We enjoyed a fun, fast and memorable month of May this year. Luke’s quest to be a fireman came up just short again, he went to the Batesville prom, attended Samantha’s graduation, came to Week 19, went kayaking, worked his butt off with numerous jobs (WTRE sales, mowing several lawns, and construction jobs with his buddy Chad), worked out at the YMCA daily and enjoyed spending time with Ms. Sammi. Abby continued working at Sly Fox, spending time with her girlfriends, seeing a few boys, went to the Indy 500, and flew with Ann & I to Florida for Week 19. Even though we didn’t see him, much less talk to him much at all, it was Matt who had the biggest news of all. He continued to work from home as an insurance underwriter and then traveled to Zionsville to work at the middle schools as their events coordinator, mainly at sporting events. He and Taylor are planning a trip to Las Vegas but when we received a text from him that he had proposed to Taylor, we all said the same thing, “It’s about damn time!” 😊 Ann & I continue to plan for retirement and work through the aging process with random health issues. I almost had to miss my first vacation in a decade when I went in for a routine procedure and came out with yet another new heart anomaly. That will cause me to have additional procedures done next month – fun! Over the month of May, I walked over 35 miles (despite our vacation) and played 333 holes of disc golf. Ann spent time with Amy and helped her through some challenging times with her mama. I don’t think she even saw her scrapbooking friends this month…come to think of it; I don’t think I saw any of my poker buddies this month either. We’ll have to make up for that in June! The weather was hot at the start, sagged in the middle of the month and then was like an oven for the last several days after we had the first official day of spring. It really was a great month – the best one we’ve had in a very long time… Hello again and welcome back to the Scheu Family Blog.
The first week of May saw the weather get warmer and drier with each day. I was able to get out and play golf six days in a row…and played very well overall. Matt had huge news – he proposed to Taylor! She came home to find the apartment floor scattered with rose petals. At first, she didn’t know what had happened and thought the cats had gotten into the trash! 😊 Matt called her back to their home office and there he was on one knee and had the ring out and she said yes! There’s no date set yet, but this is a start!! I had a PET CT scan done on my heart on Friday and they had a lot to say. But it wasn’t the results from the scan that was the issue…it was my heartrate as they put me in that device. They said my rate was too high and had some irregularities to it that was concerning. So, they brought in more people and finally cleared me for the test. They had me do a stress test by using medicine – it was a trip! So now I get to visit the cardiologist’s office again, just before we leave for vacation and again a few weeks after we return – joy! I met with a really nice NP who did a great job of answering all our questions and explaining things in a way even I could understand. Basically, the scans revealed that my heart’s plumbing is still good. There’s been virtually no change since the scans that were taken during my heart attack a decade ago. What is different is the electrical part of it and it has some weird rhythms and is beating too fast. So, they want to do a couple things to correct it, such as shocking it and then obliterating it to get rid of the cells that are causing it to act up. It sounds a little scary but the success rate is extremely high…so if it’ll fix the issue, I think I need to do it so I can be around long enough to see my kids grow into adulthood and see our grandchildren and possibly make it to retirement age… Here are pictures from Week 19 this year.
Abby & I enjoyed some time out on the back porch, playing Skip-Bo, Phase 10 and Crazy 8 that weekend. Seth joined us and we were up way too late, as usual! The cocktails, cigars and fire were just perfect that evening. She continues to spend time with her friend Bakr in Bloomington as well as her college girlfriends in Franklin and Seth, here in town. But what has been really nice is her high school friends coming over to spend time – especially Britney and her new little guy, Crew. Delilah just loves him…as do Abs and Annie, of course. Luke has kept busy with part time jobs at WTRE, working construction with his friend Chad, mowing lawns and whatever else comes along. He had enjoyed spending time with Samantha and her family and even attended a wedding. When not in Batesville, the kids spent time hanging out at our house and working out at the YMCA daily. He joined me for a round of disc golf out at the park one night and did really good. In fact, he was keeping pace with me for a while before falling off at the end. Still, I only beat him by a couple strokes on the front tees. He went on to the gym while I moved to the back tees, but he’s a natural! Dad & Lynn met up with Rob & Sharon and went to the ‘Pebble for Week 18. They sent us some really lovely pictures from the beach. From the start of the month, we were just counting down the days until we were on that beach ourselves… Here are prom pictures of Luke and Samantha.
