We enjoyed another quick week, here at the Scheu abode. Luke had a pair of wrestling matches. Abby had a pair of dance performances. And Matt prepped for his mid-term finals. The weather was bitter cold and we got more of that white stuff dumped on us again…all of which helped the kids to minimize the amount of school they had to attend.
The kids started off on a 2-hour delay again on Monday. We hurried home to get Luke to his wrestling meet vs. the green team. He faced his good buddy Oakley from down the street. Luke dominated the match with Oakley fighting off his back for over a minute. He fought hard but eventually succumbed to Luke’s cradle, getting pinned in the 2nd period. It was Luke’s first victory in about a year. Way to go, Duke! Afterwards, Ann took Bu and Kama to Mc Donald’s and then on to jazz class at Dixon Studioxc.
Ann took the day off on Tuesday to work on Pirateers locker decorations for Senior Night. She spent several hours on the project and it was pretty awesome. One of the parents would later claim she put all the others’ efforts to shame! The kids had another 2-hour delay due to the bitterly cold temperatures. Abby had Pirateers practice and stayed with Kama afterwards to attend the varsity basketball game. Luke had wrestling practice while I hopped back on the treadmill. I picked up both kids and ran them out to McDonalds for shakes & fries. It was the 40th anniversary of Led Zeppelin’s release of one of my all-time favorite LP’s – Physical Graffiti. I picked up the anniversary release which has a 3rd disc of bonus material. I especially loved the early version of In the Light, which I had heard years earlier on a bootleg recording…just not in this quality. And to top if off, I won a new Rush LP! I am a huge music buff and love radio shows such as King Biscuit, Westwood One, Rockline and In the Studio – many of which I recorded through the years. Well I entered a contest for In the Studio with Redbeard and won! It is a 180-gram, high-quality LP (yes, I still have a turntable). I can’t wait to hear it. I haven’t heard Fly by Night on vinyl in about 30 years…
The kids continued their streak of two-hour delays on Wednesday morning – their third in a row. Luke’s baseball practice was cancelled that evening. I hopped on the treadmill and Ann had her After-Prom meeting with Shawna.
On Thursday, the kids actually went to school on time! I went in early and stayed late, manning a booth in our annual competency fair. Abby had Pirateers and later went to tap class at Dixon. Luke had baseball practice for pitchers and catchers. We left a little early and headed over to wrestling practice while I hopped on the treadmill. Bryan & Angie were in the newspaper for the Dancing with the Stars competition and we have new social media pictures to share: Abby and her Pirateers friends; the new 40th anniversary Physical Graffiti release; our friend Scott and his wife welcomed a new addition (congrats, guys!!); an old Indiana map from the 1800s (very cool); we got a surprise Valentines Day card from my friend Dawnan and her family; more of Abby & the Pirateers; Rosie at a protest rally (atta girl!); Kathy & the twins headed south; Tammy & Leila with friend; Haley and little one; Leonard Nemoy in a few of his iconic roles; Anthony Mason of the Knicks; and the real-life building in NYC that was originally featured on the album cover of Physical Graffiti…
Friday was another long day. Ann & I both had issues at work. Ann ran Abby to the high school to prep for dance and I met up with she and Luke at home. You should’ve seen Luke watching out the window for Matt! He was so anxious that he nearly drove Ann nuts. We headed over to the junior high for the final wrestling meet of the year. All that remains after this is the city tourney which will be held in 10 days. Matt was already at the meet and was the center of attention. Many of the kids, all the coaches referees and several of the parents made a point to seek him out and catch up with him. He might be mayor of this town one day! Luke’s team faced the red team. Luke went first and set a new record for fastest pin – 8 seconds!! Way to go, buddy!! Luke was thrilled that Matt made it down for the evening and was able to see all the action. Also on-hand was Memaw and Gigi, so Luke was obviously pumped to have a whole cheering block! Next we all ran over to the high school to watch Abby & the Pirateers perform their final two dances of the year. It was Senior Night at the boys’ basketball game. The girls danced before the varsity game and again at halftime. We all left after the dance. Matt went out for dinner with his buddies before coming home to crash. Ann & I took Mom & Sandy out for dinner to say thanks for all the extra help they’ve given in the past few weeks because of all the 2-hour delays. They obviously are the reason we’re able to lead the lifestyle that we do but they really went above and beyond that these past few weeks! Thanks again guys!! And we were saddened to hear of the passing of Leonard Nemoy, who succumbed to COPD.
