Chris Schuette – Indiebear Music
  • family
  • January29th

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    Things are really hopping around our house lately as we prepare for Baby Schuette (pretty sure we’ll come up with a better name.)  The reality of eventual parenthood is setting in and I couldn’t be happier.  I know, I know; it’s going to hit me like a ton of Legos, but I’m still getting ready.  I even have my diaper bag.  After careful research, I chose the brown diaper bag from Diaperdude.com (Oh, for the love of God, make sure you type that address correctly!)  It’s a comfortable, over-the-shoulder design and there’s even a pocket for my cell phone right on the strap!  Oh, and it also holds baby-related stuff better than any other bag I looked at.

    Patty has also given me permission to tell you that she is starting to show.    In other words, if you were making a movie, and you needed to cast “Bubbly Pregnant Lady #1,”  Patty is the one you would call.  Of course, she’s not in the Screen Actors Guild, and she can’t really fly to L.A. right now, so we’d have work around that. I might be over-thinking this entire paragraph.  My point is, Patty looks great…even when she doesn’t think so.

    We’ve also tragically magically transformed my super secret 70’s/80’s lair into a slightly less-super secret baby room.  My Mannequin movie poster has replaced by pictures of Teddy Bears, my copies of Dynamite Magazine have been supplanted by Dr. Seuss, and my Atari 2600 has been replaced by nothing…just, nothing, not even a freakin’ Playstation.  The room has never looked better, though; even without the inspirational picture of Dolph Sweet.

    Patty & I will be also be joining a new church very soon.  And by “new church,” I mean, “church.”  We’re not currently members of a particular church yet.  To be honest, I learned most of what I know about religion from watching George Burns movies.  According to Hollywood, God smokes cigars, has bad writers, and was a lot funnier in the 1940s.  Seriously though, I know our family will benefit from it, and that’s good enough for me.  Who knows, maybe they need a rockin’ church organist.  I assume I could do that.

    We’re also working on getting a new car to replace the aging Jeep Grand Cherokee.  It’s becoming increasingly unreliable, and I’m fairly certain the transmission is being held together with duct tape and Gummi-Bears.  It’s been a good vehicle, though.  That Jeep got me home safely from every gig, every time.  Since we have another mini-SUV to haul around the impending torrent of child-related accoutrements, we are going to replace the Jeep with a smaller sedan.  Also, I’m not domestic enough, and I strongly believe a Ford Taurus can fix that.  Perhaps beige? You kids love beige.

    I’ll continue to let you know how the preparations are going.  I’m pretty sure it’ll be uneventful.

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  • September22nd

    5 Comments

    Thanks, Dad

    Posted in: family

    Exactly twenty years ago this past weekend, my dad died. Sorry, that’s easily the least cheerful way to begin a blog post, but I’ve found myself thinking about dad a lot lately. Dad was diagnosed in April 1989 with lung cancer and it quickly became evident that there was nothing the doctors could do. He died, peacefully at home, on September 19, 1989 surrounded by family. I held his hand when he died. Everything for several years after that is a bit of a blur for me. When I started paying attention again, there was this new thing called “The Internet.” dadjenme

    My dad was an incredible man who always had an easy smile and an positive outlook.  Even after my sister Karla died of leukemia in 1974, he never became an angry or bitter man.   Dad and I got along great…even when we didn’t. (Anyone who has ever raised a teenager will know what I mean.) My only regret is that I never got to know dad as a friend as I progressed into my 20s and 30s. There were times I could have really used his advice.

    Shortly before he died, dad told about something that mad him feel good. This surprised me since the chemotherapy pretty much made him feel quite the polar opposite of “good.” He knew he wasn’t going to make it, but he told me that it made him feel good to know that in the early part of the 21st century, there would be a man who kinda looked him and kinda sounded like him. He knew that man would work his ass off to be the kind of husband and father that he always tried to be. That was a hell of a thing for my 18 year-old brain to process, but I never forgot that conversation.

