Back to School

Hey gang.

Well, it's that time of year again: Back to School.

To say this process was an arduous one would be one hell of an understatement. . .

In years past, the last five years at least, I've been able to knock out my Back to School crap in a day or two. Since I've been on my current team and have been in the same classroom for the last five years, I've been able to set up my classroom so that it's ready for students on the First Day of School in a matter of hours. Nothing to it, just move the furniture around, set my desk back up, and unpack all the stored items from their summer lodging in my class cabinets.

Another angle (from the vantage of my desk.)

With the retirement of my old ELA teacher, at the end of last year, I inherited her much bigger - and much better - classroom. It's the same size as my old room from when I was on a different team, from 2016 to 2020, which I missed dearly. For the last five years I've been in a much smaller room, and the cramped space made maneuvering around the room with thirty or so students in it a total pain in the ass. Now I once again have some breathing room, and space to stretch out. I also replaced my old tables and chairs with individual desks, which contains kids better and suits my lecturing style.

The downside of this room change, of course, was that I had to set up everything from scratch. And it took FOREVER.

The view from my outside door.

My Command Center (and yes, the skull in the cabinet is real.)

I started setting my room up on July 28th, almost a full week before I usually start the annual process of heading back to work. I had to map out my room and hang up all my decor, figure out how I wanted to organize all my new furniture, and install new lights (two 100ft strands of those deluxe Govee lights I have all over my house.) Also had to purchase like five or six rolls of premium bulletin board paper (well, it's more like vinyl than paper) that was pricey but holds up better than standard, colored paper, and measuring all that to fit my boards took a ridiculous amount of time.

The end result of all this work, however, was one hell of a bad-ass classroom. It turned out so well that over the course of the first couple weeks staff returned to the building, I'd have other teachers - even from other grade-level buildings on campus - pop in to check it out. The way I look at it, since I spend more time during the work week in my classroom than I do at home, I want it to feel as cozy as humanly possible.

Anyway, when the First Day of School finally rolled around, we didn't get the traditional 'First Day' pics with the girls. Kris had to leave for work before they did, and so she tasked the girls with taking their own pictures this year. Didn't turn out as well as they would have if we would have taken them, but they were pretty hilarious so we didn't care too much.

So here you go, folks - the Houghs' annual Back to School post. Enjoy. . .

The Promethean Board (like a giant tablet) that serves as the board kids will look at to take notes from.

The board by my main classroom door (those maps are obligatory evacuation documentation for like fire and tornado drills, etc.)

Class bins for my students' Interactive Notebooks, my classroom library, etc.

Art supplies, teaching resources, etc.

Kris managed to get one pic of the girls as she was leaving for work and the girls were leaving to get some First Day of School coffees from Bigby. You can totally tell Abby is Hough'ing out here.

Alayna took this pic of Abby at the school. That's about the best we got of her this year.

Alayna doesn't have to go to school until noon each day, since she does online college courses all morning, so her boyfriend Sebastian managed to take a pic of her when she swung by his house at some point in the late morning.

Aaaaaand an MHS Varsity Pom Team pic at the beginning of their first practice of the regular school year (because of course they started practicing on the First Day of School. . .)

- Brian

Robustus Augustus

Hey gang.

You know, as far as months go, August is usually pretty chill around these parts. We figured that'd be the case again this year.

Well, it wasn't. This month was nuts.

I blame my two high school-aged children, honestly. The older they get, the more school/work/extracurricular crap they take on and become involved in. As the upcoming school year loomed on the horizon, our weekdays were jam-packed with nonsense: Kris and Alayna both working, Abby's pom practices, Alayna's college regimen, my gym routine and back-to-school bullshit, last-minute appointments with doctors of all shapes and sizes, church crap, house crap, friend crap, and everything in between.

Then the school year started the third week of school, and we got even busier.

So, long story short, I'm really looking forward to the dust settling once we get into a quasi-regular routine around here.

Check it out. . .

We've been back-to-school shopping the last week or two, and at the beginning of the month Kris knocked the 'school supplies' portion of our annual shopping gauntlet out of the way. I came home from the gym to find the girls setting up their new course binders, labeling crap, and organizing all their wares. . . all over the living room.

One of the girls snapped this pic of Samson. Not sure why, but I try to include the day-to-day stuff they capture as well.

