We’ve already sped through another week. I’m just not sure how this week could’ve been any faster than last week…but somehow it did. Matt worked in Carmel for Cathy and then coached wresting in Zionsville. Abby survived Finals Week at FC and with it, wrapped up the first semester of her senior year. She hung around campus after everything shut down and saw her boyfriend off, who returned to his overseas home. Luke endured his last full week of school in 2021. He spoke to the head coach of Hanover, who visited the high school this week. He continued to workout at school and at the Y several times daily. Ann finished working for the year and had a big medical procedure done this week. She is healing nicely, getting around well on her own and is in excellent spirits. I had a fast work week, only going into the office three times this week. It alternated between being frigidly cold and constantly raining. With all the bad weather and extra stuff going on this week, I only managed to log six miles of exercise and did not have a chance to play any frisbee golf. However, I did get to spend a little time with friends at least – and the best thing (besides Ann not dying on the table this time) was that we got to enjoy our present to each other – our new liquor cabinet! We’ve been wanting one for a few years now and this week it finally came to fruition. We can’t wait to enjoy it in the coming weeks… Hello and welcome to the latest installment of the Scheu Family Blog.
It was back to work and school on Monday morning after a short night. It was a chilly start to the week with temps down in the lower 20s. I encouraged Luke to let his Hot Rod Lincoln warm up for about 10 minutes since he no longer has a functional ice scraper. It was another lovely sunrise with the sky on fire as we commuted back to Columbus. Ann worked up front all day, so her day went really fast but left no time for her to do her own work. She had a few loose ends to tie up before she starts her leave the following day, so she wound up staying late that night. I spent the morning catching up on paperwork as well as the happenings over the weekend. After our flash meeting with Jim, I was able to get a good jump on replacing the dietary water heater, which we found leaking a week or so ago. There are many hoops to jump through for capital expenses these days – not like it used to be a decade ago. Still, if corporate is going to pay for the upgrade and not come out of my local budget, I don’t mind the extra steps. I was a little late getting out of work, but since Ann was running late, I still managed to walk three miles around the airport property. It wasn’t too bad out there…until the sun began to set. I walked the final mile in the dusk glow before picking up Annie and heading home. It was already dark by the time we left town. Luke worked out at school a couple times then went to Hibbett’s to work for a couple hours before going out to the YMCA to lift again. By the time he got home, I was already in bed. We had a quick, find-your-own dinner that evening and watched a couple DVR’d shows before flipping on the MNF game. I was culled pictures and videos for this week’s blog entry as well as figured out how to share photos from the i-cloud website. I shared all the pictures from yesterday’s Scheu Fam Xmas party at Kimmy’s house. I was nodding off before I even finished backing up all the new pix & vids and fought it for about a half hour before going on to bed at halftime. As it turns out, I wound up beating Jamie in fantasy football this week – and with the victory, I was able to capture first place in our league and now will have the #1 seed in the playoffs this week! Here are the pictures from the Christmas party I was just talking about… Here are pictures from the Scheu family Christmas party last weekend at Kimmy’s house.
After another short night, I was up at 4 am to get ready and take Ann to her surgery appointment at CRH that morning. This is the surgery she tried to do a couple years ago when she ended up dying on the table for a few seconds. We were planning on better outcomes this time. George & Dan took good care of her and she was thrilled that she was able to secure her favorite anesthesiologist for the procedure as well. I told George I didn’t want another call interrupting my breakfast like last time! ???? The RNs were so nice and instantly put us at ease, despite the issues from last time. We said our goodbyes and I grabbed some breakfast and assumed my favorite position in the waiting room across the hall. I’ve lost track of how many times I’ve been in this spot as I write this entry, but I swear this is the same chair and table that have been here for 30 years! Not that it’s a bad thing; it’s great furniture. I edited pictures while biding my time and praying for her to be strong, healthy and safe…oh – and stay alive! She was in surgery for over two hours. Thankfully those prayers were answered and she did great. I spoke to George afterwards and he said she did great. I sent out some text messages to family with the update and waited until I could join her. I wound up falling asleep in the waiting room…I’m sure I didn’t snore at all… I finally had to go ask about her status after about 90 minutes but they couldn’t find her. About 15 minutes later I received a phone call, saying she was finally out of recovery and into a room. She was in good spirits but obviously drowsy. Dan & George both dropped in to see her while she recovered. Once she peed, we were allowed to leave. I brought her home that afternoon and she got all set up in her comfy clothes in her recliner. I ran a few errands and even did some Christmas shopping that evening. Meanwhile Matt worked from home and dealt with the insurance company, trying to get his shots in his back tomorrow covered. I think he was still working on that when I went to bed that night. Abby had a couple finals that she said she felt good about. She already had one on Monday and has two tomorrow before she is done. But she’s gonna hang out at the Sig house with Will and then take him to the airport on Saturday before she finally comes back home. Luke went to school but didn’t feel well all day. He worked at Hibbett’s after school before coming home. I don’t think he worked out at the Y that evening, so I know he didn’t feel very good. I ordered Pizza King pizzas for dinner and fell asleep early. I went on to bed at about the time my mom used to, I think – worn out from the long, stressful day… Here are random pictures from our recent adventures.
