The cicadas have gone just as quickly as they appeared this week. In their place we saw lightning bugs everywhere and I even saw my first woolly worms in the road this week as well. We had a very quick week and an even faster long, holiday weekend. Ann and I enjoyed having all the kids at home together and for a short period of time, all was right in our little universe. Matt worked at his new job for Cathy at Fairway Mortgage. He got his car back and spent some time at home with the fam. Abby worked at WTRE with Gigi & Dee again this week. She had a busy week, visiting friends out of town, seeing Gary and enjoying a healthy dose of family time as well. She went on a job interview for her internship and was excited to be offered the job! Luke enjoyed Moratorium Week. Although he did not go to football practices, he worked out at the YMCA everyday and most days he went twice. He spent some time with friends and Lanie this week. Ann got back on the elliptical a couple times this week and we enjoyed a date night as well. I fell just short of my fifteen-mile walking goal this week with fourteen and some change. I dealt with some old man issues but had a good doctor appointment. I also got in a couple rounds of frisbee golf this week, which is my happy place. We enjoyed spending time with our friends and family this week, which was good for the soul. The weather was all over the place through the week but by the weekend, it was perfect – one of the best Independence Day weekends we’ve had in the last quarter century. Hello again and welcome back to the Scheu Family Blog.
It was rough getting up on Monday morning. I pressed snooze a few times before finally dragging my weary tail outta bed. Luke enjoyed sleeping in until mid-morning. He went to the store and bought his car speakers and was able to get his front ones installed all by himself. The back ones are a little trickier and he ran out of time before he had to head into work at Hibbett’s to work 2nd shift. Matt started his new job that day. It was mostly setting up his workstation, attending meetings and orientation / on-boarding. Abby had fun at her friend’s house in Franklin then went to her interview in Greenwood for her internship this fall. She went to the mall and then ate a late lunch at Carino’s before heading home. Ann & I had good days. Well, Ann had a bit of a tense moment at Kroger’s when some guy was “stalking??? her inside the store, which freaked her out a little. I got caught up on paperwork and went to lunch with the guys at Snappy Tomato. Afterward, I worked with a vendor and began my semi-annual hazard surveillance rounds – which will take me all week to complete. Afterward, I walked a 5K out in the heat & humidity. There was some heavy lightning as a storm began to move in towards the end. By the time we left town, we were ahead of it and when we got back to the ‘Burg, it had gone north of us. So, I went out and played a quick round of frisbee golf. I was so sweaty. I started off hot, birdieing both 3 and 4. But after 5, I started to sweat profusely, out in the sun and the disc began to slip when I thew it. I still managed to par everything, but I wasn’t able to break par. I came back and cooled down in the A/C and watched a few DVR’d shows. Meanwhile, Ann hopped on the elliptical again for about five minutes or so. We had a find-your-own dinner night and watched another episode of Bosch. Afterwards, Ann fell asleep and eventually went to bed while I edited pictures and videos. When Luke got home, we worked on finding the correct tools for him to install his speakers tomorrow and then he went to lift weights at the YMCA for a couple hours. When he got home, I wrapped things up and made myself go to bed to watch a couple episodes of the X-Files on Comet. Here are pictures from Luke’s football game last week in New Albany.
