Regionals, Nephews, and Lions

Hey gang.

Teams begin to assemble in the Heritage High School gym for Regionals.

Well, today was busy as all hell. Now that we're kicking off Competition Season with Abby and her Midland High JV Pom Team, pretty much every weekend for the next few weeks is filled with pom performances. This morning saw us heading out to Heritage High School in Saginaw Township for Regionals, the determining factor as to whether or not teams advance to the epic State Championships down at Eastern Michigan University in a few weeks.

Abby rode with the Johnsons to Saginaw this morning. 

We made sure to get there early this morning in order to be some of the first people through the doors when they opened up admission to the general public (pommers had to be there a half an hour before.) Abby had her sights set on a Regionals exclusive hooded sweatshirt (to the tune of $50 - ouch), and they always sell out of the popular sizes. I had to crack the whip a bit with my roommates to make sure we were there early enough to pounce on the merch table when they first opened up. Due to my valiant efforts, we were able to get Abby the desired hoodie in her size, and the day was saved.

Did anybody acknowledge my efforts? Hell no, of course not.

Abby nearly lost her AirPods, but I found 'em.

Anyway, Midland JV did awesome, as we knew they would - Abby and her team are a lot tighter than they were during their years at Northeast. They advanced on to States, so keep an eye out for a future post about our trip downstate in a few weeks. Following the Regionals showcase, we headed out to Timbers for some lunch with the Johnsons (like we usually do), then eventually ended up at the Bos residence for the kick-in-the-f***ing-nuts game that was the Lions vs. Commanders.

From start to finish, another jam-packed Saturday for the Houghs.

Check it out . . .

When we first got into the gym, we were some of the first people there. Kris stepped out to check out some of the local pom vendors, so Alayna and I were tasked with saving seats for the Johnsons and my dad (who were all still in line.) We had to spread out with our coats, hats, phones, etc., and at some point Alayna thought it'd be hilarious to take a pic of me looking like some kinda weirdo in the stands.

Midland High JV, right before their performance (Abby fifth from the bottom.)

Now that they're performing at the JV level, we had to sit through like a dozen middle school teams before getting to see Abby and her team perform.

(They did some kinda 'fire'-themed routine this year.)

This is the 'official' video that was shared by. . .  whoever the hell recorded this.

Following the conclusion of the morning performances, there was an hour break during which time the teams all mingled on the gym floor, some folks left, people got snacks, and teams posed for pictures.

Abby and some chick.

I have a lot of current and former students at these things, and they usually find me while everyone's out on the floor. This kid posted a set of pics to one of their socials (that Abby follows) featuring Yours Truly.

Abby always gets lots of team pics at these things. . .

After an hour or so, they started naming off the teams that qualified for States next month.

The Gruesome Twosome

. . . and one with her Fam.

Alayna took this one of Abby and some of her teammates, hanging around in the bleachers across the gym during the afternoon Varsity performances. Because Abby is on the JV team this year, she had to wait until after the Varsity team performed (it's some kinda pom tradition where schools' various teams have to sit court side and show support for their sister teams.)

They threw in a free t-shirt when I purchased Abby's hoodie in the morning (you spend over $50, they throw in a randomly-sized shirt from some random pom competition in years past, but whatever - it's free.) Abby got some Large shirt from a 2022 competition, and to prove how big it was I wore it over my hooded sweatshirt (I'm a Medium) and it wasn't even tight.

We didn't stick around for the Varsity award showcase, because we wanted to be able to get a table at Timbers, a restaurant about a mile from the school. None of us had eaten much in the morning, and so by 2:30pm - when we finally got seated - we were famished.

(Alayna got some pics of the other side of the table.)

Abby and Ella taking bathroom selfies at Timbers (featuring Abby's new, over-priced hoodie.)

The food at this place is awesome, but I ordered a gyro and it wasn't my favorite - wouldn't order it again, it was pretty plain.

