and missed Tuesday, and they had one other morning practice cancelled due to a 2-hour delay. Sarah is the driver usually for the kids after school activities, so thanks Sarah. You're a DOLL!!! So, we are usually on the move, but It's all GOOD!!!
Other than that, Sarah still likes to shop and watch a few shows on TV and I like to watch the Colts and Purdue and play a computer online game with my brothers.

Peri and her activities

I figured I should include something about Peri because we love her just the same as we love Ella. Peri has been working hard on her cheering, dancing and gymnastics, although she has had a small break from gymnastics due to her cheerleading schedule. I believe she will be starting back with that very soon as her basketball games will be ending early next month. Although there has been some drama with the cheerleading, isn't there always, Peri really shines as a cheerleader and really takes the lead on the team. I would have to say that Peri is one of the loudest cheerleaders on the team. Can you believe that? She is also the one that a lot of the other girls look at when they get lost in a dance or routine to get back on. We are very proud of Peri and she is doing great in school, as is Ella. They are both straight A students. Way to go girls!

Ella swims great at Conference

The Mid State Conference meet took place on Thursday and Saturday at Mooresville High School. Preliminary heats were held on Thursday for seeding in the finals, which was Saturday. Top eight qualified for the finals and next eight were in the consolation. Ella was in the 100 backstroke and the 200 IM Relay and the 100 IM. Ella was seeded 4th in the backstroke and the team qualified 3rd in the relay. Ella was seeded 12th overall in the IM(this is not one of Ella's favorite races or strongest races, but she did great.), so she was seeded 4th in the consolation. So, for the finals, Ella place 3rd in the 100 backstroke. She did awesome. She knocked off over 2 seconds off her previous best time. Her time was 1:07.99. Her previous best was 1.10.34. She has been doing great and her mother and I are so proud of her. Ella also placed 2nd in the consolation round of the 100IM. She had a best time there also, but I can't remember what it was. Ella's 200 Medley relay team also placed 2nd, in which Ella led off and had her team in the lead after her awesome backstroke leg (31.72). The team placed second overall, which was awesome. It was a long day, leaving home at around noon and getting home around 9:30. I want to say Peri was quite a trooper for hanging out all that time to watch her big sister, but she didn't say too much about it (and if you believe the last part of that statement, then I have some swamp land in Florida I would like to sell you.) Peri, you did great too. Thanks for not complaining tooooooo much!

1st blog

Well, I decided to start this blog for no apparent reason. I will try to add information periodically. I really dont have much to say in this blog, but I was eatting a strawberry poptart at work and noticed on the package that it had allergy information printed on the side of the aluminum foil. It said to check the side of the box. I didn't have the box. I had removed the package from the box, so I am without that information, but I was just thinking what a bummer it would be to have an allergy to poptarts. I really dont eat poptarts that often, but when I was growing up, poptarts were usually the start to most every day because they were quick to fix and easy to eat on the way to school or before. Cherry used to be my favorite, but I also liked Brown Sugar and Cinnamon. What a great invention Poptarts are. Dang, they have been around longer than many of you have been alive probably! Well, this is not an advertisement for Poptarts, but if you have never tried one, give it a try. OK, enough of that silliness, but I do like silliness. The rest of my posts will most likely be about our family in some sense, although a goof post every now and again is going to show up! Peace, Love, and Happiness to all who are reading!