The Sun is the Same in a Relative Way, but You’re Older

The weather really turned on us this week. …so much for autumn weather and keeping the house opened up – the windows have long been closed up – in fact, we’ve had a few days now that have started out below the freezing mark, causing us to readjust to morning routines more accustomed to January and February. It was a cold, sad Monday and a rotten way to start off the week. Early that morning, I received a call from Dennis stating that one of our former co-workers had died from cancer. Ed Williams was hired in as our maintenance technician after our friend Dan Clark passed away a couple months prior. Ed had been suffering from stomach cancer, among other afflictions, for a couple months and had gotten much worse the past couple weeks. His widow, Barb, still works for me in our dietary department. Ed left our company a couple years ago to pursue greener pastures. He was a very kind man that was always quick with a story or joke. He was also a skilled magician and ran an internet business selling magic supplies out of his basement. He gave Matthew a bunch of supplies a few years back when Matt was going through a phase. He will be missed. Matt was back to two-a-days at wrestling. It was a sad day for him because he had to turn in all his football gear for the year. It rained most of the day and was just miserably cold outside. Late that afternoon, my friend Scott and I left work and went to Ed & Barb’s house to console her and attend Ed’s wake. That evening, Luke and I walked in the neighborhood for a good half hour until it was too dark to continue. It was dark and damp – it won’t be long before I give this up in lieu of the treadmill again. We talked to Gene and Maryellen next door and followed up to see how the tree was doing. Thankfully, it looks pretty good. Gene was too stubborn to allow me to help him pay for the repairs he had to make to it. Matt was in the newspaper a couple times as his football team was officially recognized. Matt brought home his pre-ACT paperwork that he took recently. He did really good for only being a freshman. It showed that Matt would be good in the engineering field (the same vocation he is already leaning towards). Luke earned the Values Award for his work in Team Read (by achieving the goal of 25 books read in the first 9 weeks). That evening, Ann went with Bu to the Dixon Dance studio to help pick out costumes for Abby’s jazz routine. It was pretty cool how she was able to come home and pull it up on the internet and show it to me. The Cowboys were on MNF and started off strong. It looked like they actually had turned things around finally…until Tony Romo broke his collarbone. He is out 6-8 weeks and may not be in the game when Ann & I go with Dan and George in December to see them face the Colts. Offensive woes aside, it was truly the defense that was most disappointing to me. They gave up over 40 points – pitiful! Where in the hell is the Cowboys old “Doomsday??? defensive frame of mind? How embarrassing…

This week, we had a couple of creative parenting moments due to building tensions between the kids. We were not happy with the patterns of behavior we were seeing. It’s probably a mix of things, but something had to give. Part of it may be the kids finally being real, after adjusting to having Gracie here for the morning hours. I don’t know if you’re familiar with MTV’s “Real World??? or not, but the concept is capturing what happens after strangers start spending time together in the same house and what develops after they stop being polite with each other and start being real. That adjustment isn’t the only issue at play here. Luke is trying to find his way in life and trying to figure out where he fits in this mix. He is such a trickster. He constantly tries to trick people – whether it be hiding behind stuff and jumping out, to telling small fibs and then saying, “I’m just tricking you??? to slapping himself, screaming and saying that Matt is hitting him – he’s a stinker and the clear candidate as the “payback child.??? Add to that all the hormones from Matthew and then Bu’s genes may be catching up with her as well. I know that her grandmother was visited by Aunt Flow at an early age and we think that may be the case with her as well – it would definitely explain a few things. Whatever the cause, Ann & I were at our wit’s end with the effects this week… We had Matt back at two-a-days, bright and early Tuesday morning – the last of the preseason practices. The weather was nasty as it was suddenly warm that morning, starting in the 70’s…however it dropped over 30 degrees, ending in the 40s. During that transition, we had two tornado warnings with lots of rain. I kept the staff and residents in our safe zone for nearly an hour and a half. I know Matt said he was in a restroom for nearly an hour. I heard one touched down near Kokomo, but was glad to hear that Sharon & Dan and Nathan and his family were safe. Luke had his first basketball practice that evening at the Y. It was so funny; he didn’t stop smiling the entire practice! …seriously, he smiled from the moment he hit the court all the way until he got back to the car… The other thing he did the entire time was adjust his underwear. If he wasn’t picking his seat, he was also airing out the front. It was almost a competition to see how many times he could adjust each side of his undies. Abby and I walked the track above the court for the hour he was there. We stopped only momentarily when we caught up with all the kids’ pre-school teacher, Mrs. Wilkerson. It was popcorn night, so we were all happy and Ann and I fell asleep early on the couch. Wednesday was Rob’s 31st birthday. I had lunch with Dennis up in Greenwood as we met with the state fire marshal up in his office at the Indiana State building in downtown Indy. We learned several things about our building and about our JJDPA project at work. Afterwards, we had a process meeting at 4th Street Bar. We had a couple beverages and had a good talk. I had to split after about an hour and head back home. I met up with Ann and the kids at Mom & Sandy’s house. Dee, Jamie and Gracie were there too to help celebrate my birthday. Mom and Gigi made bacon cheeseburgers, fries, homemade mac & cheese, homemade slaw (Ann’s), chips and 2 dips, chocolate cake and ice cream – Mom made sure I had HUGE helpings of both!! I even got to have everyone sing to me (gee, it was so…unique…I’m almost sorry we didn’t get that lovely rendition on tape – not!). 😛 Mom was upset she didn’t have the proper candles, but I thought Ann did good at improvising quickly. Matt, Jamie and I also enjoyed game 1 of the World Series as the girls sat and talked and the kids ran amuck. I think everyone was pulling for the Rangers, but the Giants had other ideas…