I didn’t sleep very well overnight and was up early on Wednesday morning. Whenever I am congested, it makes it very difficult for me to wear my c-pap. I’ve seen a new product advertised, but it sounds too good to be true… I asked Ann again if she wanted me to stay back and work from home but she said I should go on to work and get out of her hair – she didn’t need anyone hovering. …Typical for the Big Red Kahuna… But she did fine. I headed into work when it was still dark. Because of the heavy cloud cover, there was no sunrise. In fact, I didn’t even see the sun today because of the overcast conditions – until the very end of the day. I got to work early and dropped off presents for Jim (Ann picked up a pair of crazy socks for him) and Lenny (I picked up some smelly lotion for her that Dennis recommended while getting candles for Ann at Bath & Body Works last night) in their offices. I had a fast day, catching up on emails and paperwork all morning. After lunch at Great Wall with the guys, I did my annual evals for my employees before calling it a day. I got out late again from work, but since I was in town alone, I was still able to walk over three miles around the airport property. It was actually really nice – at least the cloud cover kept it warm all day. If not for the strong breeze, I probably could’ve walked without my sweatshirt. After I finished up, I came back to town and ran out to Bryan’s house. I gave him his Christmas present (a bottle of bourbon – big shocker) and picked up a piece of audio equipment for Sandy. She is doing a remote broadcast from Wolf Theaters. She has country music singer Jimmy Wayne coming up from Nashville as a guest star at the Ugly Sweater Event. They are showing the movie he made, based on his life called Paper Angels. She even got the recycling center to sponsor it because those sweaters are so ugly, they need to be recycled! ???? I delivered the equipment to Sandy and spoke for a couple minutes with her and Mom. Mom looked good and had been baking cookies all day. I brought home a bag for Ms. Ann and was told I could have one but the rest were for her daughter, with which I complied. LOL! I swapped out the vehicles and shuffled them in the driveway. I prepped Betty White to pick up the new liquor cabinet that Ann bought over the weekend. We caught up for a while then I “made??? dinner of warmed-up Pizza King pizzas. We took it easy that evening, watching the FBI shows and Oak Island. Luke had a good day at school. He said he felt better than yesterday. He played basketball with some teachers after school then came home and hung out in his room, playing PS4 all night.
I tried to be quiet when I got up for work on Thursday. It was warm that morning – eerily warm in the 60s. However, it was rainy and as the front moved through, it got colder and colder as the day progressed. By the time I got home from cards that night, it was in the low 30s. Ann had a good day. She took out her tube by herself and finally peed! ???? I had a fast day at work. I did my weekly rounds and morning paperwork before grabbing Justin and heading over to Facing Home, where I picked up the liquor cabinet Ann purchased last weekend. We easily got it loaded into Black Betty. It was bigger than I thought but it still fit like a glove. We grabbed some takeout from Great Wall and I worked on a few items around the office before heading out a little early to meet up with Abby. Abs had finished all her finals and had to move out of her dorm room that day. She got everything loaded into Tonya for a couple weeks and is shacking up at the Sig house for a couple days before she runs Will to the airport this weekend. She wanted a pair of heels to go out in and so I met up with her at 450N for a couple drinks and a snack. We split a pretzel and totchos over a couple glasses of their Simmons wine. We started off with the blueberry, then did a rhubarb and finished with a blackberry. They had half-priced glasses, so how could we say no? She was on a time crunch, so we kept it short but it was nice catching up with her for a bit. I stopped by Needlers on my way home and picked up supplies to make our game day sandwich that evening. When I got to the house, Amy was there, visiting Ms. Ann. She had brought over dinner – enough for several meals, actually – of sloppy Joe, baked mac & cheese and homemade slaw. It was all very good – thx Ames! Ann supervised me as I made the food myself that evening. She’s a great teacher and it turned out really good! Luke came home, tired from working out after school. It got dark really early that night and was already pitch black by the time he got home. Once the oven timer went off, I loaded up and headed over to Mark & Sandy’s house, which I jokingly dubbed the “Wolterin’ Hole.??? ???? We were short-handed again that evening but did have enough to enjoy an evening of cards, football, food and of course drinks. The football game was really good and went into OT before the Chiefs bested the Chargers. Bob won the NFL pick ‘em competition last week with a perfect score – wow! Beside Mark & I, Bryan, Bob & eventually Alan rounded out that evening’s crew. We had a good time and played dozens of games. I was up early, but in the end, wound up down $3. Not up to my usual standards – LOL! By the time I got home, everyone was asleep and it was really cold. I actually had to defrost the van’s windshield before I left Mark’s house. I planned to stay up and work on the blog a little, but I instantly fell asleep on the couch and woke up a couple hours later with a sore throat and headache from snoring so much, I’m sure! We have lots of social media pictures to share this week.
