We enjoyed a short work week and a long holiday weekend. The big news of the week was Matt finally passing his licensing test!! I guess the third time really is the charm! He and Taylor came down for Thanksgiving and then Matt stayed the night with us. Abby had a short week at school then came home to stay with us through the weekend. It was great to spend quality time with her and Will, who she brought home with her. We enjoyed the two of them. Luke enjoyed having most of the week off as well. He did work a little at Hibbett’s but mostly enjoyed being with friends and family…and, of course, lifting weights daily. Ann only worked two days this week then did a lot of cooking and enjoyed time with friends and family. She braved the Black Friday crowds again this year, going out for about fourteen hours of shopping for deals. I worked just one more day than Ann, but it went so fast… it’s weeks like this that easily makes this my favorite time of the year. I got to spend time with friends, see family, eat a ton of food and watch a bunch of football! I totally missed my exercise goal, which was not a shock. I only logged about five miles of exercise but did get out on the frisbee golf course a couple times – including a fun round with my little Bu. When all the kids were home – even if it was just for a few hours – all was right in the world again. It just feels different when everyone is in our home. It somehow feels warmer; is that weird? I live for weeks like this and look forward to another one in the coming weeks. Hello again and welcome to the latest installation of the Scheu Family Blog.
The week started off on a chilly note. It rained so much that everything was still soaked when the cold front moved in last night. And when the temps dipped down into the 20s overnight, everything was icy when I went out to start the car. In fact, the Barneymobile’s door handles, locks and wiper blades were all stuck from the frozen rain. I was actually planning to take Black Betty, but Luke parked the Hot Rod Lincoln behind her and it was just too much trouble that morning to rearrange the vehicles. It was all good and the roads were clear, thankfully. Ann & I both enjoyed quick days at work. I did our annual physical inventory that morning after Justin & I got caught up from all his adventures in the Rocky Mountains last week. I did some finance and IT stuff in the afternoon then went walking outdoors. Although it was below my normal threshold, temperature-wise, the sun was out and kept me warm enough – despite the strong breeze out of the northwest. After I walked a 5K, I picked up Ann and headed home. When Annie and I got back to town, we went to Needlers to get food for her to cook the next few days. We went there for potatoes but wound up with a cartful of groceries. How does that happen? Luke was at home when we got there. He said he had a good day at school then worked-out at the weight room before coming home to shower. He did some laundry then went out to the YMCA to lift again. He said he hurt his knee again, trying to max-out his dead lift. He has an appointment with an orthopedic surgeon soon. Ann & I had a find-your-own dinner night and watched a couple DVR’d shows. She read and napped while I culled pictures and videos for this week’s blog entry then flipped over to watch the 2nd half of MNF with the Mannings. Here are pictures of the kids’ photo session with Ms. Farren a couple weekends ago.
It was back to work and school one final time on Tuesday morning. It was another cold start in the 20s but warmed up to about 50 degrees by the afternoon. My morning went really fast, catching up paperwork, doing my weekly rounds and generator test as well as video surveillance rounds and generally cramming the next three days’ work into the day. The boys and I went to El Nepal for lunch then I did some IT work and ordering for the end of the month. Ann wanted to leave early and although I wanted to go walking, I was even more interested in playing a round of frisbee golf, so we loaded up and left town early that afternoon. We stopped at 450 North on the way home and picked up a bottle of their Simmons Black Berry Bounty to take with us on Thanksgiving. I dropped off Ann and went to the park to play disc golf. I threw from the front tees that night, as it was pretty chilly and breezy. It was nicer earlier in the day but by the time I hit the course, the sun was setting and was mostly in the shade, making it colder than I anticipated. Still, I took my time and enjoyed some quiet with my frisbee. After a rough start on 1 & 2 (with the heavy head wind), I settled in nicely and wound up throwing a respectable 23. I came back and began editing pictures, waiting on Abby and Will to come home. The kids had finished up their classes and then once Abby got off work at her internship in Greenwood, they headed our way. The kids got everything moved in (Abby had a ton of stuff!) and we sat down to catch up for a bit. We waited for Luke to get home from working out after school. He decided he was going to do his own thing that night by going to the boys’ home-opening (and I think season opener too?) basketball game vs. North Decatur. Once he left, the four of us went to El Reparo for dinner and margaritas. We dropped off Tonya at Jerry’s garage to get an oil change and repair the antifreeze leak. After dinner, we played some euchre with Abby & I taking on Ann & Will. The first game came down to a 9-9 hand, which Abs & I pulled out to go up 1-0. We decided on a best 2-out-of-3 series and wound up with another 9-9 hand. Again, the deal fell to me and Bu & I pulled out another point to sweep the evening. Abby did a great job of fixing drinks that night, making a couple rounds of Mezcal Bucks with the bottle Matt brought us back from his Mexican vacation this summer. She made Will & Ann a couple Gin & Tonics – one with our gin and one with the gin Will brought for Ann to try. Once we got “too close to the worm??? for Abby, we switched from the mezcal to rye, so we broke out the Knob Creek for a few rounds of sours. They were both really good drinks. We wrapped up after Abby accidentally broke her beloved Jerry Loves Ginger glass, making a mess everywhere… After the game, Luke stayed the night at Grayson’s house. We got into our comfy clothes and the kids retired to Ab’s room while Ann & I sat down to watch some Oak Island…and I was asleep before the first commercial – LOL – and we decided to just go on to bed. ???? Here are pictures of my birthday party a couple weeks ago.
