The End of December

Courtney took these two out for Tim Horton's before school one morning.

. . . and so ends the month of December.

This month went by fast, and, like I said before, I just wasn't feelin' the whole 'Holiday' thing this year. I won't go into all of that again, but it made the month feel just like any other month in the winter. Just with waaay more crap going on, of course.

Our Decembers - as you're about to see - are chock-full of orchestra concerts, school stuff, church events, and social outings. All outside of the usual Christmas Chaos that swoops in the last two weeks of the month. Makes the time go by fast, the blood pressure skyrocket, and the wallet lost weight. Good times.

So here you go, America - another Holiday Season with the Houghs. Enjoy. . .

Towards the beginning of the month, Alayna once again performed in Midland High School's annual Rhapsody Rendezvous - their annual musical talent show - at The Center for the Arts.

These seats filled up pretty fast - place was packed. Dad and Cindy drove down to check it out again, we were able to snag a bunch of seats together.

I'm pretty sure I've mentioned it before, but Alayna auditioned for and was promoted to Symphony Orchestra this year, the advanced orchestra at Midland High. They were one of the first acts that performed in the evening, but Alayna would ultimately be playing later with the top-tier orchestra, Honors, a couple hours later (yes, the program was that long.)

I apologize for the quality of the video - they frown on folks videoing events like this, due to the bright phone screens in a dark room, so I held my phone right up to my chest to minimize it.

They had a professional photographer on hand to help capture performers, and this was the best one he took of Alayna (hidden behind the music stand.) You get what you get, folks.

During Intermission, between Acts 1 and 2 (each Act compromising, like, 15 - 20 performances each), folks were able to get up and stretch. We met up with Alayna outside in the wings and Dad and Cindy gave her some celebratory roses.

. . . and yes, Alayna personally requested roses. She's a snob.

After another hour and a half, we were done with Act 2 and everyone slowly fought their way downstairs down to the lobby, where my folks took this family pic of us. Alayna did awesome in both of her performances, but I definitely wouldn't have complained if the evening had been, like, an hour or so shorter.

Alayna's bedroom, as it's been for the last four years. So both girls ended up completely redoing their bedrooms the first weekend of the month, which was totally random and out of the blue. Abby had been wanting to do away with her loft bed for a couple months, but Kris and I pushed back on this seeing how she just got that stupid loft bed not all that long ago. As much as we don't like completely overhauling their bedrooms every few years, Kris and I ultimately acknowledged the fact that our girls are both teenagers now and probably don't want 'tween' rooms anymore.

Alayna's new setup. She wanted her bed in the middle of the room, with her desk off to the side of the wall underneath the window.

I got a notification through one of my online lightning deals apps (I think it was SlickDeals) for a Victrola entertainment stand for $20 (they're usually $80.) I have no need for one, and wasn't sure if Alayna ever would, but I bought it all the same because for 75% off it was an absolute insane deal. When Alayna re-arranged her room, she suddenly needed an end table, and I had just the thing. . .

She doesn't have all that much vinyl yet, so I had her prop up her existing LPs with this Converse shoe box she's re-purposed for random crap. If she bought more vinyl this wouldn't be a problem.

Abby's room, the way it's been since, like 2019. . .

Her new setup (minus all the posters she'd eventually be getting for Christmas. . .)

In the spirit of home decorating, I finally got off my ass and got around to hanging these two Tuareg Swords I brought back from Africa (Burkina Faso and Ghana, to be precise.) They've been propped up against a wall in The Captains Quarters, in the basement, ever since we first moved into this house in 2017, and I finally got around to buying some sword racks about three months ago. Hanging these in The Study was a daunting undertaking, because the measurements had to be perfect, but I got them exactly centered in the space they needed to be, and they're finally off the floor.  Should've done it years ago.

Abby, Ella, and a couple of the other girls from their pom team (assumedly at pom practice.) Over the course of the month, we've noticed pics like this are about all that exists in Abby's camera roll. Prepare yourself for a crap-load of group selfies this month, folks.

