Our landscape continues to change along with the seasons. Many of the crops are now out of the fields and we can again see large expanses of countryside during our daily commutes. Gone are the greens and blues of summer as we continue to welcome back the oranges, browns and grays of fall. We enjoyed opening up the house again and letting in the cooler, fresh air. Despite our three kids being in three different cities this week, we did get to see them all. They all had full school schedules this week. Matt had a good week of teaching class and staying with Katie in Zionsville. His health issues are noticeably better and he spent much of his time with Taylor, enjoying getting dressed up for a special night. Abby had an exciting week of school, splitting time between classes and social events. She had a medical emergency and a learning opportunity presented itself. We enjoyed spending time with her on the FC campus this weekend. Luke saw no football action outside of practice this week but did get to spend a lot of time with his friends and enjoyed seeing his first college football game…but it was his first experience in the Phi Delt house that he really loved. The shots that Ann had in her knees two weeks ago did nothing for her this week. Whatever small amount of relief she experienced previously has now gone. I got in nearly seventeen miles of walking this week and lost the ten pounds that I had packed on last weekend. Looking back on it, the week went by fast. Other highlights of the week included spending time with the Bryan-side of the family, Ann & I attended homecoming for the first time in nearly two decades and several of our favorite TV shows returned this week, keeping us entertained each night. Hello again and welcome back to the Scheu Family Blog.
We had a humid, rainy start to the week on Monday. Luke had a good day at school then had his junior varsity football game against Franklin County cancelled. I’m not sure if he or I were more disappointed. Their coach has matched up with Bryan & I several times through the yeas and we have a little rivalry going. By the time that boy plays again, it will have been nearly three weeks. So in lieu of going to Brookville, he reported to practice and then ended up over at Chance’s house until well after dark that evening. Abby had her first Pi Phi council meeting after a good day of classes. She Face-Timed with Ann that evening, as she does pretty much every day now (which we think is pretty cool). Matt taught in Zionsville and says he is mentally worn-out by the end of the day. Welcome to working with kids, buddy! Ann endured a long day at work. I had a fast day as the State walked-in for our annual licensure inspection. I walked three miles at the mall due to the rain that afternoon. I was truly disappointed to get the call that our game had been cancelled in Brookville – not sure why…there was no lightning in the area and the last I knew, we played football in the rain. We did some shopping then came home to watch Last Week Tonight, Fear TWD & Talking Dead from last night as well as the new Magnum PI (the pilot was pretty good) and caught about half of the MNF game before calling it a night. Here are pictures of Luke’s JV / “C??? game vs. South Dearborn last week.
Tuesday was another wet, humid day. Luke had school and football practice again. Ann got her hair cut with Jami during her fast day. We had a good final day of State inspections then I walked a 5K. That night, Ann made Taco Tuesday for dinner that really hit the spot then we watched the season premieres of 9-1-1 and The Resident as well as the pilot episode of Manifest (which has an intriguing concept).
Wednesday was a rough day. Abby called and said that she had accidentally chipped her tooth in the Phi Delt house last night during a party. The TKEs are living there this year to help us pay the mortgage. She called the dentist and after class she drove to Stradley’s office to have it fixed. We are thankful that they were able to squeeze her in so quickly. She ended up staying home that afternoon to study and nap then we took her & Luke out to dinner before she headed back up to campus. Luke had another “boring??? day of school (as he called it) followed by football practice. Ann had a fast day at work while I had a long one before walking a 5K on a cooler day with less humidity. We met Bu at home where we opened up the house for a gorgeous evening. We waited for Luke to get home with Gma so we could go to ElRep. Luke drove me home while Ann filled up Bu’s gas tank. We said goodbye to Abs and Luke went to Chance’s house for a while. We spent another quiet night watching shows on the big screen. While Ann slept, I watched the season premiere of South Park (22nd season) as well as the next episode of The Purge, which is better than I had expected. Here are random pictures from our recent adventures.
Thursday was a noticeably cooler day. Gone was the heat and humidity of the last few weeks– it finally looked and felt like fall. The day started out in the upper 50s and never got out of the 60s. Ann & I had a long day at work then I walked three more miles around campus. We left early so Ann could help out at the high school with the football teams’ weekly meal. Luke had a long day of school then a fast football practice. He met up with Ann at Team Dinner. My boys’ night out was cancelled so I stayed home on another quiet night and watched American Horror Story and the series premiere of Mr. In-between. Not sure if I like it or not yet…
We had a foggy start to our Friday. I was up early to run Luke to school for extra help with math. Abby had a good day, spending time in the Phi Delt house carving pumpkins with the Teeks in preparation for Homecoming. Ann had a fast day then tried to donate blood but the lady couldn’t get it out fast enough before she clotted-up. I had a fast day as well, going to lunch with Justin then walking another three miles after finishing my monthly EOC rounds. I ended up getting in about 7 miles of walking that day, all-told. I had a chance to talk with Dad B while I was walking around the airport property and unfortunately, he and Lynn won’t be able to make it to Aunt Sharon’s party tomorrow as they are still helping Tami out in Missouri. I hear Rob & Sharon are done in Jersey and are now headed to Boston along with Brett and his new bride. Ann & I got caught up on our days back at the house then headed to Batesville to watch Luke and the Pirates face the Bulldogs on their Senior Night. It was a fun game to watch in the 1st half…not so much in the 2nd I’m afraid. It was a back and forth game that was tied at 21 at the break. The Bulldogs made some great adjustments that absolutely shut us down in the 3rd quarter and we lost 21-42. Luke was unfortunately relegated to the sidelines again but four of his freshmen teammates got to play special teams, which is hopefully a good sign that he may eventually get a shot as well. We were hoping to go out with the Drakes after the game but they were unable to make it due to a family thing so we’ll have to catch up with them next time. Matt & Taylor attended the U Indy homecoming dance and I loved the pictures he sent me for next week’s blog! Ann ordered pizzas for dinner and we enjoyed having the house open again for the third day in a row as we watched the season premieres of NCIS New Orleans, S.W.A.T. & Blue Bloods.
