With All the Fun to Have, to Live the Dreams we Always Had

We have enjoyed a slower-paced this week, as we gradually get our bodies used to this time change again. Actually, my body feels right with us operating at this time zone change. During the months when we ‘spring ahead,’ I struggle to get up on time and always stay up later than I mean to. I think I got my best sleep of the year this week. My focus has been on health this week. I renewed my resolution to try and get to 200 lbs by year end. Although I may not actually reach that goal, I have paid closer attention to my diet and exercise. It has showed, as I lost 8 pounds this week! As we continue to pass around funky viruses, I finally gave it up and took a Z-pack to clear up what I assumed was yet another sinus infection. …proving once again that sinus surgery is only a temporary solution…That night, I received a great email from the Them Crooked Vultures mailing list. Although this new band (consisting of John Paul Jones of Led Zeppelin, Dave Grohl of Nirvana and Foo Fighters & Josh Homme from Kyuss and Queens of the Stone Age) is releasing their debut album next week, they pre-released a streaming version of it on YouTube. This is quickly becoming one of my favorite releases of this year. I don’t know how much longer it will remain after the LP is released, but here it is for now:

Abby and Ann enjoyed picking out costumes for both tap and jazz performances, as both teams are in competition classes. Matt continued with preseason practice and conditioning, still recovering from his shoulder strain a month ago. He finished with his rehab exercises, but still has occasional pain. We talked with the coach, regarding rehabbing the shoulder and he is confident Matt will be up to full strength by the time the season starts. That night, Ann and Amy participated in a scrap booking class. In true Scheumann fashion, Abby worked on her visual presentation the night before it was due. Ann, always the good sport, was randy for the task and the two of them knocked it out like old pros in about 15 minutes. Her presentation was on the inventor, Robert Goddard. She dressed like him, made a rocket model, memorized a speech and had a timeline display as well. Her teacher took pictures for us during her presentation. We had corporate in-house for a visit on Wednesday. We had an excellent inspection but I had to stay late and didn’t get home ‘til late. It sucked, as I had gone in early to prepare as well; resulting in me driving in the dark both ways…what a day.

On Thursday, Abby had Family Fun Night at the elementary school. This year, instead of doing an in-class project, her grade presented their projects as a sort of wax museum! The students all had stickers with a red circle that read PUSH HERE. Whenever a parent / visitor would press the “button,??? the student would begin their presentation. It was all pretty cute. Abby did a pretty good job, although (like he classmates) had to refer to her notes frequently. After about 20 minutes of touring the “wax museum,??? we headed down to the cafeteria. The fourth graders treated us to choral versions rock & roll numbers by Elvis, Manfred Mann and Danny & The Juniors. Here is a video from that night that Matt took for us…he’s getting better each time:

On Friday, Ann attended a parent-teacher conference with Bu’s high-ability instructor. She said it was very insightful as the teacher gave us great information to help motivate her. She received such a glowing review that I treated her to Dairy Queen than night. Everyone was so tired that night that we all fell asleep on the couches early! On Saturday, we were up early and began working on cleaning up around the house. The kids went with me as we got the oil changed in the van, washed the car and ran a few other errands around town. They also helped me to winterize the mower and trimmer. We then worked on clearing out the garage for the winter. That took us the rest of the day, until sunset. It looks great out there, with lots of room to move around now. Abby went over to Megan’s house for most of the evening, coming home late. Luke had Alex over to spend the night. They were funny and in to everything! 😛 They ended up building a big fort and slept inside it in the play room. They had no sooner built their fort, when they promptly fell right to asleep! So, with Bu gone and Luke out, we decided to have a game of Scrabble. Ann won again tonight (2 in a row for her), squeaking out a 5 point victory of me. Matt made the newspaper, being recognized for making the Jr. High Honor Roll!

On Sunday, we woke up to find ourselves TP’ed, soaped and post-it noted! 🙂 So, we got a ladder out and cleaned it all up nice. When Christi came by to pick up Alex, she noted the handwriting and knew it was her oldest daughter! Low and behold, less than an hour later, we had ourselves a little window washer! She did a great job, too! 🙂 We celebrated Mom O’s birthday (she swears its 61 again) by having her and Gigi over for lunch. Ann baked a cake and served spaghetti and three-layer salad. Dee, Grace & Jamie also came over for the event. It was supposed to be a surprise party, but MaryAnn was her normal stinker self and called Abby to fish and snoop to figure out was happening. Not knowing it was supposed to be a surprise, Abby blabbed to her. But we still surprised her by all chipping in to buy her what she’s wanted for a few years now…a hand-held scanner. It is a nice one, too; just like the professionals use! 😉 Ann’s cake was really good and Grandma seemed to genuinely enjoy her time here today. Thanks again goes to Matt for video taping!

Next, we’ll go to the Waybac section of this week’s entry. First up, we have a trio of old pictures from the sixties. The first one is dateless, but is Grandpaw Brown as a Sergeant on the Lafayette force. The second one is Grandpaw & Grandmaw form May of ’61. Mom, was this perhaps a summer vacation-type home? The final one is Grandmaw in her kitchen in May of ‘64, grooving to some swinging sounds…and the final one is another of Steve & Brenda’s wedding in ’68. If you look closely in the background, you’ll find Grandpa Scheu!

The following two are from California, I presume, in the seventies. The first one is the one I need help with on a date. It appears to be Virden & Belinda’s wedding picture with the first Grandma Bryan. The second one is Dad B in the Daily Signal newspaper from 10/19/79. A truck had backed over a fire hydrant in Bell Gardens at the Super A Foods where he was working. Mom has drawn a picture to which figure is him.

Next, we have three from the mid-eighties. The first one is the fall of ’83, so I presume it must be the end of October, since Rob is riding his new Kawasaki Big Wheel. The next one is a couple months later in the winter of ’83. Rob is again in our Rockwood living room, this time sporting a sheriff sticker on his back. The final one is Dad B from the spring of ’85 in what appears to be a hotel room…I’m sure there’s a story here…

The final trio this go ‘round is from the end of ’96. The first is from the dining room of our town house in Columbus. With cake, Ann & Mom O, it must be in celebration of our inaugural wedding anniversary on 9/8/96, a couple weeks early. The second is another one from the Brown family reunion / fish fry at Aunt Marylou & Uncle Kenny’s house on 9/15/96. The final one is from about Thanksgiving at what would become our home’s kitchen, but obviously still decorated in MaryAnn’s style. Matt is approximately 8 months in this picture.

And that wraps up another installment of the Scheu Family Blog. As always, thanks for reading and we’ll catch you up next time. Until then, have a good one.
Later, Scheu