After several years of dreaming, we finally achieved our goal of a white Christmas. It wasn’t too much, but just enough to make everything beautiful for us, setting the scene for the perfect holiday this week. We enjoyed seeing friends and family this week, which is what this time of year means to us – being together with the ones we love. Obviously, it would’ve been even better if Dad & Lynn and Dad & Barb had been able to come down, but that hasn’t happened in a very long time. So, we enjoy being able to see those that we can. Matt had a short week, working from home in Carmel and then coaching wrestling in Zionsville in the evening. We got to see him and Taylor for a few hours on Christmas Eve. Abby worked a short week in Greenwood, spending time with friends and then being with us for a long weekend. Luke saw Samantha every day and they did a good job of splitting time between our family and hers. Luke worked most days this week with Coach Harris, helping him with construction projects. Ann & I worked most of the week before taking off early and starting our annual year-end vacations. Despite the weather conditions and the short week, I still managed to log seven miles of walking while playing 54 holes of disc golf. We enjoyed doing all our traditional holiday stuff and had another great Christmas this week. Hello again and Merry Christmas to you from all of us here at the Scheu Family Blog.
We had a chilly start to the week on Monday morning. We had to warmup the vehicles which had a thick layer of frost on the windshields. It stayed cold all day. I noticed than when I fast, I get cold so easily. Ann thinks it may be blood pressure related. …She’s probably right. I spent the morning catching up on paperwork and answering emails. After our meeting with the leadership team, I started prepping for my year-end rounds and later, I facilitated our final fire drill of 2022. After work, I got outside and played disc golf. I must’ve really had the itch to play because it was cold as hell. Although it was only 24 degrees, there was absolutely no wind. That actually made the conditions perfect. Believe it or not, despite struggling to keep my throwing hand warm and limber, I was actually sweaty under my sweatshirt by the time I finished. I actually threw pretty good. I’ve been working on my release points recently, trying to throw more level and lower – which is difficult for me when the decades of throwing a regular frisbee. I didn’t have my best game, but it wasn’t bad considering it was below freezing out there. I got better as I went and finished three under par for the day. I cracked off a 300’ throw with my Katana on hole 5. After getting closer each day, I finally hit a birdie on 7 for only the 2nd time this year. I picked up Ann and we went to Target for a few last-minute gifts before heading home. It was really busy in there, which is why we hate to even go out at this point in the season. Ann said her day went really fast. Even though it was unintentional, Ann pretty much fasted that day with me. So, she was pretty hungry that evening. We talked with Luke & Samantha briefly then she had to go back and study for finals. Unlike last night, Luke didn’t go out to Oakley’s house that night, but rather came home to sleep in his own bed. Abby got home from work and was pretty tired. She talked to us for a little bit but then retreated to her room for the night. I culled pictures and videos from my sources for this week’s blog entry and backed everything up before going on to bed, having slept on and off for about a half hour. We started watching a new show on Disney + that is a spin-off of the National Treasure movies. Ann & I loved those movies with Nick Cage, so we were intrigued. Thankfully, the series didn’t disappoint. We only got through the first one and a half episodes, but it did not disappoint. I went on to bed to watch the football game. I might’ve seen one series before I fell asleep. I couldn’t get warm that night, so finally broke down and turned on my bedwarmer…
Tuesday was a beautiful day…but maybe the calm before the storm. There was a lovely sunrise that painted our backdrop as we headed into work that morning. Abby went back to Greenwood then stayed in Franklin to celebrate Carly’s birthday that evening. I spent the day doing rounds at work. After my last generator test of the year, Vic & Brent joined me for lunch at Riviera Maya, where I broke my fast several hours early. And man was it worth it – their Street Tacos were outstanding! After I finished with all the rounds outside, in the gym and in the front part of the house, I got outside for another 18 holes of disc golf. It was twenty degrees warmer than yesterday. There was still no breeze, so it was again perfect conditions out there on the AirPark course. My scores didn’t reflect it. I ate a little too much at lunch and didn’t feel real hot. That, compounded with some sort of sinus thing that had popped up this week, made my stamina less