Kris and her co-workers at the dentist's office ordered a bunch of shirts from a patient whose young child is battling cancer (a fundraiser or something.) I guess they coordinate to wear them whenever the kid is scheduled for a cleaning, which is cool.

The first 'big' snow of the season, smacking into us the second week of the month. It didn't stick around longer than half a day, and never completely covered the grass, but it was the closest thing we had to a White Christmas this year. Damn it.

Abby, some other pom teammate, and Ella, taking more group selfies in the bathroom instead of, you know, actually practicing their pom routine. . .

I've upped my Christmas Playlists game this year, creating multiple new ones and printing out a handy reference guide - housed in a magnet photo frame - that I can stick to the metal homework bin right above the Echo Show in our kitchen. Do you think any of my roommates appreciated this thoughtful, bad-ass, gesture? No. No they did not. 

Abby and Ella have been attending practically every after-school, Northeast sporting event the last few weeks. Here they're out at some other school (courtesy of the Johnsons) to watch Jackson swim in a meet.

So I haven't had a haircut since, like, last November, probably - it's been over a year, for sure. One day I wore a knit cap into work because it was cold out, and one of my students said I looked like Frank from Shameless. I had to Google what they were talking about, and then decided to recreate the pic. Long story short, I think I'm getting a haircut soon - I don't wanna look like a homeless man.

Cutting Samson's nails are a two-person job, he's absolutely horrible with it (to the point where he's officially banned from PetSmart.) I usually have to put him in a choke-hold and allow him to growl and bare his teeth, and Kris cuts his nails out of view. It's an ordeal.

The House. Looking festive. The girls are trying to talk Kris and I into purchasing more outdoor decor, which we may do next year (I just need to buy more Alexa-enabled, exterior smart plugs so I don't have to remember to turn them on/off.)

The Holiday Booze display (now not was widely used, seeing how we have a fully stocked bar in the basement.)

Alayna's bedroom. Teenagers are a pain in the ass.

Kris took this pic of our Christmas-y fireplace display. . . but she neglected to turn on the fireplace. Rookie move.

Midland High Symphonic Orchestra's Winter Concert, once again at the Central Auditorium. Feels like we have three or four of these a year at this place.

(My dad was able to zoom in and get this one.)

Because it's the advanced orchestra in the school, all their songs are somewhat lengthy, so the video files exceed Blogger's video size limit. . . which means all you guys get this month are pictures. My apologies.

1st Chair, 2nd Strings

(Just imagine it sounds cool.)

After the concert, Kris made Alayna pose next to the Christmas Tree in the wings so she could get her annual Christmas orchestra pic.

Abby (from last month) and Alayna (this month.)  Kris is meticulous. 

Our boss this year bought us all fancy, insulated water bottles with our last names and district mascot on them. I'm always in the market for new water bottles.

My Holiday Craft Beer selection continues to grow (you can see a lot of the individual, hand-picked bottles on the shelf underneath these three.) Now, I know I've mentioned the Southern Tier on more than one occasion (they do some of my all-time favorite beers, especially their imperial stouts, but I picked up a couple out-of-the-box treasures this year. First, is the keg of Breckenridge Christmas Ale that I picked up towards the beginning of the month, and broke into when I had the Inner Five dads over for a 'low key hangout' that quickly went off the rails. At 8% ABV, it caught up to us a little too fast (though the Holiday cocktails, Kirkland Egg Nogs, and Manhattans certainly didn't help, either.)

I actually bought this a year ago, but my beer fridge didn't have any room to refrigerate it, and I didn't plan the start point in advance (you need to start on Dec. 21st or 22nd if you want to end before New Years.) This year, I made sure I had all my ducks in a row in order to properly kick off The 12 Days of Milkshake Stouts.

I made it a point to drink one of these each evening, though I slipped up and forgot a day or two along the way, and consequently didn't finish until Jan 2nd. Oh well - I'll do it better next year (if I can get my hands on this again. . .)

