Across a Slower April

Morning stop at Grove Tea on the way to school with Ella.

Hey gang.

Continuing 2024's kinda-creepy trend of us not being nearly as busy as we usually are, April slipped by us like a ship in the night. Sure, we had a couple kid obligations here and there, but for the most part our calendars were wide-open - we even had a couple weekends where we didn't have anything going on, which almost never happens.

I don't mind a change of pace once and awhile, but we're going on, like, a few months now where we've been practically dead. Hopefully next month things pick up a bit as summer returns and it starts getting awesome outside.

Anyway, here you go, folks - this month's installment of random pictures and updates. 

Enjoy. . .

I'm not sure why she recorded this (or why it's sped up the way it is), but just watching this makes me feel like lying down and fricking dying.

So I'm not sure if I've mentioned these before or not, but I've been collecting a few of these Weta Workshop figurines for the last year or two. One of those things that I keep an eye on for awhile and when they drop in price I pounce on them (they're usually $50 apiece, but I won't spend more than $30 on one.) Anyway, Weta is the production company behind The Lord of the Rings trilogy, and so they have everything from the franchise licensed for use. . . including the actors' likenesses (check it out.) I picked up Elijah Woods' Frodo Baggins towards the beginning of the month - just two more to go now.

 This is a pic of the sign, not my shitty-ass yard. Alayna auditioned for and won a spot in the pit orchestra for Midland High's upcoming drama presentation, Fiddler on the Roof (towards the end of the month.) She'll be rehearsing after school just about every day this month.

As you can see here by our trusty, ol' calendar, our weekends are pretty wide open, while our after-school, weekday slots are jam-packed with not-photo-worthy obligations (orchestra practices, drama practices, gym sessions, Masonic crap, etc.) This has been the case for the last few months, it's been super weird.

One day Kris and the girls drove to Clare to visit her mom, who recently moved into a new place in town. While we were there, Alayna tried on some old dress Marcy had stored away in a closet, and it's kinda hipster-ish now.

(Pretty safe to say Abby doesn't get her height from her mom's side of the family. . .)

Some group selfie took with some friends one day at school. I'd complain about shit like this, but the girl has pulled straight A's (not even an A-) all year, so I guess if it ain't broke, don't fix it.

On the 8th, as you know, we Americans were treated with a rare solar eclipse, the kind that we haven't seen in our country since Thomas Jefferson was in office (1803, for those of you not historically inclined - same year we purchased the Louisiana Territory and sent Lewis and Clark to explore it.) My team, shown here, took kids outside for the afternoon to witness the momentous occasion. . . which is obviously more fun than teaching. From left to right: Yours Truly (Social Studies), Shelly (Science), Rachel (ELA), Steve (Math), and Carrie (Special Ed.)

Meanwhile, back in Midland, Abby and her class was outside doing the exact same thing (not surprisingly.)

. . . aaaaaand so was Kris at her work.

I was focused on filming my students for an upcoming 8th Grade Graduation video (something I edit every year to play at their recognition ceremony), but Alayna managed to get this shot.

Abby and Nica (from the pom team.)

Umm. . . feet?

A Facebook post Kris' boss put up the next day.

That Friday, some of us went over to the Collier residence for some drinks and cards. Bourbon and Euchre, of course. Steven, Collier, Mitch, and Erik shown here.

This was a pretty solid beer, I've been sitting on it for a couple years and finally said 'screw it.'

Lonnie Big Balls shows up and joins in.

One of my students, who is Chinese, visits China for a few weeks every year with her family, and brought back all of her teachers (myself included) a little stationary set from over there, which was pretty awesome of her.

Later that morning, Kris took the girls back up to Clare to drop off some stuff for her mom that they had forgotten to do the last time they went up the week before. Alayna logged some more drive time in (in her Impala), which wasn't really necessary since she's already over the thirty-some hours she needs in order to take the second stage of driver's training.

With all the womenfolk out of the house, I was free to thoroughly clean out the garage from top to bottom. It took six hours, but there's not a speck of dust anywhere to be seen here.

Meanwhile, in Clare, the girls all hit up the Dairy Phil, a Clare institution.

Holiday lights are used everywhere in this house, folks. Don't judge.

When the rest of the fam returned, I helped Alayna remove an old Michigan State emblem off the back of her car (I wanted to do it so she didn't end up removing any of the paint job - mission accomplished.) I let her scrub away the leftover residue, though - that's peasant work.

That evening, Abby stayed over at Ella's house and Alayna hung out with Kris and I in the Study while they did nails and we had drinks and spun vinyl for a few hours. Far shittier way to spend one's evening, folks.

The next morning, with the weather sunny and in the high-70s, I decided to break out our new power-washer. It works incredibly well, but being consumer-grade it has a thinner spray radius. . . which means it takes awhile if you want to do it right. I cleaned up the sidewalk, our front walkway, the front patio, and the driveway in about five hours. I was an idiot and was in flip-flops for the entire time (because I didn't want my shoes getting gross), but now I'm at that age where you need arch support and shoes are important. Consequently, everything from my waist down was incredibly sore for about four days afterwards. Lesson learned.

