It�s My Birthday Too, Yeah!

I�ve been a good boy this week, getting out early each morning and exercising. The temps have stayed up in the high 80�s / low-mid 90�s as the first official week of summer flexed its muscle. We only had storms early in the week, thankfully, so the temperature of the pool soared to near 90�. I will be so glad to have this month over; it has been a rough one at work in June. On Monday, Matt had football practice early in the morning. Ann texted me at work to say that George had won his court case, which had gone to jury. It stormed pretty hard for a couple hours around lunchtime. After work, it was back to the ball diamonds again. It was so hot & humid out there! Abby had the early game. Her team played very well against a superior team. We eventually got a full team on the field by the 2nd inning and built up a small lead, although it was close the entire time. Abby was officially 0-0 with three walks and two runs scored. She played shortstop the entire game and did much better. She needs more experience and has the potential to be very good. She actually went after a fly ball this game! Although it popped out of her mitt, the good news is that she actually went after it�progress! She had a couple errors from roughly 15 chances. She had at least 4 assists and had a better idea, overall, of what her role was as the shortstop. In the end, the gals lost in the bottom of the last inning after 4 straight walks. ??? Luke was up next on the diamond right next door to Abby�s game. Luke�s team faired equally well through the game, as the bats really woke up. The boys� hitting has continued to improve in the last part of the regular season but defensively they struggled badly. Luke borrowed a teammate�s bat for this game and went 3-3 with 2 doubles and three hits to the grass. We knew that his bat was dead, but was impressed with the sound of the Easton when the ball comes off that bat. It just sounds clean. Luke was obviously very excited!! He played in left field and pitcher. He actually went after balls � he too starting to understand his role on the defensive side of the ball. The boys easily won the game and wrapped up 5th place in the league of eight.

On Tuesday, it was a long day. Not only was it hot and muggy, but at work we received our shipment of replacement resident room furniture. Nothing like unloading a full-size semi first thing in the morning! We then got to build and install bunk beds just for good measure. Woo! Hoo! That night we went swimming for a couple hours, came in for popcorn and fell asleep on the couch� ;-P Abby took some great pictures of the dogs sporting their new �dos!

On Wednesday, we enjoyed another evening off. I flopped on the couch and finished up last week�s blog as Ann & I watched the series finale to Saving Grace. I accidentally discovered this little gem at the end of its first season and was instantly hooked. It has not only great acting and good, fun plots; but it also has an intriguing, deeper theme that ties them all together that sometimes means you have to watch it a couple times to pick up on everything. There are still a few that I need to catch in syndication. The show�s producers (Fox, of all people on the TNT network) cancelled the show due to greed, which is a crying shame. Perhaps there will be a movie like the X Files, another show cancelled during its prime by Fox. By Thursday, the humidity had finally begun to disappear. In fact, it was a beautiful day. It was also Lukey�s seventh birthday!! We picked up a cake from Amy�s mother-in-law and had a small family party. We started off in the pool again, as I got it all vacuumed out, wiped down and balanced the chemicals. Grandma O didn�t feel well, so Gigi came over and joined us in the pool for a while. Phyllis & Dick also came over but decided against any pool time. Lukey wanted tacos, so we had a huge amount of tacos, had cake & ice cream and opened presents. While we were having cake & ice cream, I video-called Robby who got to sing with us and feel like he was participating in Luke�s big day. That was actually really cool. Luke had a neat Star Wars cake. Before we could get a nice picture of him with it, he put his fingers in it (little shit�). Afterwards, it was presents time. He got a Nintendo DSi, as well as a Star Wars game and a Nerf protector case for it. He also got a couple super soakers, a Star Wars shirt, Star Wars Trouble game and pool toy called a Toy-pedo. After everyone left, we did a few fireworks from last years� leftover stash.

On Friday, I worked an 11-hour day to wrap up a really long week and got home just in time for supper. Ann took the dogs to the vet after work. Poor Molly had a couple ear infections and Lola got a few shots. They both had sad looks on their faces when I first saw them. 🙁 Matt had mowed the lawn for me, so I had the night off again (yes, we were going through minor withdrawals from ball games). Matt has decided not to pursue band again this year. He really wanted to drop band last year, but stuck it out more for Grandma O than anything else. This year, he was dreading doing marching band in those little uniforms. He had missed several practices due to baseball and football until finally Grandma gave him her blessing and that was all it took for him to make his decision � he was done. I know I also reached my end with choir once I reached my freshman year, so I know where he�s coming from. We watched movies and worked on Matt�s laptop which had caught a nasty little virus and wasn�t pulling up the internet. We worked on it until we fell asleep on the couch� Saturday was a big day. We were up early in preparation for Luke�s �friends??? birthday party. This year, he decided to do a joint birthday party with our neighbor and his best friend, Alex. So Ann & Christy worked out details that changed a few times throughout the planning stage. Matt went paintballing for the day with his friend Jake Hellmich and the Baptist church in Gnaw Bone, down by Nashville. I dropped him off when I went over to mow at Mom & Sandy�s house. When we got back, we had a couple hours to set up all the tables, chairs and gazebos. When the kids and I finished up getting the backyard done, it was time to head back to the ball diamonds. I dropped off Abby at practice and came back and helped Ann finish up in the house. Next up was Luke�s ballgame. He was playing against the team they faced to start the year, the team that was 1 place ahead of them in the standings. Luke went 2-3 with a single, double and a long at-bat that had 6 foul balls before he finally struck out on a pitch over his head, but in this league he has to swing as there are no walks and you only get five pitches to get your hit. He played pitcher the whole game and did a good job of going after balls on defense. He was diving and sliding and hustling the entire time! He almost caught a couple ones and had a couple assists. The boys let the game get away from them and got blown out. We were missing several of our players, making it tough. I was so frustrated with the way the game was headed early on. I don�t normally lose my cool but after a couple of close calls that went against us (have we had any close ones actually go our way? …seriously? �I really can�t think of any!) We were already down by 9 runs in the 2nd inning and another close call was called against us and I walked out of the dugout and went out behind and shouted in anger �You�re kidding me!� I even sat down in the stands for a moment or two before finally returning to the dugout. Apparently, I was a bit too loud as the umpire came over and reminded me that we were dealing with 7 & 8 year-olds. I calmly apologized and reminded him that sometimes you have to keep the little ones interested in the game or you�ll lose them and that perhaps he could keep me that in mind when there was another close play. The boys� defense really let them down this game and even their hot bats couldn�t save them this time…