It was another hot & humid start to our day on Tuesday…and it just got hotter as the day wore on. By sunset, it was nearly 100°! It was a slow day for Ms. Ann, but it’s good to have one of those every once in a while. As for me, it was another long, busy day. Justin & I taught another orientation class then I did the monthly generator test before grabbing a quick lunch and getting on with my semi-annual Hazard Surveillance Rounds, which I was able to get almost half of the building done that afternoon. I wound up walking outdoors in the heat after work and got in three miles. I dropped off Annie at home and picked up Abby so we could go frisbee golfing at the park. I did not get any birdies, but rather parred ever hole but 5 and ended with a 1-over. Still, it was good enough to beat Bu by 1, who threw a 29. Luke enjoyed the second day of moratorium week by sleeping in. He eventually got up and worked out at the YMCA. He bought a couple tools at Auto Zone and then took about three hours to install his new rear speakers. While Abby & I were out exercising, Ann was making dinner. She made grilled Kickin’ Chicken breasts along with some shells & cheese and roasted green beans and cheesy broccoli. Afterward, Abs did dishes and Luke took me for a ride in his car to test out the new speakers. Yep – they are indeed loud! He washed his car, which was odd since there was a severe thunderstorm rolling into town. He dropped me off and drove out to Oakley’s house just before the skies unleashed a deluge of rain for the next hour or so. Just what we needed – more rain! He would end up staying the night out there. Matt continued his on-boarding / training at his new job and also received his passport for his upcoming trip to Mexico. He and Abby talked on the phone and played Fortnight for a couple hours that night. Abs made us a couple nightcap cocktails that evening – a round of Cosmopolitans and a round of Amaretto Sours that really relaxed me. Ann & I watched a couple DVR’d shows and eventually fell asleep out in the living room. Abby woke me up when Ann went to bed and we watched a couple episodes of Rick & Morty. Here are pictures from Luke’s 18th birthday party.
Wednesday was another long day. In fact, Ann just said to me this afternoon that this has already been a long week…and it’s only Wednesday! I finished up my hazard surveillance rounds after I went to lunch with the two Justins at the Hanger. I was pretty tired by the time I finished, having chalked over 7K steps. After walking more than a 5K after work, I was over 15K! I thought about playing some frisbee golf, but I opted to work on editing the 900 pictures that Ann took at Luke’s football game last week. Abby worked at WTRE that day then came home and napped for several hours. Luke worked at Hibbett’s, lifted at the Y then went on a date to El Reparo with his friend Lanie from Shelbyville. They met at the Greatest Showman photoshoot earlier this summer. They came back to the house afterward and hung out for a while. Although it didn’t storm at work today, it did at the house apparently. That evening, it rumbled and came down in buckets for several minutes. Ann made us cheesy Fireworks popcorn for dinner and we watched another episode of Bosch on Prime Video. Abby made us a nightcap cocktail called a Tokyo Tea that was quite relaxing. As she went to her room to play video games with Matthew and Ann read her book, I watched an older movie called the Time Machine. It was an obvious remake of the old classic from 1960, based off the HG Wells novel from the 19th century. Afterward, I was nodding off trying to watch the new season of Lucifer on Netflix and went on to bed. Ann stayed up as Luke had his friend Lanie over and she stayed up till she went home.
Thursday was another very busy day. We had a rainy start to the day and Black Betty didn’t like it much. She finally came out of it by the time we headed home, but I had to stop and put some more of that magic elixir in her fuel tank. I’m not sure if the BP gasoline has too much ethanol in it and it’s gumming up her aging fuel injectors or what’s going on, but it seems to have a couple bad days and then a good week. Thankfully, the Lucas Oil additive is working for now. I had an interesting day as we had our regional vice president down to meet with Justin (C) and help lead us in the absence of Kevin while JC gets settled into his new interim CEO position. I ended up having an old person issue and had to deal with that all day. When it was time to go walking, I was not in the mood, so I picked up Ann and we came home early. It was not quite as hot, but still nasty humid outside. I felt a little bad for the contractors I had in-house because they were a sweaty mess – as was poor Vic, who was helping them install 4 courtyard speakers. It’s great that our intercom now stretches across all our property, but there is no way to control the volume and they are sooooo loud! You can hear it quite clearly across the street and although you can’t make out the words, you can still hear it three blocks away! I worked on editing and uploading pictures and videos. There were a ton this week – mostly from football. I whittled them down from about a thousand to under 300. Abs & I watched a couple shows while Ann slept. We finally watched the latest Rick & Morty episode then watched Team USA women’s soccer team beat Mexico. We were so excited when Tobin Heath made her return from injury and promptly scored a goal in her first 30 seconds! We may have woken up Ann a couple times. ???? We had a nightcap cocktail (Moscow Mule) that helped relax us. We watched an older Rick & Morty show afterward but didn’t make it to the end – LOL! Here are random pictures from our recent adventures.