I tried to sleep in a little on Friday morning, but Lola had other plans. She had shit in the living room and kitchen and was barking at the door like a fool. Once I got things cleaned-up, I went ahead and setup my computer and began working in my pajamas. I didn’t even brush my teeth before I checked my first email. I could get used to this work-from-home thing! I worked about seven hours and then stopped for lunch and wound up taking a nap. Despite a vague warning on Tik Tok of violence at the schools today (apparently, this was a nationwide threat), we allowed Luke to go to class that morning. He had to scrape his windshield since the temps were in the 20s that morning, which I think might have made him late. He had a fast day then came home a little early. He got dressed up for the basketball game and headed off to hit the cheer block. He took a hard hat for the construction theme that night. The Pirates had some injuries to the bball team and they wound up losing that night – their first loss of the season. Abby enjoyed the day off from school, doing stuff with Will and working for a little while as well. Luke got home early that night – especially for a Friday night. But he said his buddies were all busy and his best friends never even made it to the game, so he got bored and just came home. Ann & I took it easy that afternoon and evening. It rained pretty much all day. It was an ugly day on top of it – grey and overcast – and just plain cold. We looked at our fantasy football teams and realized that We napped for a bit and then began watching our favorite Christmas movies that we always watch this time of year. We started with the Charlie Brown Christmas and the original Grinch cartoons then put on Die Hard – yes, it is a Christmas movie! We wrapped up the evening watching Elf before calling it a night.
It was STILL raining when we got up on Saturday morning. Delilah loved it and was barking to be let out before the sunrise. She ran around like a banshee in the steady rain and when she finally came back in, she was soaked. The good thing about her, though, is that she’ll allow you to dry her. We took it easy and watched a couple shows and then started cleaning up the family room. We removed a few things and moved some furniture around and then Luke helped me bring in our new liquor cabinet. That afternoon, Luke went into work at Hibbett’s until late that night. Meanwhile, Abby dropped Will off at the airport, where he headed back to Norway. Ann & I enjoyed the quiet time with dogs and we all took naps as we watched more Christmas movies, including The Santa Clause and The Wizard of Oz. When Abs got home, we got her unloaded and ran a few errands for Annie. Once we finished, we got cleaned-up and took Ms. Ann out of the house for the first time for dinner at El Reparo. Abs & I split a pitcher and with our tacos. She got her fish tacos while I got the Mexican style tacos with al pastor (pork) that were delicious! When we got back home, Abs and I moved all our liquor out to the cabinet in the den and organized it all. I was surprised at how full it was when we finished! That evening, we watched WW84 – yes, it is also a Christmas movie! Abby took apart her desk in order to make room in her room. We flipped over and watched the Colts game. It was an exciting win over their archrivals – the Patriots. The last time they beat the Pats, Manning defeated Brady! Luke had Brayden over for a bit then they went out to spend the night at Oak’s house that night. Here are pictures of recent additions to my Hot Wheels collection.
We enjoyed sleeping in on Sunday morning. I still wound up getting up earlier than I needed due to nasal congestion and the inability to breathe through my nose with my c-pap on. I enjoyed a quiet morning with the dogs, watching the #3 Boilers blowout the Butler Bulldogs in the Crossroads Classic at the Indy Fieldhouse. I watched a couple DVR’d shows and wrote out the html code to this week’s blog entry before everyone else got up and Luke came home from Oak’s house. I did our weekly household chores and helped Abby get her Chromecast working again. Ann & I both got in naps before the NFL games started. Luke joined me in the living room to watch football on the big screen and we flipped between Red Zone and the Cowboys game. The Cowboys defense looked whole lot better than the offense. But they did enough to win the game and put themselves in a great position to not only make the playoffs but maybe even win the division! Afterward, we flipped off football and watched a couple more Christmas movies, including Christmas with the Kranks. Ann made spicy cheesy Fireworks popcorn for dinner that was just perfect for a cold, December night. Luke went out with his buddies for dinner in Westport at Pizzalicious. Abs went out to do some Christmas shopping and came home later with Molie. They helped out Ms. Ann that evening by wrapping a bunch of presents for her. We watched Brady & the Bucs on SNF while the girls did their thing…well, Ann read while I napped but we had football on in the background. I eventually woke up and since it was too early to go to bed, I grabbed some Rebel ice cream from the freezer and we watched the new episode of Yellowstone. It was a nice way to wind down the weekend and a relaxing way to put a cap on yet another week before we turn around and start it all over again in the morning…
Next up is our Waybac segment which continues to feature pix from Dee’s digital camera in 2006. We lead off in March for more pix of the girls during their daytrip to Chicago; in May we see more fun pix at out house on Memorial Day weekend; in July we see the Decatur Co fair; July has Abby’s birthday weekend and Keith’s birthday party in NY; October has a couple great pix of Gracie visiting Gma at work in the high school cafeteria in her Halloween costume; November has more pix from Thanxmas at Mom & Sandy’s house; and in December we have Christmas Eve at Gma & Gigi’s house, the girls enjoying a spa day and then a visit from Santa at the elementary school.
Next up is our video segment, which features one new home movie this week as well as several others 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, Mom.
Later, Scheu