September Randomness

Hi gang.

Here we are again at the end of another month.  This month saw quite a few changes come about - Kris and I returned to the work force, the girls started school, and the trees started flaking their dandruff all over our lawn.  September was a whirlwind (unlike boring ol' August, if you'll remember), so we'll leave you now with a sampling of randomness from the last thirty days.

Enjoy.

This is what I've been reading for the last two weeks.  Being an avid fan of the Lord of the Rings and Hobbit books, and having sampled other tales (like the Silmarillion and sagas of Hurin, etc.), this was a pretty cool read.  Not the easiest read, but a good once-and-awhile book to have on hand during one's afternoon pipe session.

A generational portrait with Mom's side of the family.

Grandma Chinery and our niece, Scarlett (Jeff and Annie's oldest)

Kris took the girls to check out the local dinosaur exhibit and the Midland Center for the Arts one day.  Neither kid is really all that into dinosaurs, but they had a good time checking everything out. . .

. . . as you can see, here.

No, our basement isn't being overrun with trees.  We took the six or seven fake trees from my old classroom and created a wall of foliage to separate 'my' side of the basement from the girls' side.

You can't really tell from this picture, on account of the low light, but I pulled out a bunch of my creepy Halloween decorations and lights to set the appropriate atmosphere for a game night Chris and I have been planning for a few weeks now. . .

This, ladies and gentlemen, is Nightmare - a classic, campy horror game from the early 1990s that we used to play at Mom's house growing up.  We decided to play this, over cocktails, when Nicole (Chris' girlfriend) was in town, so she and Kris could experience this game in all its campy gloriousness.

The novelty of this game is that you play a VHS tape when you begin the game, and randomly throughout the game this creepy dude called the Gatekeeper pops up on the screen to yell at you and tell different players to do different things.  It's comically awful.

Hilarity ensues.  I don't think anyone collected the six keys necessary to win the game. . . which means the creepy VHS guy won.  Go figure.

A couple weeks later, there was an ice cream social at the girls' school in the evening.  So, since we didn't have anything else going on, we swung by to check it out. . .

Abby always manages to eat her ice cream in a manner of minutes, while Alayna takes forever to eat half of hers while Abby sits there impatiently.  Then, Alayna declares she no longer wants any, at which point Abby volunteers to finish off her sister's ice cream.  They have a system.

. . . aaaaand this pretty much sums it up.

Voguing at the ice cream social.  They had a few 'activities' for the kids set up around the place, but our kids just wanted to screw around in the costume bin. . . not surprisingly.

Heading out.

Emulating Princess Leia - her favorite Star Wars character.

Baking muffins with mom.

Chestnut Hill's 2015 Balloon Racing Team.  They have to circumvent the globe in 80 days in order to receive a passing grade.  Stupid Common Core. . .

Alayna's 2nd grade class (not sure which one's Alayna.)

We have a really, really lazy dog.  A good fit for this family.

I appreciate my wife.  Just not when it comes to helping me out with yard work.

Abby sometimes demands her picture taken.  We oblige.

We picked up Abby's Halloween costume for this year, via Amazon - Princess Leia from A New Hope.  Better quality than I expected, but I think we're going to need Mom to hem it up a little bit on the bottom so Abby doesn't trip all over it.  And I don't think that wig is going to make it.

Abby wanted a picture taken with some of her artwork that she did for her friends at school.

The kids were super excited to try out some of their new jackets they've acquired since moving back up here to Michigan.  We had bought them super pretty fancy Colombia jackets for the hardcore winter times, and have since then amassed a collection of cool fall, cold fall, warm winter, cold winter, and everything-in-between jackets and coats.  From us, from Mom, from our friends who have kids, you name it.  Pretty cool for the kids, but a bitch for the coat closet.

"Karate Baby," according to the girls.  I spent a day cleaning up the garage in order to make room for Kris' van (we want to make sure we can keep it warmer in the mornings for when temperatures start to plummet and we have to load the kids up for school.)  I hung Karate Baby here up as a marker for the van, as I was fresh out of tennis balls and needed an indicator for when to stop pulling in the van.  I think it's a much better solution.

Finally got these stupid things off the ground. . .

Haven't hung up the bikes yet - that came later.

I know you can't really tell, but I cleaned and reorganized the shed while I was at it.  

. . . and now Kris can pull her van in.  'Cause I'm awesome.

Abby was SUPER excited that this cereal exists, and demanded a picture of her 'feeding' Darth Vader a red lightsaber marshmallow.

Uncle Chris and Tucker swung by one night for some beers.  Tucker's incredibly popular around these parts (though he doesn't care for Watson as much as Bailey does.)

Abby's 2015-2016 School Picture.  Turned out pretty good.

(We're ordering retakes.)

Typical Sunday morning around here.  Netflix and blankets.

Watson's typical hangout spot.  We gave up trying to keep him off the back of the couch.  I think he likes the vantage point.