    The reason I bring this up is that 2009 also saw some some unexpected challenges in my family. Patty had a miscarriage earlier this summer. Unfortunately, there were complications that took several months to work out. Patty wrote a nice post over at her own blog. During the difficulties, Patty needed my help. At first I wondered what I could do.  Let’s face it, when people are facing adversity, they don’t immediately start looking for a keyboard player who watched too much TV as a kid.  Then I considered how dad would have handled a similar situation and the answer became clear: I would do everything.  Everything I could, plus a few things I couldn’t. I would drop whatever I was doing to be the kind of husband…the kind of person my dad would have been proud of.   Patty is doing great now, and I’m just glad I could be there when she needed me.

    Nice to know the old man can still teach me some things 20 years later.  Thanks, Dad.

    confirmation

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  • March25th

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    Easter Sunday started off with a bit of a science experiment. OK, we retroactively called it a science experiment; we didn’t actually have a laboratory or beakers or…look, do you want to hear this or not? Indie & Bear like to have an egg with their dog food every once in awhile (hey, who doesn’t?) Well, since it was Easter, we let them split a hard-boiled egg. Suddenly, we remembered that Indie’s last couple of vomiting sessions followed the consumption of an egg. (We also realized that we never see Clark Kent and Superman at the same time. Hmmm…) Anyway, sure enough, a few minutes later Indie started heaving. Being a graduate of the University of Minnesota, I know heaving when I see it, so I knew this wasn’t going to end well. I hurried Indie outside just in time for the peristaltic funfest. She’s OK. I gave her some water, told her she’s a good girl and all is well.

    Patty & I then went over to her folks’ place for lunch. We were running late because I needed to comb my hair and pick up my accordion. What, you don’t think I have an accordion? Have you read this blog? Trust me, THIS geek has an accordion. I love spending Easter with my family. Plus, I continued the time-honored tradition of biting the head off of Patty’s chocolate bunny when she’s not looking. (Why yes, I am 8 years old, why do you ask?) OK, I was just joking around and I did give her my untouched bunny in exchange, but I’m still gonna need a place to crash until this whole thing blows over.

    Other than that, it was a good day to just relax and read the paper. Unfortunately, I read a rather disturbing story about a local cab driver who was stabbed by his 15 year-old passenger when she couldn’t pay the $22 cab fare. You can read the story here. Luckily the driver is going to be OK. According to the article, “The driver was stabbed with a kitchen knife in the neck, leg and buttocks.” At first I wondered how he got the buttock wound; then I realized that if someone is attacking me with a knife, at the very least, I’m farting on them.

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  • January30th

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    It was 15 degrees below zero this morning and it was like, 10 below yesterday. On the other hand, the temperature here in Minneapolis was almost 40 degrees above zero on Monday. That’s a veritable heat wave for January in Minnesota.

    I bring this up for two reasons. First, people love reading blogs where idiots talk about the weather, and second, Monday is the day I should have gone grocery shopping. We’re dangerously close to running out of food. Unfortunately, Monday was too nice of a day to go grocery shopping (what with all the golfing, water-skiing and log-rolling,) and today is the kind of day where you don’t immediately realize you’ve lost fingers as you, oh I don’t know, walk to the mailbox. As a result, Patty and I are trying to use up the food we have before requesting an airlift from Anchorage. It’s amazing what you will consider eating for dinner when you just don’t want to venture outside: crackers, soup, popcorn, emergency pizza, and hey, that can of pulverized bacon shards is looking pretty good. We’re actually hoping to go shopping on Friday…unless the weather is either too nice or too lousy, of course.

    And by the way, I freely admit how ridiculous all of this sounds. My grandpa worked a farm and raised 8 kids in Central Minnesota during the Depression and World War II, while I get tired if I have to go to the gas station and the bank in the same day.

    “Hearty Minnesotan,” my butt. Maybe I could take a class, or something.

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  • December26th

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    Patty and I spent Christmas Eve over at my Mom’s place. The whole family was there and we had a great time. It’s a wonderful opportunity to catch up on all the latest family news while enjoying both kinds of nog: egg and beef. Of course, a few family members wanted to know what I’ve been up to, so I tell them about this blog.

    Have you ever tried explaining blogging to your non-techie family members? They look at you like you’re nuts…even when you’re NOT stuffing your face full of day-old brisket. I love the responses I get: Read More | Comments

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