We had a very busy week since we last touched base here on the blog page. Just like that, we are in the heart of summer with temps in the upper 80s all week. The trees that had just budded last week are all full and green already. With all the heat, the shade is welcome – I especially feel it when I am out walking at this time of the year. Matt enjoyed his first full week of summer break. With him at the house, the family is whole again and all is right in the world. Abby began counting down the days until she is no longer a high school student (if you’re keeping score, it’s 7!). The newest Prom Queen spent her time enjoying the things she loves – dance, school, work, friends and family. I know she had talked like she wanted to across country for school, but I sure am happy she’s staying near us, as I’m already missing her… Luke had his final two track meets of his junior high career, his first two baseball games of the new season and his first formal (semi?) dance. He is getting so big. He’s already passed Ann and his siblings in height and has all but overtaken me as well. He is the size now as an 8th grader that I was as a senior (height and weight) and we are very excited to see what his freshman year holds for him, sports-wise. Ann had another tough week with her knees, hoping she can get another round of shots for some minor relief and enjoyed another Mother’s Day as things are finally beginning to return to normal for her at work. I had a busy but fast week at my work as we celebrated Nursing Week. Despite having to leave work early every day, I still managed to get in over 16 miles of walking, somehow reaching my goal again this week.
It was an early start to the week for me on Monday as I was up at the butt-crack of dawn to head in to work and cook for the staff during our annual Omelet Day. It is the kickoff of Hospital Week / Nursing Week. The staff all had nice things to say about their homemade works of art. It was truly a team accomplishment as the girls in the kitchen spent a couple hours prepping all our ingredients, Justin & I cooked the meals, Victor delivered all of them and Scott was on cleanup duty. It was hard work, but it’s a labor of love. I walked about a 5K on a gorgeous afternoon after a long day of work. Ann had the day off to recuperate from the weekend. Like me, it’s not the day after when her body is the sorest…it’s the second day. Abby job-shadowed at Stradley’s office then worked at the dance studio after school. Luke had track practice after school and then went on to baseball. It was our opening game of the season and we were down 4 starters, so we knew it would be a tough game for us due to all those key players being out. Luke was on base all three times he batted, going 1-1 with a single, a walk and was also hit by a pitch. He had 3 stolen bases, was thrown out at 3rd and scored a pair of runs. He was our starting pitcher that night but hurt his back running the bases in the first inning (happened somehow when he was thrown out at 3rd) and only made it thru 1 1/3 innings. He gave up 9 total runs with 6 of them being unearned. He had two strikeouts and 8 walks. He also hit a batter (his good friend Oakley, who he stayed the night with this past weekend…and then he later slid into home and accidentally cleated him!). It was never close and we lost badly, 9-20 in 4 innings. As we talked to the boys that night, we tried to find the positives and if you take away the walks and errors, we could’ve won 9-3, so we know what to work on…. Ann, Matt & Abby joined us at the ball diamonds to root on the Marlins, but we didn’t give them much to root for, honestly. After the ass whopping, Ann & the older kids went to the store and got some burgers & dogs to cook on the grill and Matt had Joel over for dinner and a couple beers. It was good to see him… Here are most of the pictures from Abby’s Prom dinner, Senior Prom and After Prom. We hope to have some of her winning Prom Queen next week…
Abs was in early for Student Council, so Ann & I ran Luke to school. She had a good dental checkup that afternoon before going in to work at Wings & Rings. Matt enjoyed his day off, having Taylor down for the day. I walked a couple miles before we had had leave work early to run some errands, vote in the primaries and then head on to St. Leon for the big, annual Sunman-Dearborn Invitational track meet. Luke competed in 3 events this year: shot put – 3rd (40’ 5 ½???), high jump – 4th (5’ 2??? – PB!) and 4×100 relay – 5th (52.29). We were there at 430, but it was running late (of course) and then there was a long delay due to a spectator having a medical issue and they had to bring an ambulance out on the track. The high jump was the last event still going after everything else was done. It was kind of cool to see all the kids down there watching the event and even cooler that Luke was doing so well! He’s never gotten past the 4’10??? plateau, but this night was special as he set his PB three times! Way to go, Luke! We didn’t get home until about 10:30 that night.
Abby job-shadowed at Stradley’s on Wednesday morning. Luke attended his final track practice after school. I walked a 5K after a long day at work. Ann & I came home and picked up Luke before heading over to Batesville to play the Indians in the 2nd game of the Babe Ruth baseball season. There was a threat of severe storms that night, but it held off for us. Perhaps it would’ve been better if it had! LOL Luke & I went over early to warm-up with the team while Matt & Ann came over later, just before game time. We were missing 3 starters that night. And we may have lost our starting catcher and leadoff hitter for the season. Nate ran track with Luke at East Central last night and gorked his knee badly…to the point where he is likely done with baseball this year and may put into jeopardy him ever playing sports again. As for the ball game, it was another lopsided loss for the young Marlins. And it was again pitching (along with catching errors) that did us in. This time it was Drew that struggled. It was his first game of the year and it showed. Like last game, if you take away the walks and errors, we could’ve lost 2-3…instead we lost 2-14! Drew only made it 1/3 of an inning – so we have to get our two best arms on the team in shape quickly or it will be a very long season. Luke played 1st base again, still nursing his back. He recorded 4 putouts and nearly turned a double play at the plate. He went 1-3 from the plate with a single, a flyout and a was thrown out on a little dribbler. He did steal a couple bases and scored a run. After the game, Matt went to go have a night out with Joel and the Chases at the Tap (it’s taco night!). Meanwhile, Ann & I took Luke and met Bryan, Drew & Skylar for a quick bite to eat at Skyline before coming on home. Matt and the boys caught a ride with the bartender from the Tap (who lives in our neighborhood) and the boys spent the night at our house. Here is Luke at the Pirate Invitational track meet last week.