We pushed snooze a couple extra times on Friday morning before working in Greensburg. We ran through Dunkin then dropped Ann off downtown. I brought home breakfast to the kids and worked from home that morning. I could not get my laptop to start. I don’t know if it was a bad update or if I am having a hard drive issue or what, but I restarted that thing eight times total. It eventually came up after five or six reboots but it never did run correctly and kept locking up. I had plenty of paperwork to do that morning then worked on our home PC that afternoon, doing ordering and finance stuff. Abby went into work at WTRE with Gigi & Dee while Luke went into work at Hibbett’s. I had a doctor appointment with Mungcal about mid-morning where he froze-off the stuff on my face, wrist and neck. I ran a couple errands before coming home. I picked up Ann in the truck and it was funny. A couple vehicles pulled in behind me, thinking I was going to turn, there at 420. However, I was parked in front of a sign that says two-hour parking (or something similar). We took our time just to rub it in how stupid they were…. Is that bad?? LOL! Luke had Lanie over for a while then they went out to apparently find matching hats for this weekend’s photo shoot with Farren. Abby went up to New Castle for date night with Garrett. They went to Indy for the evening, starting at Conner’s Kitchen and Bar. They had some interesting drink choices, as Abs sent me the menu for advice. They enjoyed a nice dinner then went to a macaron bar for dessert before going to see a movie. She spent the night with Gary and his family. Meanwhile, Ann and I got changed and drove over to Columbus that evening. We stopped by work, as I worked security there that night. They had fireworks out on the airport property again this year, after cancelling it last year. Granted, they didn’t have the vendors or food or even the concerts out there, but at least we had the fireworks back! We met up with Justin & Amanda and the kids downtown to pre-game at Taku steakhouse. He had invited another couple, their kids and another friend and his kid, so it was a big group, gathered around the hibachi that evening. It was cool, downtown, there in Columbus. I didn’t realize they blocked off 4th street for two blocks and allowed a walking and gathering space for pedestrians. It was a cool scene. There was a band in the bar across the street and lots of outdoor seating at several bars and restaurants. Ann said it reminded her of the area in Carmel where she, Abby, Matt & Taylor had been a couple months back. The chef put on quite the show, including squirting sake in the men’s mouths! Justin got two turns! ???? There was a bit of a wait, but it allowed Justin & I to go to the bar and get a drink on special called a Pink Paradise. Ann & I split a couple’s meal that had all the meats on the hibachi. It was delicious. Afterwards, we headed out to work to set up a few things and get ready for the fireworks. Justin had a few friends and family members stop by and we had a good time hanging out while their kids played kickball, tag and danced. We were shocked at how little the crowd was out there this year. After being cancelled last year, I figured folks would show up in droves, but they mostly stayed away. We all noticed it and talked about it. We think part of the reason was that there was no festival across the street like usual (with two concert stages, food carts, vendor booths, attractions for kids and lots of free / giveaway goodies. In addition, this year the Bartholomew County fair occurred this week, including that evening which also had to pull some of the spectators away. The display was excellent, as always. Afterward, we are used to sitting for a good hour before even attempting to leave the facility grounds due to the backed-up traffic. But that evening, the line was gone after just 10 minutes! That right there was very telling of how many fewer people attended the event. When we said our good-byes and pulled out, we sat in traffic for about three minutes and then had a clear ride home after that… Luke came home and went straight to bed, worn out from his long day. I tried to stay up and watch some TV with Ann but wound up falling asleep (shock, right?) and went on to bed a little after midnight… We have lots of social medica pictures to share.
