We’ve had another odd week as we continue dealing with the Coronavirus pandemic. The world is doing its best to quarantine itself as the main means of “flattening the curve.??? We, too, are doing our best to stay healthy in the same way. The kids have remained home while Ann & I only went out for work and our weekly trip to the store. We have begun wearing masks at my work and are suspending many things for the time being. According to some models, the next couple weeks may be the worst for this virus; so if we can just hold out a little while longer then we may begin to see the light at the end of the tunnel. Matt returned to teaching from his apartment in Greenwood this week after having last week off for Spring Break. Abby ended her Spring Break and returned to e-learning from home this week for her college courses at FC. Luke ended his school’s hiatus and began e-learning, here at the house this week as well. Ann continued to adjust her business to the new way of doing things in this day and age and is working on a big proposal. I started off well on my diet and exercise, losing a couple pounds by mid-week…but ended up breaking even by the end of the week and only got in ten miles of exercise this week – coming up about five miles short of my goal. Still, we made the best of it and enjoyed life together the best we could – spending time on the porch, playing games in the kitchen and watching movies on the home theater. I wonder if someday we’ll look back on these times and realize it wasn’t all that bad… Hello again and welcome to the latest entry of the Scheu Family Blog.
We enjoyed a nice start to the week on Monday as Ann & I returned to work for the first full week of April. We both had fast days as we continue to adjust our roles to exist during the pandemic and remain relevant. It was Vic’s birthday so Justin & I got takeout for the three of us from Five Guys to celebrate. After a quick afternoon, I walked a 5K on a perfect day in the low 70s. We had a clean-out-the-fridge night for dinner as Ann’s headache returned due to seasonal allergies (we assume). We enjoyed some porch time and Moscow Mules that evening. Ann & Luke ended up inside after a brief family meeting so it was just Abby & I relaxing out back as we watched the clouds roll in. We came in and watched American Idol and when Ann went on to bed, Abs & I watched Rick & Morty until we fell asleep too. Luke just played video games pretty much all day. Here are some random pictures from our recent adventures.
We enjoyed another beautiful day on Tuesday morning. Annie & I had good days, dealing with this new crazy world we live in. The boys and I got takeout from Yee Kee for lunch then I walked a 5K on a beautiful afternoon in the low 80s (wow!). Luke & Bu did e-learning that day. It was Luke’s first day back to school. He said it was easy but that it was a large amount of work. Abby did much of her e-learning out on the back patio with the dogs, enjoying the sunshine. That’s the way to quarantine, Abs! ???? The kids broke up the monotony of school by going for a bike ride that afternoon, ending up over at Gma & Gigi’s house to visit. By the time Ann & I got back home, Abs & Luke had dinner started and Ann finished it up for us. She had pulled chicken taco bowls that really hit the spot! Afterwards, Abby & I had some more porch time and watched the sun set. We saw the pink Super Moon from Mr. Green’s backyard (since it was low in the eastern sky) and although it was super, it was not pink. We sat on the back porch and talked until it got pitch dark and then we came in and watched a few more episodes of Rick & Morty.
Wednesday was a magnificent day, full of that sweet sunshine! It was in the 60s as we headed into work that morning and it got all the way up into the 80s again that afternoon! I had a long day of work, continuing to deal with the Coronavirus-laden world we live in right now. I ended up getting out of work late and didn’t even have a chance to walk that evening, unfortunately. I did have a telemedicine “visit??? with my cardiologist, regarding some uncomfortable feeling in my chest the last few days…no pain, mind you – just some tightness and what I think is gas. The doc wants me to do either a stress test or a PET scan. She’s hoping to get back with me this week, so we’ll see. Ann & I ran a few errands after work on a lovely evening and then she made cheesy Fireworks popcorn for dinner. Luke & Abby enjoyed another day of e-learning at home. Luke worked at his desk while Abby returned to the patio for one of her classes. I guess Luke & Delilah were horsing around and accidentally knocked the backdoor off and hit her on top of the head! To add insult to injury, she was online doing a video (Zoom) meeting with her teacher and classmates! The teacher saw it and started laughing, embarrassing her. She was mortified and a little miffed at her baby brother, as you might expect – LOL! The kids again rode their bikes on that gorgeous afternoon, enjoying that warm, Spring air. They did another welfare check on Mom & Sandy and enjoyed visiting with Memaw. After dinner, we played a game of Aggravation with old Pops obtaining bragging rights. That night, we had severe weather roll through the state, cooling us off. We watched it come in from the back porch. We moved the patio furniture just in case. We set the basketball goal down as well because the wind was starting to pickup and then watched it shit ‘n git from the front porch. Thankfully, we got off with no damage and our electricity intact. Here are pictures of the latest additions to my Hot Wheels collection.
After raining overnight, we woke up to a MUCH cooler house on Thursday morning. The kids had left their windows open and it was about 40 degrees in the house. We were just debating flipping on the air in the house yesterday and that day we were contemplating turning on the heat! The kids did their e-learning throughout the day, working in the family room. Meanwhile, Ann & I both had long days at work, continuing to deal with employee issues, Coronavirus crap and then our regular workload on top of it. Justin surprised Vic & I by buying KFC for lunch – thanks man! After getting out late from work again, I walked about two miles on a chilly and blustery afternoon. Ann had plans to make dinner that evening but after having a long day herself we decided to get takeout from El Reparo. The city had decided to lower the travel advisory from red to orange at 8 am this morning; and in doing so, allowed restaurants to reopen as well. We sat down and had a nice dinner at the table then flopped on the couch and binge-watched Grace & Frankie. We stopped before watching the series finale.
