After last weekend’s excursion, it took me a few days this week to recover! After all, I am over the hill now. Our landscape continued to change this week. The trees are now a mix of colors and shedding their leaves. The farmers continue to harvest their fields; most of the crops are now down with only a handful remaining. Our morning commute is now completely shrouded in darkness – just in time for us to “fall back??? this weekend. Matt wrapped up his student teaching gig at Fishback Creek Public Academy’s second grade class this week. He will have classes for a few weeks before his next stint begins at a new school. He said he almost got a post at Reese’s school, but that never came to fruition. Abby attended Halloween parties and Pi Phi functions this week. Luke had basketball workouts this week and will begin tryouts next week. I think he’s actually a little nervous, which is a good thing. He became an official driver this week and also started a new job at the high school. Ann got better as the week went on; she’s now coughing less and is able to sleep supine. She enjoyed some time off with friends and got her Bu fix as well. I also enjoyed spending time with friends, had a short work week and got to see our little Bu too. Despite the short week, I managed to meet my weekly walking goal of fifteen miles but with all the recent birthday cheat meals, my diet has been less than compliant and the battle of the bulge continues… We were saddened to hear of a couple deaths in our extended family this week. And we have finally come to realize that we won’t have an Indian summer this year, as it keeps getting colder and colder with each passing week. Hello again and welcome to the latest installment of the Scheu Family Blog.
I was still feeling the effects from my big weekend on Monday morning and decided that since I was now officially old, I should take care of myself and stay home from work. I bummed around the house all day and recovered nicely. Luke had school then basketball workouts. Ann returned to work then came home to rest, worn out from not sleeping well the last several nights. I took Luke out to eat at ElRep for dinner. Luke drove us there and then on to CVS and Walmart before taking us home. My last present came in the mail that day. It was a package from Ann – she got me a case of Hot Wheels! I got several new ones, including a regular and super Treasure Hunt! We came back long enough for me watch a little MNF before heading to bed early in order to wake at the butt-crack of dawn tomorrow for work. Here are pictures from my birthday party with the fam last weekend.
Tuesday morning came far too early as I got up and headed into work to start my annual twelve-hour generator load test at 4 am. In conjunction with my testing, I also conducted my monthly PM rounds. Justin surprised me with breakfast at the Blackerby’s Hangar 5, out at the airport. He had worked overnight and was ready to get out for a little while. We ate like absolute kings and it was all he could do to stay awake afterward so he went on home. I didn’t have time to get sleepy and although I was running on empty, I walked a 5K after work on a gorgeous afternoon. For the day, I got in just under 20k steps! Luke had a good day at school then Gma took him back to the BMV for his 5th attempt at the driver’s permit test. This time he opted not to use the computer and instead took the paper version of the exam…and he passed!! Ann made it to work despite being exhausted from lack of normal sleep (coughing and snoring) again. She left early to get Luke’s paperwork all together and now we have a paper permit! Way to go, buddy!! Luke ordered Koch’s and I picked it up on my way into town that evening. After dinner, Luke & I worked on math homework and then he played Fortnight while Ann & I caught up on a few of our DVR’ed shows.
Wednesday was Halloween. It started off decent that morning but got cooler and wetter as the day progressed. Luke had school then basketball again. After starting her medicine yesterday, Ann was finally starting to feel a little better, but still hasn’t shook that damn cough. I had a long day, doing my monthly EOC rounds then walked 3 miles around the airport property before cutting it short due to the cold, steady rain. Abby had a hair appointment with Ms. Jami then stopped in to see Ann before coming over to see me as well. Victor came out with me to see her and fixed her windshield wiper blade for her. I tried having Abby stick around for a late lunch but she had to rush back up to school for a Pi Phi event and costume party. Ann & I hurried home to greet all the little Trick-or-Treaters that night. Unfortunately, the cold rain kept away many of the kids again this year. I’d say we had about 75 kids altogether. The foul weather also broke our streak of about 18 years of playing football out in the front yard on Halloween night. It was nasty out there and rained all through the night. Luke did not go out trick-or-treating but instead stayed in and handed-out candy, dressed in his scary clown mask. He freaked-out several of our young visitors! Here are pictures from our big adventure in Indy last weekend.
It rained all day Thursday. Ann had a great heart doctor appointment and won’t have to go back again until nearly 2020! She talked to Mom O, who was told this morning that her brother Walter had passed away. To add insult to injury, she also found out that he passed nearly two months ago. Luke had a fast day of school then had a good basketball practice that afternoon. He says he is going to work the concession stand or maybe help clean-up the gym after varsity basketball games this year to get a few extra bucks in his pocket. More power to him… I had a busy day at work then walked a 5K in the mall due to the non-stop rain. Later, I went out to the Sunken Boat Bar to see Bryan and the gang for Poker Night. It was definitely not my night as I had to buy in three times that night. Bob, Alan and Matt couldn’t make it, so it was just Bryan, Shawn, Rick and I. We had a lot of fun, despite the blow-out TNF game, with lots of food, spirits and cards.
