What a long week it’s been since we last touched base. It seems like two weeks combined into one, to be honest. Well, the weekdays seemed like 20 days while the weekend seems like it just started and its already over as I type this on Sunday night. It’s been a rollercoaster of a week. Matt worked at the middle school in Zionsville. He has made the decision to end his teaching career already and will be going to work with Cathy as soon as the spring semester ends. He will be able to stay on as the head wrestling coach, which is cool…and keeps his foot in the door, just in case things don’t work out or something changes in the future. Abby had a good week of classes in Franklin. It was Greek Week for her Pi Phi sorority and the rest of the Greek Life on the FC campus. She won a big award this week, which didn’t surprise her parents at all – LOL. Luke had a busy week again as he split his time between high school classes, football practices, weightlifting on his own, spending time with his girlfriend, working at two jobs and still finding time to spend with the fam when he could. Ann split time between work and prepping for next weekend’s Prom / After-Prom event. I was up and down with my diet (big surprise, eh?) as I lost about six pounds and logged about ten miles through Wednesday but then the back half of the week, I fell off the wagon, gaining back all that I lost and finishing with under thirteen miles. I think everything sort of caught up to me and found I was pretty exhausted – spending two-thirds of my weekend sleeping. The sad news of the week was that we lost Molly, our Scotty dog. Dealing with all of that was very draining, but it didn’t hit us until the end of the week. It has been a nice, quiet weekend that allowed us to be home bodies and catch up on some much-needed sleep. We miss our Molly-kins but know that she is finally at peace, sunbathing and chasing rabbits… Hello again and welcome back to the Scheu Family Blog.
The week started off like any other as I got up and got ready on Monday morning. I let the dogs out and went to clean up Molly. However, she wouldn’t wake up. Come to find out, she had passed away in her sleep overnight. It’s funny; she and Abby had a very serious conversation yesterday before she left. She gave Molly permission to cross over the “Rainbow Bridge??? when she was ready. It was almost like she waited to see Abby and the boys one more time before she passed away. I cleaned her up and wrapped her in her favorite blanket and placed her in a tote. I grudgingly broke the news to Ann and Luke. There were some tears, for sure. When Abby finished with her early class, we called her before her second class and broke the news to her as well. After talking to Matt, Mom & Sandy, we called off from work and got in touch with a local pet crematorium. Luke asked to be taken out of school because he couldn’t focus. So, Ann called and had him released so he could come home and be with Molly and us. Later that morning, we took Molly to Faithful Friends in Passing in Newbern. We were nearly in an accident on the bypass when some kook passed a car on the left shoulder at the same time that we were passing a slower car in front of us. I was able to see them out of the corner of my eye and was able to swerve back into the right lane – asshole. The owner/operator was very cool and made us fell very much at ease. We dropped her off and then went on to Columbus. We ran to Camilla’s for a quick lunch and then went over to Jami’s for haircuts. When Luke and I were done, we went to Best Buy and wound up looking at portable speakers. Although we didn’t get one as nice as what we wanted (we want one like Bryan’s), we did get a good deal on one that will be more than enough for our neighborhood – LOL! We went to Target and the bank before picking up Ann and coming back to the ‘Burg. Luke went to football practice. Ann napped while I played a couple rounds of frisbee golf. I hadn’t thrown in over a week, so the “front??? nine were from the front tees. It was pretty windy and my score was only a par. I thought I had a pretty good handle on the wind, so I moved to the back tees for the second round. That as a poor choice as the wind only strengthened as the it grew later and my score was awful – a 5-over 32 – Ugh! I considered a third round to redeem myself, but my elbow was starting to stiffen and so I decided to come home and take some ibuprofen instead. When I got home, Luke was unpacking our new speaker (it’s actually a PA) in the living room where Ann was trying to sleep. So, I had him grab it and bring it outdoors along with the new aerator (it’s the kind that scarifies and thatches). We unpacked both, cranked up the speaker and assembled the electric aerator. Luke ended up taking the speaker and cruising around in the truck that evening. Meanwhile, I had to try out the aerator and wound up doing the entire backyard. I had a thought about doing the front but I wiped out by that point. I came in and we had a find-your-own dinner. We watched a couple shows and I fell asleep on the couch (I know that’s a shock to some of you). I went on to bed early and fell asleep watching that big trial on HLN. Here are random pictures from our recent adventures.
