DAMN-uary

Welcome back to the ongoing saga, boys and girls.

This has definitely been a slooooow month, and I, for one, am sincerely grateful.  After the Holiday blitzkrieg, we really needed some down time around here.  The month of January seems to have a lot in common with September, in that they both are devoted to returning to the usual school/work grind after taking considerable time off to lounge around the house, gaining weight.  Yours Truly has stayed on top of running on the treadmill since October, but even that didn't stop me from putting on a few pounds (thanks to all the Holiday parties, filled with delicious and unhealthy food and booze.)  We're not big on resolutions in this family, but getting back into healthy eating habits was paramount this month.

There were some other notable events that happened this month.  A euchre tournament at the Collier's, a couple Girl Scout outings, and, of course, my ascension to the highest rank of Masonry:  Master Mason.  I achieved this rank in a very short amount of time, as I studied religiously for this final degree, and now that I'm officially a highest-ranking member in the Freemasons, I can go on to explore some of the appending bodies of Masonry (York Rite, Scottish Rite, Shriners, etc.)  I'll keep you posted with those developments as they transpire.

Oh yeah, and we got another dog.  He's a pain in the ass, so he fits right in.

In closing, here's some pictures of the four-and-a-half months that was January.

Enjoy.

So here's a picture of my lodge (the top floor, the left half of the building), around one hundred and fifty years ago (it turns 150 in April, technically.)

Shortly after the Holidays settled down, Kris bought some white paint to redo Abby's bedroom.  No longer into Star Wars (sad as that is), she'd been wanting a beach-themed bedroom, and the formerly dark grey walls weren't really giving off that vibe.  Kris was able to really lighten up the room with a couple coats of primer and a couple additional coats of paint.  I didn't help out with this in any way, shape or form.

While Kris was painting her room, Abby got to hang out with some friends at the Roll Arena.

 

Decor getting thrown up on the walls (okay, I did that part.)

A beach-themed picture display above her dresser, lights courtesy of Dad and Cindy.

A far cry from the greys and purples of her pre-renovated room. . .

Both girls have been really into sewing lately, thanks to my mom, who showed them how to do it one day over at her house.  She gave them needles and various threads, along with random fabrics so they can practice and make God knows what.

 

The Larsons' kid, Sophie, hanging out one day for some more f***ing sewing. . .

I came home from work one day to find these signs plastered all over the door to our basement.  I blame the spelling on their Farwellian mother's genes.

Running around the neighborhood one afternoon, following a nasty ice storm that coated everything in dangerous ice (to the point where we had the kids put on helmets if they were running around the sidewalks.)

One of the gifts Abby got from my mom for Christmas this year was a gift certificate to Build-a-Bear (where kids can custom-build their own stuffed animal from scratch.)  Unfortunately, the closest location was down in Grand Rapids, in some mall in Grandville.  So one Saturday we drove down in the morning to get Abby her Goddamned stuffie. . .

Taking an elevator down to the first floor (this mall was slightly more fancy that the Midland Mall.)

Let the up-selling begin. . .

After picking out her animal's 'skin' (for lack of better term), it was time to get the animal filled with stuffing.  Abby went with a rainbow-colored cat.

 

This whole process is so frickin' bizarre. . .

Hooking the cat up to the fluff tube.

No idea what's happening here.

Abby places a red heart into the corpse, thereby giving it life.

(This isn't a real bath.)

Once they sell you a $25 stuffed animal - with options to pick a scent for $5, a heart for $5, an audio recording for $10, etc. etc. - you then get to pick out an outfit.  Rest assured, each article of clothing costs about $5 apiece, so one drops $50 on one f***ing stuffed animal real quick.

Holding up her new, over-priced stuffed cat and a certificate of adoption.

After our nightmare at Build-a-Bear, we swung over to BP's house to hang out with the DeBoer fam for a few hours.  BP recently got into vinyl, and he just completed his setup.  Not bad for a novice.

Awaiting my Master Mason degree at Lodge.

After my initiation ceremony, Erik and I met up with a bunch of other dads over at the Boulevard Lounge for some celebratory beers.

To mark the occasion, I had this custom-made .925 Sterling Silver Masonic ring made on Etsy.

This symbolizes Memento Mori (one of our principles in Masonry.)  Worth the price, for sure.

Finally got around to replacing the cabinet hardware in the kitchen.  Happy Wife, Happy Life.

My lodge donated a bunch of hats and mittens to Chestnut Hill this month, one of our charities that we run every year.

The girls set this up in the living room one evening.  God knows why.

Aldi recently started selling boxed wine.  I'm a happy camper.

Alayna is 11 going on 16 these days.

The girls have been playing a lot of chess lately.  I'm 100% cool with this.

I didn't know such a thing existed, but I definitely want one now. . .

One of the rare days this month that actually felt like winter.  It's been eerily warm, and without much snow at all, for most of the month.

Watson shows Samson the ropes.

Samson is obsessed with Abby. . .