We got to sleep in a little on Saturday. Abby & Ann went out early to run their errands (shopping, haircut, etc). Abby would eventually go out for the night to a Pirateers sleep-over party. Sandy had a euchre tourney and let me borrow her SD card. Thanks for the great pictures from Friday, Gigi! Luke & I did our weekly household chores. Matt went back to school ahead of the winter storm that was coming. We were pleased to hear that he got home before it hit his area. Luke had Alex over to play all afternoon and then went to his house to stay the night. Ann went scrapbooking in the late morning then came home and slept the rest of the day and didn’t get up until nighttime. And we lost another one. This time it was the New York Knick standout basketball player, Anthony Mason, who passed away due to heart failure. By the time we went to bed it was coming down pretty good outside…
We woke up on Sunday with about 6 inches of snow on the ground and it was still falling. I got out and cleared off the walk and driveway and took Ann deep in to Decatur County to pick up Abby. Her friend has a nice house but it is truly in the boondocks. We did fine on the untreated road and came back in to town and went grocery shopping. It wasn’t as busy as what I expected with the weather being what it is. We picked up Luke on our way home and got warm and comfy on the couches while the weather continued to get nasty. First Luke’s baseball practice was cancelled and then they Abby’s volleyball tournament was postponed to next weekend. So we took it easy, watching movies and NASCAR (Jeff got crashed late in the race again). Ann cooked a big lunch and then went to bed for a long nap. Matt ended up with about 9 inches of snow and a travel emergency up at school. Luke was sure we would have another two-hour delay but Bu was hoping we wouldn’t so she could go in early to study with her math teacher for a big test this next week. We continued to get a wintery mix of precipitation as it got dark that night and we wondered what next week would hold for us…
Next up is our Waybac section which continues to primarily feature items from my old scrapbook mixed with some other random goodies. We lead off this week with some classic photos given to me by my Granny Scheu – on the front steps of the Highland home in July 1949 with Granny holding Dad (Tom), Aunt Sue holding Uncle John and Uncle Chuck holding his dolly; then Aunt Sue’s First Confession at the Highland home in May of 1950 with Aunt Sue & Uncle Chuck; Grandpaw Brown’s 4th Degree program in April ’64; the big auction at the old Oakland Elementary school in ’77; a spelling bee certificate in June ’79 at James Madison Elementary in Temple City; Boston Jr High football article in October ’82; a track ribbon in May ’83; Great Grandma Brown’s funeral card in October ’83; more football in the paper in October ’84; my Confirmation program from St Pete’s in LP in ’84; another football article in November ’85; a program from the LPHS Fall Sports Banquet in November ’85; a wrestling article – circa ’85; a yearbook picture of Brad & I working on my old 1964 Galaxie 500 in Auto Mechanics in November ’86; my BSU acceptance letter in ’87; Ann & Stacy – circa 1990; and the ??? page of our FC yearbook in ’91.
For the Shit that Luke Says portion of our Blog, we have Luke on Monday night when he faced his good friend Oakley in a wrestling match. After his match, I went over and talked to both boys. Oakley was fine and was smiling. But it was Luke who was visibly upset and even started to well up when I spoke to him. When I asked him what was wrong he said, “I didn’t want to do anything to hurt his (Oakley’s) feelings but Josh (his coach) made me beat him…??? What a sweetie…
Next up is our video section, which included two new family movies as well as several from around the internet this week.
And that does it for this week’s episode of the Scheu Family Blog. As always, 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 ya, Mom.
Later, Scheu