Back in the Mid

Well gang, we're home. We finally made it up and into the Mid... though frazzled, smelly, strung out, and spent.

From the bowels of Ohio, we managed to reach Mom and John's house just before noon, so we ended up making decent time up that last stretch of I-75. Lot of this has to do with the whole 'second win' thing: once you hit the Michigan border, and are out of that aforementioned crap-hole state, the drive isn't so bad anymore. You're on home ground, and the nostalgia of passing familiarity is more than enough to distract you from the fact that you've been on the road for two, horrifying days.


Mom's house has been awesome so far. Spare rooms were set up for both Kris and I as well as the girls, so that we were able to dump our luggage and relax.

Alayna got to play with a snowman, make some Christmas cookies, and engage in other seasonal activities that she was too young to enjoy last year when we were up. She's become a pretty big fan of snow since she's been up here.

...she doesn't have to drive in it herself, so that probably helps some.

My Grandma and Grandpa Chinery swung over from Saginaw and were able to visit with their great-grandchildren for awhile, which was cool (as they don't get to see our kids much), and we got to hang out in front of a fireplace throughout the day. Low-key and slow-paced, unlike the previous 48 hours.


Awesomeness.


Lt. Jeff and his newly-acquired wife, Annie, also rolled into town around the same time we did, so we were able to see him for a bit (though not for very long, as he had some crap luck with his flights due to that nasty weather the East Coast is dealing with right now). They had to head back out to Virginia pretty early, as Jeff can't be over a certain distance from Langley AFB for a long duration of time (however that works, I don't know), but a short visit with Maverick's better than nothing.


Abby finally got to meet Santa Claus, too... which proved to be a little more of a pain in the ass than we would've preferred. We took her to that Santa's House in downtown next to the courthouse in Midland (yes, evidently the beloved fellow resides in Midland, MI. during the peak season). A pretty cool set-up downtown for a fat, old volunteer dressed up like Santa Claus having strangers' kids sit on his costumed lap.


'Tis the season.


Of course, before we got to see this magical gentleman, we had to endure a hellish outdoor line through biting winds and freezing temperatures. The line itself wasn't so long, per se, but this ended up being somewhat of an optical illusion of sorts. Those brave souls that stood in line alongside us were really only the tip of the iceberg: they were, in fact, only those hardy enough to hold their party's space in line. As soon as they approached the front of the line, their numbers would swell, lengthening up the line as their much larger entourages emerged from their positions in nearby, heated vehicles.


Probably a smart move on their part, but it pissed us off not knowing how long the damn line was.


Anyway, it took about an hour before we finally got to meet Mr. Claus, and the result was to be expected: Abby was oblivious to the whole thing, and probably mistook the volunteer dressed up as Santa for me or Kris, while the Cannonball writhed and wailed in terror until she was released from his jolly, plump grasp. A few hurried pictures were snapped, if only to assure future generations that we were decent parents back in the day, if only for having our children sit on a fake Santa's lap during the 2010 holiday season.


Hooray for us.


I managed to dump off some records to Chris and Jeff this weekend, too. Both have recently taken up the celebrated Hough family past time of collecting vinyl LPs. Now, I myself love collecting records - love it - and, as you'll remember, recently got my hands on 187 of 'em during the Fall Hunter's Creek Community Garage Sale. After I picked out the ones I had, I boxed up the ones I already owned - as well as the ones I just didn't want - and brought them up in the trunk of the van for Chris and Jeff.

Surprisingly enough, neither one of them went for the Streisand.


We head to my Dad's house in Clare tomorrow, for this birthday, and then proceed from there onto future Christmas shenanigans with Kris' family, my Dad's side of the family, my Mom's side of the family, and ultimately our collective high school and college friends. This year's going to entail driving around a lot, shuffling our kids around like child traffickers, and constantly living out of suitcases, but it's a small price to pay in order to see all of our people and fully enjoy the holidays.

It's good being back in the Mid.

- Brian