We enjoyed a slower pace for one more week before things begin to pick-up around here again. Matt spent the week on the U Indy campus with Taylor this week, attending classes. Abby split her time between school and spending time with her friends, Garrett and her Pi Phi sisters. Luke focused on school and basketball through the week then got to spend time with Drew and Kacie on the weekend. Ann continued to hang in there with her knees as other parts of her struggled. She got to spend some time with her friends, which helped her to decompress after another exhausting week at work. I met my weekly walking goal of fifteen miles, spent some time with my friends and we both enjoyed seeing the kids altogether again today. The family was whole again and everything was right in the world…even if they do fight sometimes. It was a cold week that drove me inside for my walks, now that I’m old. I’m anxious to get back to watching Luke play sports, but I have to admit that it was nice to slow down for a few days. Hello again and welcome to the latest installment of the Scheu Family Blog.
We had a cold start to Monday. The roads were brined in preparation for Winter Storm Avery. Last night, while eating popcorn for dinner, Ann broke a tooth. She’s not in pain, thankfully, but it’s obviously concerning. She called Dr. Stradley’s office and was able to get in that afternoon. We left work early to get her there, before I got a chance to exercise. She’ll have to get a crown in the next week or two. Luke drove Ann around town to run a couple errands that evening while I tried to get out and walk…but it was too damn cold! Instead, I worked on Luke’s year-end football stats for the 2018 season: he played in 7 JV games and had 10 varsity quarters. The positions he played were middle linebacker, fullback, kicker, punter, kickoff return team and punt return team. His JV offensive stats: 4 rushes for 8 yards, 1 fumble and 2 points on 1 of 2 PATs. His JV defensive stats: 46 tackles (17 solo & 29 asst + 4 more solos on varsity), 2 sacks, 6 QB hurries, 1 fumble recovery and 1 tipped/batted ball. His JV special team stats: 1 blocked punt, 17 kickoffs for 585 yds (34 yd avg): (40, 37, 32, 39, 36, 35, 31, 35, 36, 32, 30, 35, 40, 45, 30, 17 and 35), 2 punts for 70 yds (30, 40) and 4 kickoff returns for 59 yards (12, 5, 7, 30 [+ 5 on varsity]). Here are pictures from our trip to Franklin last week to see Abby at college.
It was another chilly start on Tuesday. It was a long day for both Ann & I, mostly because it wasn’t Friday! Abby & Toni came down to pick-up some stuff from Ann at work and then ran over to see me so I could air up her tires. Luke had school then played hard at basketball practice. I walked four miles at the mall after work due to the cold. We picked up Black Betty after work from Jerry’s garage and she sounds and drives great!
Wednesday was another cold day. Thankfully it went fast for both Ann & I. I walked four miles again at the mall because I’m too old to walk out in the cold now. Luke had a good day of school and basketball again. We went to Mom & Sandy’s after work to move furniture back after her flooring was finished. Luke did a good job of helping and we knocked it out quickly. We stayed for cheeseburgers for dinner afterward. A nasty ice storm hit us that night and continued overnight.
We woke up to about a quarter inch of ice on Thursday morning. It was a winter wonderland! The trees were hunched over at home and several limbs were down at work. The roads were clear, thankfully. We got the call early that morning that school was cancelled and Luke got to sleep in. He did have to get up and go to a basketball workout at the Fieldhouse. He had Drew over for a few hours that night. Ann & I had fast days at work then I walked a 5K at the mall. It snowed on the way home. We went to the store to get supplies and then Ann made corn dip for me to take to Sunken Boat Bar for boys’ night out. I took Drew back with me and got things set up in the basement due to Bryan running late. We were missing a couple that night but we had fun with Rick, Pat, Alan, Bryan & myself – we had a good football game on TNF, enjoyed some good munchies and of course plenty of fine spirits. I donated my winnings from last week but we had so many laughs. I sure do enjoy our poker nights. Here are random pictures of our recent adventures.
