We’ve had another good week, here at the Scheu abode. The weather started off brutal with temps soaring into the 90s with heavy humidity – typical July weather for our area. As the weekend rolled around, a couple rounds of nasty storms rolled through and left us with things more tolerable outside. Matt returned to work this week and resumed studying for his big exam next week. He finally got some relief for his nerve pain, following a productive doctor appointment. Now he can focus on recovering from his two surgeries last month. Abby worked at WTRE this week again then went to Franklin that back half of the week to work on sorority recruitment with her sisters. It was Luke’s last full week of summer break already – man, how this summer has flown! He worked his butt off this week to pickup any extra shifts he could to pay for his car repair. What a valuable lesson he has learned about the value of work, money and the satisfaction of earning something these last two weeks. Outside of work, he had football practice as they lead up to their first game very soon. In fact, the Blue / White scrimmage game is right around the corner! He visited the YMCA daily as well, as he continued to build his strength and conditioning. Ann took the week off from her elliptical but did enjoy spending time with her friends and her favorite hobby. As for me, my BG scores and weight were both the lowest they’ve been since 2019 (damn you, COVID!). I played fifty-four holes of frisbee golf that culminated with me tying my PB this weekend. All told, I finished with twenty-two miles of exercise – again, the highest amount in over two years…despite the heat & humidity. It’s hard to believe the summer is ending already. I’m not sure I’m ready for it to end – if I’m being honest. This coming school year is going to be something special…and then Ann and I won’t have any more babies at home… Hello again and welcome back to the Scheu Family Blog.
It was noticeably warmer on our way back to work in Columbus on Monday morning. We were in the midst of a heatwave. Including yesterday, we were looking at 6-day stretch of temps in the mid-nineties in the forecast. It was a short one for Ann. Abs picked her up from work around noon and met up with Gigi, Gma, Jamie & Grace to head to Shelbyville and the casino to celebrate Gigi’s birthday. It was old hat for the elder ladies but the younger two were newbies and they loved it. Although no one was a big winner, it sounded like they all had fun! My day flew by as I caught up on things after being gone from the office since Thursday. After a great lunch at McAlister’s (thanks Justin!), I began my monthly rounds. It seems like it was just a couple weeks ago that I had done June’s but after double-checking the calendar – sure enough…it was the end of July already! What a fast month!! Matt continued to have aches and pains as he continued to recover from two surgeries. He got his drain out, which should eventually give him some comfort…but not today. Things were swollen and ouchy down there. Luke had football practice that evening and went to the Y for a late workout. It was max day for the team and Luke was pleased with his bench max of 275 (wow!) but marveled at Oakley getting 300!! Way to go, Oak! He had a 4.8 in the 40, just two one-hundredths off his old man’s speed at the same age. That’s even more impressive when you factor in that he is MUCH stronger and fifty pounds heavier than I was at that time. When they got back to town, they ordered Pizza King pies for dinner. I walked a 5K after work and then played a round of frisbee golf when I got back to town. I was pleased with my 2-under-par 25. There was just a slight breeze, so it pretty much went where you put it. The girls met me at home with a doggy bag of pizza since I was a sweaty mess. I got cleaned up, cooled off and watched the Olympics all night. When Annie went to bed that night, Abs and I watched the newest Rick & Morty, but it was too late and I couldn’t stay awake. Guess we’ll have to watch it again soon… Here are pictures of Luke’s photo shoot on the 4th of July with Farren.
