Ain�t No Sunshine When She�s Gone

Man�aren�t computer viruses a pain in the butt? We had a particularly nasty one. We had noticed a significant decline in our PC�s performance since Christmas break. It just got worse and worse. Obviously, McAfee never saw it coming. I ran a full system scan with McAfee, installed and ran Malwarebytes (which almost always solves any issues I�ve experienced) and even Spybot Search & Destroy. Full scans of all three of those came up completely empty handed. I searched installed programs, verified all of the running process and even my startup registry. Even Google searches came up with nothing. Well, after a few days where it got really nasty (especially over the weekend), I gave up and decided to start fresh. So, we backed everything up that we could and after a reformatting of the drive and several hours of installing the operating system and programs with all the updates, we�re back up now and faster than ever! I guess it pays to be�as Matt said�a computer nerd, eh? 😛 This is not an exaggeration; the sun did not even make a guest appearance this week�not even once. I think I have seasonal affective disorder! 🙁 I thought the title of this week�s blog entry to be even more apropos than it normally is�let me explain. I just told you the first half; how it was as overcast and rainy this week as it is in the UK. Here�s the other half� On Monday, the kids were off for MLK day and the sitter was on vacation. Matt stayed home, Bu went with Grandma and Gigi and Luke stayed with Christy & Alex. Shortly after I arrived at work, I got a text from Ann with the sad news that one of the dogs at Mom & Sandy�s house had died. Minnie Mabel Campsendell passed away at the vet�s office. She had been very sick and was diagnosed with, among other things, doggie diabetes. She had been at the vet for most of last week and her prognosis was not good. Her passing saved Grandma and Gigi from making that tough decision� We know that Gigi is very sad and it broke her heart to lose Minnie�as it did Maryann. So our condolences go out to them this week; it�s always hard to lose a pet. Ann created the perfect memory of Minnie in her latter years. She was always so sweet. She would waddle over and look at you with those sad eyes; tail wagging. She would drop on her side, roll over and lie there until you petted her belly. She wasn�t discriminatory either; she would do that to everyone who would give her an ounce of attention. 😉 She was a good dog. That night, Abby and Ann attended both of Bu�s dance classes at Dixon Dance Studio. Gigi, I present to you�Minnie through the years�

On Tuesday, Luke stayed the day with another friend, Brendan, and his mom who conveniently live next door to Christy and got us set up for childcare on short notice. Our normal sitter, Brandy, went out of town for the week (despite our needs!) for a much deserved vacation. Matt had pep band practice in the morning. That night, we no sooner got home before Matt & Ann turned right around and drove immediately over to Rushville to see his best friend, Brayton, play basketball. Brayton got decent playing time (he is huge for an 8th grader!) and scored a few points. They got back kind of late that night.
Needless to say, the next morning Matt had the Japanese illness � draggin� ass. 😉 He stayed late after wrestling practice that night to work on some extra drills with coach. I am glad to see him taking more interest in this sport. I think that with a little experience and some enthusiasm, he could have a pretty successful season. He is looking at wrestling in the 190 lb weight class to start off with�but could end up at 175 by season�s end� With the rebuild of our computer, one of the things that I was missing was our iTunes playlists to sync up our iPods. I did research for 2 days, trying to see what our options were. I tried a couple things I saw on message boards, but ultimately ended up buying a little application called TuneJack that worked like a charm. I highly recommend it if you buy a new computer or, like us, have to reinstall your OS. It is very simple to use and understand. It worked perfectly for what we need it to do (pull information from the iPod back to iTunes). That night, Lukey brought home a snowman for me and a lovely drawing of a bounty hunter from Star Wars for Grandmaw Bryan. That night we enjoyed watching American Idol with a huge batch of Ann’s popcorn!

On Thursday, Matt was all geared up to play in pep band after work. He made special arrangements with both his wrestling coach and the band director to leave a little early from practice and arrive a little late for band set up � enough time to shower and grab a snack. However, for some reason, the Connersville team had their school cancelled and therefore did not travel here for the game. Instead, he again stayed late at practice to get some extra work in with coach. My friend and former boss Dennis showed up at work that day, helping me to prepare for my next big inspection by the State of Indiana in one month. This time, they are inspecting four of our units, so there is plenty to do. Dennis came back on Friday as well. Both days absolutely flew by for me. The kids and I went out to Mancino�s for dinner as Ann went scrapbooking with Amy at Mrs. B�s for the evening. They had a little cake for her and another gal who was celebrating a birthday as well. We planned on either playing games or watching a movie to complete family day, but Abby was grounded to her room until it was cleaned, Luke was extremely tired and Matt ended up playing Xbox Live with his buddies online. I think they were playing Halo 3. I ended up getting a repair piece in the mail for our vacuum. I put it all back together and was like a kid with a new toy! I ended up vacuuming and cleaning for about 2 hours while the kids each did their own thing.

