A Look Back at 2017 (December)

Hi gang.

As could be expected, December was absolutely insane around here.  Every weekend was filled up with Holiday-oriented obligations, the weekdays were jam-packed with the usual school/piano practice/lesson planning/homework/Girl Scouts grind, we had special school events continuously popping up here and there, the driveway became an attention-seeking pain in my ass, and we had to winterize waaaay more crap around the house than I would've liked.  As it does every year, December flew by in, like, twelve minutes or so.

So, not surprisingly, here's a shitload of pictures for you. 

Have fun.

The girls tear into Day One of their Advent Calendars (courtesy of Playmobil. . . 'cause Jesus.)

Note the open Bible.  We should get a few points for attempting to link our standard commercialism (i.e. toy-centric Advent calendars) with some authentic Christmas.

Holiday shopping for the Warden and the girls.

Kris' Girl Scout troop decided to sell cookies one night outside the Royal Party Store in Midland.  Perhaps not the greatest location choice one could think of off the top of one's head, but I guess they sold a shitload of cookies. 

I prefer Cork and Ale to this place, as here they really only sell sixers (no twelve-pack samplers, no individual bottles to mix up your own, or 'big' bottle options), and those are usually marked up a buck or two.

Bought and assembled a desk for Kris this month.  The assembly was a pain in the ass, but it's a solid piece of furniture, and works well in her office cubby.  You'll note the lack of 'footrest': there was a board that connected the two sides along the bottom in the back, but I forgot to install it.  By the time I realized my error, I would have had to backtrack about fourteen steps, and it's only for aesthetic purposes anyway. . . so I told Kris to just deal with it instead (not that her feet could reach the board anyway.)

Heaven, in beer form.

One evening we opted to take the girls (and Watson) out for a stroll through the Midland City Forest.  It was relatively warm out (high 40s, low 50s - that neck of the woods), so we decided to take advantage of the nice weather while we still could.

Letting the girls map out our route (with some strong parental guidance, of course.)

We didn't end up staying very long, because we didn't get there until after 4pm, and we're to that time of year when the sun sets ridiculously early.

The Sledding Hill.  Sans snow.

Watson contemplates life.

You may recognize this spot as the same place we went sledding at from a few posts ago.

Roommates.

Our exterior Christmas lights, which I put up around Thanksgiving (but obviously didn't turn on until after Thanksgiving - give me some credit.)  You'll note the dead spot above the garage - I made two attempts to switch the lights out, but since it was so high up, and I was standing far above my comfort zone on the ladder, I couldn't fix it.  

We took the girls to an arts and crafts bazaar at their school so that they could pick out Christmas presents for one another and each of the us parents (all the items on sale were under $7.)  Kris' girl scout troop, along with a couple others, were all on hand selling craft items and leftover cookie boxes, so while she hawked her wares with one of our kids, I took the other around to pick out gifts, then we'd switch.  Abby's friend, Sophie, requested I take a picture of them with these two elderly people.  Not sure why.

Mom was pretty adamant about not wanting Christmas presents this year (we got her some anyway), but we were able to twist her arm into letting us at least take her out for dinner one Friday night towards the beginning of the month.  We opted for Genji, which is a really good Japanese Hibachi and sushi joint - probably the best - in town.

They give you a ridiculous amount of food, though - you're guaranteed to be in a food coma for a few days following a night out at this place.

The girls really liked it - they've never really seen a Japanese chef make the food up close before.

First snowfall of the season. . .

We find this a lot around the house.  On walkways, on windows, on mirrors, etc.

One thing we realized after some time was that our second refrigerator (which had originally been located in the basement of the house, but was moved upstairs and almost taken away by the previous owners - despite being in the purchase agreement - if you'll remember) would have to be moved inside.  While it wouldn't be destroyed by the cold weather, per se, we'd have to constantly adjust the inside temperature of the refrigerator in order to save the motor from burning out, as well as to keep the pressurized items (the beer, the pop, etc.) from exploding in the cold.  We ultimately decided to move the fridge back downstairs to its original location, which posed two problems:  1.) how the hell we were going to move a fridge downstairs, through two narrow doorways and down a tight flight of stairs, and 2.) what we were going to do with our third fridge, that was sitting in the second fridge's original spot in the Storage Room.  To address problem #2, I decided to install the third fridge in my Captain's Quarters.  Here is a Before Shot for you.

After rewiring a few things (moving the cassette deck, subwoofer and speakers to the other side of the room and hooking them up to the other TV), I installed the third fridge (shown here) and found that it fit like a glove.

So this fridge is now being called The Private Reserve.  This is the special craft beer that I don't plan on sharing with anyone.  When we move the second fridge downstairs into its original position in the Storage Room, I'll house most of my craft beer, normal beer, etc. - the stuff I don't mind sharing when company is over - in there.

One of my favorite Christmas beers, which I enjoyed throughout the fridge setup process.  I usually stay away from this brewery, but they do a good job with this one.

Snapping some random shots around the house one evening after work/school, once my new 24-105 Canon lens came in the mail (it's awesome.)

Gymnastics time.  Again.

Playing Monster High on the Wii U.

Selfies.

Trying on new snow pants.  Winter stuff never lasts more than a year with these guys.

This is the only kind of pictures we find on Alayna's camera.

Another night of Advent (featuring Dad in his natural environment.)

Cindy requested a picture of the girls in front of their Christmas Tree for the upcoming 2018 Hough Family Calendar.

