All Systems: Christmas

Good morning, Internet.

What the hell happened to fall?!

We were one week into November when Mother Nature, apparently bored watching Yours Truly rake up leaves over and over again, said "f*** it" and started dumping snow on us.  I woke up on Friday to see my yard covered in snow, and when I went outside to heat up my car prior to my commute to work, I found this:

While I enjoy the First Snow as much as the next person, I wasn't really expecting it the first week of November.

November 9th.  I still have leaves on the ground underneath all this snow.

Seriously, Michigan.

This weekend, Alayna came down with a nasty stomach virus that had her projectile-vomiting anything and everything we put in her system.  She was forced to stay home from school on Thursday and Friday, and as such we couldn't really go out for our planned social activity for the weekend: 'Friendsgiving' (where everyone brings a dish and we rotate between people's houses for a series of potluck-style dinners, drinking and hanging out throughout the afternoon and evening.)  It would've been really fun, too, but with a kid puking up all over the place, there was no real way we were going to be able to do it.  I offered to stay behind with Alayna, but Kris wasn't really feeling up for it without everyone going, so we decided to stay in.

And so it begins.  Note the sick kid on the couch, not participating.

Abby was pretty bummed out that we were no longer going out, as she was looking forward to hanging out with the other kids in our extended social circle.  Since we were no longer 'doing anything fun,' she asked if we could break out the Holiday decorations instead.

Now, Kris and I, as you all know, wait until the weekend before Thanksgiving to start decorating the interior of the house for the Season (minus the Tree, of course - we save that for Black Friday), but, considering our social calendar had just been shot to hell - and seeing how we actually had frickin' snow on the ground, we relented and said 'screw it.'

So we broke out the Christmas decorations.  On November 9th.

Don't judge us.

Holiday Pre-Season:  ENGAGE.

The majority of Friday evening's work centered around decor for the Living Room, Study, and Kitchen..  I swapped out our glasses and dishes for our Holiday ones (takes awhile, since you have to hand-wash everything and let it dry before putting it away in the cupboards.)

We put on a Christmas movie for Alayna, who didn't get to help us break out the Holiday decor this year (though she didn't seem to care all that much, to be honest - she's getting to the age where it doesn't really excite her anymore.)

Abby's a HUGE fan of the light-up, music-playing Christmas Tree/Nativity Display thing we got from Marcy a decade or so ago.  She curled up in a blanket right in front of it, and kept playing the music repeatedly for about an hour or so.

The next morning, Alayna was finally feeling a little better.

I had initially wanted to put up the exterior lights when the weather was slightly warm out, like I've done the last three years.  Since that wasn't likely to happen again in 2018 (thanks a lot, Mother Nature), I realized I had to put up the lights this weekend - frostbit fingers be damned.  Like last year, the bush at the far right proved to be the hardest part of the house upon which to string lights - those frickin' bushes prevent the ladder from reaching the roof, so I have to break out the extended ladder, which wobbles like crazy.  It took me a little over an hour to string up the whole front of the house; our gutters are covered by a special grating system, which is super badass because I don't have to clean them out, but at the same time it means there's little to clip Christmas lights to.  It's a royal pain in the ass to hang up icicle lights, but I had a Sherlock Holmes audiobook to keep me distracted.

Like last year, Kris had to string up the lights for the center six feet of the garage, where the roof is at its highest point.  The ladder wobbles too much on the uneven driveway for me to do it, so I brace the base of the ladder for her and she's able to do it without the ladder wobbling.  Teamwork, folks.

A couple hours of freezing cold work, and Casa de Hough is ready for the 2018 Holiday Season.

As usual, we won't start turning on the exterior lights until after Thanksgiving.  We're classy, not trashy.

Yeah, yeah, I know - we still need to throw out Kris' Fall display stuff (maybe I can convince her to throw away the scarecrow - cross your fingers.)

And, in closing, the First Nog of the Holiday Season.  Prepare for Yule, America. . .

- Brian