We’ve enjoyed another relaxing week as we closed out 2020 and welcomed in 2021. We had mostly cooler temps and a ton of precipitation. In fact, I think we had at least a little of it every day. We had so much that it completely saturated our backyard and puddles began to form by the end of the week. Matt enjoyed the week off from his teaching gig, spending time with Taylor and Ce-Ce kitty. I’m not sure if he held any wrestling practices or if he worked at the restaurant or not, but I don’t think so. Abby continued to enjoy her vacation from school. She is contemplating working at BWR for a few weeks but hasn’t made up her mind yet. Luke enjoyed his final week of Christmas vacation. He had wrestling this week, including practices and a meet. He was thrilled to get his car back from the shop this week. Ann & I enjoyed our final week of vacation, although I did work from home a couple days (something I hope to do more of in 2021). We enjoyed seeing Gma & Gpa Scheu this week. I wish we could see more of those two. Deanna gave us a bit of a scare this week. She wound up having emergency surgery at Methodist on New Years Day. As I write this, she is out of the ICU and hopes to come home this coming week. We spent a quiet New Years Eve at home, as I suspect most folks did due to the pandemic. There are signs that 2021 will be better for us already. Stimulus checks shipped this week and the Coronavirus vaccine continues to become more prevalent. Ann & I have already been vaccinated but the kids are still waiting to become eligible for it. I enjoyed watching a ton of football this week between the college bowl games and the final week of the NFL regular season (essentially the first week of playoffs). Unfortunately, the two Indiana school lost as did my Cowboys. The only good news was that the Colts made the playoffs but now have to face a very tough Bills team next week. I guess we’ll take what we can get, right? Hello again and welcome to the first 2021 edition of the Scheu Family Blog.
We enjoyed sleeping in on Monday morning as we all began a full week of vacation. We decided to make it a comfy clothes day, not going much further than the living room. We spent the day having a Christmas movie marathon – the important things in life, ya know? We finished up our movie collection by watching Christmas with the Kranks, Home Alone, The Family Stone, The Santa Clause and The Muppet Christmas Carol. Luke had wrestling practice and was well under his weight class threshold so he was able to go with Abby to Taco Bell for dinner that night. Abby & I went over to Mom & Sandy’s house to pickup gifts from Keith & Rosie as well as fix her refrigerator drawer. We stayed and visited for a while then came home to do nothing. Luke went out with his buddies in the Barneymobile that night. He said he actually like driving it because he could fit so many friends in it! Here are pictures from Christmas Eve last week.
Luke was up early and out the door to go help set up things at the high school on Tuesday morning. He must’ve woken me up when he left because I got up to wake him up and realized he had already left. When the girls got up, we headed over to watch the Pirates Four-Way Dual Meet that Coach set up at the last minute. Abby went with us and Matt drove down to spend the day with us as well. First up, we faced Providence, who drove all the way up from Clarksville. Luke came out aggressive and pinned his opponent in 51 seconds of the first period. They only had a handful of wrestlers, so we won easily 66-6. In the second round we faced Triton Central. Luke had a forfeit at his weight class and the team competition was very exciting…going down to the last match and we won in dramatic style, 40-35! In the final round, we faced Union County. Luke was supposed to have a match but his guy wrestled up a weight class to avoid him and so Luke received a forfeit. The team matchup was another close one that came down to the last couple matches but unfortunately, we lost 30-43. Luke’s record is now 12-5 and the team’s record is 9-4. That is a much better start for both, compared to last year. We took all the kids out to eat at Wings & Rings. Luke brought Alex along as well. Kristen was working out there and so we visited with her a few times. We had a few cocktails while we waited for the boys to carry the mats back to the main gym. It’s the first time they’ve wrestled outside of the Fieldhouse in quite some time. We had a great time visiting with the kids. We came home and watched the last couple Christmas movies for the year: Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer and Jingle All the Way. Luke got called back to the high school that evening to man the camera for the boys’ basketball game that night. It was broadcast on GTV. I caught a quick cat nap and after Matt went back up to Carmel, Kristen came over after work. Abby was the bartender that night, making Amaretto Sours, Gin & Tonic, Saltwater Sunsets, Liquid Cocaine shots and Dr. Jerrys. We played euchre for a couple hours with the old farts taking on the whippersnappers…and the old farts swept the night, 3-0! Ann “made??? Papa John’s pizzas for dinner. Luke went to the St. Paul Tavern for dinner with his buddies then hung out for a while before coming home and hanging out with us for a while. Here are pictures from Christmas Day last week.