While us dudes were away on Brocation 2024, Kris and Mees headed downtown with the kids to check out the annual lighting of hot air balloons.

There's some kind of take-off event - or race, I don't know - that all these hot air balloonist people take part in. Every year, Midland assembles all these balloons down by the Tridge and folks come to see them inflated with fire (or however that works.)

Myles and Teagan checking it out.

While they were all watching balloons fill up with hot air (I assume), Alayna, Abby and Ella were over here on these trampoline/bungee cord thingies. . .

The next morning, Kris and Mees took all the kids out to Caseville for a day at the beach. Mees brought along her inflatable paddle board for the kids to screw around with. Kris liked it so much she ended up buying herself one a couple weeks later.

Kris and the Cannonball.

Kinda funny these guys were enjoying a beach on Lake Huron at the same time The Kings of the Hill were enjoying a beach on Lake Michigan.

Per usual, grabbing some ice cream on the way back from the beach.

Abby shares more sped-up videos of her daily 'getting ready' process. . . .

We were still away on Brocation when Kris took both girls over to Danielle in order to get their annual hairdo for the coming school year. Both girls wanted highlights, along with a few other things I don't know the meaning of.

I think this is what you wear when your hair is dyed and you're just letting it set in, right?

With Alayna's hair color setting, it was time for Abby to get her ass in the chair.

This process looks absolutely insane. Like straight out of the '80s. 

The coloring complete. Alayna wanted the 'underneath' part of her hair to be blonde(r) than the rest of her hair (not sure what that's called.)

Yet another tutorial from Abby. She's been big into filming stuff like this lately. Maybe it's for the 'Gram.

Damn straight I voted in the Primary. 'Merica.

I returned to school the second Monday of the month in order to attend curriculum professional development (our school adopted new Social Studies curriculum this year, and we all got new textbooks.) Fortunately, it was on in the afternoon, which gave me time to set up my classroom in the morning. When I rolled in to the school, I saw this huge busted piece of sidewalk, right where kids wait for the buses at the end of the day. Underneath the concrete is a dark pit, which I'm sure is totally safe.

While I was away, setting up my classroom, the girls enjoyed their last Monday as free teenagers. . .

Enjoy it while it lasts, ladies - school starts next week.

For the fifth year in a row, I'm in the same classroom, so the whole set up process doesn't take long at all.

I had everything basically set up in two hours, but spent a lot of time on my computer lesson planning for Back to School week (my least favorite time of the year.)

(And of course I didn't get the 'after' pics until after my professional development concluded.)

The Thursday of our last week of Summer (at the conclusion of my Pre Planning week), Kris and I went to a Loons game at Dow Diamond with her boss and coworkers (it was 'Medical Staff Appreciation Night' or some crap like that.)

Weather was awesome, though - not too hot but sunny, and it cooled off in the evening.

Mid-40's selfie.

Kris and her coworkers and their respective spouses.

Hooray for Anderson Dental. . .

(One of these cheerleaders is a former student of mine.)

Always cool to see the home team win at the end of the night (not that any of us are invested in the sport at all, I'm just there for the beer.)

Kris can't get enough selfies. . .

Another day, another sped-up, getting-ready video with Abby. . .

The Cannonball gets some snuggle time in with this lazy-ass dog.

Like I've said before - 99% of the pics in Alayna's phone gallery are dog pics.

One weekend night, while most folks were out of town, a few of us dads got together for a small hangout in Mitch's backyard. He had grilled up a few things and we just kinda sat around and picked it while some golf tournament was on in the background (you know, 'cause Mitch.) Afterwards, we pulled out his portable fire pit as the weather cooled off.

Tom, Rob and Mitch.

I'm a nerd and I don't care, shut up.

Alayna got some more dog-sitting in this month, spending a week over at the neighbors' house watching their dogs before school kicked off. Nice, easy way to rake in some money - she earns $30 a day for basically feeding them twice, playing catch with them in the backyard a few times, and staying the night there. I would have killed for a hookup like that as a kid.

This generation's indulgence in Social Media and the constant need to self-promote leads to stuff like this, I see it all the time with my own students. Filters on selfies. I don't get it.

No idea what's happening here in Alayna's room. . .

One day during the last week before school started, I picked up Abby up from pom practice at the high school, and she wanted to head upstairs afterwards to scope out her locker for the next four years. . .

