Warmest. Winter. Ever.

How's it going, Internet.

This has been, without a doubt, the weirdest January I've ever experienced.

Since moving back up to Michigan in 2015, we've had ourselves, for the most part, pretty standard Michigan winters.  Some snowier than others, but we've usually had some degree of snow, and on average about a half a dozen Snow Days off of school.  This year's winter, however, has been much warmer than normal, with temperatures this month hovering in the 40s and 50s.  With the exception of shortly before Christmas - our blessed White Christmas - we have haven't seen any snow to speak of.

Which means no Snow Days for Yours Truly and the girls.  

I'm not a huge fan of snow once Christmas is over and done with, but I do like my Snow Days.  We haven't completely lost hope around here, though - God knows we still have like six weeks of winter to deal with, and February tends to be the snowiest month of the year.  It's just bizarre walking around with all the rain, faded grass, and dreary skies - feels more like early March than anything else.

Anyway, this month was a little busier than usual around these parts.  Both girls being involved with more in school has led to our calendars being more full than usual, so this month's installment of randoms is a little longer than usual.

Check it out. . .

Towards the beginning of the month, Alayna and the Midland High Drama Club went on a field trip down to Detroit to watch Les Miserables.  Kris went along as a chaperone (not because she's all that big into chaperoning or anything, she just wanted to see the play, too), and she was able to snap a few pics of the kids on the trip (like this one of the Cannonball and her friend, Cristina, on their charter bus.)

They stopped for dinner half-way between Midland and Detroit at some random McDonalds.  It's crazy how much food this kid eats, considering how skinny she is.

Kris took this pic of the inside of the theater they went to.  It's not the Fox Theater, but I think it starts with an 'F', too. . .

Alayna, Cristina, and some other random ass kid from the drama club.

(I don't know what they're pointing at.)

You can tell how excited Alayna was having her picture taken next to this sign. . . with her frickin' mom.

Cristina's mom, Ana, went along as a chaperone as well (she's actually Alayna's Spanish teacher this year.)

After the show, the club poses with the show sign.

First Saturday morning of the month, having morning coffees and spinning vinyl in the Study.  With dogs.

Standard Abby pics taken off her phone.

Later on in the day, Kris snapped this pic of me trying to ascertain the exact release of a newly-acquired LP (sometimes you have to read the markings on the runout groove in order to figure out which version you own.)

Playing Telestrations (which we borrowed from Chris and Nicole) with the Colliers and Johnsons.

The youngest Collier kid, Myles, opted to hangout in the living room with the dogs (instead of down in the basement with the rest of the kids) while us parents hung out.

Our lazy-ass Samson. . .

Recently learned of this website called merchbar.com, which liquidates vinyl and where you can often times find vinyl for cheaper than other sites like Amazon or Discogs (though it takes some digging.)  I was able to nab a limited edition copy of Rancid's Let The Dominoes Fall for about $10 cheaper than it was anywhere else.  The packaging it came from (an independent label called The Pirates Press) used some pretty awesome packaging tape.

Not only did they send me the album I requested (a deluxe version that featured an entire acoustic set on top of the original track listing, all pressed on eight 7-inch's), they also threw in some free merch, completely unexpected.  A few stickers, two additional 7" singles from other bands on their label, and a couple post cards.  A pretty cool surprise, and one that has definitely snagged a returning customer (I'm a sucker for marketing ploys like this - I dig free stuff.)

The individual artwork - in typical Rancid style - on the eight records in this release.  Each 7" had 3 to 5 songs on it, so while it can be tedious to constantly change them out (opposed to having everything on one or two 12" records), the extra artwork is definitely appreciated.

This one wasn't too bad - generic punk, but at least it wasn't poppy punk like the shit we had to listen to when the genre almost got mainstream in the early 2000's.

What really weirded me out about this release was how frickin' thin it was.  I had never heard of a 'picture flexi' before, but to give you an idea of how thin it really was, think back to overhead projector sheets.  You know, the ones schools and offices used to use in the 70s - 90s, where you'd write with a wet-erase marker and project it on to a screen.  This record - which sounded totally fine, by the eay, was pressed on something that thin.  Pretty crazy.

While I did appreciate the colored vinyl of the second free 7" record, the band didn't do it for me.  I'll probably sell this one at some point.  Cool artwork, though.

On top of being an anniversary, limited edition release, and on top of being pressed on eight records, each in individually-designed sleeves, this release was also pressed on blood splatter/white colored vinyl.  So, obviously, that makes it sound way better.

Someone snapped this one of Alayna hanging out in her Spanish class, with a bizarre set of headphones on.  Who knows why.

Abby the cellist, ready for another evening of orchestra concert stuff (we didn't take any pics or video of this one, as we were seated behind some white trash assholes whose kids kept bouncing up and down in their seats, blocking my vantage point.)  Oh well - there's bound to be more orchestra concerts uploaded here in the next month or two, so stay tuned.

This evening was the first time we introduced the girls to the Michigan tradition of Euchre.  It took Kris nearly 40 years to learn this time-old right-of-passage, so the girls are actually making good time with this.

Having a craft beer (in one of the Blackrocks Brewery glasses I stole while on Brocation '20) while teaching the kids the ropes of this game.

I had to take a day off of work in order to knock out a few different appointments, and was therefore able to meet up with Kris for lunch at Proper Taco downtown.  I guess I wasn't all that talkative, and she informed me that if that this had been a first date she wouldn't have called me back.  Whatever lady, the food was good - no regrets.

