Another week in the rearview mirror already. Mom always said that the weeks go faster and faster as you get older. We enjoyed seeing all the kids this week and even more, we had them all together for a while and even though it was just a couple hours – for those moments, all was right in the world again. It really was good to see those kiddos; we miss them. Everything seemed to be down this week: the temperatures, the farmer’s fields and the leaves on most of the trees in the area. We enjoyed celebrating Mom O’s birthday but were also sad when we had to put one of her dogs to sleep. Matt worked from home in Carmel and led wrestling practices in Zionsville. He held Z-West practices on Tuesday and Thursday as well as a combined practice at the high school on Wednesday. He enjoyed some quality time with his sister this week as well. Speaking of Ms. Abby, she had a full week of classes in Franklin, worked each day in Greenwood and still found time to spend with her family, friends and her boyfriend. Luke had a full week of classes as he continues to wind down the first semester of his senior year in Greensburg. He did not work at all this week; instead, he enjoyed lifting weights and spending time with friends and family. Ann and I had a full week of work in Columbus that went pretty fast, thankfully. I enjoyed spending a little time with my buddies this week but fell a couple miles short of my walking goal – thanks in part to the nasty weather, which kept me from mowing this weekend as well as held me to only one round of frisbee golf – early in the week. It was good to talk with Rob and Dad B for a while this week. There’s always something going on with that man, I swear… It was good to catch up with those guys; I don’t call them like I should, unfortunately. Despite the cold, wet weather – we really did miss not going to watch Luke play football. Usually, we have a winter sport to help lift us back up…but with Luke not wrestling and nor playing basketball this year, we’re sort of lost. We’ll have to figure out what to do this winter, I suppose…now that the first snow of the season fell today! Hello again and welcome to the latest version of the Scheu Family Blog.
It was back to work and school on Monday morning. Matt worked from home in Carmel and had a doctor appointment that day. He received a couple shots in his back to help relieve the issues with legs being numb, following his last surgery that has never subsided. Thankfully, it shouldn’t impede his ability to get on the mat and coach wrestling this week. Abby had a full day of classes and then had her formal Greek meeting that evening. Luke had a “boring??? day at school. I’m not sure if he lifted that night or not. He was headed out to Oak’s house as we were getting home that evening. They had some gals coming over from Jac-Cen-Del that evening. When he got home, he grabbed a quick bite to eat then retreated to his room to play on the PS4 until bedtime. We really didn’t see much of him at all that day. Ann & I both had fast days at work. Justin took Tena and I out for a working lunch at Yee Kee. After work, I walked a 5K on a much warmer evening. What a difference a week makes. It was gorgeous – sunny and almost 70. I didn’t even wear a sweatshirt outside. It was already dusk by the time we got back to town, but I still wanted to play a quick round of frisbee gold out at the park. It was so dark when I finished that I didn’t even see my disc land on my tee from 9 – lol. Still, I threw really well, logging a 22 on the front tees. We watched a couple DVR’d shows that evening, including the first two episodes of the new Dan Brown show called The Lost Symbol. Here are pictures from Luke’s Senior Night – as seen through the lens of his Gigi.
Tuesday was another warmer day, though not quite as nice as yesterday. It was again up in the 60s, but only the lower and it was dark and overcast all afternoon. Ann & I had fast days at work again. I treated Vic & Justin to lunch at Snappy Tomato before Justin leaves for vacation. He is headed to Colorado to go elk and bear hunting for a couple weeks. Justin and I had an orientation class, which tied up most of my afternoon. By the time I got outside, I was a little late and wound up a little short of three miles. By the time we got home that night, it was pitch black and there was no chance I was gonna play any frisbee golf. Ann made dinner and we watched a couple more episodes of The Lost Symbol until we fell asleep early and went on to bed. Luke got off school and went to watch the girls’ basketball game and got home just as I was headed off to bed. Matt returned to wrestling practice that evening in Zionsville. I talked to Dad that evening. He has decided to sell he and Mom’s house in Florida. They’ve decided to move into a retirement, gated community. It has all the amenities and has different levels of care available. He’s going to sell everything and buy new. I get it; it puts everything behind him so he can move forward with Lynn. She is planning to sell one of her homes as well. They expect to move into the new place in about two years. It is on the east coast, near Jacksonville. Ann stayed out in her chair when I went to bed. I left the dogs out with her and Luke, in the living room. At some point, Delilah hopped into bed with me and when Ann came to bed in the middle of the night, she wound up sleeping with us. She did great and I didn’t even realize she was in there until the morning.