Second bathroom selfie in an hour. Not sure that's an ideal background for a pic, but whatever - I'm not a teenager, I don't know what's 'cool' these days.

Kris and the girls were pooped from an entire morning and afternoon being out of the house doing pom shit, but Yours Truly had a few more things on my daily calendar. My nieces and nephews have been wanting me to come hang out with them at my brother Jeff's house for awhile, but due to split custody he gets them every other weekend. I was able to squeeze a three-hour visit in with them over at Jeff and Carissa's house from like 4 - 7pm-ish, during which time I played Foosball, ping-pong, Twister, and pool with various kids, took about two-dozen darts to the nuts during a Nerf war, checked out all their new Christmas presents from the Holidays, and - as you can see here - enjoyed a few Old Fashioneds. These mixes my brother had lying around were pretty awesome.

We played a few board games and card games at the kitchen table once the kids had wrapped up dinner. Levi dominated this game.

 Meanwhile, across town, Alayna and her friends spent the night at Amelia's house to celebrate the kid's birthday (I got this one from Alayna's phone.)

Around 7:30pm, I said farewell to my brother and his fam and headed over to the Bos residence, where Mitch was hosting a low-key watch party for the first NLF Playoffs. Wish the day would have ended on a better note - with the Lions beating the Commanders and advancing on in the Division Playoffs - buuuuuut God hates Detroit. Maybe next year will finally be our year. . .

- Brian

January

Jeff and Carissa signed their Marriage License on New Years Day. . .

Hi Internet. How's it going.

Here's another January wrap-up for you guys. Pretty typical across the board again this year: traditionally, this month has been slower and more low-key for us, as the Holidays fade away and normalcy resumes (accompanied by an increase in dreary, winter weather that prohibits a lot of activity, etc.), but in recent years this has definitely changed. 

After my brother's recent divorce, he wasn't looking forward to a big wedding again, and coincidentally neither was his now-wife, Carissa. They did a simple signing of a marriage license over lunch at Big E's (a sports bar attached to a Holiday Inn, down by the mall.)

The only people on hand were Carissa's brother and our brother Chris, who served as Witnesses, and Yours Truly, who served as the Officiant. I've now officiated two weddings, been Best Man in three weddings, and a Groomsman in five. People must think I look good in a suit or something.

Our friend group is pretty frickin' social (which you probably already know, me having documented our shenanigans here over the years), so we hang out with folks more often than not on the weekends (any week that we don't hang out with anyone is bizarre), and the girls' calendars have exploded with pom, orchestra, and their own social lives.

Number 11 in my Twelve Days of Milkshake Stouts

So more or less, what we're starting to see around these parts, is that The Houghs really have no more 'slow months' in our lives - every month is insanely busy, and a quiet evening at home is about as commonplace as an honest politician.

*insert 2024 political joke here*

Anywho, here's another monthly installment of pics, videos, and snarky commentary covering all the usual Hough Family Bullshit - Abby with Pom, Alayna with Orchestra, Kris with Church, Yours Truly with Masonry, copious amounts of Dog pics (courtesy of the girls), tons of hangouts with friends, weird everyday shit from around the house, and more. . .

. . . by this point in time you guys know what to expect in this blog. Strap yourself in for more of the usual, folks. 

As 2024 dawned, Disney+ dropped a new Percy Jackson series, based on the best-selling books. Alayna was obsessed with these books for years - much like I am with The Lord of the Rings - and has been devouring each episode as they're released (one per week.) The new episodes drop on Tuesdays, and this Tuesday just so happened to be the last day of Winter Break before school resumed the next day, so she decided to invite some friends over to watch the episode and close our her two weeks off of school.

/

She baked a Percy-inspired cake for the event, too. . . which looked absolutely disgusting, but must've been somewhat edible because the assembled teens destroyed the entire thing.

For whatever reason, she dressed up Watson in his hoodie. . . which he despises.

Meanwhile, Abby was over at Ella's, doing the usual - on phones, listening to music and taking selfies with the ol' peace sign-and-duck lips thing. You're going to get a lot of these pics in this month's installment, be forewarned.