We enjoyed sleeping in on Wednesday. Man, the days are flying by now! I can’t believe I’ve only got a couple more days of vacation before we head back. This year got faster and faster as it progressed, didn’t it? Ann and I drove over to Columbus about mid-morning. She received the first of her COVID vaccinations and will have to repeat it in about a month or so. I dropped her off at her office and went into work for a little while. We had a few issues to work through, infrastructure-wise. We got the phone system up and running but still have a couple other irons in the fire yet. I dropped off the stuff I got done last week, here at home and picked up another stack of work to bring home. I picked up Annie and met Justin & Justin at Arni’s for lunch. They now have fish tacos -so you know I had to try those babies! But I also couldn’t go there and not get a Junior salad. It rained pretty much the whole time we were gone. When we got back to town, it continued raining and would rain the rest of the day – until it started sleeting around bedtime. I dropped off Annie at home so she could nap and picked up Abby to go to Walmart for our supplies before the end of the year. When we got home and put everything away, I continued working and kept on until about 10 pm. Luke got up this morning and went into the high school to man the camera for GTV’s broadcast of the girls’ basketball game. Later, he went to Columbus and picked up a new gaming monitor before heading to wrestling practice. He came home long enough to shower and was back out at the high school, working the camera crew for the girls’ basketball game. That night, we got his audio/video system re-set up after he rearranged his room this week. He was excited when we got it all working again. I’m glad that someone is finally getting some use out of that high-end (but obviously older) equipment. …And it is someone who appreciates the quality of the audio being generated. Ann had me cook steaks on the grill while she made smashed potatoes and cheesy broccoli. It was cold, windy and rainy out back when I was grilling but it really hit the spot and I don’t think there were many leftovers that night! ???? Here are pictures of recent additions to my Hot Wheels collection.
We enjoyed sleeping in again on New Year’s Eve. I got showered and went to the hospital to get my COVID vaccination. The rain and sleet had turned to snow overnight and there was a light dusting on the yard and vehicles when I went out to warm up the car since the temps had dropped nearly 25 degrees since we went out to Walmart yesterday. I ended up having to scrape the windows due to the layer of ice covering everything. Black Betty had another episode. This time it is electrical in nature and wouldn’t shut off. I wound up pulling it up by the garage and pulled the battery out to reboot the system. I decided just to leave it out and drive Barney for a while. We’ll wait until it warms up a little and see if she snaps out of it. I couldn’t find the entrance to the clinic and just went in thru the ER entrance and walked through the hospital. There was a lot more people in the facility this time compared with the last couple times I was in there. The vaccine was easy enough process as there was no one else there; in fact, they had several open slots still. I think it is only open to healthcare workers right now but I’m sure it will open to the public soon. I came home and wrote out all the html code for this week’s blog and we watched a little of the SVU marathon until bowl games started. There was a nasty brawl at the end of the Tulsa game. I was happy to see Ball State won their first ever bowl game! Kimmy sent me a picture of Uncle John’s chair with his BSU sweatshirt over it. I told her I wish he had been here to see it and she sent me the pic of the chair and said he was there. ???? Abby went with Megan out to the cemetery to see Larry (her dad) on his birthday. When Luke got done with wrestling practice, he and Abs went to the store and got supplies for dinner that night. As is typical for us on NYE, it was all appetizers to snack on. Ann and her sous chef Abby made chorizo cheese dip, turkey & cheese sliders, popper dip, corn dip – yum! Abs had originally planned to ring in the new year with Gary but wound up staying home. Matt & Taylor’s plans fell through as well and they wound up staying in that night. Luke went out to a friend’s house and wound up spending the night. We were hoping that we would get a 4th person to play euchre (Matt, Megan, Gary, Sandy) but no one was interested so we wound up playing Yahtzee instead. We broke out the whipped cream vodka and made a few rounds of Big Red Kahunas and Root beer Floats. At midnight we had large glasses of mimosas instead of just champagne. ???? It was so weird watching the Dick Clark’s Rockin’ Eve (where J-Lo looked and sounded amazing!) because there were no people on the streets of Times Square, where there would normally be a million folks packed into Manhattan. We stayed up to have our first cocktail of 2021 and played a couple more games of Yahtzee before calling it a night. Here are random pictures from our recent adventures.