Ann got great news at her annual checkup with her cancer doctor in Indy. Not only is she in complete remission, but she can even move on to generic medicine now because her body is doing so well. We were hoping to go meet up with Matt & Taylor afterward, but they were unavailable. So, we called Abby to see if she wanted to meet up – which she did – so we drove to Greenwood for a late lunch at Cheddar’s. We made it into a work lunch as I gave her some specs to put together a proposal for some sign products for our new IOP building. I played as much disc golf as I could in the two weeks leading up to vacation. Between all the heart stuff and then going to Florida, I knew I wouldn’t be able to do it for a while. If I didn’t play Columbus, I played Greensburg…and on some days I played both! And as the days got hotter and hotter, so did my play. My scores got lower and lower each week. I did notice that with this heart arrhythmia, I had trouble playing more than 18 holes. I would get really tired, so I had to learn to slow down and not walk so fast, take breaks every couple holes and drink lots of water. Still, 27 holes has definitely become my max and the last few holes I have to really slow down. We loaded up Tonya, early on Saturday morning, and headed up to Indy. Security was fairly simple but poor Ann set off the alarms and got to get extra treatment, including being tested for bomb residue! As always, she was quickly proven innocent and we were on our way to the friendly skies. We had enough time to stop for a quick bite to eat and a couple cocktails before our flight. Thankfully, it was an uneventful flight but the head steward was very funny and made it even more enjoyable. We were held up at the car rental for nearly an hour as there was only one person working at the desk. Between the late flight, the rental car BS and then sopping at the grocery store, we had already lost most of the day. But it was sure good to see Dad, Lynn, Rob & Sharon when we got to the Pebble, late that afternoon. We stayed in that night, cooking on the grill and heading out to the beach for a dip in the gulf. It had been ten years since I was last in that ocean. I swore right then and there that I would never wait that long in between visits again. The sunset that night was amazing. We tried to watch it every night we were down there, but just barely missed two of them. The kids and I walked on the beach each morning, to get our steps in for the day. We enjoyed walking down to the fishing pier and drawbridge to the north and then about a mile or so to the south. Here are random pictures from our recent adventures.
We did pretty good to avoid the sun in the heat of the day, focusing our tanning time before noon and after 4. Well, most of us did…Abby decided to get as much sun as she could on the first full day at the beach…and boy did she! She was so sore and deeply regretted that decision for most of the week down there. We did get a little sun time on Sunday afternoon after re-purposing some guy’s umbrella and chairs that we thought had been abandoned the night before. Oops! He was a little ticked when he finally came to the beach that afternoon. After another night of eating-in on Sunday, we enjoyed the Welcome Back party at the tiki hut on Monday afternoon. I’m not sure who the joker was that they hired to play, but he was a bit lackluster. Dad laughed at one point at how much times had changed. Not only was there no rum punch or beers, but no nuts or pretzels either being served. …And to top it off, instead of cups of booze and beer sitting on top of the bar, there were bottles of water. It was one of the few times we were underwhelmed by our experience as owners. We took Dad, Lynn and the kids out to eat at the Conch Republic for dinner that evening and wound up calling it an early night. It was amazing… We had no trouble waking up each morning. The major difference between 405 (Mom & Dad’s condo) and 507 (our new condo) is