Everybody Knows a Turkey and Some MistletoeHelps to Make the Thanxmas Season Bright

Its official; the holiday season is upon us. We had been looking forward to this week, as it meant a three day work week with a four day weekend. Woo! Hoo! The week went really fast for us as you might expect. It was also a star-crossed one…albeit one-off. On Sunday, my fraternity brother and best friend Paul texted me saying he was at a wedding party for the bassist in a local rock band called 650 North. They have received national airplay recently with a couple singles off their latest album. He then texted a little later saying that Sebastian Bach (former lead singer for Skid Row) just showed up. We texted back and forth a little, then he got quiet. I wasn’t sure what was going on until he finally wrote again about a half hour late and let me know that none other than Axl W. Rose (Guns n’ Roses singer) was there! Most people don’t know that I actually went to school with Axl Rose in Lafayette. Back then he was known as Bill Bailey. He was a 5th grader when I was a kindergartener, so I had no idea who he was; but he is in two of my Oakland Elementary school yearbooks. Anyhow, I can’t wait to hear how that night turned out! On Monday, the gals went to the dance studio all night (the boys got Kochs takeout!) and didn’t get back ’til late. That night, Lukey brought home a few projects he’d worked on. Especially cute was one I dubbed Lukey Applehead. Also, as promised, here is video #2 of 5 of Matt “Elfing Ourselves!” 🙂

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On Tuesday, Matt had pep band and wrestling practice. That night, we were sad to see our family friend Allen get voted off of Biggest Loser. I finally put two and two together, as he had to cancel our meeting earlier in the week due to having to go “out of town.” I didnt think anything of it at the time, but it dawned on me when he was down to being in the bottom two that his “out of town” might actually be Burbank, CA. So, I texted him and sure enough, he wrote back saying he was hanging out backstage at the Jay Leno show with Sir Charles Barkley! He was great on Leno…so natural and composed…and very classy as always. We taped it and have it uploaded below. I had to split it into 2 videos to fit on U Tube. However, if the videos get pulled by NBC, you can also save them both by left-clicking on the link and selecting save as.??? They may take several minutes to download, so be patient. They are funny, so even if they get taken down, they’re still worth your time. Especially funny was his cooking piece with Jay and Charles. Please let me know if you have any questions or issues with these:

Part 1:

or download here: PART 1
Part 2:

or download here: PART 2

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On Wednesday, Keith & Rosie came home from New York. Maryann made a huge pot of chili and Gigi created a zesty sausage cheese dip that I couldnt stay out of! 😛 Megan treated us with her piano talents and we spent a few hours catching up with Keith and Rosie. Megan is so big! She has grown so much and is quite witty and cute…quirky still; but absolutely charming and darling…an amazing 8-year-old. Keith showed us a very cool video of his top secret rocket project with Moog. Per his request, I am not posting that video here, nor any of the great photos from that launch in the middle of the New Mexico desert from several weeks ago.

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On Thursday, we celebrated our annual Thanxmas holiday with the Owens. Since Keith & Rosie will not be back for Christmas, we celebrate both holidays at once with them. Ann was up early to go on her annual shopping outing with Gigi on Thanksgiving morning. They had gone to K-Mart for over a decade, but since its closing have had to bounce around to other locations. This year, they ended up in the Tractor Supply company or something similar. 🙂 It was in the 20’s when the ladies set out on their quest. The kids and I stayed warm, at home on the couch, enjoying the Macys parade until we left for lunch. Maryann again did it up this year! We had turkey, ham, noodles, mashed potatoes, dressing, yams, 3 different pies and a couple cakes! Ann brought rolls and green bean casserole. I was pretty good this year, only having two plates. Granted, they were pretty packed; but Matt had three! That food was so good that we ate her leftovers all the way through Saturday!!

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We left at halftime of the Lions game to go home and nap. After the Lions “game” (what a boring game!) and naps, we headed back over for dinner. I had been looking forward to cold turkey sandwiches since last year! The Cowboys game was much more exciting as they pulled out a victory. After the game and a couple cold turkey sandwiches, we kicked off our Thanxmas festivities. Ann read a story (The Queen of Christmas) to the children; we took our annual pictures (including the Owens grandchildren, the Owens kids w/ Mom and the entire family (thanks Joe!) and finally the kids got to open their presents (they had been asking all day!). Luke loved building Legos with Uncle Keith and Matt. Abby & Gracie made several works of art with their Bendaroosand Matt showed off his new Yankees championship shirt (my good friend Patty would love it!). To end the evening, Gigi held her annual Thanxmas bingo game. I won a Holiday Hot Wheel (thanks to Maryann), Matt won Flarp (think Slime with the ability to make artificial flatulence) and the girls all got Littlest Petshop dolls. The big winner on the night, though, was Ann who won the jackpot. She quipped that now she could do all her shopping the next day with her three $2 bills. 😛