On Thursday, I talked to Rob for the second time in two days. I was glad to hear that he has moved up to 1st shift. He was headed to Sam’s Club to pick up a new TV and was very excited. 😉 I also spoke to Mom in the morning and Dad in the afternoon. It must be rough having to put up with all that “sunny and 80??? weather… Kelly and Dennis took Tena, Freda and me out to lunch at Arni’s. I had been craving an Arni’s Jr. and a sausage & peperoni pizza! I got back just in time for Ann to pick me up and head back G’burg and go to parent / teacher conferences. We picked up Matt first and went to the high school. We talked with all his teachers except one and got a good feeling from all the kids…I mean teachers. OMG; his teachers are so…YOUNG! They were all very nice and we found out that all of his teachers love Matt – which is nothing new; he’s always gotten along very well with his teachers. We got his grades. They weren’t terrible, but they weren’t up to his standards either – thankfully the permanent records only have the semester grades, so we have a little work to do in a couple classes. The good thing is that he started off a little slow and has been gradually getting better each week, so chances are good that he can finish strong. The transition to high school is tough, so we’ve been pretty cool with his grades so far. Again, the report card wasn’t terrible – mostly A’s and a couple B’s and C’s. Next, we picked up the kiddos at Brandy’s and headed home. Matt & Luke stayed at home while we took Abby out to the elementary school where we had Luke’s conference. Again, his teacher absolutely loves him too! She did identify that he talks a little too much when he gets his work done (hmm, where have I heard that before…), but otherwise was doing very well in her class. During the first nine weeks, they don’t receive letter grades; but he would’ve had very good grades if they had…which they will – starting with the next 9 weeks. We ended the night in Bu’s classroom. As was the theme throughout the evening, Abby was adored by her teacher. She was again our star academic, scoring straight A’s again!!! That a girl, Bu! She bugged me for $30 (a bonus only offered last year) and instead settled for her standard reward of $20. 😛 We are so proud of all the kiddos for their hard work this first grading period – but especially Bu. Way to go, honey! Amongst all the paperwork we brought home that night, we received several picture cards of the kids. When we got home, Ann & I called a family meeting. We sat down and hashed out some things, let the kids know what we were seeing and what we expected…and the ramifications if we didn’t see some behavioral changes. Hopefully this attitude adjustment will be the last one we’ll need to make…ha ha ha! Anyhow, afterwards, Ann took Bu to tap dance practice and helped pick out that uniform as well. The boys and I went to Taco Bell and flopped on the couch for the evening. Ann was able to pull up this outfit on the internet as well, which is equally as cute.