that the master bedroom has a side window on the north wall that allows the sunrise to peek through the side of the shade. Since we are used to room-darkening shades in our bedroom at home, that bright-ass light had us up at the butt-crack of dawn every morning. Ann & I discussed bringing some Velcro stickers or something to help close that gap next year. We had a great Tuesday. During our shore walk to the north that morning we found a couple of really cool sand sculptures. One was a realistic (and colored) Jesus on a cross and one was an alligator. We dubbed them Sand Jesus & his friend Allah-Gator. Abs & I signed up for the shuffleboard tournament later that morning. Luke & Sam also signed up, as did another father/daughter team (the girl, Sara, formed a little bond with Abby that week). Luke & Sam were the first ones eliminated, losing to Sara & her dad. The finals match was a back-and-forth marathon that Abby & I were able to eventually win. We dubbed ourselves Sand Jesus (me) and Allah-Gator and even reported it that way to the Events Manager at the front desk – LOL. We were hoping to win some cool Sand Pebble swag, but instead were presented with generic tourist items from a local beach store. It was the second time we were underwhelmed at the Pebble. Later that afternoon, we did Snakebites on the beach with a bottle of Patron. That night, Robby made some amazing chicken on the grill. Honestly, it was some of the best chicken I’ve ever had in my life. He IS the Grill Master! After another gorgeous sunset, we played some cards, up in the room until late. What a memorable day it was! Here are yet more random pictures from our recent adventures.
Wednesday brought us another gorgeous day in paradise. After our morning walk, we went to an early lunch at a place called VIP, a small Mexican restaurant just up the beach. Dad & Lynn found this place and although it was a hole in the wall (I think there were only about 7 or 8 tables in the joint), it had some of the best tacos I’ve ever had (and the margaritas weren’t bad either!). The brisket taco was outstanding, as was the birria – yum! The kids and I played another few games of shuffleboard and Abby & I left Week 19 undefeated with bragging rights for the year. 😊 Luke & Sam went for a burger that night while the girls and I went to Krabby’s on the Pass, which was walking distance from the Pebble. Bu really wanted steamed mussels but they were sold out. Instead, we enjoyed one of their rum drinks and fresh fish. We walked down to the Shake Shop to enjoy some ice cream with Dad, Lynn and the kids that evening. We saw some freaky sites on the beach on Thursday morning, including some creepy, voodoo-looking stuff that washed up onto the shore. I broke my sun rule that afternoon and stayed out on the beach most of the day. Even though I applied sunscreen several times, I still got sunburned pretty good on my chest and nose. That evening, we took family pictures at sunset on the beach and had a good time doing it. Ann & Lynn took Lukey & Sam to the airport a day early on Friday morning. They stopped for breakfast at some boujee place. Dad took Rob & I to Lisa’s Café – a small café just up the beach from us. We had cocktails with our breakfast that really hit the spot. They kept trying to get us to buy breakfast shots – LOL! We enjoyed the day at the pool and occasionally made it down to the beach for a last-day dip in the gulf. We found some cool shells out there that day. It was a clean-out-the-fridge day for lunch as we all pooled our leftover food for a grand meal at the tiki bar. We took Rob & Sharon out for dinner at Dockside Dave’s that evening, where Abby finally got her mussels! 😊 We watched the sunset at Rob & Sharon’s condo with Dad & Lynn and then enjoyed an outstanding peanut butter pie from Zukie’s – wow! We wound up calling it an early night to rest up for our travel day in the morning. We have a ton of social media pictures to share this week.