I’m glad I went to bed when I did because Lola didn’t sleep very well at all. She was barking at 430 that morning so I got up and let her out. Come to find out, she had peed on the piddle pad and pooped on the floor. So, I got that cleaned-up, let her in and put her up on the couch. About 6, she was barking again outside our door. Ann took a turn with her, putting her on Abby’s bed. It was about 730 when she was again barking outside our door. So, I put her outside and there she stayed until about noon. I stayed up at that point and did some stuff on my work laptop that I brought home last night, making sure my time and attendance was up to date. I hate taking my device back and forth, but I don’t think I have a choice after what happened with my other computer yesterday. Luke got up eventually and went to another photoshoot with Farren. This time, it had a 4th of July theme. Ann said there was another good turnout – something like 25 kids were able to make it. Afterward, Luke went to work at Hibbett’s until mid-afternoon. He came home briefly, changed, and went out to the Y to lift. I slowly got moving that morning. I checked fluids in the Bettys (White & Black), loaded up the truck with one of the mowers and a blower. I swung past CVS to get meds and booze and went over to Mom & Sandy’s to mow. Afterward, I went inside and talked to the gals and helped them with a couple small projects. Next, I came home and mowed our yard then Delilah helped me pickup dog doo in the backyard in case we end up wanting to do something out there this weekend. I got cleaned-up and grabbed a quick bite to eat before sitting down and relaxing while watching a few episodes of the weekly SVU marathon on Ion TV. Abby came home from Gary’s house, late that afternoon and ran to the store for us. After delivering the goods, she went to Gma & Gigi’s house to help them with a dish for tomorrow. When I spoke with Mom earlier, she said she had been prepping food all day and was expecting Dee to come over later to help as well. I can’t wait for all that food!! ???? That evening, the girls and I went out to the Lowe’s farmhouse for a pitch-in cookout, some skeet shooting, cornhole, fireworks and – of course – see our friends. Matt was thinking about coming down to join us, but he wound up staying at his apartment with Taylor that evening. He missed a great time but he did get his car back from the shop. Thankfully, everything was covered under warranty, which was great news for him! There were probably a hundred or so attendees that evening – many younger folks that we haven’t seen in a year or more. Kristy had everyone bring a side while Alan slaved over the grill for hours, serving up hamburgers and brats for all. Ann brought a yummy Italian pasta salad, along with a cooler of adult beverages. We sat and talked with our friends all night, as Brothers McGhee played a free show. Shawn & I played a game of cornhole. Thankfully, my partner (Ms. Angie) carried me because Trapper whopped my behind! Abby had fun catching up with old friends she hadn’t seen since high school. Luke came out for a while with Brayden. They were social, ate some grub but left before the fun started. He was headed to the Hellmich’s and stayed the night there. Ryan, E-Lowe and the boys had another great fireworks display – one that rivaled Greensburg’s the night prior – or so I was told… We hung out for a while but then gathered our stuff and decided we were ready to head home. So, we called it an early night and said our good-byes to come and get some rest. Here are pictures of recent additions to my Hot Wheels collection.