She's in the same hallway as Alayna, just down at the opposite end.

The next day, the girls went back up there to pick up their schedules for their Freshman year. Abby and Ella have the exact same schedule this year. Every. Single. Class. I'm gonna be praying for those poor, poor teachers.

As I was in Pre-Planning - and setting up my classroom on the side whenever I got the chance - they were doing a ton of construction out in front of our school (where the bus turn-around used to be.)

Not sure what the end result is gonna be here, but for the last couple weeks it's been a giant-ass pit. Why not. . .

Alayna got it in her head one day that she really wanted a belly-button piercing. Kris and I were actually okay with this, provided that she research the process beforehand, paid (and tipped) the artist herself, and knew how to take care of it. She did all this on her own, and found a well-rated place in Bay City - VooDoo Tattoo - that would do it, even driving out there on her own a few days beforehand in order to speak with the 'piercer' and learn more about the process.

The lady here doing the piercing was very friendly and helpful, Alayna and Kris (who went along with her for this) were both very impressed.

Ready for action.

The look on her face really says it all. . .

She said it hurt, but not as bad as she thought it would (I wouldn't do it, that's for damn sure.)

Happy customer. Now I'm sure she'll be wearing nothing but crop tops in order to show it off at school. 

Kris got one with her and the sign on their way back to the car. I've trained her well.

The girls hit up the Midland County Fair, the weekend before school started, with some friends. Seeing how Alayna is driving these days, Kris and I didn't have to do anything but buy their unlimited ride bracelets ahead of time online - way easier than going out there ourselves and rubbing elbows with all the uncleaned, yokels.  Like we did last year.

Like last year, Ella was doing a bunch of 4-H stuff, but after awhile she was able to roam around with Abby and a bunch of other kids int heir friend group and do rides and what-not.

Alayna and her crew split off from Abby and hers and did their own thing throughout the day, which isn't surprising at all - we just made sure Alayna knew to bring home Abby with her when she left (neither Kris or myself were wanting to drive out there in all that shitty carnie traffic to extract one of our kids.)

I yanked all these Fair pics off the girls' phones, so I'm not sure what all we're looking at here. This looks like Abby's scared of a ride before it started, but none of the rides at the Fair are all that terrifying, so who knows. Teens like being dramatic.

Abby and one of her friends in front of one of those bizarro, funhouse mirrors.

Nighttime view from atop the Ferris Wheel (which you couldn't pay me enough to go on.) Not sure which kid took this pic.

Alayna and Erica (who you may remember from our last St. Patrick's Day adventures in Clare.)

Amelia and Lexi

While our kids were away on their own, a few of us managed to meet up over at the Bos residence for a few drinks. The last month or so, with everyone being preoccupied with summer crap, the group hasn't gotten together as much as it usually does (outside of, like, Brocation, I guess.)

Kelli, Stephanie, Courtney, Mees, and Nagatha Cristie.

Meanwhile, back at the Fair. . .

Abby, Ella, and a bunch of their crew that, well, I don't know.

On a carousel.

The next day, in the afternoon, Chris, Jeff and I and our respective families met up over at Mom's in order to have a family meal before the coming school year kicked off into high gear.

Grandpa, Jeff, Abby, Carissa, and Kinsleigh (or, 'Kinsley' - I forget how she spells that.)

That evening, watching TV in the living room with the dogs. Samson's a big fan of pillows.

The First Day of School. Alayna the Junior.

Abby the Freshman.

Kris was able to get this pic after I left for work, which was a miracle because Alayna plans on leaving before I do this year (she's going to be driving her sister - and Ella - to school every morning.)

My Resource teacher on my team this year bought us (me and our Math, Science, and English teachers) all humorous signs for our classroom (painted on wooden boards) that match our subject areas and our 'House' colors. Needless to say, I was pretty excited about mine.

So, remember back in 2017 when we had that major flood in Midland? About a week or so after we moved into our House? Considering the amount of property damage that was incurred, and in order to prevent such devastation from happening again, the City of Midland undertook an initiative to combat future flooding. They ripped up our neighborhood - as you recall - and redid all the connecting residential drain pipes to the main sewage line. That was a months-long ordeal that was a total pain in the ass, but it was only the first step. . .