Alayna has been picking up shifts for 'gig' performances throughout the city the last two months. Basically folks throughout the community - businesses, organizations, retirement homes, hospitals, etc. - contact Midland High and request a quartet (or whatever), and the orchestra pulls volunteers from their top-tier talent to fill the 'gig.' This performance was at Dow Gardens, towards the middle of the month. 

I feel like this quartet could have been planned out better - one violins and three cellos probably sounded weird. Like, where's the viola and bass players? She plays with her friend, Lexi (second from right), quite a lot, so they should've nixed those other two cellists.

The moms all got together one night over at the Larson residence the Friday before Christmas Vacation kicked off (halfway through the following week) in order to exchange Secret Santa gifts and design wreaths.

The moms all split off into two teams and made a competition out of it.

Morgan ended up taking pictures of both wreaths and texted them out to the dads to see which one they liked better, and 100% of us said that this wreath - made by Kris and her team (Kelli, Courtney, Susan and Amy) - was absolute dog shit.

So this team's wreath - by Deanna, Danielle, Stephanie, Alicia, and Mees - was the victor.

Seriously now. Homeless people could make something nicer than this.

Holiday cocktails with the moms.

Knowing them, this was probably a drinking game of some kind. Holiday-themed, of course.

One of Alayna's pics off her phone (not surprisingly, all she has on her phone is dog pics), showcasing Samson's lazy eye.

Analyzing ornament layout. We don't half-ass Christmas Trees in this family.

Alayna and Lexi studied in the basement throughout the weekend in preparation for their upcoming end-of-semester finals. Samson evidently was super interested in their chemistry coursework.

This was was 'meh.' I feel like I forget about this one and buy it every year, only to realize it's not my favorite. . . every year. No horrible, but there's so much better Holiday craft beer out there already, I don't need to be wasting my time like this.

Kris and I knocked out a couple mandatory Christmas movies that Sunday - there's a list of 'must-see's' that have to be checked off each year. Scrooged is Kris' all-time favorite Holiday movies (definitely in my Top Five.)

We had this one on in the background while we wrapped gifts in the basement (away from prying eyes.) This one's nowhere near the top of anyone's 'must-see' list of Christmas movies, but I'm pretty sure it's a crime if you don't get it out of the way during the Holidays.

Short time afterwards, one of the girls working on school work (can't actually tell from this angle what kid I'm looking at, here. . .)

Bought a box of these on a whim while grocery shopping one weekend - I try and splurge a little on treats and crap-food this time of year - and the girls killed this box in a matter of hours. Bunch of savages. . .

One of my students drew this up in a teacher's classroom while they were bored. I approve of all things Simpsons.

So, the day before Christmas Vacation kicked off, I finally relented and went over to the Larsons to get my haircut by Danielle (a professional stylist who works out of her home, and only charges us like $10 for a much-better haircut than you would get from a chain barber shop.) The pile doesn't look too huge here, but it looked like someone sheared a small animal.

Over thirteen months of hair growth. Kris was very appreciative.

My roommates were really weirded out by the sudden change.

I forget why I was walking around with this. Probably prowling for bad guys.

Kicking off my Twelve Days of Milkshake Stouts - this one was pretty damn good.

Had the Johnsons grab another bottle of this when they were out at Costco one evening, in order to get us through the Holidays. This is, by far, my favorite Egg Nog (I don't wanna know how many calories is loaded into this deliciousness. . .)

The first day of Christmas Vacation, Alayna decided she had to bake an entire batch of chocolate chip cookies. Just 'cause.

Some selfies I grabbed off Abby's phone. She was out shopping around in Ulta and elsewhere with Kris one afternoon, and this is the sort of stuff teens send to their friends these days.

And one with her sister.

The basement Christmas Tree, with a bunch of presents for other folks (the ones for our Fam we hide in the The Captain's Quarters every year.) The girls ended up buying lots of presents for their friends this year, and this has become the default spot to store them.

