Remember Remember Ye Randoms November

Mt. Vernon St, around the corner from our house.

'Sup, players.

This month encompassed the usual post-Halloween/pre-Christmas two-week time span, different from previous years with Abby contracting Covid and being forced to quarantine more or less the first two weeks of the month.  Fortunately, she was able to stay on top of her school work and, aside from missing a couple Pom performances, she didn't lose out on a whole hell of a lot.

Besides that, it was a pretty typical November.  A lot of leaves, a lot of moving totes of Holiday decorations around, etc.  I'll cut this short and just let you folks check out some of the random day-to-day nonsense that went down these last four weeks.

Enjoy. . . 

After a couple hours blowing and raking leaves into giant piles around the backyard - our oak and maple trees were particularly brutal this month - the dogs came out to run around and the girls decided they should bury Samson in one of the leaf piles.  See if you can spot the fat sum'bitch. . .

The girls 'helping' me with the leaves.

Ye another mountain of dead tree parts, ready for the city collection.

Since it was abnormally warm out still (low-60s), Kris decided she'd string the lights along the roof.  We relented and let the girls climb atop the house, too.

Doing it this way is much, much faster than the old way I used to do it (standing on a ladder and slowly moving down the edge of the roof.)

Selfie on the roof.

Can honestly say I haven't seen this perspective of our backyard before.

Abby's artistic abilities have exploded this year - she draws all the time and has gotten really, really good.

Trying to clear out space in my beer fridge in order to make room for the usual Holiday/Winter stouts, I've been attacking my fall beers and ciders with a vengeance lately.

Just a week later, it looked like I hadn't done a damn thing the previous weekend.

I sincerely hate raking leaves more than shoveling snow.  There, I said it.

One Saturday a few of us dads all decided to hang out and, as usual, grill up a bunch of meat.  Mitch smoked a bunch of beef jerky, which was really awesome.

Candy-bacon wrapped salmon rolls with jalapeno cream cheese.  I didn't try this - I was pretty full at the time - but it sure looked awesome.

This was not as good as I had hoped.

These dads will put down some food, folks.

Elk burgers are not my favorite.  If I live the rest of my life without ever again eating elk, I think I'd be okay.

Abby and Ella, practicing some of their pom routines in the backyard.

Kris bought a new phone this month, and so of course selfies were in order so she could test out her new camera.

One Saturday morning, the Northeast Pom Team marched in Midland's annual Santa Parade.  We drove down by Kroger and staked out a solid viewing spot along with the Johnsons.  You can spot Abby in the center directly behind the Northeast banner.

Following the parade, us and the Johnsons went down to Kris' church - Midland's First United Methodist Church - to help out with their annual Roll Bake fundraiser.  Yours Truly manned the ovens, which was way more complicated than you would think when baking hundreds of pans of cinnamon rolls. . .

The girls, taking a break from their kitchen duties at one point, playing a not-at-all-church-appropriate game of Hangman in the church basement.

The dining room, where hundreds of cinnamon roll pans were laid out to cool before being wrapped up and labeled.

Later that evening, we went over to the Griffin residence for our annual Friendsgiving feast with our usual Midland group of families.

Not surprisingly, the dads get to eat last.

A bunch of hens, clucking.

The Real Housewives of Midland

A bunch of dads, cluttered about the kiddie table.

Later on, we drifted into the basement to play cards and get away from the wives and children.

Erik, Lonnie, Ryan and I at the end of the night, throwing some darts.

Watson was apparently trying to dislodge a bit of rawhide that was stuck in his mouth.  Dogs are dumb.

Juuuuuuuust about there.  By the end of the year, I guarantee she is gonna be taller than her mom.

Abby has been really into guitar lately:  she's been obsessed about picking up the bass and wants to practice on a full-size fret board.

Kris was out shopping with friends and Abby was away at Great Wolf Lodge one weekend, so Alayna and I were left to fend for ourselves.  When I asked her what she wanted for dinner, she said she wanted a microwavable meal with chicken nuggets and mashed potatoes.  I'll take it.

The first snow of the year, a day after Thanksgiving.  Even though it was a brief dusting that soon melted away, it was a fitting for the arrival of the Holiday Season.

Samson will dig into garbage cans - especially bathrooms ones - in order to dig out stuff to chew on, and he always insists on bringing his newly-found treasures out into the living room to chew on.  So when someone comes home, we first check the living room floor to see if he's gotten into anything.  This is his default defensive move whenever he gets busted for this - to lie down on his back/side and look ashamed.  He's an asshole.

Alayna and I playing Mortal Kombat 11 on the PS4.  She's been playing it with her friends lately, and so when she challenged me I of course had to take her to school.  She's looking down at her phone here so she can find out how to do fighting combos.  Needless to say, I slaughtered her.

Kicking off the Holiday Season with this Christmas classic.  Can't go wrong with the Griswolds.

- Brian

The Great Christmas Record Odyssey, Ep. LXXXV

We've had a lot of weirdness lately, America.  Let's play it safe this time around.

Album Title:  Elvis' Christmas Album

Album Artist:  Elvis Presley

After a cavalcade of really, really bottom-shelf Holiday albums, I decided I needed a break.  Something that wouldn't subject me to a prolonged period of torture, something I could throw on the ol' turntable and breathe a sigh of relief. 

This was just the album for that.

Hail to the King

The King of Rock and Roll* - a term I use with a huge-ass asterisk next to it, since Elvis never wrote a single song in the entirety of his career - sure came out with a ton of Christmas music in his day.  This shouldn't' be surprising, though, since he came out with a heap of albums during his lifetime (and many, many more that came after his infamous, toilet-related death.)  This album contains quite a few of his treasured favorites, but - as is the case with other artists I've reviewed over the years on this blog of ours - it's not for everyone.

