…But All that Lives is Born to Die

It’s been a strange, conflicted week full of ups and downs for us here at the Scheu abode… It was blistering hot this week, as it reached the 90’s each day. Thankfully, we have the pool in perfect balance – chemical-wise – according to the little test thingies. 🙂 We’ll see how long that lasts, but so far / so good!! We started off Monday with me going in late to work so I could run Abby to the dentist. She got a fairly good checkup (about a B+), but needs to be sure and take really good care of her front two teeth, as there are several small soft spots that could eventually make them more susceptible to cavities in the future. That night, both Abby & Matt had first-round tourney ball games. Bu’s team lost 9-10 in 6 innings. It was a close game the whole way. The girls were down 3 runs going in to the last inning, scored 2 runs and had the bases loaded with 1 out…and couldn’t score…to say the least, it was a tough loss. Abby went 1-4 with a single, a run scored, an RBI, two fly outs and a strike out. They were down a player as well. As for Matt’s team, they also lost a heartbreaker by 2 points, 11-9. They also had a chance to win in the last inning – rallying at the end – but it was too little, too late. Matt went 0-2 with a ground out and a strike out. It was super hot and sticky. The bugs were really bad too, messing with both the kids in the outfield and the batters at the plate.

On Tuesday, we were back out at the ball diamonds again. This time, Abby’s team was playing a last minute game that we only found out about at last night’s game. Abby’s team (Saylor Reality) tied for 2nd in the league and needed to play a tie-breaker to see who would get the trophies. This was a back and forth game the entire time. Abby went 2-3 with an RBI and a run scored, but it wasn’t enough for her team as they lost in the bottom of the last inning, giving up a walk-off double. They were happy to received trophies, but third place was a bitter pill to swallow and was heartbreaking to watch their dejection. Matt played in his second tourney game afterward, due to the format being double-elimination… Unfortunately, the Brewers never really showed up for the game, still downtrodden from last night. They were truly never really in the game. The parents were disgusted and the kids were just apathetic and demoralized by game’s end. I think everyone was ready for it to be over. I know that Ann and I had never rooted against our teams, but secretly we were both hoping that we might lose and just put an end to the pain of this season. It was especially tough to watch that night. They lost by a large amount and Matt only had one at bat, going 1-1 with an RBI single and a stolen base. However; he also made his first error of the year in left field. He was pretty upset with himself, but this was truly a team loss. We thanked the coaches and said we looked forward to next year…

Wednesday was Lukey’s sixth birthday. Ann made him “birthday donuts??? as a joke! 😛 We had a few presents for Lukey to open when we came home from work that night, getting new Star Wars guys and a few other things. Ann was teasing him in the car on the way home from Brandy’s. Someone from work had given her a zucchini from their garden and she was bringing it home. She jokingly told Lukey it was his birthday present…and he started sobbing!! She felt about an inch high, as he was so mad he woudn’t even talk to her…which was cool since I got to hold and console him. 😛 We ended up back out at the baseball complex again, later that evening. That night proved to be Abby’s last night of softball for this season. Her team was also playing in the loser’s bracket of their double-elimination tourney. That night, her team really should have won. They were the better team…however; they would again have momentary lapses in mental focus on defense at times and give up big chunks of runs with two outs. Bu went 1-3 with an RBI. She made a nice play in left field that almost got a gal out at the plate. Luke had fun running around with his buddy Bryce and a ring pop turned his lips a lovely shade of blue again! 🙂 After the game, we headed over to Grandma & Gigi’s house for cake and ice cream! Grandma makes the best cake! We enjoyed Gigi’s gourmet with Sandy grilling out on her new charcoal barbeque grill. She did a great job and we had a fun night over at their house as Matt & I watched the Reds on TV while gals chatted in the dining room.

On Thursday, the baby birds in Ann’s hanging flower pot (the flowers are now dead) on the front porch finally left the nest. It didn’t take them long (just a couple weeks) to grow. Luke and I went for a bike ride after work and then jumped in the pool until it was dinner time. This was Ann’s first trip to the pool this year (she only gets in when the water is over 90°). What started off as a joke (the kids pulled off my pants when I was swimming), turned in to a full-blown skinny dipping session for the boys, as first Luke and then Matt joined me in a “free??? swim. 🙂 That night, we had a nasty storm. When we woke up the next day on Friday, we found that we had lost a large branch out of our tulip tree in the back yard and a few shingles off the roof. Matt pulled the limb down before I could get out and cut it down. He also mowed the lawn for me on this hot & humid day…and as a reward; Ann & I took the family out for dinner at Chili’s and fireworks shopping! 😛 We went to all three stores in town and got lots of good stuff from each place – it’s gonna be a good display this year!! We had a tough time finding the kids’ favorite types though…the parachutes with army guys attached (paratroopers). We think we finally got some, but not until we got on a first name basis with the Don’s Fireworks lady and she was calling us at home to tell Lukey that she had new parachutes for us to check out. In fact, she allowed us to take home 4 samples to experiment with and report our findings to her! She was very cool and has the best prices (not to mention selection) of all three stores in town. I hope she does well this year. She was very nice to us and will have our business each year from now on. Wait until you see our finale piece this year!! 🙂 It’s called Addicted To Loud. …Earlier in the day, my boss and close friend Dennis told me that he had accepted a job with our corporate office – so he has 30 days until he leaves. Just like with the ending of the baseball, softball & t-ball seasons, I am conflicted with Dennis leaving. From a selfish viewpoint, I don’t want him to leave. However, as a friend, I am happy for him to be moving up the corporate ladder. It will be interesting over the next month to see how our organization adapts to this major internal change. Ann called Stacy’s Plumbing again, earlier this week. They swore they’d be out this week to fix our side yard. However, another week came and went and our side yard still looks like this:

On Saturday, Ann cleaned up the house and I finished up the garage – taking 9 boxes of clothing and 3 more boxes of miscellaneous items to Goodwill. That cleared up a lot of room. The kids went with me in the truck and then we went next door to the fireworks store. On the way home, they sat in the back and I took them for a few trips around the neighborhood…they thought that was so cool…what is it about kids and riding in the back of pickups?? Grandma & Gigi, Dee & Grace and Phyllis & Dick came over for a small party for Lukey shortly after lunch. Gigi took the kids swimming before they all came in for cake & ice cream with presents for Lukey. Per his request, Luke had a Darth Vader cake! After everyone left, we got cleaned up and that night Ann’s company had their annual family outing. This year, they treated us to an evening of minor league baseball as we had a blast watching the Indianapolis Indians play the Toledo Mudhens at Victory Field. What a great place to watch a baseball game. It is a beautiful ballpark and accentuates the downtown with its scenic viewpoints. It was actually a really good baseball game too. It was free foam visor night, as they handed them out to the first few thousand folks that came through the gates. We saw some great defensive plays, good pitching (oohing & ahhing over the 90+ MPH fastballs), saw a couple homeruns, sang Take Me out to the Ballgame and tried to get on the “Kiss Cam with my wife!??? 😛 Before the game, we were treated to dinner in the Left Field Picnic Area. They had a VIP section roped off for a couple big groups that night. The food was really good; they had burgers, dogs and pulled BBQ chicken, as well as sides, desserts, sodas and Coors Light on tap! 🙂 There was an Offspring rock concert going on next door at the White River Pavilion that was a little distracting (but provided a cool soundtrack for a baseball game…too bad you could only mainly makeout the rhythm section) and made traffic & parking an absolute nightmare on the way in…I sounded like Grandpaw Bryan a couple times trying to get around down there that night. 🙂 The kids loved getting tubs of popcorn, huge sodas in Indians cups, foam fingers, Indians baseballs and Matt got a new Indians hat. The kids and I brought our gloves to catch foul balls, but we only got one even in our general area and none near enough to even go after. Following the game, we had fun checking out the teepee and playing a couple carnival games around the outfield before finally heading home.

On Sunday, Luke went with one of his best friends, Alex, to celebrate his birthday at Chuck E Cheese. Christy came by around 1 and they went over to Columbus. Lukey stayed over at their house for a few house once they returned and Abby joined him to play with her good friend Megan (Alex’s cousin). The kids all went swimming when they got home. We need to talk to the boys about keeping those bathing suits on…especially when they get out of the pool! I hope to have pictures from Christy sometime soon of the boys at Chuck E Cheese. Luke said he had a blast! I have pictures from the swimming excapade, but it’s getting late, so watch for those next week. In addition, there is one very important thing I need to get to yet tonight:
Sadly, this morning I received a call from Grandma & Grandpa Scheu. Barbie told me that Granny had passed away early this morning. When I spoke to Dad on Father’s Day he said that she had been in pain for the past several weeks after suffering a stroke. Again, I find myself conflicted as I selfishly want her to still be with us; but it killed me knowing that she was suffering, so this was probably the most merciful thing that could occur for her. She will be dearly missed. I will miss her dearly. She lived a full life and saw her family prosper and grow exponentially under her reign as matriarch of our family. She leaves behind 6 children, 12 grandchildren, 23 great grandchildren and I think 1 or 2 great, great grandchildren as well. We will attend the funeral on Wednesday in Lafayette. I loved her dearly and will miss her… She was the sweetest person I have ever known. She was always very kind to me. She was a die hard Boilermaker fan and I have many fond memories of growing up around her a small child. Of course, her passing comes on the heels of the deaths of Ed McMahon, Farah Fawcett & Michael Jackson…and now the Info-mercial man, Billy Mays… It was a very strange, sad week, indeed…
I have copied a new round of about 50 old WayBack photos, per requests of a few folks. If there is something you would like to see, I am open for suggestions…or if you have any old photos you’d like to share – especially of Granny – please email them to us for posting. Look for the Waybac feature to return next week with a focus on her. In the meantime, I have uploaded all the old posts, so you can look through the archives for the hundreds of photos already posted on here from the 50’s, 60’s, 70’s, 80’s and 90’s via the Waybac section of the entries. They are fun to see and I look forward to getting comments on a few of these funny ones next week. Feel free to comment on any of the ones already posted in the archives; as the comments feature works now on all the old entries as well…

Anyhow, thanks for keeping up with us this week.
Have a good one and we’ll catch up with you next time.
Later, Scheu