We had a bit of a delay on our flight home after the plane hit a bird on the descent to the airport. The flight itself was really turbulent but we made it back safely. We got home and put everything away while Abby left to go with her friends – that girl is always on the go! Ann & I wound up at El Reparo for dinner that evening to wrap up a long day in style. We took it easy that night and on Sunday as well. We also took Monday off and took full advantage of it by napping a few times. I wound up driving over to Columbus on Sunday to play disc golf with the league. I played with a couple guys, one of which was my buddy, Jonathan. It was not my finest round, since it was the first one in like 10 days, so… We returned to work on a Tuesday that was crazy busy from start to finish. Wednesday was more of the same as I had a 12-hour day…meaning Ms. Ann had one as well (sorry babe). It was our Annual Competency Fair, where the management team trained the entire staff all day long. I don’t know why we don’t do these trainings online in this day and age… After missing a couple days of golf, I was able to get out and play after yet another long day of work on Thursday. We actually got done with our meetings early, allowing me to play 9 at the Air Park and then 18 at Donner. I was pretty sore that night but it felt pretty good to get out and move. I had a little trouble with the heart monitor the doc is making me wear. Although Ann shaved my chest (and back before we left!), my fat, sweaty ass still had trouble keeping that adhered to my breastbone. Luke met us at Lowe’s after work that night. We exchanged 3 of our dead shrubs that we planted last year for new ones. Luke was kind enough to bring over the old and transport the new ones. To thank him, we took him to eat at Don Jose Tacos, the newer Mexican restaurant just down the road from Ann’s office. We ended up going in to work on Friday morning so Ann could help cover the front desk. But we only worked a half day and went to Five Guys and called it a day. Abby, Luke & I played cards out on the back porch that evening, enjoying a fire and stogies. Abs wound up going out to see her old friend, Baker Howard, at the Tapp then came home with Seth to play cards. I was too tired and wound up going to bed before they came home. She was able to give him our gift – a tee shirt with a picture of Lola that reads, “Crusty Dog Lover.” 😊 Here is the final batch of Hot Wheels pictures I’d taken back in March / April.
We were up early on Saturday morning to get cleaned up and go to Batesville for Samantha’s high school graduation. Afterward, we went out to her house where her parents had family over to celebrate with a nice lunch of homemade food. That evening, Abby went on to Bloomington to spend the night with Bakr. She only had a couple hours of sleep before they headed up to the track for the Indy 500. Actually, they weren’t even there for the race – just the party. They had tickets to the Snake Pit, where there was a concert of EDM music with a DJ. She stayed the night back in Bloomington again that evening. Luke & Sam stayed the night at her folks’ house that evening, after spending the whole day with her extended family – celebrating her big day. The next morning, they drove to Bloomington on Monday morning to go kayaking with Abby & Bakr on Memorial Day. They had a great time but got done late. Meanwhile, Ann & I worked in the backyard on Sunday. She cleaned the back porch and replaced the carpet while I filled in holes, laid grass seed and planted our three new shrubs while blaring the Indy 500 on the big speaker (the neighbors heard it too!). I was happy to see Josef Newgarden win, though it would’ve been cool to see TK or Helio win as well. Ann made biscuits & gravy on Monday morning and then later, we had steaks & shrimp on the grill, along with corn on the cob and baked red potatoes. Before it got too hot that day, I got out and played 18 holes of golf at the park. Because the kids got back from kayaking so late, they decided to just stay the night in Bloomington one more night, allowing Ann & I to have a quiet day and evening with the dogs. After opening up the house when we returned from Florida, we had to close it all back up the final 6 or 7 days of the month because it was up in the 80s and 90s. We were hoping to go a little longer before turning on the air, but we couldn’t wait any longer. Big thanks go out to Lukey, who was a huge help and did all the heavy lifting for me this year. It was a great way to wrap up a long weekend and an amazing month of May…
Next up is our Waybac segment, which continues to feature photos from Deanna’s old digital camera in 2008. We lead off this time with January pictures – the girls at the Children’s Museum in Indy as well as a few pictures from the plane in NYC; next is March – the sunrise on Matt’s birthday as well as a couple pix from Chad’s visit to Texas Stadium; in July we have a ton of pictures from the 4th of July as well as a couple of goodies from Sandy’s birthday; August has pictures of the girls at the King’s Island; there’s a couple pictures from Abby’s birthday party in September and then we wrap up pictures from Christmas Eve.
Next up is our video section, which includes one great video from this month as well as several from around the internet.
And that does it for this edition 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