Random Crap from November

What's up, gang.

Leave and snow.  The crappiest of combinations.

So here we are at the end of a really, really weird November.  We were blindsided by a freak snow towards the beginning of the month, which hit us on Halloween night and covered all the leaves for a few days, preventing us from getting much-needed yard work done.  Just as it looked like we were finally dry enough to get some raking in, the snows came back with a fury, and we were once again stuck with layers of leaves and snow, cluttering up the yards and streets.  The snows eventually melted away, and we were able to catch up on all that shitty raking, but the end of the month ended up looking more like fall that the beginning of the month had.

A Ford Ranger - my replacement vehicle for the first week of the month.

Freakish weather aside, Yours Truly had to have his brand new Ford Escape Titanium serviced.  One day, after picking up Alayna from school, my passenger side front tire inexplicably went flat, and, upon inspection, it was found to have a puncture on the sidewall of the tire.  After twenty years of never having to change a tire, I was pretty impressed with myself that I still remembered how to operate a car jacket and replace a tire.  I drove it over to the Midland Ford Dealership (on a donut), and when I asked if the puncture had been done intentionally - like as if someone had walked up and stabbed the tire with a knife, screwdriver, or broadsword - the tech said 'no,' the hole was too small.  They had no idea how it happened.

The girls were excited to be able to play in the back of a pickup. Doesn't take much.

The good news was, the dealership paid for the replacement tire (which was awesome, because I have some top-of-the-line tires on my new vehicle), and also planned on cleaning up and detailing the interior.  So for the first week of the month, Yours Truly got to drive a loaner vehicle - a blue Ford Ranger.

(Not a fan, by the way.)

Anyway, aside from the weather and the vehicle fiasco, this month saw quite a lot happen.  The usual church, school, and Girl Scout events, to be sure, along with the coming of the Holidays and all that entails.  Oh, and I advanced onto the next level of Freemasonry, undergoing the Fellowcraft Degree (which was awesome), and so now there's only one level remaining until I become a Master Mason (which will be sometime in January.)

So yeah.  Crazy month, ton of stuff happened - but I'll let the pictures tell the rest.

Enjoy. . .

Harry Potter Clue.  Abby is eerily good at the art of deduction - it's usually me or her that wins this game.

What can I say?  I'm a snappy dresser.

A rare glimpse of normal, fall weather this month.

Kris took the girls to some cooking or baking something-or-other at First United Methodist Church one weeknight.  Not sure what was going on, though - I wasn't here for this.

What the hell is she making?

Pretty sure that's not edible. . .

Oh, look - the girls cleaned up all the doll shit in the dining room when they were done playing with it.  I hate kids so Goddamn much sometimes. . .

A crappy, wintery-fall fix, about a week or two into the month.

It was a LOT of fun raking up all these cold, wet leaves after the snow melted - I couldn't touch them for quite awhile.

Between the oaks and maples in the backyard, and the large maples we have in the front yard, I do quite a bit of raking every year.

This just looks disgusting. . .

Alayna decided to dress up for the first real snowstorm of the year.  I think she pulled it off.

We almost had a snow day for this particular dump of wintery bullshit, but the schools decided to push through (probably since we were only a week or two in November, and we have a LOT of winter left ahead of us.) . As you can see here, the snow has completely buried the leaves now, and would stick around for nearly a week.

Abby offered to clean off my car one morning before I left for work.  She did a pretty crappy job at doing so, but the sentiment was appreciated.

I stayed after school one day in order to watch Alayna's school (Northeast) play my school.  I left at the end of the first half of the game, since clearly there was no chance in hell my team was going to blow their 42-point lead.

The snows melting (somewhat), and more leaves still falling from the trees.  Almost ready for raking, but not quite yet.  Seriously, this month was the absolute worst for yard work, I swear to God. . .

Had to take a day off of work one week in order to take the dog to the vet for his annual check-up.  No health issues to report, but he had put on an entire pound of weight - he's up to a scale-busting 19 lbs.  The fat bastard.

As a stout aficionado, there's no better season than Holiday Stout Season.   Here's three of my favorite beers.

Kris and her friend, Kim, took their kids up to the Center for the Arts for a show towards the middle of the month.

This is pretty much required at this point. . .

The snow just about melted, it was FINALLY time for Yours Truly to start raking up all this crap.  And not a moment too soon, if you ask me - this took forever.

The girls (with Ella) were having a Barbie pool party in the bathroom one afternoon after school.  And yes, they left a mess behind them in their wake that took days to clean up.

See that 'FC at Center #273,' at the bottom?  That's me.