Had to document this:  Abby's first beaten video game.  After playing on and off for a few months, she finally beat that Monster High game on the Wii U.  She was pretty proud of herself, and assured me she was going to tackle Legend of Zelda: Windwaker next.  I have my doubts.

A recent vinyl haul from this month.  My collection is really rounding out nicely:  I'm selling my used and unwanted records to Radio Wasteland, and in return the owner is giving me store credit so I can purchase new stuff.  It's a win-win for everyone.

My all-time favorite beer, only comes out for a limited time in December.  At $15 for a six pack, it's a bit pricey, but Holy Shit is it worth it. . .

On a Saturday, half-way through the month, Morgan, Eric and John - husbands of some of Kris' friends whom we all hang out with - came over and gave me a hand moving the second refrigerator from the garage back into the basement.  This was a huge process that took the better part of the day, and most of that was devoted to disassembling the fridge and removing doors so the fridge could fit through.  Before they came over, I removed the doors from the Storage Room and the basement stairwell - along with the handrailing - then removed all four doors/drawers from the fridge itself.  After doing so, of course I had to use it as a shield.  That's a no-brainer.

Fortunately, we were able to move it up the two steps from the Garage into the Study without having to take the heavy outside door of the frame (that would've been a bitch, for sure.)  Moving down the stairwell wasn't too bad, seeing how we had four grown men doing it, and now - after six months of hanging out in the garage - our second refrigerator is back to its original position.  Thanks for moving it in the first place, Previous Home Owners.

Later that evening, after we had moved the fridge and had rested up a bit, we all went over to the Davis' joint for their annual Christmas Party.  The guys all stayed in their den to watch sports and drink beer (more of the latter for me, honestly), while the women and children hung out in the dining room and kitchen and did shit like this. . .  whatever the hell it is.

Kris, Courtney (Eric's wife), and Danielle (Morgan's wife.)

The next day, it was finally time for the biggest event of the month (you heard me, Christmas):  Star Wars, Ep. VIII:  The Last Jedi.  Like two years ago, when we saw Ep.VII, we got their early to snag perfect seats, buy some snacks/beverages, and prepare ourselves for some pure awesomeness.

After the movie, Abby was on cloud nine - she loves Star Wars, so this was about the coolest thing in the world to her.  I, personally, was far from impressed, but I won't spoil anything for you.

Abby emulates Rey while beating the ivory.

Kris took a day off during the last week before Winter Break in order  head in to the girls' school and help Abby decorate a Gingerbread House with her class.

That's Abby's BFF, Larkin, in the background there.

Finished product

Homegirls.  And yes, it was Pajama Day.

A couple days before Christmas Eve, Kris was working and the girls and I found ourselves officially on Winter Break.  Since it was Grocery Day, it fell on us to pick up the groceries, as well as any and all last-minute Holiday stuff for the Season.  You can imagine just how much fun it was running through the stores this time of year with two girls in tow . . .

I let the girls buy a few things after they had behaved themselves so well throughout the duration of our  TWO-HOUR shopping trip.  I don't usually bribe the kids, but two days before Christmas Eve?  You're damn right, I did.

I treated myself, too.  This sampler is AWESOME.

I made To-Do Lists for the girls the following day, while Kris was at work and I was forced to wrangle both girls on my own again.  I told them they could check off the items on the list in any order they want.  Here, Alayna prepares to take a shower (hence her being behind the shower curtain) to see what she wants to do next.  Believe it or not, this system worked out pretty well.

Later that evening, Kris took the kids off my hands to give me a break, and met up with her friend, Kim to check out some outdoors light display (I forget where it was - maybe Beaverton?)  

While they were outside freezing their butts off, I was comfortably saving Hyrule.  Just in case you were curious.

(That's not really the North Pole.  Just sayin'.)

Abby and Alayna, and some deformed Santa Bridge Thing.

Hot chocolate.  Kinda goes with the territory.

Maybe cookies for Santa ('cause, as you'll remember, he personally requested that Kris make him chocolate chip cookies this year.  Thanks, asshole.)

My second favorite Christmas movie:  A Muppets Family Christmas.  I usually save it for right around Christmas Eve/Christmas, but this year it fell on the 23rd.

Just try and name a greater human being that has ever lived.  Go ahead.  I'll wait.

Holy crap, is this kid ever going to be disappointed in life. . .

The day after Christmas, playing some Harry Potter Clue (one of the girls' presents this year.)  I like to think that I'm naturally awesome at Clue - and I am - but, believe it or not, Abby kicked the shit out of all of us this first time playing it.

An evening in at the Hough residence, with Abby currently working her way through Legend of Zelda: Windwaker (I had just beaten it earlier in the day - more to come with that, later.)

Once again, for New Year's Eve, we hosted Rita and Smitty at our place.  We had a few crockpots going, some party snacks out, and just kept it low-key (like last year.)  The girls love having these guys around, so when they showed up the girls threw together an ad-hoc 'New Years Eve' party in Abby's room, which entailed make-overs and a strict ban on beer and wine (seriously - they made a frickin' sign.)

Time for a dance party, courtesy of the Wii U.

Hanging out in my favorite room of the house.

For the obligatory annual champagne toast.

The countdown begins. . .

So long, 2017 - you weren't too bad at all.  Definitely not as bad as the musician-killing, Trump-electing 2016 (may it forever rot in Hell.)

- Brian