The last day of Winter Break, and the last beer in the Twelve Days of Milkshake Stouts. I'm definitely doing this again if I can get my hands on another case of 'em.

One night Abby felt it was necessary to erase our weekly dinner menu off the magnetic white board affixed to our fridge, and fill it with a bunch of Generation Alpha slang terminology. Because that's what important around here these days. . .

As you know, I try and grab pics off the girls' phones to include in this blog of ours, as it illustrates what goes on in their lives and supplements the crap Kris and I document. For Alayna, that's screenshots of social media, tons of pics of the dogs, etc. For Abby, it's a billion pictures of her and her friends, always doing this pose. . .

That first Friday of the month, Kris took Abby out to check out the new Willy Wonka movie at Midland Cinemas (neither Alayna or I were interested.)

Uncle. Of. The. Year.

The next day, Kris drove up to Michigan's Butthole (a.k.a. Harrison) to visit her best friend, Kim. She brought along these planters she had me pick up off the side of the road, that were constructed from an old whiskey barrel. They've been sitting in our garage for a year or so, and she finally decided to do something 'crafty' with them.

Kim's husband, Matt, helped the ladies saw through the metal bands around the barrels. They both wanted to make end tables out of these pieces, but had different ideas as to how that would look.

Kim's daughter, Makayla, lends a hand with a hammer.

Later that night, this is what Kris brought back. She took out some of the staves and stained it with the same, dark walnut varnish that we used on our full-size barrel (that Kris always puts out front.)

Abby is in the middle of a Confirmation class at the United Church of Christ (the new church Kris attends, the one that's right around the corner from our house.) The Youth Group at this new church is a lot more active (there are a ton more teenagers that go regularly, which helps), and so she's in a group of teens that are going through the same months-long process that leads up to an eventual baptism. They were given an assignment where they had to show their relationship with God in some way, shape or form, so - seeing how it's Abby and everything - she decided to draw a picture.

Yet another dog pic, courtesy of the Cannonball.

Bathroom selfies at Northeast Middle School.  Good to see they're using class time wisely. . .

(I'm assuming this is at lunch.)

Alayna took this pic of Samson frolicking through our first major snow of the year.

We had our first snow day of the school year was on the 10th, and was more of an 'ice' day than anything else. We got probably 4" of snow, sure, but the underlying ice spelled havoc for the roads. . .

For whatever reason, Northeast Pom still had practice in the afternoon, so Courtney swung by to pick up Abby and drive her to practice (we split shuttling duties, makes it easier on all parties involved.) I was on my way out to the gym to get a workout in, and while Courtney and I were chatting in the driveway, we heard a loud crash that sounded like a gunshot. Turning around, we saw that that silver car had wrapped itself around the tree of my neighbor's, two houses down. He must've been going too fast on Waldo and taken the turn like some kinda idiot who's never driven in a Michigan Winter before. 

Kris' mini whiskey barrel end table. 

That evening, I risked the roads yet again, this time to go downtown to our Masonic Lodge for my monthly Commandery (Knight Templar) meeting.

First time we've gotten to light these globes up - pretty awesome.

Samson and his happy place.

The weekend of our giant blizzard, Kris picked up a sushi platter for Alayna (from Kroger.) She expected it to last a couple meals, but Alayna killed it.

It's been surreal watching the Detroit Lions actually win games this year. Now that we're in the playoffs, I'm actually watching football regularly. I'm just as weirded out as you guys are.

Alayna had a Sunday night sleepover at her friends house (with, like, eight other kids), seeing how they had Martin Luther King Day off of school and everything. Here's her using one of her friends as a footrest, which is a nice thing to do. . .

Another bathroom selfie at Northeast. Good to see they're switching up their camera poses this time. . .

And another one, this time in some random class.

My dogs are lazy as f***.

GO SPORTSBALL

Some of my kids drew this creepy-ass pic of Jared Goff on my white board the day after another Lions win. I'll allow it.

