The Cannonball's Sweet 16, Pt. I

Hey kids.

So the Houghs hit this particular milestone this weekend: we've somehow managed to keep one of our offspring alive to the point where they can finally, legally drive. 

. . . well, sort of. She still needs, like, five or so hours of drive time - and to pass a driver's test - before she can actually get her license.

The Cannonball celebrated her Sweet 16 this weekend, which we divided up into two, separate events - per her request. She'd been looking forward to this weekend for a long, long time, and - seeing how it's Alayna and everything - had huge, grandiose plans for the momentous occasion. Large pavilion tents set up in the backyard, catering, the works.

Because, you know, Kris and I are lawyers, and the Cannonball's apparently graduating high school. Frickin' teens.

Just so you're aware, I had a severed allergic reaction to blowing up this balloon arch. I've never had issues with balloons in the last forty-plus years - or latex of any kind - but for whatever reason, these particular balloons caused my eyes to turn red and itch uncontrollably (I couldn't even keep them open, they'd tear up too much), my nose to run, my breathing to become forced, etc. Had to take Allegra, Paladay, and other such allergy crap to beat it down - Goddamn ridiculous.

Our family Fondue set that we break out for parties, oh, once every few years. 

Once we ground reality in her and Alayna remembered that we had already, you know, bought her a f***ing car, she was willing to start compromising on some of her demands. 

She wanted a fancier vibe for her birthday, so Kris and I went out and bought some black and gold decor (at Alayna's request) and we put together a menu that fit her tastes. The compromise for the party here was that she would settle for a toned-down affair under the condition that we'd be able to take her and this assortment of friends up to the family lakehouse on Eight Point Lake the following day for a 'Sweet 16, Part 2' (we had her clear it first with her grandparents.)

Weren't about to let kids drink wine at this Parisian murder mystery. . .

This first part of her Sweet 16 was centered on this Murder Mystery Game that Kris and Alayna picked out online. Death By Chocolate, as it's called, involves eight characters and is set in Paris in the early 1900s. Set up was pretty straight-forward and involved some manual reading, character research, and the hooking up of a TV in the kitchen (along with setting up an appropriate 'vibe' for the evening, obviously.) The kids got into it and, once started, the game lasted about three hours - not bad for the price we paid.

So yeah, the next two installments of this blog of ours will chronicle the Cannonball's big weekend, and I'll let the following pics and videos illustrate how the weekend went down.

Enjoy. . .

The Cannonball's favorite food - by far - is sushi, so we couldn't really host a birthday party for her without buying a platter.

Aside from sushi and fake wine, she wanted lots of finger foods (instead of, say, pizza or shit on the grill.) These meatballs (or, 'Monster Balls') that Kris usually makes for our Halloween Parties are always a big hit with teenagers.

While looking absolutely f***ing disgusting, this chili cheese dip is another party staple around here that gets devoured at parties. If Kris made it more often I'd easily weigh 300 lbs.

Some of the rest of the spread (we rotated out crap as it was consumed - teens will tear through a spread like Sherman to the Sea.)

Kids began to show up around 5pm.

Abby and Ella were nice enough to step in and take the place of two of Alayna's friends - Cristina and Rita - who were invited couldn't attend because they were vacationing with Cristina's family in Madrid.

Kris and I take a break from serving kids pre-game food to have a drink and listen to records in the Study.

The evening's cast of characters for the murder mystery game. Left to Right: Maddie (an archaeologist), Abby (a ventriloquist), Kyle (a boxer), Lexi (a bohemian artist), Ella (a rival investor), Toby (a pyschiatrist), Amelia (a jaded lover), and the Cannonball (a CEO.)

Kris reads out the instructions for the game as the kids research their own characters.

The mystery begins. . .

Lexi takes down notes, and Abby reads from her script, as details of the victim - some chocolatier who was murdered by a bomb hidden away in a piece of chocolate - begin to emerge.

The game was played in a series of 'rounds,' wherein each character had to read from a provided script a small excerpt, and then, afterwards, exchange dialogue with other characters around the table. From these exchanges, clues and details were dropped that the guests had to keep track of in a notebook.

Each turn each character had to go, so each round ended up taking almost an hour.

At the beginning of each turn, we played a few minutes from this video - an interactive part of the game, uploaded to Youtube - that directed players, offered more information and detail, and kind of added to the overall aesthetic and experience of the game. It was corny as f***.

Probably don't need to caption all of these pics and video, you kinda get the gist of it by now. . .

Watching one of the pre-round video segments.

Grabbing a drink between rounds.

Samson didn't know what to do with himself throughout the evening - too many people about the house to just do what he usually does around here, lie on the couch like the lazy piece of shit that he is.

Closing arguments, about three hours into the game.