than desirable. By the end of the second round, I was pretty worn-out. We went to Kroger afterward to get a few things for Ann to make us Cuban sandwiches that night. Yum!! ???? By the time I took my watch off that night, I had achieved 15K steps. We watched the National Treasure episode on Disney + that we fell asleep to last night then turned on the new season of Jack Ryan on Amazon Prime. We also watched the latest episode of Young Rock. It is not a show we typically watch, but this week’s episode featured a familiar face. Zek played a young Undertaker at a Christmas party. Although he only had one line…well, one word (“No!???), he looked convincing and we got a kick out of it. Zek is dating Jazmine, who is Jackie’s (Funkhouser) daughter. ???? Luke came home from Sam’s house that night after working at Harris’ house all day. He was wound up that night, which wasn’t a good mix as I was trying to wind down. We talked for a bit before I headed on to bed. We spoke to Dad B on the way to work. He was home from the hospital. He is taking some new medicine to help is A-Fib. So far so good, so we wish him luck on his new regimen and hope he gets better soon so they can resume their best “cruise life. Ann spoke to Phyllis on the way home. It was time for their annual Christmas goodie giveaways. We again made the “Good List??? and were treated to one of Ms. Phyllis’ coffee cakes and a baggie from a big batch of Dick’s peanut brittle. Although it was good to see Michael (who played Santa this year), we both remarked how good it was in years past to see the two of them out delivering goodies themselves. They would make a day of it, visiting all their friends and family. I hope that Ann & I can find something to like that to do when we retire…
Wednesday was another fast day. We warmed up our cars and headed into work. Brent & I were surprised to find out that we had an orientation class that morning. After we finished, we grabbed a quick lunch at Wendy’s then I did the last day of my EOC rounds. I did our semi-annual Hazard Surveillance Rounds on the units. I finished a little late but Ann let me play 18 holes of golf and pick her up late. I had a good game, finishing two under par for the day. My elbow and back were a little sore so I hope that the next week’s rest will help heal them. If it is the last round of golf for the year, I went out on a good note. The old barn outside of Hartsville that got knocked down a couple months ago with the strong winds was still smoldering from where they finally burned the remains a few days ago. They also knocked down the old piece of crap house next to the post office, there in that town as well. Ann & I got gas and were pleased to have paid $2.59 a gallon! We grabbed Sonic drive through and headed over to Mom & Sandy’s house. Lowe’s finally installed their Christmas present – a new dishwasher! They were supposed to have done it last week but got their wires crossed. Shitty Ann had to straighten them out for about an hour on the phone last week before they got it all figured out. Sandy & Deanna did a good job of keeping the surprise. The three kids (Keith, Ann & Dee) were able to pull it off without her knowing! I almost blew it last week. I thought I had been covert enough about it when referring to in in the blog, but Ann had me make a late morning edit to it before Maryann could read about it! We spent some time with the two of them and waited on Keith & Rosie. However, they were delayed with traffic in Cincy, so we wound up just coming back home. We grabbed some grub and put on Jack Ryan but I instantly fell asleep on the couch. I tried to tough it out but gave in and went on to bed. We have lots of social media pictures to share this week.
Thursday was a long day. I wrote out year-end purchase orders and work orders, met with Jim and the management team one last time and then cut out for the rest of the day. I took the boys (Victor, Brent & Justin) out for lunch at Big Woods. It was good to catch up with Manning and really miss having him around every day. We ordered some pork nachos and they brought us two plates (we only ordered one). We also had some cheesy bread and a couple of their meats pizzas. After six rounds of adult beverages and three hours later, we finally called it a day. We had so much fun talking and laughing and telling stories…and busting each other’s balls – LOL. Justin brought me back to pickup the van and we said our goodbyes. I did some shopping at Walmart and then picked up Ann. We got groceries she ordered online at Kroger but they didn’t have everything, so we had to stop at Needlers when we got back to town. By the time we got everything unloaded and put away, the rain (which had been coming down all day) was starting to change over to snow. Ann already closed her office tomorrow, ahead of the big winter storm that was expected overnight. Abby had already called off work tomorrow and many of the guys opted out of poker that evening. The girls went out