We took Black Betty into work on a foggy Wednesday morning. It was so quiet in the penthouse that day with Justin out. In his absence, I was able to get a lot done that day and before I knew it, it was time to go walking. It was another lovely day in the 60s. I logged a little under three miles again that afternoon. Abby texted us earlier that morning and asked if we could come up to take her shopping for supplies and maybe take her out to eat so she can have a break from Saga. We drove up after work and picked her and Will up from her dorm room. She said they are now officially dating – not just friends. Ann & I joked that we knew for weeks but we’re glad they finally realized their situation. We went to Big Woods for dinner and drinks. We enjoyed a couple Six Foot Strawberry Blondes and Octoberfests as well as shots of the new maple bourbon crème and Abs had a couple mixed drinks as well. We had the pretzels and cheese before our dinners came to the table. Will and I got burgers, Ann had a salad and Abs had pork nachos. It was all very good, as usual. Afterward, we went to Walmart and did some shopping – well they shopped while I went Hot Wheels hunting and wound up picking up about two dozen new cars. Dad called again while we were in Walmart and said that just hours after he listed his house, it sold! So now he has to be out in a couple weeks or sooner. They’re thrilled but now they need to figure out where they’re going to live as well as what to take with them as the new owners want all the furniture! Of course, I suggested they come stay with us, but I knew they didn’t want to come freeze with us up here! We said our goodbyes and headed on home, getting back before 10. We watched a couple DVR’d shows before falling asleep. We didn’t see much of Luke. After school, he lifted weights at the YMCA then came home and played on his PS4, which is where we found him. He never came out and wound up going to bed before we did… Here are random pictures from our recent adventures.
Veteran’s Day saw more of that cool and cloudy stuff outside. By mid-morning it was raining pretty good and dumped quite a bit of precip on us. Ann had a super fast day as she worked up front with Judy (the Dream Team! ????) and dealt with patients all day. I did a special project for Jim in the morning and completed our annual IT security risk assessment in the afternoon. Vic took me out to Riviera Maya for lunch, which was cool. It’ hard to screw up a taco salad! Thankfully, it stopped raining by the time I got out of work and was able to log nearly three and a half miles on a cool, breezy afternoon. On our way home, Black Betty started making a funny noise. At first, we thought that maybe there was a critter under the hood. We turned off the radio and air and then we started to smell something hot. We were confused for a few moments and then we smelled it – the sweet odor of antifreeze – which was then accompanied by the water gauge getting pegged in the red. We were on the bypass, so there was plenty of room to pull over, which we did. I popped the hood to see what happened…and sure enough…I had forgot to put the radiator cap on the reservoir again when I topped it off this morning when I warmed it up at home. D’oh! An off-duty officer pulled over with his lights going to see what was up. I had to laugh at myself when I told him what I had done. He asked if we needed a ride, but Ann called and had Luke to grab a bottle of coolant from the garage and bring it to us. I told him that I wish I could say this was the first time I’d done this…even this year! …But of course, I can’t… That poor car! I don’t know how in the world it is still kicking with nearly 350k miles and pulling stuff like this on it. We thanked Luke and went to the supermarket to get supplies for that night. It was poker night again and this time we were gathering at Wolter’s for the first time. He just renovated his basement and it is really cool! I love his bar and he has a great card area where we all 7 of us easily fit and we had room for Alan, who was the only one that couldn’t make it. Annie made us her Italian sandwiches again, which continues to be a hit. We ate all but the last two pieces (a weekend snack for me!). There was a ton of food, we all brought bar-warming bottles of booze for Mark (and to help him drink, of course), watched a close football game on his three TV screens (again, awesome!) and enjoyed a few hours of cards. I started slow but won a few big pots in a row and got up by several dollars before giving about half of it back. Still, I came out ahead, doubling my buy-in and feeling good about the night. We had a great time, catching up after a week off, telling stories and laughing a lot. I got home late that night and found Ann asleep and Luke playing on the PS4. I stayed up long enough to promptly fall asleep. I woke up an hour or two later with a sore throat from snoring on the couch – lol. We have lots of social media pictures to share this week.
We had a pretty sunrise on Friday morning. Ann & I ran through Dunkin before I dropped her off at the downtown office and headed across town to get my booster (3rd) COVID vaccine shot. Afterwards, I ran a couple errands before heading back to the house to work from home that day. Around noon, Luke came home from school and had the afternoon off. After Ann finished at her office, Luke & I went to Taco Bell for lunch and brought her home a few tacos. I hadn’t been inside since they remodeled the place and it looked pretty nice. I worked from home the rest of the day and didn’t finish up until it was dark – almost six that night, but I got a bunch of stuff done before calling it a work week. Luke went to the Y to work out and then wound up running around with Brayden until late. After Ann woke up from her nap, she made salmon patties and couscous for dinner that really hit the spot. Afterward, we watched a few DVR’d shows until we both fell asleep. After I woke up for the 3rd time on the couch, I went on to bed. I woke up Ann as well and she got up to use the restroom and then went back out to her chair and fell back to sleep…and finally got around 5 am to come to bed! When Luke got home, he was dressed in shorts and a t-shirt without a coat…and without keys. The door was locked and it was cold and snowing…where have I heard this story before?? This time, we heard him though; and I let him up and gave him shit for not having his keys with him. We were supposed to have Mom & Sandy over to play some euchre that evening. They had to make the difficult decision to put down Max that day. He has been sick for many months and has gotten worse these last few weeks. He has not been eating – much less moving – the past couple days. He shook most of the time, which is indicative of him being in pain…so the decision was made that day. We offered to do it for them, but they had Deanna come over and they took care of it. They were obviously upset and although we thought it would be a good distraction, they wound up backing out and just staying home that night… Here are pictures of some of recent additions to my Hot Wheels collection.