Tuesday started off MUCH better than yesterday. After all the tears that Monday brought, Tuesday was a relief. I had so much extra time in the morning. I actually got all of my chores done and was waiting on Ann that morning! It was oddly quiet (and pleasant smelling) without Molls, for sure. Ann and I had busy days at work. The day flew by. Justin and Amanda brought me lunch from Chick Fil-A and I left work early to get Ann to her Prom/After-Prom meeting at the high school. Luke returned to school and went to football practice afterward where they lifted weights. He came home afterward to get the truck (and speaker), pick up Alex and went over to help Coach Harris by doing some outdoor work for him. He took several of my yard tools with him, to help the boys get their work done. I walked over a 5K on the Rebekah Park track that winds through the high school property and all the way to the BMV. When we came home, I helped Luke load Betty White and I ran the electric aerator on the front lawn, getting in another half mile or so of walking exercise. I wound up with over 14K steps again – just like I did yesterday! Luke came home a little early that evening, saying it was starting to rain. Ann said the rain was supposed to turn to snow and continue on into the morning. There’s a frost advisory and some models show us getting a couple inches. When we pulled in the drive that night, we were pleased to see a new pail of Fireworks popcorn had arrived…so guess what we had that night for dinner?! It was different when we got home to not have to clean up Molly and the house. I won’t lie, it was kind of nice. The house definitely smelled better – that’s for sure – LOL! Today was a little easier. I think I only welled up once when talking about Molly, so it’s getting easier already. ???? Luke and Alex came over to put stuff away then went out to ElRep for dinner. Ann & I took it easy that evening, keeping warm with the dogs and watching the 911 shows.
We woke up to about three inches of snow on Wednesday morning. Delilah wouldn’t come in, as she enjoyed zooming around with drifts of snow flying everywhere. Lola, on the other hand, couldn’t wait to get back into the warmth. Her belly wasn’t feeling well as there was diarrhea in several places of the living room and kitchen – mostly on the piddle pad, thankfully. She smelled up the whole house, just like her dearly departed sister…I thought we were done with this stuff? It took me a while to get it all cleaned up and didn’t have enough time to let the car warm up properly that morning. It was in the low 30s and the snow was frozen to the vehicles, grass and trees. It was actually quite pretty to look at, TBH. When I tried to put down Ann’s window to make the snow come off, I found that there was a layer of ice that held it in place so as I put it down, there was still a sheet of ice blocking my view! Ann & I had fast days at work. The boys and I went to Culvers, where I enjoyed their fish and cheese curds – yum! I walked three miles outside on a chilly afternoon. It was sunny but Ann said it had been snowing just a couple hours before that – something I couldn’t tell while I was out there. We were supposed to bring Molly home that night, but the guy forgot and went home, so we went to Mom & Sandy’s house instead. Ann visited and I installed her new toilet seat that has handles so she can get up out of it and not fall in the tub again. Luke had a fast day at school then went out with Ms. Sarah for a while. He & Oakley lifted weights at the Y that night before he came home to get warm on a night that dropped down below freezing as we had another frost warning. It snowed and rained a few times throughout the day and again that night. Thankfully, when we came home from work, all the snow was already gone. We took it easy that night and watched a couple shows. I kept falling asleep every 10 minutes or so then sleep for 20 or 30 as I completed editing pictures and renaming them. Finally, Ann left me on the couch and went on to bed. Lola and I eventually woke up at about 1 in the morning and I finally went on to bed. We have lots of social media pictures to share this week.