for dinner, Luke (who worked at Harris’ house again) went to Samantha’s house for the next couple days and I headed over to the Sunken Boat Bar to watch some football, play cards and eat some good grub…and maybe have a cocktail or two with my buddies. We enjoyed all of that and then some. I gave Bryan his Christmas gift and then he surprised me with one – a bottle of the bourbon we’ve been chasing all year – Col. EH Taylor! He also surprised me with a wad of “stripper money??? to re-stock my dwindling supply. I’m still working on the original roll that Mom O gave me a few years back, but I’ve taken a beating this year and had to steal a few bucks out of it for odds & ends through the year. I’m down the last few bills in that wad, but now I’ve got plenty to get me through the next year! Thanks, buddy!! ???? The football game was a bit of a dud, but the card games were good. I had a couple of big pots I was vying for but couldn’t land either one of them and had to buy back in. I wound up several bucks down again this week but had some awesome food. Rick made those stuffed mushrooms that were out of this world. Scott brought Wings & Rings with their delicious bleu cheese. I brought Michelle & Vic’s deer sausage & cheddar cheese that they gave me yesterday. But Bryan took the cake with his original idea of Skyline chili cheese dog casserole! Yum!! He even sent me home with a little care package of the leftovers to enjoy this weekend. It was bitter cold that night. The rain had turned to snow by the time I left and by the time I got to Bryan & Angie’s house, there was a good covering of the white stuff already. We watched it snow and blow and swirl for hours while keeping toasty in the Sunken Boat Bar. But by the time we were all headed out in the cold, it had frozen everything. It was still snowing but now everything was slick and the van was hard to open. When I did get it open and started, the door wouldn’t shut – it was stuck open! Thankfully, after letting it warm up 10/15 minutes, it was back to normal when I hopped in it to drive home. There were only a handful of people out on the road as the city had issued a code orange for travel conditions. Still, I went about 20-30 mph and did just fine. I don’t remember slipping even once, so it was actually a quiet, peaceful and serene drive home that night. Ann had to let me in the house though, as the ???smart??? lock was froze shut and couldn’t ready my finger nor let a key in the hole. She used the app to let me in before I got too cold. She went on to bed while the dogs and I stayed up. I fell asleep within just a few minutes but instead of going to bed, I finished editing pictures and before I knew it, it was after 3 am. I forced myself to go bed but only tossed and turned before finally getting comfy and falling to sleep.
We had a chance to sleep in for several hours but instead we were both up with the sun…and the dogs. Well, Lola specifically was barking. We enjoyed the Christmas tree lights and sat quietly for a while, doing our own stuff (she read while I worked on the blog). I eventually did a few things around the house and then the girls did their annual tradition of making cookies and then Chex mix. The cookies were pretty cool this year. They created something new – an Ann & Abby original, called hodge-podge cookies. They cleaned out the cooking cabinet and used whatever ingredients hadn’t expired – LOL! We tried to watch Jack Ryan again but fell asleep (I am sensing a pattern here…). I put on HBO and played a couple movies while we napped that afternoon. I got up and did the dishes, took out the trash and shoveled the walks as Mom & Sandy lost power. We invited them and Keith, Rosie & Megan (and the dogs) to come over and keep warm and even stay the night if needed. So, we started making preliminary plans on where we would sleep everyone but the power was only off for a short while and was restored an hour or two before they estimated, thankfully. Still, I was a little excited at the idea of helping out the fam in their time of need… The gals began making Chex Mix once the sun went down. They made two different batches. The first was just a regular recipe but the second one mixed in some of the Grippo’s seasoning in it. It was good, but I would’ve been happy with more of that delicious seasoning in it. We watched the first two Christmas movies of the season. They’re the same two we try to watch first each year – Dr. Seuss’ How the Grinch Stole Christmas from 1966 and A Charlie Brown Christmas from 1965. Abby made us some cocktails that evening: jalapeno margaritas, Knob Creek whiskey sours, and then when she fell asleep, a tall sipper of Crown Royal Carmel to cap off the night. We enjoyed a mellow evening, turning on Jack Ryan until we fell asleep. Later, I binge-watched all the episodes of La Brea season 2 before making myself go on to bed, in preparation of the long weekend ahead… Here are pictures of recent additions to my Hot Wheels collection.
