We’ve had such an enjoyable week since we last touched base. Of course, any time that you only work a half-week is gonna be a good one, right? The joy we’ve experienced is organic; it was a combination of great weather, time with friends, seeing family and taking a moment to just be thankful for what we have right now…because you just never know. Matt had a short work week. It was great to see him and Taylor for a little while this week, but it honestly wasn’t enough. Abby came home for a long weekend with Will. We enjoyed playing euchre with them. To be honest, it reminded me of the weekends when Mom & Dad would visit Grandmaw & Grandpaw Brown (or later, they would come visit us). They’d play for hours and hours – and keep track, just like Abs did this weekend! She also enjoyed working a short week and enjoyed her downtime. Luke had the week off from school and enjoyed seeing Samantha as much as he could. It was nice to have all the kids together with us – even if it was for a short time. Ann worked a half-week then spent time with her family and even spent the day with Amy, doing what they do best…shopping! I also worked a half-week and enjoyed spending a few hours with my friends. As for my progress with diet and exercise – well…that didn’t go so well. I did manage “only??? gain two pounds but I definitely fell off the wagon with my eating. Due to the funky schedule, I only managed a little over eight miles of walking while getting in only seven rounds of golf. However, I did manage to nail another hole-in-one!! With Dad & Rob both on cruises, it was good to spend time with Mom, Sandy and the extended family. What a great holiday – being thankful, watching football and eating like royalty…I love this country… Hello; and welcome to the latest chapter in the Scheu Family Blog.
It was another cold start to the week again on Monday. Temps were only in the teens as Ann & I commuted back to work in Columbus. It was a typical Monday with a few fires to put out for both Ann & I. I was a little grumpy due to my fasting, which didn’t help things. The diet cherry Dt Pepper from Wendy’s that morning helped tremendously. Ann worked up front again, which made her day go fast. After work, I got out and played golf at the AirPark on a lovely day that got all the way up around 50°! It was super windy and I really struggled on my first round but nailed a 50’ putt on 6 otherwise it would’ve been worse than the 29 I scored. The wind settled as the sun set that evening and my scores came down as well. I shot 3 birdies on the back 9 to finish with a respectful 53. Ann & I stopped by to see Mom & Sandy when we got back home. I dropped off a spare monitor for Gigi to use at the station until they get a replacement in the control booth. We visited with them for a while before heading on home. We watched a quick show then Luke came home and wanted to watch the Monday Night Football game with us. I kept nodding off and went on to bed at halftime, with both Ann & I having won our fantasy football games this week – that hasn’t happened all year, I don’t think! Here are a bunch of random pictures of our recent adventures.
Tuesday was another chilly morning in the low twenties as we made our way back to work. I had a good day, doing some purchasing, some IT stuff, did our monthly generator test as well as some video surveillance rounds. A group of us went to lunch at Mancino’s, which really hit the spot and was worth breaking my fast a few hours early for. I bought lunch for Steph, to thank her for doing a 3rd shift fire drill for me last week. After work, I hit the links again for another 18 holes of disc golf across the street on the airport property. It was another lovely, sunny but windy afternoon in the fifties. I had another rough first round, fighting the strong breeze out of the west. It eventually calmed as the shadows grew longer and longer. That day was the first day that we had our headlights on when we left the house and when we got home, as the days continue to grow shorter and shorter. As I started the second round, I really started to get into a groove. I hit a birdie on 10, just missed another on 11 and then threw one of the luckiest tee shots I’ve had a in a while. It hit the wind just right, skipped off the street just right, flipped up on the island and boom…nailed the pin for a 305’ hole in one! There was some random dude riding his bike as I threw and he saw the whole thing. Of course, I whooped it up a little and pumped my fist, of course. He rode over and we talked about disc golf for about ten minutes or so, as I explained the game to him, trying to further the game – one person at a time. I threw another couple of near-300’ shots on 13 and 14. Then, on 15, I think I had another hole-in-one! I had hit one on that hole about a month ago. I think I hit the stake again, but to be honest, I couldn’t quite see it due to it being so near dusk. Between the wind, the shadows and my poor eyesight, I couldn’t be sure. If I didn’t hit it, it was really damn close. In the end, I didn’t count it so I moved on. I threw another couple good tee shots, including a bomb on 18 that went 300’ and might’ve gotten close to the pin for a 3rd time that round…but hit a low-lying branch, just a few feet from the goal. I then blew an easy birdie putt that would’ve tied my personal best. Instead, I finished with a 23 for the back 9 and a 51 on the day. When we got home, Ann made a quick pasta dish with the leftover spaghetti. Luke worked out at the YMCA but didn’t do much else, I don’t think. He doesn’t have any of his Fire 2 classes this week. Instead, he had Sam over that night. Matt took the day off from work to go recruit at lunchtime at Z-West to bolster his wrestling team. I talked to Abs and Will a little bit that evening as well. I had to tell my disc buddy about that day’s exploits and I wanted to see if Will wanted to join me for a Turkey Day game of poker…if we decide to have a coaches meeting that night. We had one last year and it looks like we might have another one this year. We did our thing that night – as we played some DVR’d shows, Ann read & napped while I edited pictures & napped. ????