If you love Elvis, you'll love this.  If he's not your favorite, odds are you're not gonna like this one.

For me, personally, I prefer Elvis' more upbeat, rocking numbers than his crooning, slower, more introspective songs.  The young Presley/Perkins/Cash/Lewis era of early Country/Rock and Roll in the '50s, where the King was swinging his hips in a manner that scared the bejesus out of White Society.  That's my jam.  Not so much the latter, bloated, crooning Elvis that wore bedazzled leisure suits and sweated profusely.

There's a bit of both Elvises on this album, which I guess is unavoidable considering the guy's range and variety of singing styles and the demand for him to do various genres (rock, country, and gospel, namely.)  I'm fine with this duality because the music of the Holiday Season has its bangers and anthems, just as it has its more chill and low-key carols.  Fortunately, given the King's vocal prowess, he's able to handle both - it just boils down to your own personal preference which Elvis (and consequent songs on this album) you prefer.

"Blue Christmas" and "Santa Claus is Back in Town" are upbeat, swaggering numbers that sound like the rebellious youth, and these two are hands down my favorites.  His churchy numbers on display here, of which there are several, aren't necessarily bad, but they're. . . just not my favorites.  I've heard other artists do them better, but that's not to say that Elvis' versions are bad, per se.

All in all, this album is a safe bet, as it has a little of everything from a reputable legend, who has the rare ability to deliver a signature sound across a wide spectrum of song styles.  This one won't go down as one of my favorite Holiday albums, but it's certainly nothing to stick your nose up to.  Take that for what it's worth, I guess.

VERDICT:  7/10 - Pretty Rad (The King of Rock and Roll made a Christmas album, and it sounds exactly as you'd expect.  No surprises here, good or bad - it's vanilla ice cream, but ice cream nonetheless.)

- REMAINS IN CIRCULATION -

- Brian

Thanksgiving, Black Friday, and All Things Yule

Welcome back, America.

The Laginess Clan

Our Thanksgiving/Black Friday this year  was a return to form for the Houghs, following our Covid-related 'quarantine' last year, which forced us to abstain from taking our usual trip south in favor of holding a more modest Friendsgiving over at the Larson's residence with our local friend group.  This year we once again drove down to scenic Romulus in order to have Thanksgiving with Kris' Laginess branch of her extended family, and her uncle Wayne, as always, hosted the event.

I didn't take any pictures this year aside from a requested group picture on the front steps - I even forgot to take my usual picture of downtown Romulus on our drive in, totally dropped the ball this year.  Kris and her family don't take a lot of pictures, so I kinda take a back seat as an in-law and neglect my usual photo-taking role.   As such there's not a lot of pics from Thanksgiving itself, but the following evening - Black Friday - I took some of me and Kris' usual tree-decorating process.

All and all a pretty boring post we have for you today, but by this point you guys all know how this weekend works for us Houghs.  We're pretty big on traditions around these parts, so you could probably go back to previous years' posts for a more detailed synopsis.

So yeah.  Enjoy. . .

Still unable to find where our DVD copy of me and Kris' go-to Tree-decorating movie, Some Like It Hot, we decided to say 'screw it' this year and purchased the movie on Amazon Prime.  Kinda pissed we had to do that, but at least we have it in HD now, and there's no chance of us losing our copy of the movie again.

Kris and I opted to try out this pre-made jug of egg nog that I recently bought from Costco, foregoing our usual Christmas cocktails for the time being.  This is definitely the way to go, it's a really solid holiday drink - we'll be buying more of this stuff the next time we head over to Costco.

Tony Curtis and Jack Lemmon light a fire on the train. . .

Like we've done the last couple of years, I tried to section the tree off in 'themes' for our ornaments:  our various ornament collections would be clustered along the sides, our religious and cultural ones towards the top, and our family ones front and center (with the less-cool but still living room Tree -worthy ornaments along the bottom and in the rear.)  Kris always handles the family ones (the girls' first ornaments, our wedding ornament, our first year as a couple ornament, the dog's ornaments, etc.)

Josephine breaks up a party on the train (cock-blocking Daphne in the process.)

Our Muppet collection is slowly-but-surely taking over the tree.

These creepy old guys wouldn't survive in the #MeToo-era United States, that's for damn sure.

I wish they'd release more Indiana Jones ornaments, but I think that ship has probably sailed - society no longer appreciates this guy.

More cock-blocking, this time on a Florida beach.

Front section of the tree, highlighting various family ornaments.

"What does it say in your CRYSTAL BALL???"

Despite Kris getting a brand-new, fancy phone a week ago, she still hasn't figured out how to take decent pictures.  Frickin' wives. . .

Our only tree-related drama this year was our star, which we've owned since, like, 2013, finally died on us.  Fortunately, I was able to buy an identical replacement at Target. . . for an absurd $35.

Spatz and his Harvard men arrive in Florida.  Trouble brewing. . .

My new SNES ornament - which, like the NES console shown here, lights up and plays authentic Super Mario Bros. game music - nestled into the video game section of our tree.  Super happy I managed to buy this the day it was released (before the price sky-rocketed on Amazon), and I sincerely hope they release the N64 next year, that'd be awesome.

The jig is up - hiding from machine gun fire under a banquet table.

And there you have it, folks - the Houghs' 2021 Christmas Tree.  Bask in all of its glory, America.

- Brian