After coming home from work later in the week, I changed out of my work clothes and into my lounge-around-the-house, fleece robe to unwind.  Kris then asked me to go and pick up Abby from pom practice at Northeast, and further informed me that Abby wanted me to bring up a particular one of her old stuffed animals from the basement.  So, of course, Kris takes a pic as I prepare to head out and pick up my weird-ass kid.

The Cannonball, earning her keep.

Midland suffered a bizarre series of power outages this week, but fortunately our house never once lost power (thank God.)

BP and his fam went to Disney World for the first time this month, and after we went back and forth via text in the weeks leading up to his trip - about how to use Genie+, which rides to prioritize and which ones to avoid - he texted me these pics of his fam boarding the one ride at Epcot I said was a must.  It's this kinda shit right here that's made this guy my best friend for the last couple decades.

This, our Spaceship Earth. . .

The duo, doing what they do best.

We haven't had a functional copier at work for nearly two months, it's ridiculous.  Teachers rely on these things for handouts and all kinds of stuff for our classrooms, and our service folk who fix these things for us haven't been able to figure out why ours keeping breaking.  The old one - a reliable work horse that we'd used for years - worked perfectly but was switched out in early December for a 'better' model, which promptly broke down (after about five days) and ever since it's been out of commission.  

This is what Samson does when it comes even remotely close to dinner time.  Dude's a spaz.

So long as you don't mind spending $20 on four beers, Founders' Barrel Series are a pretty safe bet.  You can't really drink more than one in a sitting, though, as they're damn strong.  Tastes great, though.

Random Abby selfie.

The Houghs, Johnsons and Colliers gathered over at the Bos residence one Saturday evening for some drinks and games - kinda the usual around these parts for this time of year (our winter hang-outs are generally smaller affairs, since everyone's forced indoors.)

I recently redid the surface of my 'desk' in the Captain's Quarters, painting the unfinished wood with a chalk paint, then sealing it with three or four coats of poly resin.  Turned out awesome, and is a hell of lot cooler looking than what I had before..

Kris and I checked out the Book of Mormon at the Midland Center for the Arts towards the end of the months.  I'm not huge on plays - way too much singing, in my opinion - but the creators of South Park wrote it, and I'm a big fan of theirs.

(I need a haircut.)

Towards the end of the month, Kris and the rest of the moms (Amy, Mees, Alicia, and Danielle, pictured here) drove a little north to a rented cabin in the woods for their bi-annual Moms Weekend (a lamer version of our annual Brocations.)

These guys are big fans of taking group pictures.  You gotta have, like, twelve of these at every get-together.

As usual, with just the girls and I at home for the weekend, I had the girls write down the crap they wanted from the grocery store, and picked it up on my way home from work.  Donuts, sushi, a rotisserie chicken, pop, wine, junk food - the basics.  (I'd head out the next day and get actual food, but the fun stuff had to come first, obviously.)

Meanwhile, somewhere in northern Michigan (I don't know any of the context behind any of the pics Kris took, so I'm not going out of my way to caption her pics all that well.)

Saturday morning, I dropped the girls off at the United Church of Christ for some teen lock-in that a bunch of local kids were doing.  The church itself is located directly next door to the girls' old elementary school, Chestnut Hill - and, from the look of their school, they're still using the logo I designed for them five years ago (they plastered it all over their frickin' building.)  And no, I didn't get paid for any of that.  FML.

Gathering up their gear for the lock-in.

It didn't take long for Alayna to grow bored with the whole thing - her friend, Cristina, left early because she wasn't feeling well, so Alayna wanted to be picked up after only an hour or so.  Abby was fine staying for the entirety of the weekend, but I'd end up picking Alayna up later in the evening (I made her stick it out a bit.)

The cabin the moms stayed at.

Looks like they killed some time by sledding.

Gross, unshowered moms, playing cards.

With a day to myself, I headed out to Radio Wasteland and picked up a live album from Loggins & Messina, a collab between Leslie West, Jack Bruce, and some other guy named 'Laing,' and Sparta's newest release (on white vinyl) for only $20 (Jim, as usual, cut me a deal, seeing how I'm somewhat of a regular over there.)

Some random pic I found in Abby's camera roll.  No idea who that kid is.

More sledding with the moms. . .

There goes Kris. . .

Kris, Danielle, and Courtney.

A collage one of the other moms put together.  Again, they're huge fans of group pics.

Last month, when we went down to visit the DeBoers and check out the Henson exhibit at the Grand Rapids Art Museum, Alayna accidentally left one of her favorite rings at their house.  She's been pestering me for weeks, asking when BP was going to mail it to us.  Towards the end of the month, she received a letter in the mail, and, upon opening it, we found this smaller envelope inside (with the ring, of course, inside it.)  This reference from The Lord of the Rings, was not lost on Alayna and I, who are huge Tolkien fans (as is BP) - we were dying laughing.

Another group pic of moms.  Playing more cards.

I treated myself to a Manhattan Saturday night while watching a movie.  Kind of a pain in the ass to make (have to have all the ingredients on hand), but sooooo good.

Snowy Sunday

Kris came back Sunday afternoon, and that evening her and the girls watched TV and played with each other's hair (which happens almost as much as nails around these parts.)

So that's how January went down this year, America - see ya next month.

- Brian