Nap Bros.

One evening over at First United Methodist downtown, Kris and the girls (and Ella) - along with a bunch of other volunteers - got together to wrap all the collected gifts for the Giving Tree. 

For those of you unaware of what the hell that is, it's one of those trees where folks hang up the names of people who are in need during the Holidays, along with what they would like (almost always kids, with descriptions like "8 year old boy would like Pokemon cards, a soccer ball, and hoodies.") 

Kris and the Cannonball

The Dynamic Duo

Volunteers.

Another day, another stout. Not too bad, just wish it had been stronger.

Alayna went over to her friend Maddie's house to bake cookies one afternoon, and the next day I happened to check the pics on her phone and found this. . . which, you know, is just lovely.

While she was away baking inappropriate cookies, Kris and I took advantage of the absence and wrapped more of the girls' Christmas presents in the basement.

Are you f***ing kidding me. . .

SHITTER'S FULL. . .

Some of these taste almost identical to others - this one tasted just like every other chocolate stout I've ever had (not bad, mind you, just nothing unique.)

A day or two after Christmas in Clare, Abby began making good use of her new label-maker (on her door.)

This one was really good, but would have been better had the ABV been higher (as is the case with most stouts.)

Abby and Ella, out to eat. . . somewhere. The girls both have the Be Real app, which forces people to take a pic with both cameras on their phone at the same time, within two minutes of receiving the notification for the day (which can come at any time, the purpose being they're authentic pics and not overly staged and/or filtered.)

Some of the vinyl I picked up this Holiday Season (taking advantage of all the deals from sites like Merchbar and SoundofVinyl, when they dump records for $0 + shipping, or $10 flat, etc.)  Not pictured are six or seven more LPs that are on back-order - no telling when I'll be getting those ones. . .

One of Ella's Christmas gifts this year was getting the inner part of her ear pierced (you know, the part that's closest to your nose that you swab behind. . . whatever that's called.) She asked Abby to come along for 'emotional support,' so all these pics are from Erik (Ella's dad.) They went to the same tattoo/piercing joint in Bay City they wen tto last time, forget what it's called.

Ready to go (kinda.)

Moment of Truth. I'm told this hurt like a sum'bitch, but Ella handled it like a champ.

Afterwards, grabbing some dinner/dessert. . . somewhere.

Powering on through the Twelve Days of Milkshake Stout. This installment was pretty good.

Taking into consideration all the new vinyl I purchased over the course of the last six or seven weeks - over a double single, double, and triple-LPs - I needed to clear out more space in my cabinets. The cutting process, while always painful, was necessary - I no longer have room for new purchases, so now whenever I get something new, I have to purge. Kris thought she'd be funny and take a pic of me, mid-process, while we had our morning coffees.

The Cannonball helped us out later that day by giving the dogs some much-needed baths. You can tell Samson loves this.

You wouldn't think this one would work, but hooooooly shit it was good. . .

A short while after I had finished off that stout, the Inner Five gathered over at the Larson residence to play some games, catch up over the Holidays, and watch the Lions game. We played this one game that was kinda like Scattergories (with dice) that I ended up winning a couple times (I'm an unstoppable force.)

Settling in to the Lions game. As you can see, I'm still working on clearing out the Holiday craft beer out of my basement fridge. This is one that I pick up every year, and that's pretty middle-of-the-road. I wouldn't be heartbroken if I couldn't find it next season, but for $2 per bottle it's worth picking up if you find it.

As you can probably recall, this was an incredibly frustrating game that Detroit should have won, but ultimately didn't matter much - the Lions are headed to the Playoffs anyway.

I wore my special event socks this evening - I'll be busting those out again for the Superbowl in February. Also, we drank quite a bit o high-quality bourbon this evening. Like with food, this group doesn't play around when it comes to drink snobbery.

Things don't look good for Detroit.  See ya next month, Internet.

- Brian