By the time Friday rolled around, the weather had turned quite cold and there was frost on the windshields that morning. I had to take the kids to school early that morning and head in to work for yet another regulatory inspection. This time, it was the corporate mandated M.O.S.T. lady back again for her six month follow-up. We had accomplished everything on our plan of corrections from last time and had a much better tour. We should receive the coveted Gold Level of certification this time – which brings with it a nice bonus for the facility. After the tour and meetings ended, it was almost 2 and neither Dennis nor I had eaten, so we grabbed his wife Lenny (my kitchen manager) and headed to Marc Pi’s. Lenny & I both love their house fried rice. I had the kiddos that night as Annie went scrapbooking with her friends at Mrs. B’s. When I got over to Mom & Sandy’s to pick up the kids, I found the young ones helping the older ones to carry up and put out the Christmas tree and all their seasonal decorations. Heck, we just got our fall decorations out last week (maybe two?) at our home. It’ll be a few weeks yet before we even think about getting out all that stuff…at least for me, but maybe not for my wife. I took all the kids, including Gracie, out to Mancino’s – as they persuaded me – for dinner. They have a nice deal on their pizzas every Friday night. Afterwards, the kids wanted to spend the money the earned from Grandma (for their help with moving stuff up from the basement) over at Wal-Mart. I needed the exercise anyhow, so we headed out there for a few minutes and then when we finished up out there and dropped off Gracie, came home to watch It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown – which is an annual holiday tradition for us. We put in another movie afterwards and everybody fell asleep until Ann came home. On Saturday, Ann took the kids over to Columbus really early to get their shots (Luke got his 2nd chicken pox & all three got annual flu shots). Annie then headed back to Mrs. B’s to do more scrapbooking. It was so cold that day that we finally broke down and turned on the heat. I tried to watch the Purdue game but had to turn it off. Again, I understand that the offense is going to struggle with a new QB in there, but it is the defense that again is the bigger disappointment. When Ann came home, we made jack-o-lanterns from pumpkins the kids picked out last weekend at the pumpkin patch. Luke opted for a simple, classic look (my favorite). Abby chose a moderate pattern – that of a mummy…and Matt went with a challenging design. His is a devil / vampire-looking dude. After Ann did all the scraping for Luke and part of Bu’s, I did the carving for both of them. Matt only needed a couple prompts this year – otherwise, he did it all himself! I thought all the jack-o-lanterns looked great this year. Sandy and her crew finally made the front page of the paper, as they were noted to have bought the radio station. Ah yes, the Daily News is always right on top of the big stories in this town, huh? Earlier in the week, she had gotten a visit from our state rep, Cleo Duncan, honoring the group for keeping the radio station local. That night, I received a bunch of new pictures from Aunt Sharon that I’ll be sharing during our Waybac section over the next several weeks (thanks Shar!!).

Sunday was Halloween. After our typical Sunday morning’s worth of chores, Ann made my favorite meal that I have gotten annually for the last several years – lasagna! I was starting to worry after a couple days had gone by there… 😉 We’ll get to eat off it for a few days because she made so much (thanks, hon!). Afterwards, I watched the Cowboys’ “game.??? It was again a defensive embarrassment. They gave up five touchdowns and looked terrible. The offense was paltry again but the defense didn’t help things either. They MUST get better on that side of the ball…period. I was only able to watch it for sections at a time before getting pissed and turning it off (a familiar occurrence this year). Thankfully, the Talladega race was exciting with several lead changes a couple accidents at the end. It just isn’t Talladega unless someone ends up on their roof! I was glad to see Jeff get a top 10 finish – but with him being 200+ points out of first place, it looks like his aspirations for a fifth championship are unofficially over…too little, too late scenario. Harvick is in third place and still has a chance to win it all. Of the three still alive, I think I would most like to see him win it. Poor Luke hurt himself while in his room, picking up today. The details are still sketchy but basically he came out screaming and bloody. It was difficult to understand because he was so upset. He might have hit it on his bed or his fan – the story changed a couple times. Either way, his front tooth is sticking out at an odd angle and very loose. We aren’t sure it is a baby tooth or a permanent one. Either way, Ann is going to call the dentist in the morning to see what we need to do to help him out because he’s awfully sore right now. Alex, Christy & Terry came over about 5 tonight. The two of them took the boys out Trick-or-Treating in the neighborhood. Luke was a special ops guy and Alex was a ninja. No sooner had they gone than Dee & Jamie showed up with Grace, followed by Amy, Rob & Baili at nearly the same time. Rob, Amy & Ann escorted the girls around the neighborhood. Matt, Jamie, Dee & I stayed home and handed out candy – well Dee handed out candy and the boys played football in the front yard. Matt’s friend, Chris, came over from his Dad’s house out here and hung out with us for a couple hours. Abby was a devil, Baili went as a fairy and Grace was a Mexican girl. Abby was a cutie and little Baili is sure growing up fast!! We noted a couple trends this year: one; we saw fewer trick-or-treaters, as seen by us having candy left over for the first time in several years; and also fewer people were handing out candy as evidenced by the kids having only about half of their candy buckets full. I can remember in years past out here, the kids would have to empty their buckets in to a Wal-Mart bag and go back out! It was very chilly that night – reminescent of a couple years ago. I swear it was cold enough to snow…