After the game, we came back and continued prepping for Luke & Alex�s party. He had a couple little friends over early. Keith, Rosie & Megan came in to town about one or two in the morning after spending all day at King�s Island. They came over early and hit the pool as did Dee, Gracie & Jamie. In fact, I would say that Gracie & Megan were in the pool about 12 hours! The dogs were very good for us, even with all the strange kids and adults. We didn�t have any issues whatsoever. Once all the boys were here, we went on a birthday parade around the neighborhood on their bikes. Terry, Christy�s husband, drove Gigi�s Crossfire to lead the parade of decorated bicycles and I brought up the rear in the truck. It was cute and the boys has fun as they blew their noisemakers around the subdivision. There were a couple that fell out and had to ride back to the house in the back of the truck. Next, we hung a couple pi�atas and beat the snot out of them until they bled candy! Terry felt awful as the big one (a sun) broke in his hands as he brought it outside. It was a very unhappy sun by the time we got it hung in the tulip tree out back. 😛 Next up were a few games � sponge relay races, pop the balloon relay race and a water balloon toss that never quite panned out since all the boys lost on the first toss! By that time, the boys were really hot and sweaty, so we let them jump in the pool. They were in there until dinner. I cooked hot dogs on the grill for the kids and threw on some delicious and very spicy sausage for the adults. Ann made the biggest pan of macaroni & cheese I�ve ever seen! Christy brought a 5 gallon jug of lemonade and we had several bags of chips and snacks. After dinner, we sang Happy Birthday, decorated our own cupcakes and ice cream, opened presents (Luke and Alex both made out like Star Wars bandits!) and jumped back in the pool. Once the sun started to go down, Matt & I did a fireworks display for the boys until it was time for them to go. Once we had everything cleaned up and put away, we jumped in the pool for a late-night swim. We were so sweaty and worn out from the days� events that it was the cool, calming relief we were looking for. There was a gorgeously low moon in the sky that night. We came in and continued working on his laptop until we both fell asleep on the couch.

Sunday was our day to rest � including the dogs, who were wiped out. Megan had stayed the night with Abby and although Luke was up fairly early, everyone else slept in until after 10 am! Ann surprised us with sausage, egg & cheese breakfast biscuits that truly hit the spot. Matt & I started fresh on his laptop issue and finally got it running properly. Abby & big Megan took the dogs for a walk and got caught in a downpour! It was the weirdest thing, as the sun was still blazing away and it the skies opened up and dumped a bunch of rain for about 2 minutes. They were soaked. We forgot to look for a rainbow. We did our weekly chores around the house and watched the NASCAR race. Luke took a 4 hour nap! Mom & Sandy, Keith & Rosie and Megan & Grace came over in the early evening to go swimming. The kids and I joined them for a couple hours. I had to add about 80 gallons to the pool as it was almost too low to run the pump. Even with all that cold water, the pool water was still 90 degrees! Molly went swimming with us for the first time and did fine. She was so hyper when she got out, running around and wagging her tail as hard as I�ve seen her. As the evening wore on, the threat of severe weather returned�but what else should we suspect�
Here are our videos for this week:

Let�s flip on the Waybac machine and take a look back at yesteryear� Leading off, we have my Grandmaw Brown with someone other than my Grandpaw in the 1930s; Mom O. yet again (how many of these pictures do we have??) in her school picture in September of �54; Grandma Bryan at her 1st Communion at St. Bonifice in Lafayette circa 1955 (I think the picture has the original date on the back, but it�s packed away in one of the big boxes); and Keith with Dean (Grandpa O) shortly after his birth in �66.

Next up we have Rob with some sort of fancy frog vest (don�t remember that one, buddy!) at the Bryan Christmas in December of 1983 at Dan & Sharon�s house in Kokomo; rob again on my old Schwinn (what ever happened to that bike??) in front of our Rockwood home in LaPorte (that was a great bike); Ann in the marching band for perhaps the July 4th parade down Main St. in Greensburg in approximately July of 1985; and a couple from late �85 � the first a cake for Rob & I�s birthday in October and then Rob (man, he�s everywhere!) at the dining room table for probably Thanksgiving or Christmas meal.

And finally, we have Ann with her friend Stacy at what I think may be Deanna�s bridal shower in their old home on Main St in about �90.; Mom O with Matt at Thanksgiving at the Russell Dr. home in �96; Matt with Grandma B a couple times in our old apartment in Columbus around Christmas; Mom with Charlie on Pine Lake in LaPorte on their Bayliner (was that Cap�n Ron?); and Me with the then management team after winning the Employee of the Month award at that time in January of 2004.

Well that�s it for this week�s entry (finally!). Thanks as always for hanging with us for awhile and we�ll catch up with you next time. Until then, have a good one.
Later, Scheu