Ann & I ran through Dunkin on our way to work on Tuesday. I dropped her off at her downtown office and then drove over to Columbus for a fast day of work. Justin & I had an orientation class that morning then went for a quick lunch at Kroger’s with Vic & JC. We all had Chinese and ate in their little diner area. When we got back, I did my monthly generator test and resumed my EOC rounds on a hot afternoon, working outside for a couple hours. I worked on month-end purchasing and got all our paperwork up to Valle before heading back outdoors to walk three miles around the airport property. As I came back through town, I stopped at the park to play another quick round of frisbee golf. Unbeknownst to me, Ann & Gigi were stopped on the road, watching me warm up and gave me crap about it. I was just warming up, throwing my putting disc from different distances on the warm-up hole and they thought I was just having a really bad hole – lol! I wound up throwing a one-under-par 26, which I was OK with…though it could’ve been much better. I had three go off the chain and bounce out. Meanwhile, Luke worked at Hibbett’s the first part of the day then went on to football practice. They maxed out again. One of the things he did was get 500 on squat max and then ran a very fast 10-yard dash – faster than his buddies that play at runningback! He was pretty spent by the time he got home that night and was complaining of cramps most of the evening. Abby worked at WTRE then came to Columbus with Mary where she had a doctor appointment and then went to Best Buy to have them look at her laptop with their Geek Squad. However, they turned the girls away – saying they needed an appointment. I thought you just walked in, but I guess maybe there are down on staff like everyone else. Her laptop’s screen suddenly stopped working. After I did all that work on it Sunday night, it did great for her all Monday until that evening when it went to sleep and never woke back up. I was able to connect it to the desk PC’s monitor via HDMI and do some troubleshooting last night. About the only thing I didn’t try was a restore point. She has an appointment tomorrow afternoon. I finished up my bean soup and ham, which was somehow even better than it was the first time. We watched the Olympics again all evening, changing channels between the five channels that we found, including the women’s Team USA soccer team, which tied 0-0 and moved on to the Knockout round. Here are pictures from Grace’s birthday party at the St. Paul Tavern a couple weekends ago.
Wednesday was a hot one. It started warm, but we were still able to keep the windows cracked on our way into work. There was no chance of that happening on our way home though! Ann and I both had fast days at work – very busy…but at least it was fast. I installed a dual monitor setup on a workstation first thing that morning that got me hot and sweaty before I even ate my breakfast! I did some paperwork and attended a couple meetings that morning before the guys and I went out for lunch at Chicago’s. When we returned that afternoon, I resumed my EOC rounds and spent the rest of the day on the units. When I got out of work, I walked a 5K on a sweaty afternoon. After Ann & I returned to the ‘Burg, I dropped her off and went to the park to play a round of frisbee golf. I did really well again, throwing a 25 and very nearly hitting a couple others that would’ve given me a PB of 23. Meanwhile, Luke worked at Hibbett’s that day and I didn’t see him at all that day. He lifted at the Y and wound up spending the night at Oakley’s house. Abby worked at WTRE then ran her laptop back over to Best Buy. They wound up sending her PC out to be fixed. Hopefully, she will have it back just before she leaves for college. She went on up to Franklin afterward to spend the night with Bri as they prepare to do some sorority stuff the next couple days at school. Matt went to see the doctor again that day. He had his numb and aching leg looked at. They thought it was due to a tourniquet that was applied during his last surgery. They gave him some meds to take for a few weeks and see if it helps his nerve. Ann made us tuna salad for dinner and we watched more Olympics coverage as well as an old movie called Jacob’s Ladder, which had a cool idea and really interesting. Here are random pictures from our recent adventures.
We could tell it was hotter than it had been all week on Thursday morning. Our windows were actually fogged up – both in the house and in old Black Betty. It was so muggy all day – just miserable. There was an air quality warning that day and I had my folks to avoid any outdoor projects that day. When I got into work, I pretty much hit the floor running again that day. About mid-morning, I ran our monthly fire drill just like I had done a hundred times before…except, I was running late from another meeting and after I gave out assignments, Justin initiated the designated pull station and off we went…until I started getting phone calls from our monitoring company and I knew instantly – I had forgotten to go offline and now the fire department would be responding! So, while we were performing the drill, I had to let it keep going while I quickly called local dispatch to cancel the run and apologize for being an idiot. Thankfully, Allen was working over at station 2 on a piece of machinery, heard the call to disregard and took the opportunity to call and harass me! LOL. It was good to talk with him and catch up with him and the family. Afterward, Vic picked up some Taco Bell for us and I finished up my monthly EOC rounds. After I finished all the paperwork that goes with the PM rounds and writing up work orders for all the rounds, it was time to call it a day and get in some exercise. It was in the mid-nineties when I went outside to walk a 5K around the airport property. I was a sweaty mess when I finished up and picked up Annie. On our way home, we received a call from Coach Moore (Luke’s football coach). Ann is going to head up the senior parents to get things like shirts, senior banners, etc. lined up this year. After they finished talking about that stuff, he asked where Luke was…and Ann was like, is he not at practice. Coach said no and that he wasn’t answering his phone. I quickly tracked him to the house and we all knew what was going on – Luke was asleep…and that boy sleeps like his dad – he could sleep through an atomic bomb. We called his cell and the home phone a couple dozen times, tried to Facetime and Duo call him, but he was OUT. I dropped Ann off at home and she got him up and he went on in to practice late. I went on out to the park. It was still hot and humid…and when I got out to throw, a strong, warm breeze began to kick up as well. You would think it would’ve cooled things but it only made it hotter. I threw like crap, affected by both the wind as well sweat rolling down my arms and onto my hands and in my eyes. I even threw it out of bounds and into the street on my very first throw! I’ve thrown it in the pond on my initial tee shot – but never have I thrown it into the street! I should’ve known then to quit, but I tried anyhow. All told, I threw a 1-over-par 28 which was three strokes higher than yesterday. I didn’t hear from Abs at all that day, as she stayed in Franklin and worked on Pi Phi stuff with her buddies. Matt talked to Ann and said his new meds were helping with pain but not the numbness. Apparently, the new neighbors who bought Ed & Ginny’s house began moving in that day but I didn’t see them. What I did see when I got home was that the mole was still actively destroying my front lawn! Ann worked on pictures for her upcoming scrapbooking weekend and then made us cheesy Fireworks popcorn for dinner while I worked on the blog. We had just turned on the Olympics and were enjoying our popcorn when we started getting numerous notifications – texts, emails, buzzers on our phones, pop-ups on the TV – we were under a tornado warning. It lasted for about a half hour and although it got dark and there was lots of lightning, it never really got THAT windy or THAT rainy. They pulled the kids in until the storms passed and then sent them all home. We had Luke come straight home and stay in that evening since another round was headed this way. I tried to stay up and watch more Olympics coverage, but I couldn’t stay awake and went on to bed… We have lots of social media pictures to share this week.
It finally stopped raining by Friday morning. Ann and I worked in Greensburg that day. We ran through the Dunkin drive thru before I dropped Ann off at her downtown office and I came back and worked from home. About noon, I picked her up and we ran a couple errands. We grabbed a quick bite to eat back at the house while I worked another few hours before finally calling it a week. Afterward, we loaded up Black Betty with all of Ann’s stuff and drove out to Burney, where she met up with her buddies for a late-night scrapbooking get-together. I came back to town and stopped at the park to play a quick round of frisbee golf. I was off that day. I had planned to throw 18 rounds but after sucking so badly, I stopped after 9 with a horrible 29. I could understand that score if was really windy or wet or even overly hot or cold, but it was perfect out there and my putting game was just off. Luke worked at Hibbett’s that day then afterward he lifted weights at the YMCA. We made plans to go play a round of disc golf in Batesville that evening, but I came home and fell asleep and then I was just done with my day. He woke me up and we went out to get dinner. We were going to go to Steak n Shake, but their dining room wasn’t open. Instead, we just went to Taco Bell and brought it home to enjoy our meal with a movie. We browsed for a while before settling on John Wick – Chapter 3. We cranked up the home theater until the house shook. It was pretty cool. ???? While Luke showered and went on to bed, I picked up Annie from Burney and we watched some Olympics while she read and I worked on the blog and then checked in some recent Hot Wheels, falling asleep on the couch and went on to bed with a sore neck.
