Originally posted on 9/22/08…
It’s been a long week for Ann and me. Ann, especially, has been under the weather this week. In fact, her office has been hit pretty hard with a nasty little bug that has seen them short – staffed each day but Friday. Poor Ann has coughed non-stop for nearly five days straight now. I would also like to take this opportunity to thank her for passing on a variant of that bug to me (thanks honey…Happy Anniversary to you, too!). J We received the remnants of hurricane Ike (thanks Mom – you’re supposed to keep those!). We had sustained winds at 38 MPH with gusts topping 60 MPH! Ike kindly ripped out a half dozen panels from the back soffit. It made the grass in the backyard look like a prairie. It was funny watching Lola try and bite at the wind…and it made our pool look like a Jacuzzi! Although we didn’t lose power (except for a flicker or two), our neighbors across the street did for about 24 hours. Believe it or not, as I write this a week after that storm blew through; we still have thousands of folks in the state without power. We can only imagine how awful that would be… And, whereas we had been enjoying some much-cooler temps that forced our overnight lows in to the 50’s (and gave our A/C’s a nice break), Ike also brought on an “Indian summer.???
Matt’s football team rebounded nicely this week, with a 19-0 whipping of North Decatur. There was a nasty hit towards the end of the game, where two members of our secondary crushed their running back out in the flat; and he didn’t back up. They eventually called an ambulance, but it took about 15 minutes for it to arrive (and it was only a few blocks away). They wheeled him off as his teammates lined-up to applaud and encourage him as he left the field. We found out a couple days later that he was fine, just bruised ribs. Matt had a whale of a game, too (earning him my game ball!). He played the entire first half…and when I say that, I mean the entire first half! It was really cool to see him rise to the challenge. It seems that a few of his teammates got into some trouble this week and were forced to miss the first half of the game. This meant that Matt played upback on the kickoff-receiving team, defensive tackle, place kicker on the kickoff team, guard on the extra-point team, and center on the offense!! He played great. He had a couple of great blocks, including one where he and the left guard (his buddy, Brad Wilson) split the defense up the middle, leading to a 50+ yard scamper for TD. He also had a great kick that went about 40 yards and one that was an on-side kick that we should’ve recovered. But it was on defense where he really shined. He made his daddy proud with 2 QB sacks and three other solo tackles. He was fired up and hustled more than we’d seen him do all year! I just hope the coaches were paying attention…
But really, this week was about Abby. She received straight A’s on her midterms (can you believe she already has midterms??)! On Tuesday, our little Bu turned 9…we teased her that she was really growing up; as it’s the last time she’ll celebrate a birthday with only one digit. The lucky lady will ultimately end up with three parties this year! The first was held on the 16th, with just a little private one at home with just us. She got three of those little annoying Huru Humi’s (pronounced “who are you, who am I???). They are interactive and have a virtual world online that Abby has been enthralled with ever since. They are totally right up her alley. Whoever made these is a genius and I anticipate them being big for Christmas once other kids see them. She also enjoyed her favorite dinner, chicken fettuccini. That morning, she also enjoyed birthday (pan) cakes! Today, we had a nice little party with cake (a Lola cake!) and ice cream with the extended family and friends. She received a very nice Longaberger tea set that she and Grace broke-in after the party. Then, next week, she is having a slumber party with all her little friends… Her soccer team played great yesterday, slaying those mean green guys from Sunman 6-0. We pulled the dogs back in the fourth quarter and still scored a goal! Abby almost got one herself! She played great defense, as did the entire team. We had a great couple of practices this week which really set the tone. Plus, we were finally at home AND had our entire compliment of kids (all 10 showed up, as it was picture day as well!) for the first time this year. The Sunman coach was a really loud, obnoxious, condescending, miserable oaf. He nearly got escorted from the grounds, as he complained the entire game. This was not his first run-in with the officials and they were on him! He was mean, demeaning and rude to his players. I was embarrassed for him and made a couple of sarcastic cracks that he didn’t appreciate. After the game, Ann informed me that I had been asked to meet with the president of the Greensburg soccer league. I thought for sure I was in trouble for my comments, but it turned out they wanted my input on the redneck coach’s tirades, which I was only happy to provide. The kiddos were so thrilled after the game! It was really cool to see, as it was a long time coming… I received the nicest compliment from one of the Sunman parents. A lady came up to me after the game and said that one of our players (Abby’s good friend and Phyllis & Dick’s granddaughter, Emma) had stopped to help up her daughter from the ground during the middle of the game. I can only assume that she had not seen that type of behavior even once the entire year from her child’s team and thought that she needed to say that we were doing a good job coaching our kids. I actually felt sorry for the parents on that other team…
The Greensburg 2008 Tree City Fall Festival was this weekend. Friday night, Ann wasn’t feeling up to going out, so I took the kids out to eat and meander uptown. While Matt ran off with his buddies, the younger ones and I took in the sights, sounds and smells up on the courthouse square lawn. I think this was the biggest Friday night crowd I’ve seen since I’ve been here. Granted, the weather was absolutely gorgeous the entire weekend, but people were really out in full force. We watched the lip-sync contest for a while. By far, the best entry was the only male entry – an homage to Belushi & Akroyd in the classic Blues Brothers skit on SNL back in ‘76. They were spot on with the roaring version of Soul Man and the crowd was really in to it as well! Lukey (and Abby as well) really enjoyed getting his hair done by the fine folks at Concepts Salon & Day Spa’s booth. Luke got lots of looks from the ladies with his retro “no??? hawk (as he calls it!). He was too cute! The also enjoyed a game of football in the jumper booth.