Alayna filmed Watson eating grass in the backyard, which was funny to her at the time, but Yours Truly ended up scrubbing up six, green puke piles in the living room later on that evening. . .

Our Magnolia Tree, in the far reaches of the backyard, is currently starting that two-week period of the year where it's in bloom and actually pretty (so of course we take a crap-ton of pics of it when it starts this.)

After all these flowers die, it just sprouts regular-ass, green leaves.

Abby and Ella used to play in this tree all the time when they were in elementary school, so while Kris and I were hanging out on the back patio enjoying the sun (once I had finished power-washing), Abby ran back there to relive her younger days.

Lexi swung by and picked up Alayna to do some shopping up by the mall for the afternoon/evening (Lexi already has her license, so it's pretty damn sweet for us adults not having to worry about dropping off and picking up for stuff like this.)

I can say with 100% certainty that whenever I went out shopping for clothes with friends when I was in high school, we never once dressed in the same dressing room, nor did we take pictures of ourselves doing so. This generation is weird.

The girls later that night, hanging out in the Cannonball's room . . . 

Trying out lipstick, I guess. . . ?

Added a second figure - Sean Astin's Samwise Gamgee - to my collection this month (couldn't pass it up, it was on sale.)

The Fellowship of the Ring. . . minus Orlando Bloom's Legolas, just have to keep an eye on that one and pick it up if it ever goes on sale.

Every Friday, I post a reference to this music video in my class Google Slides, and the kids always ask me about it. Today I finally told them to look up the infamous video on Youtube (just be forewarned, if you end up clicking that link, it's notorious for a reason - it might be the shittiest music video ever made.)

That evening, we went to Central Auditorium for a play. Like I said earlier, Alayna auditioned for and won a spot in the Midland High Pit Orchestra, and their first combined performance was The Fiddler on the Roof, which, as I later found out, was kind of a misleading title (I had never seen the play before, so I thought it'd be a bunch of violinists, like, playing on top of buildings. . . and it wasn't.)

The Cannonball flashes a thumbs up before the show starts (her friend Amelia is the violinist at her right, while Lexi is the cellist standing up behind her.)

So we weren't allowed to have phones out during the three-hour (seriously, it was ridiculous) production, but afterwards, as people were beginning to file out of the auditorium, the orchestra teacher had the Pit play one of the production's songs as a kind of a send-off (which was cool, because then I was able to get a video of something this evening.)

(And a closer-up shot, for good measure.)

Afterwards, in what I guess you could call the 'Green Room,' families intermingled with the cast and crew. Kris and Mom got the Cannonball flowers for her efforts (she usually requests someone buy her flowers, she's a big fan of it.) No idea what's going on with the crown, she wasn't wearing it throughout the night. . . 

With Grandma and Papa John.

The Houghs (Abby got her flowers, too.)

And now for a couple with Lexi . . .

Aaaaaand one with Ms. Mammassian, the Orchestra teacher.

The next morning, Samson smooshed Kris into a chair while we had our morning coffee and listened to records. The dude has no self-awareness.

Speaking of records, today was Record Store Day. Alas, like the previous six or seven years, I chose not to participate (folks like up over 24 hours in advance outside Radio Wasteland in order to drop $40 on a single-LP, and that's just not my jam - that's a rookie move.) Instead, a colored, double-LP (that I spent $20 on, by the way) that I ordered from Pirates Press showed up today - perfect timing, really - and the company threw in three, free FlexiDisc singles. So that's how I spent my Saturday afternoon, folks.

That night, Kris and I headed back over to the Collier residence for more cards and drinks. . . and (apparently) bananas.

Erik, Courtney, Mees, Kris and Collier.

Our Magnolia Tree, now in full bloom (the week before it wasn't quite there, so I had to take more pics this weekend.)

Kris posted a fundraising link to Facebook for Abby's summer Pom Camp, seeing how she tried out for and won a spot on next year's Midland High JV Pom Team. The camp's basically mandatory, and costs something stupid like $500 (plus the already $200 we had to fork out for outfits, equipment, etc.), so she's selling candles now to help cover the cost.

Speaking of Midland High, the last week for the month Kris and I took Abby up there so she could go through her Freshman Orientation Night. The school administrators and teachers basically give kids a crash course about the school's layout, procedures, and what-not, and all the student clubs and organizations set out informational booths. Kris of course dropped $50 in the shirt store, because everyone needs more MHS swag I guess.

We spotted Alayna's locker while walking in the upper hallways with the Johnsons (both Abby and Ella ditched us almost immediately upon arrival, so we spent the next hour or so just walking around and checking out shit on our own.)

Alayna has been looking around town for a summer job the last couple of weeks, but it's been difficult due to her not being able to drive yet, and the fact that a lot of places are being bombarded by dozens of high school applicants right now. One of Kris' patients at her work owns Grand Traverse Pie Company, and offered to give her an interview, so Kris drove her over there towards the end of the month in order to pick up a job application. Cross your fingers, folks. . .

- Brian