I had a little difficulty waking up on Wednesday morning. I pushed snooze a half dozen times before getting up to let the dogs out. I worked from home that morning, at my desk in the family room. Ann and the kids eventually got up about mid-morning and by about noon, I was done with what I wanted to get accomplished. Jerry’s son called (he sounds so much like his dad!) and said he had completed service on Bu’s car, so we picked it up and then went to the park to play a game of frisbee golf. It was Abby and Will throwing from the front tees while I threw from the back ones. That strong wind from yesterday was still prevalent and make the front four holes a challenge. We eventually learned how to navigate the wind and settled in for a fun round. We ended with me logging a 27, Abs tallying a 31 in 2nd place and Will bringing up the rear with a 41. We dropped off Will & Tonya at home and Abby went with me out to Walmart. With it being closed tomorrow for Turkey Day, it was a madhouse out there. Actually, inside the crowd was somewhat civil…but outside, the drivers were stupid and the roads out in that area were packed and lines backed-up. We navigated it all by just taking our time and being patient. When we got back to the house, Luke was home from Gray’s house and out front with Will – working on his car’s stereo system. Ann was cooking – she made chicken corn chowder! It was delicious!! She also started prepping for tomorrow’s meals as well. The house smelled amazing…between all the cooking, cleaning and that wonderful laundry detergent of hers – I love this time of year. ???? We got the big news of the year that afternoon…Matt passed his SAFE NMLS licensing test!! Now Christmas won’t be awkward since Cathy won’t have to fire him! LOL!! Afterward, Ann & I fixed our fantasy football teams and then I charged the truck’s battery and took it to get a tire filled up that was starting to go flat. Luke & Will went to the Y afterward to work out for a couple hours. Then Luke went to the girls’ basketball game while everyone else went to Mom & Sandy’s house to welcome home Keith & Rosie (and Megan). I stayed behind and took a nap. It was nice. When they got home, we put A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving on the big screen and enjoyed some nostalgia. Afterward, we decided to play some more euchre. Ann & Will (or should we call him Won’t at this point…because he just won’t win a game of euchre in the Scheu abode! LOL) were looking for some revenge against Abs and I. However, it was not to be. In a repeat of last night, we played two games and both went to 9-9…and both were won by Abby and I! ???? We decided to mix it up a little and played a game of Yahtzee. Abby was on fire, rolling a pair of yahtzees and winning easily. Ann got 2nd…followed by me and poor Will brought up the rear again… Yep; his name is gonna be Won’t from now on this weekend! LOL ???? We were up late that night and had to force ourselves to go to bed. I texted Robby that night (well, morning I guess), reminiscing about the last two years when were lucky to have him and Sharon with us. I was really missing them that night. At 2 am, it was still 50 degrees out – what a great night/morning to be outside with a fire… man, I wish they could’ve been with us one more year… Hopefully, they’ll be able to make it back up with us next year! Here are pictures of Abby’s Florida getaway last weekend.