I was up early on Good Friday for work but was thankful that I didn’t have to drive too far since I worked from home! It was so cold in the house that I actually turned the heat back on! Ann got up a little later and joined me. Abs was next up as she, too, assumed the position of working from home. I set up at my desk in the family room while Ann was all set up in the living room and finally Abby claimed the kitchen table for her base of operations. Luke eventually got up and worked from his desk as well. There was plenty of room for all of us to do our own thing and we were all successful in completing our work that day. I worked for nearly 11 hours – my boss got his money’s worth that day! Abby made eggs and bacon for us that morning. We worked for several hours then we took a break about mid-afternoon and Abby & I tried to grill out…but we were out of gas! So, we came back inside and got out the panini grill and cooked on it. Luke & I had cheddar & jalapeno bratwurst patties while Bu had a chorizo sausage and Ann had smoked sausage. After eating, we returned to work. I finally finished up about 6:00, Abs about 7:00 and Ann was still going at 8:30 before finally calling it a night. The kids and I made a fire and sat on the back porch on a chilly, windy evening. Once the sun went down and the fire burned out, it got too cold and we all came back inside – but not before we made s’mores! ???? We watched some TV but I couldn’t stay awake and went on to bed… We have lots of social media pictures to share this week.
I was awakened early on Saturday morning by work and decided to go ahead and stay up and begin my day. I did a few chores around the house before heading out to mow the lawn. Luke joined me but his mower started acting up. We checked fluids in all the vehicles and got old Betty White up and going by adding yet more transmission fluid to her then took her for a spin. She did great. We loaded up Luke’s mower and the trimmer and headed over to Mom’s house. We mowed and trimmed over there then came home to have lunch with the girls. They made chili and homemade beer bread, which really hit the spot on a chilly day. Afterward, Luke & I went to Walmart for our weekly shopping adventure. We spent over an hour in there and walked out with a packed shopping cart. We stopped at the BP gas station and used their special $.50 discount for healthcare workers, which was really nice. Gas was already down to $1.69 per gallon, so that dropped it to $1.19 – we hadn’t seen prices like that since high school!! Once we got everything unloaded and put away, I hopped in the shower and when Ann woke up from her nap (thanks to the dogs coming in from outside), I made gin & tonics. They were my first ones and I obviously need more practice because they were awfully strong! Ann had planned to make tilapia for dinner but after just one of my drinks, we were ordering delivery (sorry, babe!). ???? So, Ann “made??? Papa John’s. We tried out their Papadias, which were really yummy! Luke & I made a fire in our new fire pit for the night. Meanwhile, Mom & Sandy stopped by but stayed out in the street to visit and pick up our leftover chili. When the driver dropped off our meal, we said our good-byes with Gma & Gigi and ate our dinner on the patio, around the fire. We had a couple drinks and made s’mores again. Once the fire died down, we came inside, turned off the heat and opened up the house. We tried to watch the new Grudge movie again but fell asleep before the end again! It rained overnight, which helped me sleep like a baby…
We enjoyed sleeping in on Easter Sunday but slowly got around to our weekly household chores. The girls made Easter lunch: ham for adults, chicken for kids, au gratin potatoes and cheesy broccoli – it was delicious! The only thing that would’ve made it better would’ve been to have Matt, but he and Taylor felt it best to stay in quarantine and we supported their decision. We would’ve liked to be with Mom & Sandy, but we had to make the difficult decision to stay away as well. We were thankful when they stopped by and dropped off goodies for the kids. …But it just wasn’t the same without going to their house for the big family lunch and egg hunt. We called and spoke to Dad & Lynn and Dad & Barb as well as touched base via text with most of our other family and friends. Later, Ann’s family all had a big Zoom call, which I thought was pretty cool! It was cloudy and gloomy all day and it rained on and off much of the day as well. I felt sorry for our neighbors behind us who grilled out and tried to eat on their patio…but the dogs wouldn’t stop barking at them from the back fence. That evening, Ann made Fireworks popcorn for dinner and we watched our traditional movie for this holiday – It’s the Easter Beagle, Charlie Brown. After that, we watched the new Bad Boys movie, which was quite entertaining. We then wrapped up our evening with the season finale of Manifest before calling it a night. It was a good way to wind down the weekend and put a cap on the week.
Next up is our Waybac section which continues to feature a few more pictures from a few random photo albums in our bedroom closet. We lead off this week with several “groom??? wedding pictures in Greensburg in September 1995; those are followed by a few pictures of our reception in Columbus – also in September 1995 (of course); next we have a couple pictures that Dad sent me this week – both of Matt from 1996 – first just after his birth in March with his young parents and then with Grandmaw in Rossville at the Dream Home in the fireplace room, circa June, I’d guess…and then a couple more pictures of Matt & Abby at Christy’s house in 2004.
Next up is our video section which includes one new home movie this week as well as several 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 and stay safe out there. We miss ya, Mom.
Later, Scheu