Saturday, Abby’s team took the team late due to the Fall Festival parade. We totally forgot about it again this year. That makes three years in a row. We instead worked on the backyard, including closing the pool for the season. Ann and I were supposed to get out for the night to celebrate our anniversary early. However, she again didn’t feel up to going. We were supposed to go to Indiana Downs race track in Shelbyville for her work’s awards ceremonies. Instead, that allowed me to take the two little ones back uptown for an evening of music. We got there in time to catch the later half of the Indy band, RivetShack’s set. They were just OK. They were followed by local boys, “Skeeter McGee.??? They sounded very good tonight, even though the crowd was still gathering and talking / eating. Abby and Lukey joined them on the stage for a rollicking version of I’m A Believer. It was not done in the same arrangement as the classic Monkee’s sound. Instead, it was the Smash Mouth version, found on the Shrek soundtrack. They were cute up there dancing, just like they do at the end of that classic movie. The headlining act this year was Asia. Yes, the 80’s super group, although nowadays, they are touring as Asia, featuring John Payne, as there are no original members in this band any longer. When I first heard they had gotten Asia as the headliner, I knew immediately that Steve Howe was not coming to Greensburg, IN! J
Here’s a short review of the show. The first set was plagued with guitar issues, as Guthrie Govan worked diligently to restore power to his amp. To their credit, the band never missed a beat (thanks to a lengthy, classical-inspired, keyboard solo – which also drove away a few hundred or so people from the event). Govan’s chops were very clean and the band was rock solid. The musicianship far outshined the basic fact that Asia is still a boring-ass, English, pop-rock band. The chord progressions are still top notch and the bridges and solos show that the boys can definitely play their instruments like pros. They just have a very serious, sullen vibe to the band…most likely due to the heavy keyboards in the music. They did not disappoint with playing the three songs everyone came to see: Only Time Will Tell, Heat of the Moment and Sole Survivor. But, they surprised everyone with great hard, progressive rock performances on Go and on their final performance of the night, Free. In my opinion, the other 10 or so songs were just throwaways that had ‘moments’ at best. Payne has a great voice and the rhythm section was tight. There was no encore this night, as the crowd that began the night as a couple thousand was left with only a couple hundred by the time they took their bows and began their meet and greet. The band had a great attitude and I would’ve loved to chat with them and share a pint in the beer gardens with the lads, if it weren’t for my two beautiful, soundly-sleeping anchors! But it was cool to finally get to see some live music this summer and I’m already looking forward to next year’s event…
OK, let’s switch on the Way Back Machine.
Leading off, we have a picture of my sophomore year, 1984, where I earned a spot on the varsity as an outside linebacker:
Oh this is lovely…we now fast forward to Christmas 1990. Looks like I was going for the ZZ Top look on this one. Go Cowboys!
Here’s Matt in May 2000, before we departed for our Florida vacation. I’ll bet they wouldn’t let him do that nowadays!
Next up is an Easter picture from 1998. This was taken in our backyard when we still lived on Main St.
Here’s Grandmaw & Grandpaw Bryan, circa 2001. It looks like this was taken on Pine Lake in LaPorte, IN.
Here’s Matt, Grandma & Gigi in the 4th of July Parade in 1997. Is that a cracker in those cheeks?
Here’s Mom & I in anothe era… I believe this picture was taken at the St. Louis Zoo in 1970.
Here’s a good picture! Ann and I must’ve just started dating, so I’d say this is about 1993 or so. This was taken at “Dream House??? in Rossville in the sunroom. That house was pretty cool…
Here we have Ann & Stacy at Spring Break, circa ’92.
Next up is the Owens family at Keith’s graduation from Cal Tech in 1988. Keith, who’s the little hottie??? J
Oh boy, here is another embarrassing one. This is the summer of 1976. I had just attended a basketball camp at Lafayette Jeff High School, where I earned the “Charlie Hustle??? award.
Here’s a motley crew. This was taken about ’94, I’d say. Looks like it was one of Rob’s visits to Columbus, where Ann and I had a little townhouse.
This one’s for you, Barb!! J Here’s Grandpa Scheu, circa Valentine’s Day, 1968.
Here’s Abby at Disney on Ice, circa 2001. We saw Toy Story 2 and this was “cone??? that originally held popcorn. I think this was taken in the brand new (at the time) Conseco Fieldhouse in Indy.
We saw Danny & Curtis at the Fall Festival’s beer garden. It was good to see those guys again. Here is a picture from about a decade or so ago.
In tribute to Abby’s birthday party today, here is Matt in all his Barney – loving glory!! J I love you, Matthew!! This would’ve been his 3rd birthday party, so it would be circa March ’99.
We end this long entry with a classic photo. This is currently our wallpaper on our PC, here at home. This was taken in our living room on Main St. Judging by the balloons, this was taken at Abby’s birthday party in Sept, 2000.
Well that’s it for this week. Thanks for reading… See you next week! By the way, here is the missing Lola picture from last week:
