Well, as Mom used to say, if you don’t like the Indiana weather, just give a day and it’ll change. We went from summer (air conditioners in ninety-degree weather) to winter (warming up the cars, sweatshirts and slippers in thirty-degree weather) again this year. Matt enjoyed his first week of Fall Break and was in a wedding. Abby had a full week of classes but still got to see her Mommy this week. She also got her liquor permit, so she can now server alcohol at her job. Luke enjoyed the week off for Fall Break and earned his first varsity football start. Ann and I had a good week. She got to spend time with all her kids in Columbus and I again met my exercise goal by getting in sixteen miles of walking. In meeting that goal, I also surpassed my yearly walking goal as well! I am officially over 1K kilometers now! It’s funny how only now it finally feels like football weather and the season only has one week left in it. …It’s hard to believe that at this point next week, we may be preparing for basketball season already. I hope the boys can rally and make a run in the sectionals next week…I’m not ready for basketball to start yet. Hello again and welcome to the latest installment of the Scheu Family Blog.
We had a warm start to the week as Luke & Matt began Fall Break on Monday morning. Luke enjoyed sleeping in. Due to several boys leaving for vacation on Fall Break, we didn’t have enough players to even play the JV football game that evening vs. East Central. How sad is that? Who goes on a vacation during their season?? So, he enjoyed taking it easy all day until Gma picked him up for football practice. Matt came down to Columbus for a haircut with Ms. Jami then met up with Ann and went to lunch at Carino’s. Abby dealt with some girl drama at school that day but otherwise is getting along well and enjoying her time with Mr. Garrett. I walked a 5K on another 90° day after work. The heat and humidity were awful that evening and we were glad to do nothing but sit in the air conditioning and watch TV when we got home. Here are pictures from Luke’s JV football game last week vs. Batesville.
Tuesday was more of the same. Luke & Matt enjoyed the day off for Fall Break while the rest of us went to work and school. Luke did very little during the day except football practice. Ann had a good day at work and got Luke all signed-up for his drivers ed class. Mine was less so…it was a long day of doing quarterly reports (fun) and putting out fires before I got outside and walked a 5K on another hot / humid day in the lower 90s. On our way home, we stopped at 450 N for a couple brews and a pizza. I needed one of their Honey Kolsches and then moved on to a berry hard cider. Ann had a Farmer’s Daughter and we tried out their Trick or Treat, Triple Berry Slushy and one I’ll have to get next time (something along the lines of Blazing Pineapple?). As good as their craft drinks are, what keeps us coming back is their wonderful pizza. We went for a half & half with Mexican on one side and pesto chicken on the other – yum!). On our way out, we grabbed one of their tenderloins to bring home to Luke for dinner. We settled in to watch some boob tube and promptly fell asleep on the couch.
We saw the devastation of the hurricane down in Florida on Wednesday. Luke had the day off again and went to work with Ann in Columbus. Later, they went to lunch at Chilis then on to Luke’s routine doctor appointment – his first time not seeing Dr. Fangman. Afterward, they came back home and Luke went to football while Ann got in a nap. The dogs got picked up by the groomer today for a long-overdue haircut. They look much better but apparently, they were too matted again to be cut appropriately for their breed. Instead, they just got shaved…Molly got shaved a little too close and has a couple bald spots on her ass now… I had a quick day at work then walked 3 miles on another warm afternoon. It ended up raining a little that night and brought with it a much-needed cold front that really mixed things up around here. We actually got to open up the house that evening, which was a nice change. As Ann had anticipated, we would end up going from summer to winter in one day as we had to close up the house quickly the next morning as the temps dropped. Here are pictures from Luke’s varsity football game last week vs. East Central.
As the boys enjoyed another day off from school on Thursday, Abby continued to deal with yet more girl drama (what is this, junior high?). To add to her misery, she wasn’t feeling well and ended up coming down to Columbus to see Ann and get some medicine. Ann had gone in to work late for her eye appointment. As we feared, she will be making the leap into progressive lenses. Lord knows I need to as well…but am too stubborn to do it. I’m still holding out until I get old…but I’m getting closer! Luke had a good football practice where Coach recognized him in front of the team for his consistent efforts and rewarded him with starting positions on both the kickoff return and punt special teams. Way to go, buddy! Ann & I drove in to work on a foggy, cool morning where we should’ve warmed the car up. In fact, I had to go back in to get a sweatshirt before we left for work. I had a long day then walked a 5K on a noticeably cooler afternoon, right around 60°. That evening, I went out to the Sunken Boat Bar for our weekly poker game with the boys. Unfortunately, most of the guys couldn’t make it but Bryan, Bob & I still had a good time with Miles and Angie filling in for the absentees. Bob was the big wiener of the evening in Rick’s absence. Luke worked on his driver’s ed stuff that evening then went out with his buddies.