Things get heated - Lexi was cutthroat with this murder mystery thing (unsurprisingly.)

Revealing the killer at the end of the game (I guess he got away with it because no one accused him. . . ?)

After the game concluded, Alayna and the rest of the kids went downstairs into the basement to open up gifts.

Then, of course, it was time for cake and ice cream (as the law dictates.)

Alayna - like her mom - prefers cheesecake over standard cake, so that's what we do around these parts. . .

With cake and presents out of the way, Kris and I went upstairs and abandoned the basement to the teenagers. They hooked up a movie to the projector, played some games, and otherwise kept themselves occupied for the rest of the night.

Around 11pm, the girls kicked off the sleepover portion of the evening once Kyle went home (we're laid-back parents, but we're not that laid back) with a chaotic hours-long bout of karaoke.  You can imagine how much Kris and I appreciated this blasting throughout our house. . .

- Brian

All Systems: Christmas

Good morning, Internet.

What the hell happened to fall?!

We were one week into November when Mother Nature, apparently bored watching Yours Truly rake up leaves over and over again, said "f*** it" and started dumping snow on us.  I woke up on Friday to see my yard covered in snow, and when I went outside to heat up my car prior to my commute to work, I found this:

While I enjoy the First Snow as much as the next person, I wasn't really expecting it the first week of November.

November 9th.  I still have leaves on the ground underneath all this snow.

Seriously, Michigan.

This weekend, Alayna came down with a nasty stomach virus that had her projectile-vomiting anything and everything we put in her system.  She was forced to stay home from school on Thursday and Friday, and as such we couldn't really go out for our planned social activity for the weekend: 'Friendsgiving' (where everyone brings a dish and we rotate between people's houses for a series of potluck-style dinners, drinking and hanging out throughout the afternoon and evening.)  It would've been really fun, too, but with a kid puking up all over the place, there was no real way we were going to be able to do it.  I offered to stay behind with Alayna, but Kris wasn't really feeling up for it without everyone going, so we decided to stay in.

And so it begins.  Note the sick kid on the couch, not participating.

Abby was pretty bummed out that we were no longer going out, as she was looking forward to hanging out with the other kids in our extended social circle.  Since we were no longer 'doing anything fun,' she asked if we could break out the Holiday decorations instead.

Now, Kris and I, as you all know, wait until the weekend before Thanksgiving to start decorating the interior of the house for the Season (minus the Tree, of course - we save that for Black Friday), but, considering our social calendar had just been shot to hell - and seeing how we actually had frickin' snow on the ground, we relented and said 'screw it.'

So we broke out the Christmas decorations.  On November 9th.

Don't judge us.

Holiday Pre-Season:  ENGAGE.

The majority of Friday evening's work centered around decor for the Living Room, Study, and Kitchen..  I swapped out our glasses and dishes for our Holiday ones (takes awhile, since you have to hand-wash everything and let it dry before putting it away in the cupboards.)

We put on a Christmas movie for Alayna, who didn't get to help us break out the Holiday decor this year (though she didn't seem to care all that much, to be honest - she's getting to the age where it doesn't really excite her anymore.)

Abby's a HUGE fan of the light-up, music-playing Christmas Tree/Nativity Display thing we got from Marcy a decade or so ago.  She curled up in a blanket right in front of it, and kept playing the music repeatedly for about an hour or so.

The next morning, Alayna was finally feeling a little better.

I had initially wanted to put up the exterior lights when the weather was slightly warm out, like I've done the last three years.  Since that wasn't likely to happen again in 2018 (thanks a lot, Mother Nature), I realized I had to put up the lights this weekend - frostbit fingers be damned.  Like last year, the bush at the far right proved to be the hardest part of the house upon which to string lights - those frickin' bushes prevent the ladder from reaching the roof, so I have to break out the extended ladder, which wobbles like crazy.  It took me a little over an hour to string up the whole front of the house; our gutters are covered by a special grating system, which is super badass because I don't have to clean them out, but at the same time it means there's little to clip Christmas lights to.  It's a royal pain in the ass to hang up icicle lights, but I had a Sherlock Holmes audiobook to keep me distracted.

Like last year, Kris had to string up the lights for the center six feet of the garage, where the roof is at its highest point.  The ladder wobbles too much on the uneven driveway for me to do it, so I brace the base of the ladder for her and she's able to do it without the ladder wobbling.  Teamwork, folks.

A couple hours of freezing cold work, and Casa de Hough is ready for the 2018 Holiday Season.

As usual, we won't start turning on the exterior lights until after Thanksgiving.  We're classy, not trashy.

Yeah, yeah, I know - we still need to throw out Kris' Fall display stuff (maybe I can convince her to throw away the scarecrow - cross your fingers.)