Now that basketball season has started, Abby and the pommers are performing at half times of every Northeast Basketball game. Since there are two basketball teams, they have to perform twice each night.

Abby and Ella, and some other random teammate.

Consequently, we sit through a lot of frickin' basketball games these days. I'm not a fan.

For whatever reason, the girls have been nostalgically watching old movies that they were obsessed with as young kids. For Alayna, that's Tangled or Frozen. For Abby, that's the Tinkerbell direct-to-video movies. They're all just as terrible as I remember, and I was horrified to realize I had them all memorized still, after all these years.

Multiple schools throughout mid-Michigan had a two-hour delay due to insane fog that had blanketed the region one morning. . . all except my school district, of course. Here's a pic of my school as I pulled in the back drive towards the teacher parking lot. I'm surprised I'm still alive. . .

Getting Alayna some drive time behind the wheel one Friday, after school.

Kris had her stop off at one point so she could vacuum out her van (she was going to be shuttling a bunch of teens from the church youth group down to a Youth Retreat in Grand Rapids later that evening.) Ella took the opportunity to suck up a bunch of Abby's hair.

Alayna had no desire to partake in this activity, so it was just Abby going, with Kris along to chaperone. They stayed at this huge church with a ton of other kids, and the facilities were pretty awesome I'm told. Game rooms, basketball court, etc.

Kris took all these pics, so I'm not entirely sure what I'm looking at here with these. . .

Ice breakers are straight-up nightmare fuel, I hate them.

No idea what's happening here. . .

Flip Cup is far more effective if you had beer into the equation. And a table. Just sayin', kids.

Um. . . a room?

Meanwhile, back in Midland, our snowmen were slowly losing weight. . .

Alayna made a fruit platter on that Saturday afternoon - before I left for the Collier Euchre Tournament - to share with her friend, Amelia, who was coming over to binge-watch more TV (or something.)

Abby and some random kid at the Youth Retreat.

The church apparently had a weight room, too - what the hell?

(They must be going to sleep here or something - this is was around the same time I was losing at cards.)

Hanging out, getting ready to hit the road soon late on Sunday morning.

Later that evening, the Detroit Lions were playing in the NFC Championship against the San Francisco 49ers. The Larsons hosted a get-together for the friend group so we could all watch the game together, and even catered Olive Garden for the event.

We shoved the kids upstairs so that the adults could hang out in the basement, which was a smart move on our part.

I let Abby wear my Charlie Batch jersey (from like 2001.)

I was super excited to finally crack this baby open - seeing how I had personally visited this distillery on Brocation 2023 - but it wasn't as good as I had hoped. You could definitely taste the bourbon, but the beer part of it was off a bit. Strong drink, though, that's for damn sure.

The couples - and divorced Amy - settle in for the big game.

Upstairs, these guys resorted to playing that one Scattegories-ish game I discussed before. And Alayna borrowed my Lions polo, seeing how she (like her sister) owns no Lions gear. 

Later that week, after the Lions choked and died like, well, the Lions, Abby and Ella continued to take more selfies at school (this one's from that BeReal app - you can always tell from the picture-within-picture shots.)

This is what goes down at Pom practice. I'm no pom-ologist or anything, but I'd think they'd get better at competitions if, you know, they actually practiced.

Nica and Abby, during a Northeast Basketball game (the creepy old dude photobombing in the back is frickin' gangster.)

A new routine, not as difficult as their usual competition one, that they perform at the basketball games.

Aaaaaaand here's a few more pom selfies. Because God knows we haven't had enough of those yet. . .

And so ends the month of January. . . with an eerie heat wave that saw temperatures soar into the upper-40s/low-50s, reminiscent of last January when we didn't get any snow whatsoever. Maybe next month it'll cool back down and we'll get more than two frickin' snow days, that'd be awesome. I know I - and these snowmen - would definitely appreciate it.  See ya next time, folks.

- Brian