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On Friday, Ann and Amy were up and at em early, leaving at about 5 a.m. for their annual Black Friday shopping spree! They were again dressed up in matching outfits. They were a little toned-down this year, going with matching shirts and head bands. The kids and I enjoyed hanging out inside all day, again keeping warm. Although we never received the snow flurries that threatened us earlier in the week (I can only remember a handful of Thanksgivings with snow), it was below freezing on both Thursday and Friday. We were again over at Mom & Gigis house for lunch leftovers. We said goodbye to Keith, Rosie & Megan who headed up to LaPorte for the rest of the weekend before heading back to East Aurora. Man, I dont envy that drive! We were absolute couch potatoes all day longand it felt great. Matt & I watched several movies and the little kids camped out??? in the playroom. Mom & Gigi brought over the rest of her cold turkey sandwiches for me, ham for Lukey and “noonles & tadies” for Matt. 🙂 Ann and Amy eventually got home after 10 p.m. Needless to say, it didnt take long for her to fall asleep that night…

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On Saturday, we put up the rest of our Christmas decorations. We discovered some great ornaments that we had picked up at Disney World, back in March, which we had forgotten about. We didnt get out everything that we have in the years past, but we still have plenty. However, we cant seem to find our tree skirt anywhere. 🙁 Abby went to a birthday party for her twin friends and Luke dug out his GeoTrax for the first time in a few months. The kids enjoyed making a couple different tracks and played with the set the rest of the weekend. We even got to work outside for a while, as it got pretty warm (in the 50s). Ann made a huge amount of popcorn as we settled in to watch Cops that night…and then when the little ones went to bed, we watched the new Terminator movie. Here’s a montage of video clips from this week:

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On Sunday, we bummed around wishing we could have 4-day weekends more often. The highlight of the day was Ann and Abby making Chex mix! Ann also had the kids do several poses for Christmas cards. Look for outtakes from that photo shoot in next weeks blog entry
Now for our weekly Waybac feature. Although this a fairly random sample, this week’s selections (again, entirely random) definitely have a theme. They are all from the same general era… First up, we have two from the late seventies. The first is an old school picture of me from about fourth grade. If that is accurate, it would place this picture in approximately 1978 and would’ve been taken at James Madison Elementary in Temple City, CA. The second is in our home in Cali. Pictured are Vird & Belinda from Christmas, 1979.

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Second up, we have three from 1980. The first one is of one of my best friend’s parents (and very good friends of my parents) Vicki & Gary Crum. This was taken at their home, just down the alley from my childhood home in Lafayette. The second is of Robby just as he was learning to push up, roll over and crawl. I am unsure of where this was taken, but my two best guesses would be either Grandmaw & Grandpaw Brown’s home or our house on Kenwood in LP. Mom, any ideas? The final one is from our Kenwood home and features Vird, Belinda and Dan the beardo (actually, he looks pretty good with that woolly thing!) at Christmas. I wonder what color that thing would be if he grew it out this year? I know what color mine would be…LOL…

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Here we have a couple more from the early eighties. The first one has me (with those awful glasses again), Rob and I think Grandmaw. We are in Grandmaw & Grandpaw Brown’s house for Christmas. This is in their living room in 1982. The second one is Dad B in his first recliner in our living room on Rockwood. This one is from Christmas in 1983.

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Here are a couple from ’84. The first one is Robby crashed out on our couch in our Rockwood home. Nice hair, bro! 🙂 The second one is Aunt Marilou from one of her and Uncle Kenny’s famous fishfry / Brown reunions. Those were a huge hit in the eighties, pulling in over 50 people in its prime. It finally got too big for them to carry on. Man, I swear to you that was the best fish I have ever eaten! Here she is walking with one of her dozens of different cats through the years in her backyard.

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Wrapping up this entry,we have a pair from 1985. The first is Rob & Dad B, upstairs in his bedroom in LaPorte in the spring of ’85. Notice the old rotary phone and that weird window. It actually sits 3 stories in the air at that point. I can still remember getting up on an old wooden extension ladder to clean out the gutters. It is waaaay up there, let me tell ya! The final picture this week is of my hero and Grandfather, Robert Brown at Christmas in ’85. Here he is in his pj’s (he’s probably rolling over in his grave as I post this!), showing off his new Cubs decantor. I’m not sure of which brand, but I’m certain it’s a bourbon of some sort… 😉

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Well that’s it for this week. Thanks as always for reading this week’s edition of the Scheu Family Blog. I hope you enjoyed it as much as we did creating it. Take care and we’ll catch up with you next time. Until then, have a good one.
Later, Scheu

2 comments to Everybody Knows a Turkey and Some MistletoeHelps to Make the Thanxmas Season Bright

  • Mom

    Tom,I think that picture of Rob when he is on the floor is actually at Aunt Marilou’s but I’m not sure. That is a good picture of Lou outside with the cat. I miss her every day along with Mom and Dad. The picturs bring back such wonderful memories of everyone that has touched our lives. Thank you my son for bringing them back into my life. The video was great and the pictures were super!! I really enjoy the ones of the kids to see how big they are all getting. The one of Vicky and Gary was great also. Those were the days my friend!!! Loved it all……Love always…..

  • Sharon

    OMG, Dan in a beard wow, think I remember that haha:) Thanks Tom, wonderful as always. Take care.

    Love, Aunt Sharon