Wednesday was a great day, every way you slice it. Although it was above freezing that morning, we still warmed up the van for a bit before heading over to Columbus. We only worked a half day. I was hoping to play a quick round of golf, but instead we went to Lowe’s and browsed dishwashers. Ann found one “we??? liked. It is another Bosch but its even quieter than the one we have now. Well, especially now because the pump / motor is growling and runs non-stop if you turn it on. Instead of getting it repaired and spending several hundred dollars on a ten-year-old device, we felt it was smarter to put that money towards a new one. So, we set up the installation and made our way to a late lunch at Five Guys. We went to the grocery store for supplies to make stuff tomorrow then came home. While Ann napped, I went out to the park and played 18 holes of disc golf. I started out on fire, birdying the first 8 holes before clanging one off basket to break my streak but tied my PB with a 19 on the front tees. I had a huge drive off the #10 pad that actually went past the pin! Unfortunately, I again clanked it right off the damn basket. I nearly threw it in the pond on 11 but had a clear shot at the goal, only to have it glance off the chains. I nearly had a hole-in-one on 12, landing the disc a foot from the hole. I birdied 13 and headed to the island. I had a good drive that set me up nicely for a par. I was a little disappointed that I didn’t have 13 straight birds, but I still had a respectable score heading to the back 4 holes. After blowing another putt on 15, I got birds on 2 of the last 3 holes to finish with 24 on the back tees and a 43 for the day. I got cleaned up when I got back to the house and when Abby & Will got home, we all went down to The Tiki Beach to watch Bryan play. He set us up nicely, up front at the tables that were reserved for the band. Brothers McGhee opened with Bryan playing bass and then moved behind the drum kit for Nuttin Fancy a couple hours later. We had lots of appetizers, a big meal and several rounds of drinks while enjoying good music. We eventually got hot, full and tired…and decided to head home early. Luke & Sam stopped in to sit with us for a little while as well. It was really packed that night, which is great for the bar but it took us forever to get drinks and even to close out our tab. We played a quick game of euchre where Ann & I beat Abs & Will 10-2. Abby wanted to go hang out with Mary & Julia, who were both back from IU and enjoying a night out on the town. Luke took them downtown and they wound up back at the Beach for a couple hours. Ann retired to her chair while I started a fire and hung out on the porch, enjoying a few bourbon sippers and a cigar. When Luke went out and brought the kids home, I switched over to salted caramel Crown. We wound up finishing off that bottle as we hung out at the bar, listening to records and sipping whiskey. We had the boys run to Taco Bell for us late and then we opened up a bottle of Blackened whiskey to end the night. Once Annie gets her storage stuff out of that room, it can be a cool little area to hang out with that mood lighting from the new shelving units out there. It was quite the Black-Out Wednesday (as Abby calls it). We have a bunch of social media pictures to share this week.