Thankfully, the snow did not stick to the ground overnight – which I noticed when the dogs had me up before the sunrise on Saturday morning. I did the dishes, watched a couple DVR’d shows, finished editing pictures and videos and worked on the blog. About mid-morning, the Matt picked up Abby in Franklin and they came home for the day. The kids got all dressed up and went out to the barn where Luke did the fall photo shoot with Farren. One of the things that come with the package that we bought is a free photo shoot. So, that’s what the kids are getting us for Christmas – attending this photo shoot! ???? While they were gone, Robby & Sharon called and we spoke with them for quite a while. It was good to catch up with them for a while. They are very busy right now with home improvement projects – all culminating over the next couple weeks. They asked if we could come get Grandmaw’s wardrobe they’ve been storing for us and Dad wants us to pick up Grandmaw’s vanity. I hate it, but I don’t see us getting down there to get it, unfortunately. I hate that it won’t stay in the family, but to try and get down there in the next two weeks probably won’t occur. That makes me a little sad, I won’t lie… Franklin played in Hanover that afternoon for the 91st Victory Bell game. Abby & Ann went to Mallory’s baby shower that afternoon. Luke went to the YMCA to lift and that left Matt & I to grab some leftovers from the kitchen and watch college football on the big screen. Taylor wasn’t able to make it down that day as she flew up to Minnesota to visit a college friend for the weekend. When the girls got back from the shower, Ann began prepping dinner for Mom O’s birthday that evening. We settled in and watched a movie on the big screen. Matt picked Dune (the 2021 remake). We got through about two hours of it before folks started showing up. First it was Dee, Jamie & Grace followed by Mom, Sandy & Pixie. Ann made Gma’s favorite dish – spaghetti, garlic bread and an overnight salad. She also made spasagna and two sauces – yum! It was really tasty. ???? Later, she opened presents and we sang the birthday song in classic death-march style. Brayden joined us for dessert and later he and Luke went out to Oakley’s house. When Luke left, Matt & Abby did as well – heading back up to Franklin. Matt was going to stick around and stay the night with Bu that night and planned on heading over to see Will at the Sig house. They were planning to celebrate the football team winning the Bell earlier today! Luke wound up staying the night out at Oakley’s house. That left Ann and I alone to enjoy a quiet night in – nodding off and on while watching a few DVR’d shows and eventually dragging our weary butts off to bed.
It was snowing on Sunday morning when the dogs had us up before the dawn. Delilah loved it, running and eating the powdery white stuff. It snowed all morning – some of it pretty hard! It stuck for about an hour or so but the ground was obviously too warm for it to last and then when the snow turned over to rain, it melted the rest of it off. It remained yucky and cold – very wintery-like – all day. We did our weekly household chores but otherwise took it easy, enjoying a slow day of football. I spent the day checking in the rest of the Hot Wheels from my birthday, working on the blog and keeping warm. Luke came back from Oak’s house and retreated to his room. When he wasn’t eating or sleeping, he was on his PS4. The Cowboys and Colts both won and both had exciting punt blocks that were both run back for TDs! The Colts pull to .500 with their win and with the Cowboys’ blowout victory (by 40 points!), they move to 7-2 on the year. That night, Ann made cheesy Fireworks popcorn for dinner. After football, we watched a couple DVR’d shows (including the 2nd episode of this year’s Yellowstone season and the 3rd episode of the new Dr. Who story called The Flux) before watching the 2nd half of the SNF game. It was a relaxing way to wind down the weekend and a great way to put the kibosh on another week before we start it all again tomorrow…
Next up is our Waybac section which continues to feature pictures from Deanna’s digital camera from back in 2006. We lead off this week in March where we see Abs and Gracie in Chicago; in May we see the fam at our house on Memorial Day weekend; July has pix from the Decatur County fair and Grace’s birthday party; September has Abby’s birthday weekend and Keith’s birthday party; November has Thanxmas Day; and December has pictures from Christmas Eve at Mom & Sandy’s house as well Abby & Grace’s spa day and Santa at the elementary school.
Next up is our video segment which features one new home movie this week as well as a ton from around the internet.
And that does it for this week’s 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