Lola was scratching at our door, early on Saturday morning. I got up and let the pooches out then checked in the big batch of Hot Wheels I picked up a couple weekends ago downtown with Abby. Ann eventually got up and I took her back out to Burney for day two of July’s scrapbook weekend. On my way back into town, I stopped at the park for an early morning round of frisbee golf. Right off the bat, things were better as I birdied two and from there, it just kept rolling. I wound up throwing a 24 – 5 shots lower than yesterday’s dismal effort. I came home and cleaned out the gutters. We noticed during the recent onslaught of rain, that the gutters were overflowing – sure sign that they were full of crap. Sure enough, I dug out a kitchen trash bag full of debris. I guess we forgot to clean them out last fall – oops… When I finished, I loaded up Betty White and headed over to Mom & Sandy’s house to mow and trim. I stopped and talked with her for a while. As I finished up over there, it started to rain – which was just fine with me! Next, I went over to Jamie & Dee’s house where I helped Jameson clear out a pile of branches from his backyard. It took a couple of trips in the truck, but we got them all moved out front for the city to pick-up this week. It was raining a little harder by the time we finished up there but when I got home to start mowing and trimming it slowed and eventually stopped. I was a sore, sweaty mess by the time I finished up and got in the shower. Luke was home from working at Hibbett’s all day when I came inside. Annie was ready to come home when I got out of the shower, so I buzzed out there and we loaded up Black Betty with all her supplies and headed back to town. Ann called in an order of burgers and tater tots at Koch’s and we swung by and picked it up on our way home. After eating, we all took naps then Luke went out with his buddies and wound up in Rushville with a couple of the ladies from Farren’s photoshoots. Shortly after he left, Abby finally came home from Franklin. It was a lovely day, overall. Although July ended with highs only in the 70s, the humidity was still kicking, keeping me sweaty all day. I took some Advil after dinner and settled in for another night of Olympics on the big screen. Here are pictures of some of the latest additions to my Hot Wheels collection.
We enjoyed sleeping in on a sunny Sunday morning. Thank God Abby was home so the dogs actually slept in! I’m not sure WTH we’re gonna do when Abs goes back to school! Who knows, maybe COVID will shut down the world again? The Delta variant is sweeping the state, nation and world right now…so who knows? Luke got up and went over to mow at the house he’s been taking care of this summer. Afterward, he got cleaned-up and went to work at Hibbett’s. Abby had Megan stop by for a couple hours after we learned that she had made a sudden change in her relationship status. She and Ann picked out an outfit for tomorrow’s first day of work at her intern and then we grabbed a quick bite to eat and watched the women’s Team USA soccer team take on a very good Netherlands team in a quarterfinal matchup. They were so evenly matched that it was not only tied after regulation but after two OTs. That meant PKs! The US finally pulled ahead in this segment and won 4-2 to advance to the semi-finals tomorrow morning vs. Canada. Afterward, she played some online games with Matthew as Ann made dinner and I worked on the blog. Annie made us taco bowls with riced cauliflower and some leftover chicken in the freezer – yum! Abs hopped in the shower and then packed her stuff and returned to Franklin to spend the night with her sorority sister Sara and have a shorter commute for her first day at the accounting internship (which is paid!). I continued watching the Olympics that evening while finishing up this week’s blog entry and Ann read. Luke came home from work, ate and then went out with his buddies to enjoy one last hurrah before they start gearing up for school here in a couple days. I finally took time to add the football schedule to our calendars, so it’s official – the final season is upon us…beginning with the Blue / White scrimmage next week. I’m both excited and a little sad at the same time. Annie and I enjoyed a quiet evening with the dogs, winding down the weekend with yet more Olympic games and putting a wrap on another fast week…
Next up is our Waybac segment which continues to feature 2005 pictures from Dee Dee’s digital camera. We lead off this week in April with Mom getting things ready for her dogs in her new minivan; then in June we see Luke at his second birthday party in our house; July is again the heavy hitter with over half the photos falling within the seventh month – 3rd of July swimming & fireworks, 4th of July parade, Grace’s fifth birthday, and Sandy’s umpteenth birthday ????; October has Mom & Gracie out for pizza; and December shows the annual Owens Christmas Eve get-together at Gma & Gigi’s house.
And we wrap up with our video segment, which includes one home movie this week as well as several from around the internet.
And that does it for another episode of our 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, Momma.
Later, Scheu