And, in closing, the First Nog of the Holiday Season.  Prepare for Yule, America. . .

- Brian

Christmas Eve, the Plague, and Other Tales

Abby tries sneaking in a healthy breakfast. . .

Happy Pre-Christmas, gangsters.

It wouldn't be fitting for the Houghs to celebrate a major holiday without some major illness befalling one or more members of our group.  As you all know, Thanksgiving isn't all that awesome of a time for we Houghs, but usually Christmas passes by without any major calamity sweeping through.

At least it usually does.

My roommates are lame.

All this weekend, Kris was couch-ridden with a nasty cold that totally immobilized her.  At first she figured it was just her allergies acting up, but for three days she was completely drained off energy, and could barely function around the house.

As such, this left Yours Truly to pick up the last-minute, final-stretch slack around the house.  Good times.

The yard.  Or what's left of it.

Appropriate Christmas pastimes. . .

Enjoying a rare pipe break while the roommates catch up on naps.

Donde esta mi hija?

So the other day, Kris' church was having this thing where members could bring in old valuables and have an open gift exchange for the Holidays.  They set up several tables, and people brought in all kinds of stuff that you might find at a garage sale before it's been picked through.  I brought in a stack of old records that I no longer wanted (or else had more scratches than an audiophile like myself could tolerate), some books, odds and ends, and even a few swords.

Unfortunately, we missed the two earlier services, where most of the good trading was done, so by the time we got there everything was picked through, and no one snatched up any of our stuff.  We left everything but the swords (which, for the umpteenth time, I could not get rid of) at the church to be donated, and went home.

Before leaving the church, however, Kris had been speaking with a woman about an antique sewing machine and table set.  Upon realizing that Kris was interested in the table, the woman - who had been anxious to get the table out of her guest room for some time - offered to drive it over to our house.  We had no prior notion what the sewing machine looked like, so when the woman and her husband dropped it off, we were stunned to discover how nice it was. . .

A 1961 Sears Kenmore Model 90 Sewing Machine.  The motor was recently replaced, and the machine appears to be in mint condition (I found this particular picture online - Kris' is in a lot nicer shape, as is the table).

Now all Kris needs to do is learn how to use the damn thing. . .

The table itself is in really nice shape, and - as an added bonus - matches the rest of our bedroom furniture.  Since Kris doesn't know how to sew yet, this thing will probably be a clutter stand for awhile.  Cowabunga. 

Checking off another Christmas Classic off the list:  Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer.

Burl Ives.  Represent.

As Christmas Eve rolled in, Abby seemed to catch whatever had sidelined Kris for the weekend.  She 'didn't feel good,' and constantly complained about her stomach and her butt.  At first we chocked it up to constipation, but eventually came to the realization - in horror - that our kid would probably be sick for Christmas. . .

Testing out the Skype connection with Papa and Nana. . .

Entering in Sam Adams' Old Fezziwig's Ale into my Beer Journal app.

Skyping with Grandma and Papa John.  We decided to open up some gifts with them for Christmas Eve, and allowed the girls to open up one each.  Kris and I, as custom dictates, opened up the tree ornaments we get each other each year.

Kris got me a ukulele ornament this year, which is fitting, as I'm borderline obsessed with the stupid things.

Abby opened up a VTech Slide n' Text Phone (like one of those cell phones where a keyboard slides out from the side).  Has lots of letter/number recognition, but also games and play modes that she can waste time with. . .

We had Alayna open up her LeapFrog Tag Reader, which we really wanted her to get this year due to her increasing interest in learning how to read.

Texting.

The Cannonball tries out her new Tag Reader. . .

I got Kris a Wicked Witch Hallmark ornament this year. . . which she practically commanded I get her.  Usually it's the other way around.

2012 Ornaments

Tracking Santa via Google Earth on my Android.  I think here the Fat Man was en route from Uzbekistan to Kazakhstan.  You know how popular he is over there. . .

Picking cookies to leave out for Santa.  Big hit.

I think she's making sure they haven't been poisoned.

Writing a label so Santa know the cookies have been laid out for him, opposed to some other fictional holiday character.  Like Krampus.

(She wasn't sure how to spell this.)

The one time per year you can read this book without it being weird.

Santa sprang into action once the kids went to bed. . .

Our hodge-podge assortment of stockings.  Next year I think I want to buy a family set.

The girls' two main gifts (which they technically got from Santa).  Doll set-up for Abby, bike for Alayna.

Priming the Living Room for Christmas. . .

Skype set up for Christmas Morning.  I was able to buy an adapter off Amazon so I can run my MacBook Pro into the TV via HDMI, which gives us a pretty solid picture when Skyping with grandparents. . .

Ready.

- Brian