We woke up to a cold, rainy New Years Day. We did enjoy sleeping in – except Luke, who had to get up early and drive back to town, change clothes and then go into work to open the store at Hibbett’s. Molly did good with her doggy diaper again last night. We probably need to buy a couple more of those! Ann made our traditional NYD lunch of Rebel Dogs (Bryan family recipe), coleslaw and twice-baked smashed potatoes. Afterward, we settled in for a long day of college football bowl games. We started off with the Peach Bowl where #8 Cincy took on #9 Georgia. UC led the whole way until the last 2 seconds when the Bulldogs nailed a long field goal. But the play calling on Cincy’s sideline in the 4th quarter and their time management were both the reason why they lost. The Rose Bowl was on next but was only in name. Not only did it not feature a PAC-10 or Big 10 team, but it wasn’t even in Pasadena due to COVID. That’s just sacrilegious. It was the NCAA playoff semi-final game with #4 Notre Dame taking on #1 Alabama. The Irish tried to put up a fight but the Crimson Tide was just too good. During the game, we got a call from Mom O, who said they rushed Dee-Dee to the hospital with severe belly pain. We came over to her house to watch the dogs so they could go to the hospital and get some answers. Well, with the pandemic they weren’t even able to go in and see her. So, they came back while Jamie sat with her. We stayed and visited with the girls as information came in from Jamie and Emily. They eventually took her up to Indy to have emergency surgery. Hopefully they can get her all taken care of and get her back home soon. We came home at halftime of the Rose Bowl and grabbed some leftovers before Gary came down to spend the night. That evening, we watched the Sugar Bowl, which promised to be a better semi-final game than the early one as #2 Clemson faced #3 Ohio State. Unfortunately, the Tigers lost their defensive captain due to a controversial call and an over-reaching rule that removes the player from the game (targeting rule) and that changed the complexion of the game completely – giving the Buckeyes a distinct advantage. So, it will be Ohio State vs. ‘Bama next week for the championship game. Abby, Gary & I played a couple intense games of Sorry, with Garrett sweeping the competition. We enjoyed a glass of Tennessee Honey on the rocks as well as a glass of Tennessee Fire on the rocks while we played in the kitchen.
There was a wintery mix when I got up with the dogs on Saturday morning to get ready for the day. Molly wasn’t interested in the precip and peed at the edge of the porch. Lola did what she had to and came right back in. But Delilah, our crack baby, ran and jumped and rolled and danced in the snow. She was soaked when she finally came back in. I cleaned up the house from last night and waited for the others to get ready. I ran to the bank and gas station then we stopped at Dee & Jamie’s house to pickup supplies for Deanna to take with us as we headed up to Noblesville to meet Dad & Barb at BJ’s Brewhouse. Matt had forgotten about it and so he was a little late – not bad though. It was so good to see those two. I miss not seeing them as regularly as we’d like. We had a couple brews and enjoyed catching up with each other. I enjoyed a few of their Blondes and an order of their cheese curds – both were delicious. They had quite a menu but I wound up going healthy with some sort of power bowl with grilled chicken and cauliflower rice that was really good. The kids opened their presents and we visited for a bit until we had to leave to get Luke back at a decent time for his work. He drove us to downtown Indy so we could drop off clothes and stuff for Deanna. She had emergency surgery last night, overnight, and is recovering well. Ann waited in the lobby for 30 minutes but no one ever came down from her floor to help her. She finally left, disgusted with the lack of attention she was given. We dropped Luke off at Hibbett’s a few minutes late (but he called earlier and then texted when we were about halfway to let work now what was going on) and stopped by DQ on our way to drop Dee’s stuff back off at her home with Jamie. When we got home, the diaper we had on Molly didn’t hold and there was pee in Ann’s chair. It didn’t have the extra pad that the other one does (but it was being washed). We should’ve locked her in the kitchen, but hindsight is usually 20/20. We settled in and turned on the DVR’d IU game. They faced Ole Miss in the Outback Bowl earlier that day. The #11 Hoosiers had a little controversy with their uniforms. On their helmets, they covered the Big 10 logo with a LEO sticker (Love Each Other – their mantra this season). And on their jerseys, they had sewn Outback Bowl patches over the Big 10 logo. The Big 10 screwed them a couple times this year – first not letting them play in the Big 10 championship game and then again when they allowed the lower-ranked Northwestern play in the Citrus Bowl on New Year’s Day. Unfortunately, they came up a little short. Ann took a Maxalt due to her migraine, which made her tired and she went on to bed early. Meanwhile Abs, Gary and I played a few games of Aggravation and Yahtzee. We enjoyed sippers of different liqueurs, including Ancho Reyes, Drambuie, Yukon Jack and Skrewball. We enjoyed introducing Garrett to games that he swears he has never played before… We were happy to hear that Dee’s surgery was not only successful but that she had been released from the ICU and is now in a private room. We have lots of social medica pictures to share.