That Freemason light at the top lights up whenever we have a Lodge meeting.  This second degree of Masonry - the Fellowcraft - takes a long, long time, but it is definitely worth it.  Obviously can't show any pics from inside, but here's a shot of the discreet entrance that leads up to our Lodge on the third floor.

Per tradition, the Friday before Thanksgiving (well, two weeks, this year, since Thanksgiving came a week late) is the official day for the Houghs to break out all of our Christmas Decor, which hasn't gotten pretty extensive over the years.  We throw up everything but the tree (which, as you know, goes up the day after Thanksgiving.)

Abby fell asleep half-way through the process.  Go figure.

The next morning, I enjoyed a pot of coffee while breaking out some of my tried-and-true Holiday vinyl. . .

I call this my Holiday Crate of Awesome - only those albums that have ranked high on my Great Christmas Record Odyssey get to chill out in this bad-boy, where they get repeated use throughout the Holiday Season.  Perhaps a bit nerdy, but. . . who gives a shit.

Watson's favorite spot in the house around this time of year.  Not surprisingly.

Hands down the coziest room in the house.  Just kinda pissed I forgot to hang the stockings over the mantle before snapping this pic, but you get the idea.

First 'Nog of the Season.

Found this in the dog's Milkbones box.  Definitely the weirdest dog treat I've ever seen. . .

Another November, another damn cookie booth with the Girl Scouts.

We thought we had tossed out these two strands of lighted garland last year, but while digging out the Christmas Tree one evening, I discovered them at the bottom of the box.  What's more, one of these strands was twice as long as I though it was, and it was one of those deluxe garlands with the bendable branches.  Booya.

All fluffed and ready for ornamentation in the coming week.

This beer had been in my fridge for years.  Finally time to give it a go.

One Saturday morning, Kris took Abby up to her dental office in order to get a prime vantage spot of Midland's annual Santa Parade.

Alayna was actually walking with her school (forget why) this year, so Kris had Abby with her to watch the entirety of the parade, and I was tasked with meeting Alayna at the end of the parade route in order to get her out of the downtown craziness (the traffic and parking down there is hell on earth.)

Midland High Chemics

Northeast students (you can spot Alayna in the knit green hat, behind the banner somewhat.)

Here comes Santa Claus. . .

Abby waves to Santa.  Not sure how many more years we're gonna have of this with her.

Kris at yet another art class at Studio 154.

Her finished product, hanging on the wall to the left, there.

At a Girl Scout bowling outing: Allie, Abby and Ella.

(Not sure if this was a fundraiser or just for fun.)

Abby and her friend Ella signed up to sing an acapella duet at the Center for the Arts for a kids' performing arts class that we signed her up for.

All festive for the season.  How adorable, Midland.

On stage, not nervous at all.

They did a pretty good job.  Would've been cooler if they would've had a piano accompaniment, but whatever.

One of Alayna's teachers took a picture of her class for something and posted it for parents to check out.  Kris took a look at it, then forward it on to me with this scribble on it.  Apparently Alayna started putting on make-up after she got to school, knowing we wouldn't let her leave the house wearing that much (because, as you can see here, it looks like clown makeup.)  When we showed Alayna this picture and asked her about it, she admitted to it, but said she had only done it twice.  Rest assured, we're keeping in touch with her teachers to make sure this crap doesn't happen again.  Frickin' middle schoolers. . .

The Houghs' 2019 Light Display, this year put up by Kris (I was downstate at Michigan Youth in Government during the only decent period of time, weather-wise, and the remaining time off of work I had was forecasted to be freezing cold and rainy.)  She did a really good job for her first time.

I'm having a love affair with this beer, I kid you not.

The Grand Order of Moms, sans kids, husbands, and any and all responsibilities.

After three short years of ownership, we decided to bid adieu to the drum set.  It's more or less sat untouched in the basement for the last few years, so I decided to sell it on Facebook Marketplace.

I had originally purchased it through our school district-controlled classifieds, buying it off some elementary school principal's kid for $40.  After three years, I turned around and sold it for a cool $120.  That's called flipping, kids.

Abby, wanting to model one of her outfits before school one morning.

Alayna really wanted us to buy her this. . . dress mannequin. . . thing, for her bedroom, that she saw at Hobby Lobby one weekend, towards the end of the month.  Who the hell knows why.  Needless to say she didn't end up getting it.

The last day of Thanksgiving Break, Kris and the girls accompanied me to my classroom so I could prep my room for my annual Constitutional Convention unit (in which students assume the identities of real, Constitutional delegates from history and recreate the Convention.)  It takes forever to set up, so the assistance - well, from Kris, at least - was really appreciated.

While we were in there, we may have gone a little ape-shit with the Christmas lights.  I'm sure the teenagers will appreciate it.

- Brian