I woke up in a panic to my work alarm on Thanksgiving morning. I was so relieved to roll over and go back to sleep for a couple hours. I slowly got up and watched Oak Island before flipping over to watch the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade. Slowly, the kids all got up and got ready while Ann cooked green bean casserole, a really stinky brussels sprouts casserole and a big batch of dinner rolls. We also took a couple pies (a pecan and a sugar cream) to the big lunch at Mom & Gigi’s house. Keith, Rosie & Megan made it in safely from East Aurora last night. There was also Dee & Jamie, Matt & Taylor, Luke & Sam, Abby & Will, Ann & I, Amy and Cindy (Jamie’s mom). Dee & Jamie cooked the majority of food this week and paired with Sandy, Maryann didn’t do any cooking at all. And we didn’t miss a thing this year. There was turkey (white & dark) and ham, noodles, mashed potatoes & gravy, stuffing, mac & cheese, baked beans, pasta salad, corn casserole plus all of Ann’s stuff. Amy brought a huge pumpkin pie and Cindy had some sort of dessert as well. We watched the Lions & Bills game then Gigi played several rounds of Bingo. Before the Cowboys game started, we came back home. Luke & Sam left early to spend the afternoon with her family. We had a quick drink then said goodbye to Matt & Taylor. After the halftime show, Ann helped me to make dirty rice to take to Poker Night that evening. It was a huge success so I will plan to take that again soon. We had a minimal turnout with Bryan, Rick & I heading over to the Wolterin’ Hole to meet up with Mark. Mark had one of his sons-in-law there (“Doc???) and I brought Will with me. Abby really wanted to go but it was best that she stay back with Ann that evening. Lynn made a yummy peanut butter pie that Rick brought with him. We watched a good football game, played a ton of good cards, had plenty to eat and enjoyed a few cocktails – not necessarily in that order! I came out about $10 richer…which, in dime poker, is a pretty good night for us – LOL. We made it home safely and decided to have a couple “sippers??? as we watched a couple Rick & Morty shows before calling it a night.
We were up early on Black Friday as Amy came over to get Annie and head out on their annual shopping outing. They again had their traditional matching outfits but did not do their Hideous Headgear this year. I got a quick picture and saw them off for the day. I contemplated going back to bed, but opted to stay up and clean up the house and slowly woke-up, watching a couple DVR’d shows and took it easy that morning. I made breakfast for myself as the kids slept in until about noon or so. We watched some World Cup soccer and napped on and off. We eventually got moving and went outdoors. It had rained and was cold and wet that morning. Eventually the sun came out and dried things up enough for us to go play a quick round of disc golf at the park. We had some fun for a while with Abs shooting a 32, Will had a 28 and I had a 23. Afterward, we decided to go out to Walmart. Despite it being the #1 shopping day of the year, it wasn’t too bad in there and we quickly got our things and got out. The kids raided Mom & Sandy’s fridge that evening and brought home a ton of food. After a cold turkey sandwich, we went out back for a fire and a couple cocktails. We came in to watch some soccer and waited for Ann to get home with Amy. Once she got home, we played a couple more games of euchre – despite being completely worn-out. She hung in there for a long time before we came out to the living room to watch some Rick & Morty. Here are some pictures of recent additions to my Hot Wheels collection.