And, finally, there's this.  Doesn't look like much, you would have thought I had severed an artery with the amount of blood that poured out of it.  I was bent down to pick up a towel (I was going to go downstairs and exercise on the spin bike), and didn't see the cupboard door open (the lights were off.)  The corner of the door punched a wedge-shaped cut in my forehead, and I had to go to a local Urgent Care in order for them to glue it shut: the cut wasn't deep, but the wedge-shape prevented it from closing.  Long story short, I now have a scar on my forehead, which is kinda cool.  It's smaller than I'd like - I mean, if I'm going to have a prominent scar on my forehead, I'd like it to be bigger - but, after all, chicks dig scars.

- Brian

A Quick Pre-Fall Roundup

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Well, we're back into the grind, America.

Alarm clocks, homework, daily morning fights over hair and outfits.  As crazy as it sounds, I've kinda missed the chaos of the School Year.

Two weeks into their first academic year in Michigan, the girls have fallen back into the routine of school pretty well (so far.)  I'm not sure if it's because they're coming from out of state, or if it's due to me and Kris' superb parenting skills, but both girls seem to be ahead of their classes.  In reading, at least (alas, I think they've inherited my 'talent' for math).  They're making friends, and - miraculously - have even managed to stay out of trouble so far (cross thy fingers.)

Fancy new threads.

On the tails of this school year kick-off has come the cooler weather we all knew would be arriving sooner or later.  Its cooling down into the '60s now, so the girls are starting to be able to try out some of the numerous fall/winter jackets they've scored since moving back up to Michigan.  Still a novelty at this point for these little Florida babies - I have a feeling their tune is going to change come January/February, once winter has fully set in and the snow is no longer 'cool.'

(excuse the pun.)

On the job front, we have some sort-of-good-news: Kris landed a job at a dentist office here in Midland, where she'll be working the front desk and possibly going into dental assistancy (is that a word?)  While this is a completely new occupational field for her, the type of work she'll be starting off with is relatively similar to what she was doing before down in Orlando, so it's a good fit.  They're giving her full benefits, too, and her hourly rate working part time equates to what she was making full-time at her last job, which ideal for her because she enjoys the extra time with our kids (who knows why.)

Yours Truly, meanwhile, has finished the process of enrolling in the Michigan teaching network, and, as soon as my paperwork clears, I'll be able to start subbing in local schools up here.  From what I gather, that's how you get hired in schools up here - you develop a reputation for being an awesome sub, they get you on a long-term sub gig, and then they hire you.  Obviously not a guaranteed thing, nor ideal, but we're still doing well financially, so there's no real pressure (yet.)

Pumpkin beer from Michigan's own Arcadia Brewing Co.

Finally, to wrap up today's installment, I'd like to point out that we've officially kicked off Fall Beer Season - my second favorite beer season (behind the Imperial Stout Season, coming this winter.)  I guess we know where my disposable income is going for awhile.

'Til next time,

- Brian

Another Hipsterly Project

They should make a game where you shoot these.

I know I make fun of hipsters a lot, but I'd like to point out that the main reason I do so (besides them being absolutely ridiculous in all things) is because they frickin' copy and exploit ALL the crap I've been into for years.

Book enthusiast?   Check.
Music snob?   Check.
'70s/'80s electronics?  Check.
Vinyl record collecting?   Check.
Pipe-smoking?   Check.
Ukuleles?   Check.
Old man hats?   Check.
Beer?   Check.

And vintage bicycles?  Yeah, that too.

Damn you very much, Hipsters.

Anyway, the point of all this is that I want everyone out there in Cyberspace to know that Yours Truly proceeds hipsters in all things, including the acquisition and restoration of vintage bicycles.  I was doing it waaaay before it was cool, hipsters - so stop frickin' making me look bad.  It's annoying.

My restored Varsity.  Next up:  I'm going to replace the seat with a brown, leather Schwinn seat, and finish it off with a matching saddlebag briefcase/laptop/messenger bag that attaches to the rear rack.  Then I'll probably buy some matching brown, leather handlebar wrap (my old handlebar tape is starting to peel off.)

As I've mentioned before, I inherited my Dad's old '76 Schwinn Varsity back in 2005, and for the last couple of months have been busy restoring it to its former glory (as well as sprucing it up with some bitchin' new saddlebags and accessories - see pic above.)  It's been a lot of fun and has kept my mind off the never-ending and often-times depressing quest to find a full-time job up here in Michigan.  Well, recently, I acquired yet another addition to the Hough Family Fleet of Wheels.

How Clare folk roll in their natural environment.

During my last trip to Clare with the Fam - to hang out with Trevor and Sara McNerney, and to celebrate the combined birthdays of my nephews, Bradley and Jax - I accompanied my folks over the Cindy's parents' house to pick up a propane grill they were giving to us.  This was an incredibly generous gesture - not only did they give us a grill, but they also threw in three propane tanks, a cover, and a ton of grill tools on top of it.  Pretty awesome.

In addition - much to my wife's dismay at the time - they also gave me a vintage Huffy Escape.  They had wanted to get rid of it for quite some time, but when Dad saw it he told them how I had done such a great job cleaning up the old Varsity, Grandma Jones (Cindy's mom) gave it to me on the spot.  It's in worse condition than the Varsity was when I got it, but I have no doubt I'll be able to fix it back up with some effort.

Check it out:

 

 

 

 

- Brian