On Saturday, I tried to have service performed on my new Husqvarna blower. I was told to take it back to a store called Rural King, where it was purchased. I know, it sounds like a clich�, but there is actually store by that name in our old Kmart building. It was actually pretty nice in there. However, they all looked at me like I was crazy and told me that my mother-in-law had misunderstood; I didn�t need to bring it in unless it needed service. So when I told Maryann about it, she changed her story and said it was from a small business on the other side of town�ugh�Abby ended up going for a girls� day out with Grace, Gigi and Grandma. They went to Frisch�s Big Boy for lunch and then out to the movie theater to see The Tooth Fairy. We had a pretty lazy day around the house, playing games and watching TV. Matt & I were pleased to see the Boilers lay it to Michigan and solidify their top 20 status. Later, Ann made popcorn and we watched G-Force (a cute, if predictable, Disney movie about a band of guinea pigs trained to be spies). Matt again ended up jumping on the Xbox 360 and accessed the �Live??? function until the wee hours of the morning with his buddies.
On Sunday, we cleaned up the house and settled in to watch the Colts & Saints try to make it to the Super Bowl. Trailing at the half, the Colts came from behind to make it to their 2nd Super Bowl in four years. We then rooted on Purdue-alum Drew Brees and his Saints to a close victory over Brett Favre. In a stark contrast from last week’s games that were all all blowouts, these two games were very close…with the late game going in to overtime. That sets up a great game in Miami in two weeks; but I have to give the nod to the Colts.
Let�s take a look now at some Waybac pictures. First up, we have Grandmaw Brown from the late thirties/early forties with, I think, Great grandma Morgan. That is followed by two of Grandma Owens from the early forties. Also in this batch is an old picture of Grandpaw Brown, early on in his policeman career in the fifties.

The next batch starts with Mom from May of �64 in the driveway of her home in Lafayette. The next one was at Aunt Norma�s house on Christmas, 1965 and features Uncle Keith Morgan, Uncle Ralph Spoor, Great grandpa Morgan and Grandpaw Brown. That is followed by a picture from July of 1966 with Aunt Norma, Lola Larson (Mom, who is she?), Uncle Ralph Spoor and Great grandma & Great grandpa Morgan. The next one is from August 1969 in St. Germaine, WI. It is Grandmaw Brown w/ a muskie. The final one in this era is one from Father�s Day, 1969; @ Uncle Keith�s house with Grandpaw Brown, Karen and Uncle Keith�s kids.

This batch starts of with a cute picture of Keith in his class picture, circa 1972. The next one has all three of the Owens kiddos. This is from approximately 1974 and was taken at their first home, near the high school. This next picture is at Lou Atha�s on 5.23.1976 and has Grandmaw Brown, Aunt Norma & Cathy Spoor. Here�s another one from the first Owen home and has Ann with Dee Dee and their cousins in �76. Near that same time frame is the next one of Ann in her school picture (1st grade?). The next two are from about 1977 and has Ann in her dance class picture and then in her school yearbook picture. Then, from the following year is Ann at her Main St. home in her dance outfit. Wrapping it up we have Dee in her school class picture in 1979-ish.

Next, we have a bunch from the eighties. All from 1980: Dad B. in our garage out in Temple City, building Rob�s playpen with his Godfather (Mom, is his name Larry?). On our first visit back to Lafayette in April; we are out in front of Lou Atha�s home. Pictured are Lou, Robby, Mom & Grandmaw Brown. From that same visit, me with Schnapps in Grandmaw & Grandpaw�s backyard. Also in their backyard; here�s Grandmaw & Grandpaw in May. We had just moved back to Indiana, when this next one was taken of Katie in the backyard of our Kenwood home in LaPorte�notice the Galaxie! From September, here�s Dan showing off his super strength with the mayonnaise jar in his kitchen on S. Waugh St. And finally, there�s Rob on his 1st birthday. He made an absolute mess only moments after this was taken!

Then a couple years later in our Rockwood home, we have Rob & our newest edition, Peanuts, in the summer of �83. The next two feature Rob & Dad in a game they used to play quite a bit � Incredible Hulk. Rob or Dad would shred their shirt (I�m sure Mom appreciated that!) and would usually end up on the floor, wrestling. From 1985, in our backyard is Grandmaw & Grandpaw with me after my Confirmation. Later that same year is Rob (with Cabbage Patch Kid�isn�t that sweet? 😛 ). I think we may be in Disney. Here�s Ann, Dee & Maryann in California. Also from �86, we have Rob with the old Delta 88 out in front of our Rockwood St. home. Circa 1987, here are Grandma & Grandpa Townsend. Next is Robby on vacation in Wisconsin, approximately 1987. He looks happy to be holding the fish. 😉 Here�s Sandy in about 1988, out in Pasadena, visiting Keith. From LaPorte, we have Rob making fun of a sleeping giant in 1988. And finally, Dee at home in her blue sweater in �89.

We end in the nineties. First up we have a couple from Keith�s wedding in �92: first with Mom and then with Rosie, cutting the cake. Next a couple of Matt in �96: first with me at naptime in Mom & Dad�s front Rossville home, in the basement. That was our favorite hangout spot. Then, also in that some house, with Papaw Bryan. Love those smiles, boys!! 🙂 We end this entry with a cropped picture of Mom, Dad and myself. We are out to eat in May of 1998 with Rob and most of the crew from Three Springs in Alabama.

Well that�s all for this week�s installment. Thanks for keeping up with the Scheus this time out and we�ll catch up with you next time. Until then, have a good one.
Later, Scheu