Saturday was Christmas Eve. We enjoyed sleeping in that morning after the gals and I enjoyed some “Christmas Cheer??? last night. We slowly got up and got around to doing a few things around the house. Ann did some cooking prep and I did a couple loads of dishes. We watched a couple Christmas movies – the original Grinch and old Charlie Brown cartoons from our youth. We also watched Die Hard when before Matt & Taylor came home. We enjoyed catching up with them for a while, exchanged gifts and even had time for a game of euchre. Ann & I stomped Matt & Abby, 11-2! Abby & Matt…well Taylor… wrapped Ann’s gifts for me, which has become tradition over the last few years. Ann cooked on and off all afternoon and before we knew it, it was time to head over to Gma & Gigi’s house for the annual Owens family Christmas. We had a huge pitch-in and Sandy did Gigi’s Gourmet open. After getting our fill of comfort food, we had our Dirty Santa / While Elephant gift exchange. The theme this year was you had to bring a gift(s) that started with the same letter as your first name. Ann ended up with the tray that “I??? brought and I had the Angry Orchard and jar of almonds that Ann brought. We then moved from the dining room to the living room for the big gift exchange with Mom & Sandy. It wasn’t nearly as chaotic as it was when the kids were little but we still received many nice presents. We visited and had a little dessert before saying our goodbyes and heading back home. Matt & Taylor headed back up to Carmel while Abby, Luke & Sam came home with us. Ann handed out the annual Xmas jammies and we got a few pictures in them. We did our traditional things that evening, like reading ‘Twas the Night Before Christmas, sat our milk & cookies for Santa and then when the kids went to bed “Santa??? set out the rest of the packages and stockings. I have to tell you that not waiting to wrap until Christmas Eve is genius. Who would’ve guessed! We got plenty of sleep that night…although I’m not sure what time Ann eventually came to bed that night. I think she spent half the night sleeping in her chair. We watched a few more Christmas movies: Elf, Frosty the Snowman and A Christmas Story.
We were up a little early on Christmas Day…then rolled over and went back to sleep. Just for a second, we talked about waking up the kids…just to get a little revenge for all those years of getting us up early! Instead, we slept for another few hours until they eventually got up. The girls made us some “Irish??? coffee, mixing in some cookie dough whiskey, Kahlua or butter pecan sippin’ cream. We opened presents from youngest to oldest. I know I say this every year, but I think this was the best Christmas ever! I had a Bloody Mary and enjoyed the Christmas ambiance. We had the “Yule Log??? channel playing, so it kept us plenty warm on that cold morning. We got our things put away, the trash picked up and taken out, the dishes done (again…when is that darned dishwasher coming??) before Ann began cooking again and we all got cleaned-up to head back to over to see the fam for the big Christmas lunch. We had quite the spread again this year – ham & turkey, noodles & stuffing, corn casserole, mac & cheese, baked beans, cheesy potatoes, brussels sprouts casserole, olive dip and many other things I can’t even remember…along with a dozen different desserts – yum! After dinner, we watched football and napped. The girls were ready to go home, but Jamie & I wanted to play cards, so Abby & Ann went home to nap while Josh & I took on Jamie & Carol (Maryann’s friend). We beat them in four straight games. Then Sandy took over when Carol went home and Josh & I won 2 out of 3, end the day 6-1. Jamie brought me home afterward and I checked in some new Hot Wheels until the girls woke up and we drove back over to see Keith & Rosie before they leave tomorrow morning. We visited, watched some football, ate leftovers and then played a game of Scrabble. Keith won easily while Ann & I battled over last place. I had her beat until the final round and she went out, leaving me with a Q in my hand and she won by 9 points. We said our goodbyes, as they’ll be heading out in the morning. We took it easy the rest of the night. Luke, Sam and Abs went to bed while Ann read & I worked on the blog. I put on a couple more Christmas movies: an old one from the 40s with Judy Garland, called Meet You in St. Louis and one from a couple years back: the Minions Xmas Special. I’m not sure I can watch that again…
Next up is our Waybac segment, which features pictures from Deanna’s digital camera in 2008. We lead off this week in January where we see pictures from the Indy Children’s Museum and NYC; in March, we have pix from Texas Stadium; July had Independence Day photos as well as Gracie’s birthday; August has lots of summer vacation fun; September has a picture of the cake from Abby’s birthday party; and December has Christmas Eve pix.
Next up is our video segment which features two new home movies – one for this week and one from 2007, as well as several from around the internet.
And that does it for this week’s entry in 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 our there. We miss ya, Mama. Merry Christmas…
Later, Scheu