Thanksgiving Day came way too early on Thursday. After going to bed at 4 am, Lola was up at 7, ready to go out. I stayed up and finished editing pictures and then renamed them all. It was weird because Ann would normally get up early and go out shopping with Gigi then go back to their house to get samples of Mom’s dressing. However, all the local stores announced that they would be closed – Walmart, Target, Rural King, etc. That’s great for the workers, but I wish they could’ve been open for a couple hours that morning. Still, it was sort of a throwback to how things used to be when we were kids. You had to plan ahead and if you didn’t have it, you weren’t going to have it… After a couple hours, Ann & I got ready and woke up Abs & Will. Bu made us mimosas and we watched the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade. Ann finished making her food for lunch – green bean casserole, brussels sprouts casserole and two big trays of rolls. Matt & Taylor got home in time to have a cocktail with us and we woke up Luke. Abs made me a Bloody Mary with my new mix from my birthday that was really good. Shortly before noon, we loaded up the vehicles and headed over to Mom & Sandy’s house for our traditional Thanksgiving Day lunch. There was a packed house that day, which was great to see – especially after last year’s COVID ordeal. Joining Mom, Sandy & Pixie were Keith, Rosie & Megan, Deanna & Jamie, Grace & her new friend Shay, “Grandpa??? Joe, Jamie’s mom Cindy, Amy, Baili & Trent and then Ann & I, Matt & Taylor, Abby & Will and Luke. As for the spread, there was everything – turkey, ham, noodles, “tadies,??? gravy, corn casserole, baked beans, dressing, candied yams, deviled eggs, buffalo chicken dip, roasted red pepper dip, as well as Ann’s goodies. …And then there was the dessert table: pecan pie, pumpkin pie, pumpkin loaf, cupcakes, iced sugar cookies, chocolate chip cookies, dirt pudding and peanut butter fudge. We brought three bottles of wine (Simmons blackberry, Mallow Run rhubarb and Sonoma Cutrer – Ann’s fave) and Keith & Rosie brought a couple as well, so we had a good time. OMG: I was so full…ugh… I took a fat nap while watching the Lions / Bears game and completely missed half time and the entire 3rd quarter. I woke up when Ann announced that it was time for Gigi’s BINGO. We played several games, but because the girls weren’t able to go shopping for prizes this morning, we had scratch-off lottery tickets! ???? Afterwards, we visited for a while then said our good-byes and came back home. Abby, Will and Luke napped while the rest of us watched the Cowboys game. I talked with Dad & Barb for a while and texted with Dad & Lynn as well as Rob & Sharon earlier. Ann made us her amazing Italian sandwich for us to take to Poker Night that evening. Taylor left to drive back home while Matt stayed the night with us. As the Cowboys game was ending, Matt, Will & I went out to the Bewley Bar for a great night of food, football, booze and cards…and we had plenty of all… I collected my winnings from last week’s pick ‘em NFL cards and bought-in for the boys and I. Bryan, Rick, Shawn & I had fun showing the boys different games. Will did fairly well and Matt…well, he tried – LOL. ???? He & Rick had to buy back in once. I won another $10 so I felt pretty good about the night…especially when I won large pots from each of them. We wrapped up and came back home. The girls were asleep, watching TV. So, we promptly woke them up to play some euchre. Ann declined and after talking with us for a bit, headed off to bed. Luke was already in bed himself so we had Matt & Abby face off vs. Will & I. Abs played bartender as always and did a great job of mixing us cocktails for until we forced ourselves to go to bed at about 4 am. Will & I won the best of three series when Matt bowed out. We then played a couple games of Sorry before finally calling it a night. Here are random pictures from our recent adventures.
Ann was up early on Black Friday. I got up with her to get our annual traditional pictures of her and Amy with their matching sweatshirts and headgear. I was disappointed that nothing lit up this year – LOL! They headed out on their annual adventure to brave the crowds and find treasures for the coming Christmas. I was surprised at how good I felt after just a few hours of sleep – again. I cleaned-up the house and urged others to get up and join me by cranking the stereo up really loud. Luke eventually got up and ran to get us breakfast. Wendy’s has a deal right now with $1 breakfast biscuits. Luke grabbed a big bag of ten for us. They were really good! ???? The kids eventually got up, one by one. Matt drove back up to Carmel, Luke went out driving around and Abby & I watched the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony. Once Will got up (sometime after noon), he & Luke put in more speakers in Luke’s car outside in the front yard on a frigid morning that was still below freezing when they finished-up and came back inside. I relaxed on the couch and watched the next episode of the Colts Hard Knocks. Luke went to Indy, doing some Black Friday shopping with his friends all day. Abby & Will went to Mom & Sandy’s house to visit and bring back leftovers for a late lunch / early dinner. After eating, we watched The Santa Clause then they returned to Gma & Gigi’s house to play a game of euchre. Abby & Sandy smoked Jamie & Will – in fact, they skunked them! I watched a couple episodes of Family Guy and started the new season of Star Trek on Paramount +. Abs & Will wanted to play some games, especially once Ann & Amy got back about 10 – fairly early for them! So, we moved out to the kitchen and had a few gin & tonics with our beers and played a best-of-three tourney. It was Abby & I vs. Ann & Will again. This time, the tables turned and the bad guys won the first and third to take the evening’s title. We have lots of social media pictures to share this week.