Friday was Mom O’s birthday. We woke up to a dusting of snow on yet another cold morning. The ice was still on the flora but not as heavy as the trees had returned to their normal shapes. Our maple out front was nearly down to the driveway and street yesterday morning. Luke got up early for Jr Optimist Club then had a full day of school before going to basketball practice. Ann had a fast day at work where they enjoyed their traditional turducken meal to celebrate Thanksgiving. After work, she ran some errands and got packed up for her girls scrapbooking trip to Thomas Lake in Cloverdale for the weekend with Shawna & Rhonda. I had a long day, culminating with a long afternoon as my maintenance guys and I found and fixed a dry system sprinkler pipe. Afterward, I walked a 5K at the mall. With Ann gone, Luke drove he & I to dinner at ElRep but they were so busy that we ended up going to El Chile Poblano for dinner and a drink. We came home and watched the Purdue basketball games at the Charleston Classic Tourney – first they defeated Appalachian State and then Davidson to move to 4-0 on the year and move on to the championship game on Sunday. We have lots of social media pictures to share this week.
Luke & I were up early on Saturday for him to drive us to his basketball practice. While he played ball, I came home to pay bills and PM the vehicles. I accidentally knocked the serpentine belt off of Barney and then Luke & I spent the next hour and a half getting it back on, which we eventually did…but in the process, we got the wrench wedged between the tensioner and the wheel well and now it’s stuck! I’m hopeful either Jerry or maybe one of my guys at work can figure out how to remove it before it falls off in transit and does major damage. Luke drove us around town to run a couple errands and grab some drive thru for lunch. We came home and finally watched the Solo (Star Wars) movie. Later, Luke drove us out to pick-up Drew and brought him back to stay the night. Late that evening, they went out on a double date to the movies to see Overlord with Kacie and her friend. Unfortunately, the friend cancelled at the last minute. The annual Leonid meteor shower was that night, but it was just too cloudy (and probably a little bright in our backyard) to get a good view this year. I tried to stick it out, but it was so cold I couldn’t stay out longer than about 5 minutes at a time and gave up after a couple of tries and still haven’t seen a shooting star. Instead, I came in and watched a hell of a football game as Purdue lost a heartbreaker to Wisconsin on Senior Night at Ross-Aide in 3 overtimes. But the bigger story that everyone wants to know is whether Coach Brohm will stick around or if he will jump ship for the Louisville gig (which his is alma mater) that opened up this week. For our sake, let’s I hope he sticks around – he’s been great for the program…
We enjoyed sleeping in on Sunday morning. It was a much warmer day, but we didn’t get out in it for more than a couple minutes. We did our weekly household chores while watching the NASCAR championship races (Moffitt won CWTS, Reddick (Dale Jr’s car) won NXS and Logano won NCS). I tried again to get the wrench out of the van, but only succeeded in getting rope burns on my hands. So I retreated to the couch for a full day of NFL games. The Colts won big and the Cowboys pulled out a victory with a walk-off field goal. There were several close ball games that made it very entertaining. Ann came home from her weekend getaway and cooked a big dinner for Mom O. She had her side of the family over to celebrate her Maryann’s 80th birthday with us. Abby was the next one home then Matt & Taylor came over. It was great to spend time with the kids for several hours. I don’t know how to explain it, but those with kids that are older know what I’m talking about. All was right in the world with the kids in the house again. Mom & Sandy got here just before Dee & Jamie. Later, Grace and her boyfriend came over after moving stuff out of her house in Indy. Ann made Mom her favorite meal – spaghetti, salad and garlic bread. Afterward, we sang a voraciously horrible version of the Birthday Song and enjoyed a couple Bob Evans cakes. We talked for quite a while afterward before everyone had to get going, so we said goodbye to everyone and settled in to watch The Walking Dead / Talking Dead before finally calling it a week. It’s been a nice few weeks of no sports. But now that we’ve caught our breath, we’re ready to get back at it again – starting tomorrow!
Next up is our Waybac section which continues to feature a few more of our #16 photo album of our young family in 2003. We only have enough left for a couple more weeks. We lead off, however, with a great pic of the Owens kids in ‘74 that I came across when we were at Mom’s house last week, moving furniture. Then we have our ’03 pictures: Monster Jam in Indy in January; Matt’s birthday party in March; Luke’s birth in June; Independence Day parade in July; Abby’s birthday party in September; and then Matt’s play at the Christian church and our trip up to Lafayette for the Scheu Family Christmas – both in December.
We wrap up with our video segment, which includes one new home movie this week as well as a ton from around the internet.
Well 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