Last winter I attended a City Hall meeting where our neighborhood was instructed on how the city's project was going to move forward. My neighbors and I were put in contact with independent plumbing companies who were being paid by the city to disconnect each house's sewage and drain lines (or something like that) and reconnect them to the main line in some different kind of way. Not really all that sure how that works, but the end result is no back-flow flooding (like our neighborhood saw in 2017.) Millions of dollars the City was spending on this years-long plan. Our house was considered 'low priority' because we have a sump pump that saved our asses during the flood, but the company we eventually hired for the project told us, upon inspecting our house, that they could still upgrade our sump pump and that we could get a newer, fancier, bigger model for FREE (a.k.a. on the City's dime - the city was putting like $12k towards each house as part of this project), so we said 'sure.' It took several months for the company to follow up, but FINALLY, this month, they came back to our house, replaced/upgraded our sump pump, busted a huge hole in our storage room floor, and did the whole disconnect/reconnect thing with the pipes. After seven years, the Houghs are now flood-proof. Hell f***ing yeah.

Unwinding after the First Day of School (arguably one of my more chaotic 'first days,' but the kids settled in over the course of the following week or two.)

Abby and Nica take a selfie during their daily, afternoon pom practice.

Kris' garden, coming along slowly but surely.

If you wanna see just how much progress this is, go over to the right there under The Archives and click on a summer post from a few years ago. . .

The Front Yard, which has been in ROUGH shape for the last month or so. Despite heavy watering and fertilization, these two maple trees are destroying our grass, and the City's aforementioned anti-flooding project ripped up part of the sidewalk and yard, causing additional damage. Kris and I finally came to the conclusion that we're just going to turn this part of the yard into a garden in the coming weeks.

Costco unfortunately discontinued my go-to rum, which tasted like Captain Morgan and only cost $14 for a half-gallon. After an entire, rum-less year, they came out with this new rum: $26 for a half gallon, and it tastes more like spiced Bacardi than Captain. A major letdown, for sure.

Abby has to submit these 'practice' videos to her coaches once a week. Not sure why, exactly, seeing how they practice every day, but whatever. . .

The second week of school, weather around here was still hovering in the mid/high-80's (absolutely brutal for teaching in a classroom without air conditioning.) Towards the end of the work day, dark clouds began to roll in, and the wind picked up. As I was leaving work, Kris texted me to stay in Saginaw as there were tornado sirens blaring throughout Midland. The girls, who were home from school by this point, went into the basement with the dogs, but I wasn't thrilled with them being home alone by themselves if a tornado did in fact touch down, so I threw caution to the wind and started my dangerous drive home.

I regretted this decision almost immediately. As soon as I was on the road between Saginaw and Freeland, there were trees and debris of all shapes and kinds knocked over into the street. The wind and rain was coming in sideways with a vengeance, and I could barely see in front of me. It was like driving at night, but at 4pm. I fully intended on pulling into a parking lot once I reached Freeland and ducking inside some store for cover, but by the time I finally reached Freeland, the storm had passed, so I just continued on home. I got frickin' CLOSE, folks.

Meanwhile, at Kris' work, their office lost power and they had to close (but remain there until the emergency passed.)

When I got home, the storm was over. Fortunately, nothing was damaged, but we had a lot of tree debris in our front yard.

Alayna was relieved her car wasn't scratched at all. Teenage priorities. . .

Considering the amount of damage I had seen driving home from Saginaw, I was pretty damn grateful.

After years and years of braces, Abby is officially DONE with Ortho bullshit.

To say she's excited would be a definite understatement. (And yes, she is wearing pants here. I don't get this recent Gen Z trend at all.)

Alayna and her friend Erica (Erika?) at the first MHS Home football game of the year, which is like an obligatory social event for teens.

Sister selfie.

Abby and Ella, the Terrible Twosome.

Abby and some of her Pom teammates, following the game (getting pics taken on the field is a BIG deal, I'm told.)

(You ever notice how all these pics of teenage girls start to look the same after awhile?)

(Okay, this one looks kinda normal. . .)

Towards the end of the month, we got the girls' 2024 - 2025 School Year pics back. Turned out pretty awesome this year.

So that's August, gang. MUCH busier than usual (thanks, girls), but I'm assuming next month will settle down somewhat. . . maybe.

- Brian