Setting up teams for the Colliers' ridiculously-intricate Euchre Tournament.  There was a $10 buy-in for all players, and instead of full-on games, 24 players were scrambled up at random and would play through two deals per player before ending each round in the tournament.  However many points you and your random partner received would then be entered into a spreadsheet (which was displayed via a monitor that Ryan put atop his TV, shown here.)  At the end of nine rounds, whomever won the 1st, 2nd and 3rd places (based on total accumulated points), won $100, $80, and $60, respectively.  The last two point values would have to perform karaoke for everyone else.

For most of the evening, Kris was in the bottom two, and she was mortified at the prospect of singing in front of other people.  This doesn't bother me in the slightest, so - being the chivalrous husband that I am - I told her that if she finished in the bottom two places I'd step in and take her place.  Alas, she finished third-from-last, as Ryan - the host himself - finished second-to-last, and assumed her karaoke spot.  Stephanie ended up finishing dead last, and when she heard of my husbandly gesture, she made her husband, Lonnie, fill in for her.

 

I forget what highly-homosexual duet these two did, but it was damn funny.

- Brian

Random Crap from November

What's up, gang.

Leave and snow.  The crappiest of combinations.

So here we are at the end of a really, really weird November.  We were blindsided by a freak snow towards the beginning of the month, which hit us on Halloween night and covered all the leaves for a few days, preventing us from getting much-needed yard work done.  Just as it looked like we were finally dry enough to get some raking in, the snows came back with a fury, and we were once again stuck with layers of leaves and snow, cluttering up the yards and streets.  The snows eventually melted away, and we were able to catch up on all that shitty raking, but the end of the month ended up looking more like fall that the beginning of the month had.

A Ford Ranger - my replacement vehicle for the first week of the month.

Freakish weather aside, Yours Truly had to have his brand new Ford Escape Titanium serviced.  One day, after picking up Alayna from school, my passenger side front tire inexplicably went flat, and, upon inspection, it was found to have a puncture on the sidewall of the tire.  After twenty years of never having to change a tire, I was pretty impressed with myself that I still remembered how to operate a car jacket and replace a tire.  I drove it over to the Midland Ford Dealership (on a donut), and when I asked if the puncture had been done intentionally - like as if someone had walked up and stabbed the tire with a knife, screwdriver, or broadsword - the tech said 'no,' the hole was too small.  They had no idea how it happened.

The girls were excited to be able to play in the back of a pickup. Doesn't take much.

The good news was, the dealership paid for the replacement tire (which was awesome, because I have some top-of-the-line tires on my new vehicle), and also planned on cleaning up and detailing the interior.  So for the first week of the month, Yours Truly got to drive a loaner vehicle - a blue Ford Ranger.

(Not a fan, by the way.)

Anyway, aside from the weather and the vehicle fiasco, this month saw quite a lot happen.  The usual church, school, and Girl Scout events, to be sure, along with the coming of the Holidays and all that entails.  Oh, and I advanced onto the next level of Freemasonry, undergoing the Fellowcraft Degree (which was awesome), and so now there's only one level remaining until I become a Master Mason (which will be sometime in January.)

So yeah.  Crazy month, ton of stuff happened - but I'll let the pictures tell the rest.

Enjoy. . .

Harry Potter Clue.  Abby is eerily good at the art of deduction - it's usually me or her that wins this game.

What can I say?  I'm a snappy dresser.

A rare glimpse of normal, fall weather this month.

Kris took the girls to some cooking or baking something-or-other at First United Methodist Church one weeknight.  Not sure what was going on, though - I wasn't here for this.

What the hell is she making?

Pretty sure that's not edible. . .

Oh, look - the girls cleaned up all the doll shit in the dining room when they were done playing with it.  I hate kids so Goddamn much sometimes. . .

A crappy, wintery-fall fix, about a week or two into the month.

It was a LOT of fun raking up all these cold, wet leaves after the snow melted - I couldn't touch them for quite awhile.

Between the oaks and maples in the backyard, and the large maples we have in the front yard, I do quite a bit of raking every year.

This just looks disgusting. . .

Alayna decided to dress up for the first real snowstorm of the year.  I think she pulled it off.

We almost had a snow day for this particular dump of wintery bullshit, but the schools decided to push through (probably since we were only a week or two in November, and we have a LOT of winter left ahead of us.) . As you can see here, the snow has completely buried the leaves now, and would stick around for nearly a week.

Abby offered to clean off my car one morning before I left for work.  She did a pretty crappy job at doing so, but the sentiment was appreciated.

I stayed after school one day in order to watch Alayna's school (Northeast) play my school.  I left at the end of the first half of the game, since clearly there was no chance in hell my team was going to blow their 42-point lead.

The snows melting (somewhat), and more leaves still falling from the trees.  Almost ready for raking, but not quite yet.  Seriously, this month was the absolute worst for yard work, I swear to God. . .

Had to take a day off of work one week in order to take the dog to the vet for his annual check-up.  No health issues to report, but he had put on an entire pound of weight - he's up to a scale-busting 19 lbs.  The fat bastard.

As a stout aficionado, there's no better season than Holiday Stout Season.   Here's three of my favorite beers.

Kris and her friend, Kim, took their kids up to the Center for the Arts for a show towards the middle of the month.

This is pretty much required at this point. . .