We slowly got up and got going on Saturday morning. Ann & I ran over to Mom & Sandy’s house to say goodbye to Keith, Rosie & Megan before they headed back to New York that morning. I wish we’d had more time with them but look forward to seeing them again in about a month for Christmas. After the kids helped me pull in all the Christmas stuff yesterday, we went ahead and set up the tree but didn’t fluff it or put lights on it. So that’s where we started – with Ann working on a new display for the coffee table while Luke & Samantha fluffed the tree and then Abs & I got all four strands of lights on the tree. Luke had the honor of putting on the coveted “Ugly Orange??? bulb this year, which is always the first ornament to go on the tree each year. Luke & Sam had to leave early to go do Thanksgiving with her family. They wouldn’t return until later that evening. We went through all three large tubs as well as the 12 small containers and put on about 1/3 of all our ornaments. We could really do a 2nd tree pretty easy, if Ann ever decides she wants to put one up in the family room. We took our time, spending several hours getting the tree all done up. We enjoyed a few cocktails along the way while watching the World Cup as well as the Old Oaken Bucket game. It was close for three quarters but the Boilers pulled away in the final quarter and wound up bringing the Bucket back to West Lafayette, where it will be on display for another year! Several of our friends went to the game (well, tailgated and heard the game from the parking lot – I’m not sure they ever made it into the game, LOL!). With the big win, Purdue are the champs of the West for the first time! They will play Michigan in Lucas Oil Stadium for the Big Ten championship!! We moved back out to the kitchen where we ate a quick dinner (thanks to Will for surprising us with Jordan’s!) and then cleaned-up everything so we could move on to the final night of euchre. We played several games and it went down to 6 – 6 in games won on the weekend so we played one final game, late in the night. Unfortunately, Abby & Will beat us in a 9-9 game. That’s how it was for most of the 13 games – neck & neck. There were a couple of blow-out games, but for the most part it was very competitive and we thoroughly enjoyed spending time with those two. We even talked Ann into doing a shot with us! ???? Afterwards, Ann retired to her chair while the kids and I went out back for another fire and some more porch time. Luke & Sam joined us as well for a while. We only burned one log, so it didn’t last very long. Instead, we came in and watched A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving. It was a perfect way to put a cap on the weekend’s festivities and everyone went on to bed.
We enjoyed sleeping in a little bit on Sunday morning. I eventually got up and began cleaning up the house. I got everything picked-up in the living room, kitchen and laundry room, taking out all the empty bottles and cans from last night. The recycle bin is already halfway full. I was glad to see one thing – after a long weekend of drinking, we can finally close the doors on the liquor cabinet again – LOL. I washed all the dishes and wished we had a working dishwasher. ???? Next, I did a couple loads of laundry. While that was happening, I picked up the family room and sat down to write-out bills. I was interrupted halfway through when Annie announced that breakfast was ready. She had made a big batch of biscuits & gravy as well as a ton of hashbrowns. Everyone was happy to get something to stick to their ribs after last night’s festivities. After finishing bills and laundry and another batch of dishes, I was finally ready to settle down. Luke had a couple guys over to look at his truck. He ended up listing it for sale because he has his eye on a new truck already. Luke & Sammi left and went back to her house to hang out for a while and put up their Christmas tree. Abby & Will went to pickup a pair of tickets for Monday night’s Colts game. It was something that came together quickly last night when Ann saw a Facebook post. She got in contact with the original poster (a friend of a friend) and Abby set up the meeting for today. It will be a nice Christmas present for Will! They came back and loaded up all their stuff, including the huge amounts of clean laundry. I remember doing the exact same thing when I would go visit my folks when I was fresh out of school. We said goodbye to them and sat down with the dogs in a much quieter house. It allowed us to watch Red Zone and nap on and off for several hours. When I woke up, I noticed that I hadn’t done anything with the blog all weekend, so I spent the rest of the evening working on it, including uploading all the pictures and video, writing out all the HTML code, working on videos and writing out all the happenings from this long weekend. Ann made herself a batch of popcorn but I opted for leftovers instead. We turned off the football that evening and watched some DVR’d shows instead, including the FBI trilogy (that we fell asleep to previously), Yellowstone and others. It was a perfect way to wrap up an amazing weekend and a relaxing way to wind down another fast week, here at the ol’ Scheu abode.
Next up is our Waybac section, which continues to include pictures of our young family. We begin in December 2006 with yet more pictures of the girls’ dogs on Main St. We move onto 2007 next: March – Sandy running for mayor; May – Memorial Day weekend; June – summer vacation fun in our backyard; July – 4th of July weekend fun, Grace’s birthday, Tree City car show and Sandy’s birthday; August – Grace hanging out with Gigi and Muffin’s new home; September – Abby’s birthday; October – Van Halen concert; November – Thanksgiving Day; and December – Christmas Eve at Gma & Gigi’s house on Main St.
We actually had three entries for the Shit that Luke Says section…unfortunately, I did not write them down and can no longer remember what he said. We were all in tears laughing at the time and in the midst of the moment, I forgot to document it. ?
So that just leaves us with our video segment. We have one new home movie to share this week as well as a bunch of other from around the web.
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. From our family to yours, Happy Thanksgiving. We miss ya, Momma.
Later, Scheu