Here are this week’s videos (please note that if you are reading this via the feed on Facebook, these videos will not come through and you’ll likely see a large blank spot – you can see the videos and view the blog the way it is supposed to be seen by clicking on the blog link on our home page at www.scheumann.us ):

Next, let’s switch to this week’s Waybac feature. Leading off, we have a couple crops of an old picture Aunt Sharon sent me, featuring her and Nathan in their home in Kokomo when Nate was six months old; followed by a couple crops of Rob in his birth announcement out in Cali; and then another “new??? one from Aunt Sharon with Nathan & Katie trick-or-treating in what must be 1979, judging by that Buck Rogers outfit! 😛 I loved that show at the time as well.

Now let’s go to the late 80’s: 2 from Kenny & Marilou’s pole barn in Rossville – Dad B with Marilou’s poodle and Mom with Kenny’s sister (I think) – both from about 1987; two crops of Rob at a Pop Warner football banquet awards ceremony, circa 1988; Vird in Mom & Dad’s basement in the first Rossville home; then a couple of Rob at Kenny & Marilou’s house, apparently in the rain – watching a tree being taken out of their back yard; and finally three pictures from a cold month (judging by the clothing) – likely just after Grandmaw Brown’s death, seeing as grass had not yet grown back in front of her headstone.

Next, it’s on to the nineties; Mel literally hanging out (what a cool cat) on Maryann & Dean’s back porch / laundry room in the early 90s; Mom & Dad B in Treasure Island at the Sand Pebble in about ’92 or so; Dad B at Dan & Sharon’s new home in Kokomo for his birthday in March of ’97 and me and my mullet at Thanksgiving in our front room on Main St.

Wrapping it up, we go to the new century: Matt at the then new Greensburg YMCA during a fire truck open house day – he was all over that truck – in about 2000; Matt at Cookies with Santa in Columbus in 2000 – and not real happy about it, if I remember correctly; Matthew during his 5th birthday party in March of 2001 in our living room on Main St – one with his little sister and one with Grandpa B; then a bunch from 2002: August just outside Lafayette at a little church for a Morgan family reunion with my cousin Steven and what I suppose is likely his wife along with my cousin Emily and her dad, Steve – sorry I don’t recognize the others…; September for Bu’s third birthday party at Grandma & Gigi’s house in the Ryle Addition; Kenny & Becky w/ Mo & Poppy for Kenny’s awards ceremony of some sort in the early 2K’s; Abby & I during her first soccer team, out at the Y in September; and then wrapping up with a great picture Sharon sent this week of Thanksgiving Day with Vird, Sharon and Dad in Rossville during 2005.

Well that does it for this episode of the Scheu Family Blog. Thanks as always for keeping up with us this time out. Thanks again to Aunt Sharon for the picture submissions – I am always looking for photo contributions from any source! We’ll catch up with you next time. Until then, and have a good one.
Later, Scheu