We enjoyed sleeping in a little on Sunday morning. It was the 4th of July. Abs apparently got up with the dogs this morning because she was in the bathroom and the dogs were barking and carrying on in her room. I got up and put them outside to let them run. It was a little warmer than yesterday, which stayed in the 70s with a great breeze all day. It was perfect for working in the yard. I did a few chores around the house and watched a classic episode of Star Trek on Me TV and began working on the blog, writing out this week’s html code that morning. I took timeout to go sit on the back porch with Ms. Ann and the dogs when she got up. She had her coffee while I had a spicy V8. I did a couple loads of laundry, waited for Matt to get home and then we went uptown to watch the parade. We parked at Amy’s house and walked over. We sat on the same corner by the church – the same spot we’ve been in for over a quarter century now. Abby brought Delilah with us and she loved it. Amy joined us as well. Sandy broadcasted from the funeral home and the kids walked the dog down to see her a couple times. Mom stayed at home this year, finishing up lunch. After a short parade (which has become the norm in recent years), we ran back home to get our food (Ann made some sort of dill salad and jalapeno popper dip), drop off the dog and headed over to Gma & Gigi’s house. They had quite the spread again – cheeseburgers and two kinds of hot dogs (Nathan hot dogs – the same type that Joey Chesnutt ate that day as he won again, eating 76 hot dogs and buns!). Then there were all the sides – homemade mac & cheese, potato salad, a couple pasta salads, deviled eggs, baked beans, olive dip, ranch dip, lots of chips and crackers, watermelon, strawberry pie and peach pie – yum! Afterward, the kids and I went to Tobin’s to get fireworks. This year we did it a little different, opting to spend our budgeted amount on just one big cake. We talked with Mr. Tobin and he suggested we go with Friends Everywhere. He made the right call, as we really enjoyed it that night. We swung past the liquor store to get some last-minute supplies, picked up Ann and came home to change. We loaded up a cooler, waited on Gary and went out to the Sunken Boat Bar to do some floating on the pond. Meanwhile, Luke ditched us and went out to Oakley’s house where he spent the night with his buddies. We had a great day for floating as temps got up near 90 degrees that afternoon and evening. It doubled as a going-away party for Irene, who is heading back to Italy in a couple days, sadly. After a few hours of water, sun and beers, we went inside and ate dinner. We had a pitch-in that was really good: fried chicken, pulled pork, lasagna, stuffed mushrooms, mac & cheese and a bunch of other stuff. We had a cocktail with everyone (Messers, Bewleys, Lowes, Nobbes, Wolters were all there) then said our good-byes and headed back home. We Jamie & Dee joined us out back for some porch time, cornhole, euchre and of course fireworks. Matt & I were unbeatable on the boards. Granted, Jamie’s partners (Gail and Gary) weren’t very consistent. Gary wasn’t feeling so well and went to bed early, missing several hours of the fun. He would give us a story to talk about for years to come with an accident in the bathroom. Abby got to clean that mess up – LOL. Ann, Dee & Amy (who came over for a little while) moved the patio furniture into the lawn to watch the fireworks. When they sat down on the couch, they instantly sunk the back legs about six inches into the grass and nearly tipped over backwards! After a couple minutes of laughing, we decided to keep them there so they could easily see the display in the sky. ???? The cake we got (Friends Everywhere) was pretty awesome. It had 80 shots and went on for about a minute or so, which was pretty exciting. We were hoping that the neighbors would do more, but there were only a handful of others setting them off that night with us. We moved indoors afterward and played some euchre. Jamie & I dominated the kids in a couple games before he and Dee had to head home. Next, Matt, Abby and I moved back outside to have a cigar (thanks Rick!) and play a few games of cut-throat Sorry that was quite competitive. Abs dominated, winning three games. The only one he didn’t win was the one where I came from behind (all 4 in start vs. the kids having THREE in home – the greatest comeback in Sorry history, I’m sure!) and stick it to Matt – LOL! We took a Liquid Cocaine shot at 3 am that did not set well with Matt’s tummy and he was relegated to water the rest of the night (morning?). We came inside and watched the newest Rick & Morty (which had aired a few hours earlier). It was another great one. We watched another one after that before calling it a weekend and went to bed just before sunrise…
Next up is our Waybac segment. It continues to feature pictures of our young family in 2005, captured on Dee’s digital camera. We lead off in March where we have Easter Day and Matt’s ninth birthday. In May, we see Abby at the Dixon Dance Revue and Mom with Minnie & Charlie. In June, we have Luke’s second birthday party. In July, we have lots of 4th of July fun – cookout, swimming and fireworks at our house then parade and lunch at Mom & Sandy house; Grace’s fifth birthday and Sandy’s birthday party. Fast-forward to November, where we have Thanxmas (what is up with my hair??) at our house. And in December, we have Dee’s birthday party as well as our annual Owens Christmas Eve fun. What a great batch of pictures – 2005 was a great year!
We wrap up with our video segment, which features two new home movies from this week as well as several from around the internet.
And that does it for this week’s episode of 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 out there. We miss ya, Momma.
Later, Scheu