The sun returned on Thursday for Earth Day. It was a cold start as we headed over to Columbus that morning, again in the lower 30s. It would eventually warm nicely to about 60 degrees. I had another fast day at work, helped by another trip with the guys to Chicago’s pizza buffet. Instead of walking after work, I went to Newbern and picked up Molly to bring her home for the final time. They did a very nice job with her. We have a porcelain footprint, as well as an inked footprint and nose print. He also clipped some of her hair by her eyes, ears, back and heart and gave us a nice certificate and a couple of very touching poems – one of which goes with the hair trimmings. It was all very sweet and when I brought her home that night, it brought a few tears to my eyes as it is now as I write this. I went back to town and walked about a mile around Ann’s work, which is amid a network of office buildings, creating a nice walking lane. I dropped her off at the hospital for her quarterly meeting and began walking along the river when Abby called, saying she was here. She had a long day of classes at FC then drove to Greensburg to drop off a resume at Taft Furniture for a summer intern in the marketing department. She visited Gma & Gigi for a while then went to see her dogs. Lola still had bloody diarrhea so she left her outside on a pretty day after cleaning up the mess in the house for us and drove to Columbus to meet up. We took Black Betty through the car wash to get all the bird crap off of it then went to Dairy Queen for a batch of cheese curds and an animal cookie Blizzard. We chatted about Molly and school before heading to Target to check their booze and Hot Wheels selections. We were successful on both fronts and as we got back to the car, Ann called saying her meeting was over. We picked her up and drove downtown to the old Pump House where we had dinner at Upland Brewing Company. I want to like that place, I really do. I was disappointed the last time we went and this latest visit wasn’t the best either. Service was good but not great and I just can’t get into their brew selection. The waitress was gracious enough to bring me 4 samples but none of them jived with my pallet. Luke drove over from Greensburg to meet us there that evening. He had a “boring??? day at school then went to work at Hibbett’s. They were dead and sent him home after only a couple hours, so he looked us up and came on over. I finally had the waitress bring me a Patio Cat, which I forced myself to drink. Just in case you care, I figured out that I do not like guava. Abby had the sour ale called Extension while Ann had a hard cherry lime seltzer called Naked Barrel. The food was pretty good – we had the Upland Nachos with guac and spicy chicken that was quite tasty. I wound up getting a spicy bison burger that wasn’t very spicy and very dry. Luke’s bison was equally dry but tasty. Abby got the spicy chicken, which she liked. I thought it had a weird wang aftertaste. Now, Ann’s Carbonara Pasta was quite tasty. She was gracious enough to let us all taste it, as it smelled amazing. It was equally appetizing – yum! We said our goodbyes and came on home. Once we finally settled down, I put on a show and maybe made it to the second commercial break before snoring on the couch. I went on to bed and let Ann deal with the dogs that night….
Delilah was barking at 5 am on Friday morning, so I went ahead and just got up and started working on the blog for a about an hour before finally getting ready for the day. Instead of turning on the TV and putting on the Classic Rock Music Choice channel, I put on a new (to me) record from a band called Airbourne. It woke me up nicely with their brand of hard rock that reminds me a little bit of a cross between AC/DC and Rose Tattoo. We did our regular thing where we go through Dunkin to get wakeup stuff and then drop her off at home and I go to Walmart for weekly supplies. Afterward, I went to the eye doctor (Welage & Kolkmeier). It was a good checkup and Dr. K said my eyes are healthy despite the diabetes. My dilated eyes were a trip and for several hours, I had a lot of trouble seeing. After running a couple errands, I came home to work from the big desk in our family room. When Ann was done working, we went to BWR for a quick lunch and to see Kristen. It was too bright in the store that I actually wore sunglasses inside! When we got done, Ann took a nap while I went back to work. I stopped after a little over a half day, ran updates on my laptop and called it a day. I loaded up Betty White and went to Mom & Sandy’s house to mow. We chatted briefly but I was tired, so I came back and mowed at our house then came in and promptly fell asleep for a couple hours on the couch with Annie. I had planned to go play a couple rounds of frisbee golf, but I guess my body had other ideas – LOL. Abby texted us that afternoon and informed us that she had won Greek Woman of the Year! It is Greek Week at FC – some of my best memories of campus life was during this week each year. She said her Pi Phi sorority also won the Greek Week festivities, which is also very cool. We can’t wait to see the pictures! This comes at a great time for her, since she lost her Molly to start off the week – something that seems like it was a month ago already… Luke had a fast day at school then went to work at Hibbett’s until close. Afterward, he spent a couple hours with Ms. Sarah before coming home and eating all my leftovers, including a few wings with new flavors – one was a spicy ranch and one with a hot Old Bay season. Both were really good and Luke agreed. Ann made cheesy Fireworks popcorn for dinner and we watched several of our favorite DVR’d shows and chilled with the dogs on a quiet night. Here are some pictures of recent additions to my Hot Wheels collection.