OMG…something happened Saturday morning that hasn’t happened in months – Ann & I both slept in past 9 am! I honestly can’t remember the last time that occurred. In fact, Luke & Will were up way before us that morning. They got up and helped Mr. Green load a piece of equipment into the back of his pickup truck. The boys went back to bed and Abby took the dogs out and then back to her room, which allowed us to sleep in (thx Bu!). Ann & I got out of bed and cleaned-up the house. It was so bright in the house…not used to seeing that when we get up! Afterwards, I carried in all the Christmas bins and the tree. After fluffing the tree, Abs & I put on the lights. I was glad to see that we were able to get a 3rd season out of these new LED lights. Even though they were significantly more expensive, they’ve been good. I would say if we can get one more year out of them, they’ll have paid for themselves. We usually go through one or two strands each year. We have 200’ of lights on the tree as well as 6 strands of red beads, snowflake icicles that help take up any gaps and then hundreds of ornaments. Luke fell back asleep and got up late for work. He worked all morning, missing the Xmas tree work. Abs made me a Bloody Mary and everyone else had Screwdrivers to help get us in the mood for the work ahead. It was Abby’s turn to put up the coveted ugly orange bulb – again the first ornament on the tree this year. We have a couple new ornaments this year and enjoyed putting up all our old favorites. We have probably four times what put on the tree, in terms of number of decorations. There is a whole tub of ornaments for the boys and one for Abby that we didn’t even bother getting out of the garage. Well, actually, we did get Bu’s box out and set it to the side for her to take back to school and decorate a tree in their room. Ann also decorated the TV stand and mantel but did not get to the front porch. She has some new holiday decorations for the house this year. Ann ordered Pizza King for lunch which paired nicely with the gin & tonics that Abby & Will made us. We listened to Christmas music and put on the Ohio St / Michigan game as we did the tree. The Wolverines scored the upset then we watched Purdue / IU game. Well actually the kids and Ann took naps while Luke came home and watched the first quarter with me. He eventually took a shower and went to nap himself. It was the 123rd game for these two schools – which predates even the Big Ten conference! It was the 96th Old Oaken Bucket game. You might remember that COVID cancelled this game twice last year, so it stayed in Bloomington the last two years after the Boilers lost in double OT in 2019. This year, it was never close as the Bucket returned to West Lafayette. After the game, Molie came over to visit with Abs and us that evening. We played another best of three euchre games. It went down to the rubber match where Ann & Will were finally able to pull out the Thanksgiving tourney, 9 games to 8 for bragging rights this year. We did a few shots like Liquid Cocaine, Matt’s scorpion mezcal, Ancho Reyes, Crown Royal Salted Carmel as well as a few mixed drinks and even some beers. It was another late night and a great way to wrap up a fun weekend. Here are a few pictures of recent additions to my Hot Wheels collection.
I was up early on Sunday morning. I was really congested and my gut felt like a hand grenade went off in there. I couldn’t get my c-pap to work due to my sinuses being clogged which made it impossible to breathe, so I just got up and started my day. I did the dishes and trash, folded the towels in the laundry and put away the rest of the Xmas bins. It looked pretty in the living room with the tree lit and equally nice out in the family room with the fireplace mantle all lit up also. Once Ann got up, I did the laundry while she cooked breakfast. She made biscuits and gravy and eggs. Just as we were eating, Abby had Megan & Peyton over to join us at the kitchen table. Luke came back from Ethan’s house (where he spent the night), made himself breakfast and promptly went to bed. I wrote out the blog while flipping between RedZone and the Colts game (who took on the reigning champion Bucs). Ann said Jamie was at the game – it promised to be a good one…and did not disappoint. For whatever reason, the Colts got away from running the ball and found themselves in a tight ball game. It went right down to the last play and the ball was intercepted right at the goal line as time expired. Luke went to the YMCA to work out that afternoon while Abby & Will returned to campus after the Colts game ended. It was great to spend the long holiday weekend with her and to see all the kids. Ann & I took it easy that evening, watching some football and DVR’d shows. Ann made us cheesy Fireworks popcorn for dinner as we wound down the weekend with the dogs in an eerily quiet house again. It was a relaxing way to wrap up the week before we have to get up tomorrow and return to reality…
Next up is our Waybac segment which continues to feature pictures from Deanna’s collection from her digital camera in 2006. We lead off this week in March where we find more pictures with Abby & Grace in Chicago; in May we see our Memorial Day get-together at our house; July has the Decatur Co. Fair, Gracie’s birthday party and the Tree City Car Show downtown; August has Larry wrestling with a hog in a residential neighborhood; September has Abby’s birthday party; we have Thanxmas Day pictures from November at Mom & Sandy’s house; and in December we have pictures from Christmas Eve and Spa Day for the girls.
And as always, we wrap up with our video segment which features one new home movie this week as well as several from around the internet.
And that does it for this week’s blog entry. 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. From our fam to yours, Happy Thanksgiving. We miss ya, Mom.
Later, Scheu