Luke’s final day of Fall Break was Friday. He didn’t do much of anything on a cold, rainy day. Matt continued to enjoy his break from school, spending the day with Taylor as they prepped for Matt’s friend’s wedding. I had a fast day at work then took a brisk 2 ½ mile walk in a light, cold drizzle that eventually forced me to end my work out early. I haven’t quite acclimated to this winter weather yet! It was my first walk with a sweatshirt this year. I met up with Ann at home then we drove to Rushville to watch Luke on the coldest, wettest night we’ve experienced since Matt’s playing time. It was sleeting when we pulled into the parking lot and we heard it was snowing in Whiteland! Luke got his first varsity start that night, playing on two special teams: kickoff return (KOR) and punt – way to go, little buddy!! It rained the entire time and the wind blew it straight into our faces, making for awfully miserable conditions. The Pirates appeared that they had looked past this game as they play Batesville next week in Sectionals. The Lions weren’t nearly as good as us, but we looked unprepared and the game went back and forth the whole night. The Pirates found themselves down 6 points, late in the game. After playing nearly 48 minutes in these conditions, the Lions tried to punt, but a bad snap turned the ball over inside their own 20 with under a minute to play. The Pirates took over with their hopes high and were able to move the ball quickly to just outside the endzone. Then on 3rd and goal, they appeared to score the winning TD…only to suddenly see the Lions running with the ball in the endzone – recipients of an apparent fumble recovery. The officiating had been questionable all night, but this one decided the outcome of the game – which is a shame. From there, they took a couple knees and that was how the game ended, 41-35. Greensburg ends the regular season with a 3-7 record, going into sectional play next week. They have dropped six straight. Luke lined-up for seven kickoff returns and one punt, totaling 8 plays. He did get one touch, late in the game as the ball came to him on a deep squib. The ball was really slick, as you might imagine and all he could do was jump on it so he officially has one return for zero yards on the year! ???? We left the game, cold and tired…and sore. It was the first time this year that I’ve worn long pants and the first time I’ve had jeans on in nearly three years. I also had a sweatshirt, coat, vest, hat, hood, gloves and two pairs of socks…and I was still cold as hell! Ann was equally bunded-up and just as cold as me. I think we were tensed-up for most of the game, trying to stay as warm and dry as we could. It was no easy feat to hold the camera in one hand and an umbrella in the other…but we are old pros at this now and managed just fine. We stopped at the BP station before we left town to use the restroom and get drinks for the ride home. Ann was texting Matt and told him that she’d see him soon. Low and behold, we pull out of the back of the station and who is in the front, pumping gas? Matt! You know it’s pretty bad when you have to travel to Rushville to see your children… We stopped and talked with him for a few minutes. He had just finished up at Connor’s rehearsal dinner. He is a groomsman in his wedding, so we are hoping to get some pictures for next week’s blog entry. We said goodbye to Matt and came back and ended up stopping for a late dinner at Wings & Rings while Shack & Luke went out to Pizza King after the game with their teammates. By the time we finally got home and began unloading all of our wet gear, wouldn’t you know that it would finally stop raining! We got everything set out to dry and threw some stuff in the washer and sat down to warm up…only for both of us to promptly fall asleep, worn-out from the night’s adventures! Luke & Shack woke us up momentarily when they got home. Shack ended up staying the night and the boys fell asleep playing Fortnight in the family room. Here are random pictures from our recent adventures.
We had another cold start to Saturday with temps in the 30s! Brrrr…. We decided not to mow and let the boys sleep in till after noon. Ann & I took it easy, still recovering from last night’s excursion. Besides, Mom’s yard didn’t need mowed and our front yard is fine. Luke said he would just mow the back tomorrow, so we took the day off; doing as little as possible. We went from running the A/C two days ago to having to warm up the car that afternoon for Ann to go grocery shopping. Abby was working hard to get Ann & I to come see her and take her out for dinner. Instead, Ann tried talking her into coming home with her friends for a big bowl of chili. In the end, she decided to stay at school and work on homework. Ann still made us a ton of chili, which really hit the spot on a cold day and should get us through a couple days next week. Matt & Taylor attended Connor’s wedding and reception then Matt ended up coming back to town as the reception ended early while Taylor drove to her home in Centerville. Several kids from the party went out to BWR for wings and drinks then Matt ended up coming home afterwards. We spent a couple hours getting caught up on things then he called it a night, as did Ann. I ended up staying up late, working on my music library for my phone. I got a new 256 GB SD card which will give me double the amount of music I now have on there…so I’m having fun finding tunes I haven’t heard in years in my music collection to fill the space. Luke ended up staying the night at Chantz’s house after spending all day with him.
We finally enjoyed sleeping in on Sunday morning. It was still quite cool that morning and never got out of the 50s all day again. We eventually got up and got to our weekly household chores. Luke eventually came home and mowed the back yard. He joined Matt & I a few times, watching football with us but couldn’t stay away from his PS4 and that darn Fortnight game. Mom & Sandy came over to visit for a little while that afternoon as well. Abby Face-Timed us for a little while and said she’ll be coming home this next week at some point for her Fall Break, after she experiences her first midterms. Ann made a vat of potato soup, which was perfect for such a cold evening. As the Cowboys game wrapped up (a victory to even their record at 3-3), Matt had to head back up to Jake & Katie’s house in Zionsville as he starts his second week of Fall Break tomorrow. We sent him packing with a couple containers of soup and said our goodbyes. We continued the mellow weekend by taking it easy the rest of the night, watching the Talladega NASCAR races and then wrapped up the weekend with The Walking Dead / Talking Dead. It was the perfect way to put a cap on the week before we turn around and do it all again tomorrow.
Next up is our Waybac feature which continues to feature pictures from our young family from our #16 photo album in 2003. We lead off this week with yet more Monster Jam pictures in Indy (geez, how many of there are there?) in January; Matt’s 7th birthday party at our home, where we hired magician Travis Easterling to entertain the kids (Matt stole the limelight by upstaging Travis a few times during his act) in March; Luke meeting Granny in Lafayette in June; Abby’s 4th birthday at our home in September; and Christmas Eve with the Owens family in December.
We wrap up with our video segment, which features three new home videos this week as well as several from around the internet.
And that does it for this week’s entry for 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 ya, Mom.
Later, Scheu