Thursday was another gorgeous day in the 80s. The boys slept in and eventually Matt made them breakfast before they all went golfing. I had a crazy, busy day then walked only about a mile and a half before I left to go watch Luke and the junior high Pirates face Rushville and Franklin Co in a 3-way makeup meet for the two dual meets that were rained out this season. It would be the final junior high competition for Luke of any sort, which is a little sad. He competed in the same four events he has all season: discuss – 4th (81’); high jump – 3rd (4’ 10??? again); 4×100 relay – 2nd (50 sec); and shot put – 3rd (40’ 7???). Matt joined Ann & I at the meet while Abby & Britney traveled to Trafalgar to spend the night with Megan before she has back surgery tomorrow morning. After the meet, we treated Luke to his choice of dinner and he chose El Rep where Matt and I had a margarita with dinner and Luke drove us home. When we got home, Luke went to Garrett’s house to play basketball while Matt took a nap and Ann & I watched DVR’ed shows. Here are pictures of Luke at his track meet vs. Jennings County last week.
It was another hot day near 90 on Friday. Luke had a good dental checkup. Abby had the day off from school so she & Britney could be with Megan at her back surgery – all went well and was better than anticipated. In fact, she was able to go home later that day! Matt enjoyed another day off. He went for a run and a workout. I had a fast day at work then left early to meet up with Ann & Matt to run Luke out to the Mitchell’s home, out by the Sunken Boat Bar. Luke and a couple dozen of his friends were there to take pictures before they all headed to the 8th grade Formal. After the dance, he went on to dinner with a bunch of his friends at BWR, where Abby was working that night. I went for a 4-mile walk at the park. I had a chance to talk to Dad B, who is anxious to come see us at Abby’s grad party, which is only a few weeks away! Ann & Matt got takeout from Koch’s for dinner and we watched The Commuter on the big screen. Here are random pictures from our recent adventures.
Saturday was yet another hot day in the 80s. Abby had dance practice at Dixon for four hours that day in preparation of next week’s year-end dance revue. Luke & I got up early to get started working outdoors. We mowed & trimmed at Mom & Sandy’s, mowed & trimmed at home, ran some big trash to tox-away days at the fairgrounds, installed the A/Cs and ran a new network line to Luke’s PS4. Later, all 3 kids and I crammed into the cab of Betty White and went to Rural King to pick out flowers for Ann. It’s a tradition we started years ago when it was just Matt & Abby – planting flowers around the light pole each year on Mother’s Day. Abby worked at BWR again until late, staying at Trevin’s until late. Matt had the day off from work again. Ann cooked-out on the grill, making BBQ chicken, roasted cheesy broccoli, corn on the cob and potato wedges – yum! Luke had his buddy Conner over to spend the night. They ran around the neighborhood until after dark, enjoying a bonfire at a friend’s house before coming home to play Fortnight all night. Meanwhile, Ann & I got caught up on our DVR’ed shows from this week and enjoyed the cool air…aaahhh….and I finally got the blog website working properly. It has been amiss for a couple weeks; I was glad to finally figure it out. We have lots of social media pictures to share this week.
We enjoyed sleeping in on Mother’s Day Sunday. It has traditionally been the kickoff to Week 19 at the Sand Pebble. It saddens me to know that the Week 19 traditions are now gone since Dad sold the condo. However, I think Rob & Sharon still have theirs, so maybe we could see it one more time but there’s so many wonderful memories of this weekend in Treasure Island. Like Florida, it was a hot one, up around 90 today. Inside it was very comfortable so we did our best to stay inside. Matt and then Abby went in to their respectful works – the first time Matt’s been to Aspen Place in quite some time. We enjoyed sleeping in on a sunny morning before slowly getting up to do our weekly household chores. Ann made lunch and had Mom & Gigi over her homemade spaghetti & 7-layer salad. After they left, we took a nap. Luke’s baseball practice was cancelled because there was a tourney at the complex. Once the kids got off work, they ran to the store and got Ann her present (an iRobot Roomba) and then planted flowers in the front yard for her. We surprised her with her new gadget and I think she was genuinely surprised (not an easy thing to do!). Ann received a sweet text today from Taylor, which made Ann cry a couple times. We ordered pizza for dinner so Ms. Ann didn’t have to cook again on her special day. It was going to be two hours for delivery, so the kids went and picked it up for us instead. It was nice to have all of us around the dinner table for once. It has been too long that it was just the five of us around that old kitchen table. It was nice… After dinner, the kids played video games in the family room and Ann & I watched American Idol and Fear the Walking Dead. We were happy to see that Gabby made it through, but I was pissed that Cade didn’t make it to next week’s final… At the end of the night, we were thoroughly exhausted from our week’s adventures and glad we had a chance to take it a little slower. The kids were great today and I think Ann enjoyed her day… Happy Mother’s Day, baby; I love you.
Next up is our Waybac segment which features a few more pictures of our young family in the new century. There are probably enough to get through this month and then I’ll have to scan the next couple photo albums. With all the Prom pictures this week, I only chose a few pix for this section. We lead off this week down in Florida again for our vacation in May 2002: sunset pictures on the Gulf beach outside the Sand Pebble and then in Orlando at Walt Disney World’s Magic Kingdom; then we head on to December 2002 where Memaw & Sandy were in the Main St house: Dee & Chad’s birthday and then the big Christmas Eve celebration; and finally, more of our visit up to Rossville to see Mom, Dad & Rob.
Next up is our video segment, which includes one new home movie from this week as well as a few from around the internet.
And that does it for this week’s episode 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 ya, Mom.
Later, Scheu