Ann took Friday off to meet up with Amy for a shopping therapy day. She and Amy started in Franklin, for the annual Downtown Franklin Holiday Open House where they met up with Abby for a while, after her classes. Next, they headed to Columbus and then went on to Seymour, Brownstown and North Vernon. They brought home delicious leftovers from Lakeside Wood Fire Pizza that we nibbled on the entire weekend. Luke had a fast day at school then had a good basketball workout. I had a good day at work. I enjoyed a long lunch with Dennis, Justin & Vic at Chicago’s Pizza then walked 4.5 miles on a chilly afternoon. When I finally got back home, I ran Luke to the girls’ varsity basketball game. He stayed afterward and worked with the clean-up crew. Ann had just got home and sat down when he called for a ride home. It was a quiet night where we both fell asleep watching our DVR’ed shows – damn we’re old. Luke, on the other hand, stayed up late playing Fortnight and binge-watching The Walking Dead (seasons 1 & 2). It rained all night again and nearly snowed as temps plummeted overnight. Here are random pictures from our recent adventures.
We enjoyed sleeping in on a cold Saturday morning. The grass and vehicles still had frost on the windows when I got up to run to the bank and treat Black Betty to a spa day – an oil change and car wash at Davis & Daughters. Abby really wanted us to come up for the FC football game, but Ann & Luke didn’t get up until after 1. …Well, to be fair, Ann did get up – but just moved from the bed to her recliner and went back to sleep. When Luke finally got up, we loaded up Betty White and headed to Mom & Gigi’s house to mow/trim. It went really fast, despite it being the first time in nearly a month that we had mowed over there. Afterward, Luke drove us home to mow and trim here – possibly the final time this season. Luke enjoyed driving us as an “official??? driver today, as he received his actual (plastic) permit in the mail. He was so excited! Next, he drove us in Barney to grab some Subway and then went to the shopping mall. While I went HW hunting at the Goodwill store, Luke went to the new TJ Maxx-style store, called Gordmans to find some shoes. We met up afterward and did some Walmart-ing before he drove us back home. Later that evening, Luke went to the movies with Kasey to see the new Halloween movie. And we were saddened to get a phone call from Dad B, who had returned to Missouri with Lynn only a couple days earlier to be with Tammi. Unfortunately, she has continued to decompensate rapidly this week. Mercifully, she passed away that evening – surrounded by her family at home. Our hearts are broken for Lynn and of course Tammi’s family…
We enjoyed sleeping in on Sunday morning. We gained an hour due to setting our clocks back for Daylight Savings Time. It’s funny how this used to take a little doing each year. Now, we only have to change two clocks and all the rest automatically change themselves. Ann didn’t get up until late-morning, finally catching up on some sleep. We eventually got around to our weekly household chores. It was a lazy day, filled with classic sci-fi early (Stargate SG-1, Buck Rodgers), movies later (Skyscraper) and sports all afternoon (NFL RedZone and the DVR’ed NASCAR races from Texas Motor Speedway). Thanks to us “falling back,??? it was dark by 5 pm tonight and by 6, it was pitch black. Ann & Luke went to the store. While they were gone, Mom & Pixie came over to visit while she was recording her menus at the station with Sandy. Ann made taco salad for dinner when they got back. It rained that night again and to be honest, I wondered if it would turn to snow. Welcome to winter, my friends! We wrapped up the weekend by watching The Walking Dead & Talking Dead. It was Rick Grimes’ final episode – which really sucked…but at least he went out with a bang! It was the perfect way to end our rollercoaster week before we start all over again in the morning. We have lots of social media pictures to share this week.
Next is our Waybac segment which continues to feature pictures from our photo album #16 of our young family in 2003. We lead off with yet more action shots from Monster Jam in Indy in January; then back to our pad for Matt’s seventh birthday party in March; next are some snapshots of Luke’s first few days at home in June; then we have Bu’s fourth birthday party at our home in September; and finally we have Ann with “Poppin’ Fresh??? Abby, Luke passed out on the living room floor and Matt with Mallory in the annual Christmas play at the Christian church – all in December.
We wrap up this entry with our video segment which features one new family home movie from this week as well as several from around the internet.
And that does it for this week’s entry of the Scheu Family Blog. Thanks for keeping up with us this time out and we’ll catch up with you again next time. Until then, have a good one. We miss you, Mom.
Later, Scheu