We were up early again on Saturday morning to head up to Kokomo to celebrate at Aunt Sharon’s retirement party. We met up with Matt, Katie & Jake with Brody & Reese; Nathan and Jacie; Vird & Belinda and Deena Marie & Zack at the Half Moon Brewery. There was a great turnout for her big day. We enjoyed a ton of food and a couple of home-crafted beers. I had the Milf-n-Honey Wheat while Ann had the Black Cherry Wheat. We had fun catching up with the Bryan side of the family but wished Dad & Lynn could’ve been there. Before we knew it, we had to say our good-byes and hit the road again to head down to Franklin to see Abby. It was homecoming, so we were excited to not only see our little Bu and watch some Griz football (they faced Rose-Hulman) but I was also anxious to see the Phi Delt house and we hoped to see some old friends. We were awed by the amount of partying / tailgating occurring at the game. The stadium stands were packed, there were hundreds more standing around the field but there was probably over a thousand more party goers mingling in the parking lots and throughout Cline Woods. I’d never seen so many people at one of our football games! We watched some of the game and saw a couple of old friends before we went across campus to the Phi Delt house and met up with Natalie. We took a tour of the house and had a beer with a few of the Tekes on the 3rd floor. The house looks a little run down but I’m glad it’s at least open and not boarded-up or bulldozed-under to make a parking lot. The kids living in there couldn’t have been nicer and Abby loves hanging out in my old stomping grounds…we did too. We headed back over to the game and went inside the stadium to see some old Phi Delt buddies and watch the game from the endzone. The game went back and forth and the Grizzlies scored with only a handful of seconds left to win 42-39 and secure a spot in the playoffs! We hung around with Nat for a little while then took Bu & Avery out to eat. There was a Fall Festival going on downtown that gave the city quite a buzz. There were hundreds of people milling around, down on the square. It was great! We ended up going back to Shale Creek Brewing for an early dinner. This is the same restaurant that Ann & I visited after we dropped Abby off at school. We sat out in the open-air part of the building that was really neat. We met up with a couple of Ann’s friends from Crawfordsville and had a few beers with them. Ann & I both went with the Creekside Cream Ale again. We had a ton of food and then we split an Octoberfest beer before we took off. We picked up a couple things for Abby at the grocery store then dropped the girls off so they could prep for the evening’s festivities. We had an uneventful ride back to town then Luke immediately left with his friends for their annual excursion to Hopeless Hollow to go through the haunted woods. He eventually stayed the night at Chance’s house while Ann & I napped during the Purdue football game. We have lots of social media pictures to share this week.
We enjoyed sleeping in on a quiet Sunday morning. It was noticeably warmer today than it had been the previous 72 hours. We eventually got up and did our weekly household chores. Luke came back from staying the night with Chance to mow the yard. Once he finished up, he loaded up Betty White and drove us over to Mom & Sandy’s house where he trimmed and mowed their lawn as well. He also did a couple odd jobs while he was there. I came back to finish up working around the house and then picked him up so he drive us back home. He got his room cleaned up and went out to the woods with his buddies to work on their new fort. After Purdue won yesterday, I was thrilled to watch the Cowboys win an exciting game today. In fact, there were several games that were closely contended right to the last few seconds today. In Indy, the home team very nearly pulled out a come-from-behind victory (or at least a tie), only to have Coach Reich make a boneheaded decision at the end of the game to hand the Colts their third loss of the year. I watched the two “roval??? races at Charlotte this weekend, which were pretty cool. The end of the Cup race was won of the best I’ve seen in a long time! I hope NASCAR adds more road courses to their schedule next year – I’d especially love to see it happen at the Brickyard! Later, Luke had his buddies over to play video games, out in the family room. That night, we wound down the week by watching the 30th season premiere of the Simpsons and then the season finale of Fear the Walking Dead & Talking Dead. It was a relaxing way to wrap up the night before we turn around and do it all again tomorrow…
OK, let’s get on to our Waybac section, which continues to feature photo album #16 of our young family in 2003. We lead off with yet more pictures from Monster Jam in January; Matt wrestling in February; Luke’s first few days in June; Mom’s birthday in June; Labor Day fun in September; and Christmas Eve in December.
Next up is our video segment which includes two new home movies this week as well as several from around the internet.
And that does it for this week’s entry 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