I think my diabetes might be kicking in as I had to get up twice to pee overnight, which is unusual for me. However, my diet has been horrible these last two weeks – hell let’s just say the last month. And my exercise has been nil as well. I just stayed up the second time and got a jump on our weekly household chores. I did a load of dishes, picked up the kitchen and put away stuff that was being stored in the laundry room. I took out the trash and recycles and then folded Gary’s clothes that Abby washed last night. Abby kicked Lola out of her room and that started her barking. I was indisposed in the restroom and that set into motion a series of unfortunate events. Abs let Lola outside and Molly ran out in her overnight diaper. She tried to stop her and then call her back in, but she went further into the back yard. That upset Abs to no end. She swears she saw her poop out the tail hole and refused to let her back inside. I brought her in, prepared for the worst…but there was no evidence of do-do thankfully! When we asked Abby to run to the store to get supplies for breakfast, her head spun around like Linda Blair in The Exorcist – LOL. So, we decided to let her go back to bed and I ran to Walmart. Ann made biscuits & gravy with hash browns for breakfast and all the kids (Abby, Gary & Luke) joined us. Afterwards, they all went back to bed until the afternoon. When they got up, they all went to Columbus to go shopping while Ann & I napped while doing our thing – she read while I watched football. The Cowboys had a chance to stay in the playoff hunt but couldn’t beat the Giants and so they are finally done with this horrendous season – one of the worst they’ve had in a while. With the Dolphins losing in the early game, the Colts just had to win and they were in the playoffs. They came out strong then let up a little but pulled it out in the end. The Texans had the Titans beat but allowed them to come back and win in a very exciting game. In fact, there were several exciting finishes today. And although the Colts didn’t win the division, they did make the playoffs and now need to win three games to get to the Super Bowl…so we’ll see… Ann made cheesy Fireworks popcorn for dinner and we watched a couple movies that night, including Knowing (an older one with Nick Cage). It was a relaxing way to wind down the week and put a kibosh on the weekend. It has been great slowing down to spend time with the family this week but tomorrow, it’s back to reality…
Next up is our Waybac section which continues to feature two collections – one is from Maryann’s family (Uncle Red) and one from Dee Dee’s first digital camera from 2004. We lead off with the Uncle Red pix: Red in the 50s, Mae Homer and Tommy Shields from Oct 1957; Red & Lindy’s wedding in the 1960s; Red (ready for work) in Sept 1965; the 1965 tornado of Palm Sunday; from spring of 1966 we have Red and his ’56 Oldsmobile; then we see the young couple in May of ‘69; and finally, we have a pic of their What-Nots in 1969; Red & Lindy in the 1980s; the young Owens family in June of 1978, leaving Red & Lindy’s home in Kokomo; Maryann during 1978 Christmas; and Red in his garden in ’79. Next, we move on to Dee’s 2004 pix: April – Keith & Grace on Easter Day; June – Ann, Luke, Maryann & Grace at Luke’s birthday parties; July – a host of pics from the 4th of July…from Gma & Gigi’s house after the parade to our house for swimming and fireworks…then the fair parade, Grace’s birthday and Gigi’s birthday (what a month!); next we have August, where Slushy and the rest of the family met the Campsendelles – Minnie Mabel and Charlie pups; September has Abby’s birthday; November has Mom O’s birthday at our house and Thanksgiving Day at hers; and finally December shows Christmas stuff – including a great picture of Mom B!
Next up is our video segment which features one new home movie as well as several from around the internet.
And that does it for this week’s entry of the Scheu Family Blog. Thanks for keeping up with us this time out and we’ll catch up you again next time. Until then, have a good one and stay safe out there. We miss ya Mom. Happy New Year!
Later, Scheu