Over the River and Through the Woods…

  The weather continued to be really crummy, as it again precipitated each day again this week.  The worst part was that we still don’t have any snow accumulation yet.  Instead, we got freezing rain and lots of ice and wind.  You can’t sled on freezing rain!!  It got so bad in the middle of the week that they cancelled classes on Wednesday due to the poor road conditions that had deteriorated greatly during the overnight hours.  Lukey was upset that he couldn’t go to school…but Matt and Bu were thrilled to go to Grandma’s house for the day!  It was a little tricky driving; but nothing that I couldn’t handle – thanks to my days of driving in those cold LaPorte winters.  You know, if it’s going to be this cold, we could at least get some snow so we could go out sledding…

  Thursday night, Matt had a home basketball game vs. Sunman-Dearborn.  The kids were in it through the first quarter, as a three-pointer at the buzzer went in to tie the game at 9.  At halftime, they trailed by five.  By the time the fourth quarter started, they were out of it and the game ended mercilessly with the Pirates getting beaten by around 20 points by the Trojans.  The 8^th graders also got the beat-down in the second game of the night, as Sunman just hammered both teams.  Matt had limited playing time as again the A team sent down an extra three players for the game.  Matt played well as he went 0-2 (one was actually a travel, where “I jumped, but just forgot to shoot!???  J)  from the field with two rebounds, another steal and 1 foul that saved an easy basket in about six minutes of floor time.

  We woke up Friday to cold, wet weather which netted over another inch of rain.  It started off in the high twenties at 6 am.  By noon, it was in the low 60’s with wicked wind advisories that caused us to lose electricity briefly a few times at work.  By the time we woke up Saturday morning, it was again in the upper twenties.  Friday night, Matt attended a dance at the armory and was all smiles when he got home.  Ann and I thought it was funny to hear all the Jr. High drama Matt talked about.  J  He was a bit coy about meeting a girl but received numerous texts after the dance and again on Saturday.  J  While Matt was away, we had family night with pizza and a movie.  This week, we chose to watch Dr. Seuss’ How the Grinch Stole Christmas (which is one of Ann’s faves!).  On Saturday, Matt had practice and then joined Luke and I at cleaning the house as the girls went to Greenwood to p/u last minute Christmas gifts and to exchange the Wii Guitar Hero World Tour at Best Buy.  This time the drums worked!!  Matt is really good at the drums portion of the game (go figure!).  Abby had her friend Megan over for dinner that night and all 4 of the kids enjoyed playing together – as Ann bought an additional guitar while she was up there! 

  Sunday we got up early and headed north to my old stomping grounds in Lafayette.   It was good to go home and see everyone.  We first went to Grandma & Grandpa Scheu’s cabin on Wildcat Creek.  Sadly, this has become merely an annual pilgrimage.  When we were younger, we’d make it up there several times a year.  However, for the past few years, it seems we’ve only gotten busier and busier…  It was so freakin’ cold the entire day.  It was 5° in Greensburg when we left town and by the time we got up to Tippecanoe County it was 2°.  Up at the cabin, it was an even zero; with a wind chill of -26°!  We tried to walk around the property, but it was a short tour.  Barb made her patented egg casserole and we chatted for a long while before opening presents.  Luke was the present tattler, as he whispered in Grandpa’s ear what he got before he opened it!  Dad showed me a picture from his 60^th birthday.  Uncle John held an event at one of his golf courses and invited Fuzzy Zoeller and John Daly!  Dad’s photo is of the three of them…towards the end when they’d all had a few cocktails.  The kids were wild and since they couldn’t play outside, we decided to head over to John & June’s house for the Scheu family Christmas party a little earlier than anticipated. J

  As usual, we had a blast.  …and even though several folks were absent this year; it was a lot of fun to see those that did brave the elements.  John and June had celebrated their 40^th anniversary via a surprise party the previous night, so everyone was a little more reserved than usual!  Uncle John (looking quite svelte) made Dad & I homemade Bloody Marys’ when we got there and we chatted and snacked while we waited for the others to arrive.  Aunt Juney had lunch catered as she, “Didn’t feel like cooking on my 40^th anniversary.???  J  Lunch was great and there was so much food (as always).  The kids and I enjoyed playing downstairs against various cousins in foosball, ping pong and pool.  Dad and I especially enjoyed spanking Chris and Daniel in a game of doubles pool!  I couldn’t help but think back to the days (30 years ago) when Dad first taught me how to play pool at the K of C’s on Sunday afternoons (except this time, I was carrying him!).  This year’s party was actually much tamer than in years past, especially compared to when they were held at John & June’s old house on Lingle Ave.  Those were crazy times with 30 little kids ripping open hundreds of presents down in the basement! 

  The highlight was, of course, seeing Granny Scheu.  She was very lucid and had a great conversation with Ann and I.  Although she’s wheel chair-bound these days, she still looks great as she heads for another birthday next month (93 I believe?)!  As for who attended this year – let’s go in order of the oldest to youngest in the old farts’ club:  Sue didn’t make it up from Texas, but we had Vicky, Daniel & Seth (missing Jackie and her family & Billy & Blancha).  Chuck & Cindy were absent as well, as Chuck had a health scare.  Dad said he is doing better, but we sure hope he gets back to his usual, ornery self soon!  Also missing were Kathy & Tom and of course David and his family.  Dad, Barb & the five of us were there.  John & June, Barney & Steph (and their 3 kids – Haley is as beautiful as her mother and Nick & Ryan are both over six feet and still growing!); Kimmy (who’s now the loveliest grandmother I’ve ever met) and her 5 boys (missing Chuck); Lindsey (up from Raleigh, NC) and Olga were also there.  Sally & Scottie (who looked great…) and Chris & Trisha (& their 4 kids) were there (missing Jason & Erika and their children again).  …And Mary & Bob (and their boys) were unable to make it up from Florida this year.  Uncle John has the NFL package through Dish TV, so we were able to flip through all twelve games throughout the afternoon which was very cool!  On our way home, I couldn’t help but take the long way, going through the old neighborhood, including a drive-by of our old house on Shortridge St. (which looks better than it has in the past decade), John B Scheumann Stadium and the Parkside Deli.

  Let’s turn on the Waybac machine – Christmas version…

First up, we have a picture of Christmas morning 1985-ish in LaPorte.

Next up are a couple more pictures from ’72 at Granny’s house on Highland in Lafayette.   I especially like seeing a picture of David!  Nice pants Kathy!!  You think Mary’s proud of that Spitz poster??

Here’s a picture of Matt and Gigi, here at our house when we first moved in, circa ‘01.  We still have that old hockey table around here somewhere…

And we finish up this week’s round with a classic picture of Granny in her kitchen on Highland.