Lola was barking at a cat on Saturday morning, having a fit; so I got up and let her out and just stayed up with the pooches. I did a few chores around the house and began writing out this week’s blog html code for all the pictures. Ann & Luke got up at about the same time. Luke had Alex over and they loaded up the truck and went to go work with Coach Harris. Meanwhile, Ann and I went to St. Paul to get goodies for the first time in a month from Wild Flour Bakery. We stopped by to see Mom O for a while and to deliver pastries to her and Gigi, who was working at the station. We stayed and visited for a while before coming home to nap. We both slept on and off for a few hours while we “watched??? the weekly SVU marathon on Ion TV. Luke picked up Gigi’s car and went shopping with Brayden to get clothes for that night. He did his Prom Dinner with Sarah that night with Brayden & Maggie because there is a track meet next Friday so they wouldn’t be able to do it then. They were supposed to go to Top Golf but that fell apart. Instead, they saved their money and went to a fancy dinner at St. Elmo’s! Ann & I ran to the store and then that evening we had burgers on the grill along with pasta salad and cheesy broccoli. While Ann read, I watched a fascinating documentary on HBO called Exterminate All the Brutes. It is an interesting look at ourselves, colonialism around the globe and throughout history, the forgotten story of the US and the native population and the systemic racism that is the result of that history. After another nap, I ate a little ice cream, logged some new Hot Wheels and watched the new Mortal Kombat on HBO Max.
It was Delilah’s turn to wake us up at sunrise on Sunday morning. She was in and out and in fact, Dumb and Dumber were eventually put outside when they simultaneously got into a backing competition, waking up the entire house. God, I miss Molly…not the Molly from the last couple months but the one before when she could sit with me for hours and not shit on my leg. I did the dishes and made myself a big breakfast then when the other two got up, I did the laundry as I finished up this week’s blog entry. Luke returned the Escape, chatted with the girls and then went on to work at Hibbett’s. It was the first time he and Oakley worked together since their time at Arby’s. We napped on an off on a lovely afternoon. We even opened up the windows a little. I checked fluids in the vehicles and Ann had a couple friends stop by briefly while we binge-watched the entire season of a show on Netflix called Who Killed Sara. I put on the NASCAR & Indy car races that afternoon and we continued to nap on and off. Ann made cheesy Fireworks popcorn that night for dinner and we watched a movie called Payback. It was just OK. After work, Luke ran around with his buddies that evening. We wound down the evening watching Fear the Walking Dead before calling it a night and finally putting a kibosh on this week…
Next up is our Waybac section which continues to feature 2004 pictures from Dee-Dee’s first digital camera. We lead off in April with pix from Easter Day at Mom & Sandy’s house; in June we see the fam at our house for Luke’s first birthday; July was busy – 4th fun on Main St and then out in Ryle then px from the Fair Parade, Grace’s birthday party and the Indy Blues Fest with Joe Bonamassa; August has pix of the new puppies Minnie & Charlie; in September we have Abby’s fifth birthday party; Thanksgiving Day in November and Christmas Eve with the Owens fam in December.
We wrap up with our video section which includes one new family movie from this week as well as several from around the internet.
And that does it for this week’s edition 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