The snow just about melted, it was FINALLY time for Yours Truly to start raking up all this crap.  And not a moment too soon, if you ask me - this took forever.

The girls (with Ella) were having a Barbie pool party in the bathroom one afternoon after school.  And yes, they left a mess behind them in their wake that took days to clean up.

See that 'FC at Center #273,' at the bottom?  That's me.

That Freemason light at the top lights up whenever we have a Lodge meeting.  This second degree of Masonry - the Fellowcraft - takes a long, long time, but it is definitely worth it.  Obviously can't show any pics from inside, but here's a shot of the discreet entrance that leads up to our Lodge on the third floor.

Per tradition, the Friday before Thanksgiving (well, two weeks, this year, since Thanksgiving came a week late) is the official day for the Houghs to break out all of our Christmas Decor, which hasn't gotten pretty extensive over the years.  We throw up everything but the tree (which, as you know, goes up the day after Thanksgiving.)

Abby fell asleep half-way through the process.  Go figure.

The next morning, I enjoyed a pot of coffee while breaking out some of my tried-and-true Holiday vinyl. . .

I call this my Holiday Crate of Awesome - only those albums that have ranked high on my Great Christmas Record Odyssey get to chill out in this bad-boy, where they get repeated use throughout the Holiday Season.  Perhaps a bit nerdy, but. . . who gives a shit.

Watson's favorite spot in the house around this time of year.  Not surprisingly.

Hands down the coziest room in the house.  Just kinda pissed I forgot to hang the stockings over the mantle before snapping this pic, but you get the idea.

First 'Nog of the Season.

Found this in the dog's Milkbones box.  Definitely the weirdest dog treat I've ever seen. . .

Another November, another damn cookie booth with the Girl Scouts.

We thought we had tossed out these two strands of lighted garland last year, but while digging out the Christmas Tree one evening, I discovered them at the bottom of the box.  What's more, one of these strands was twice as long as I though it was, and it was one of those deluxe garlands with the bendable branches.  Booya.

All fluffed and ready for ornamentation in the coming week.

This beer had been in my fridge for years.  Finally time to give it a go.

One Saturday morning, Kris took Abby up to her dental office in order to get a prime vantage spot of Midland's annual Santa Parade.

Alayna was actually walking with her school (forget why) this year, so Kris had Abby with her to watch the entirety of the parade, and I was tasked with meeting Alayna at the end of the parade route in order to get her out of the downtown craziness (the traffic and parking down there is hell on earth.)

Midland High Chemics

Northeast students (you can spot Alayna in the knit green hat, behind the banner somewhat.)

Here comes Santa Claus. . .

Abby waves to Santa.  Not sure how many more years we're gonna have of this with her.

Kris at yet another art class at Studio 154.

Her finished product, hanging on the wall to the left, there.

At a Girl Scout bowling outing: Allie, Abby and Ella.

(Not sure if this was a fundraiser or just for fun.)

Abby and her friend Ella signed up to sing an acapella duet at the Center for the Arts for a kids' performing arts class that we signed her up for.

All festive for the season.  How adorable, Midland.

On stage, not nervous at all.

They did a pretty good job.  Would've been cooler if they would've had a piano accompaniment, but whatever.

One of Alayna's teachers took a picture of her class for something and posted it for parents to check out.  Kris took a look at it, then forward it on to me with this scribble on it.  Apparently Alayna started putting on make-up after she got to school, knowing we wouldn't let her leave the house wearing that much (because, as you can see here, it looks like clown makeup.)  When we showed Alayna this picture and asked her about it, she admitted to it, but said she had only done it twice.  Rest assured, we're keeping in touch with her teachers to make sure this crap doesn't happen again.  Frickin' middle schoolers. . .

The Houghs' 2019 Light Display, this year put up by Kris (I was downstate at Michigan Youth in Government during the only decent period of time, weather-wise, and the remaining time off of work I had was forecasted to be freezing cold and rainy.)  She did a really good job for her first time.

I'm having a love affair with this beer, I kid you not.

The Grand Order of Moms, sans kids, husbands, and any and all responsibilities.

After three short years of ownership, we decided to bid adieu to the drum set.  It's more or less sat untouched in the basement for the last few years, so I decided to sell it on Facebook Marketplace.

I had originally purchased it through our school district-controlled classifieds, buying it off some elementary school principal's kid for $40.  After three years, I turned around and sold it for a cool $120.  That's called flipping, kids.

Abby, wanting to model one of her outfits before school one morning.

Alayna really wanted us to buy her this. . . dress mannequin. . . thing, for her bedroom, that she saw at Hobby Lobby one weekend, towards the end of the month.  Who the hell knows why.  Needless to say she didn't end up getting it.

The last day of Thanksgiving Break, Kris and the girls accompanied me to my classroom so I could prep my room for my annual Constitutional Convention unit (in which students assume the identities of real, Constitutional delegates from history and recreate the Convention.)  It takes forever to set up, so the assistance - well, from Kris, at least - was really appreciated.

While we were in there, we may have gone a little ape-shit with the Christmas lights.  I'm sure the teenagers will appreciate it.

- Brian