Fifteen Years and Covid

Hey everybody.

This weekend marks me and Kris' 15th Anniversary, and we had planned on heading down to Frankenmuth and staying at the festive Bavarian Inn for the weekend.  Hit up Bronners before the crowds get too insane, stroll about downtown doing wine-tasting and ducking in and out of shops, and otherwise not parenting for a few days.  

That was the plan, at any rate.  But 2021 - 2020's not-quite-as-douchey-but-still-pretty-crappy little brother - had other plans.

Yours Truly woke up last Saturday morning with a pretty sore throat, sinus pressure, runny nose, cough - the whole shebang.  This was definitely weird, because the night before I had felt just fine having a few beers with the guys on Mitch's back patio.  I shrugged it off as being just a slight cold (I had definitely suffered through worse) and carried about my day as normal.  Kris was convinced I should head out to an urgent care and get a Covid test, but I chalked this up to her being overly-paranoid what with local case numbers continuing to climb.

Well, as Sunday morning dawned I still felt bad, and eventually I started developing the tell-tale signs of the dreaded Coronavirus:  the aforementioned symptoms listed previously, as well as body aches, fever, and - most of all - the loss of taste and smell.  That last one was super frickin' weird - I opened up a can of coffee and couldn't smell it at all, and I couldn't taste food in the slightest (really bizarre feeling, like having your taste buds stuffed up.)  

Expecting the inevitable, Kris drove me up to the Pro Health Urgent Care down on Wackerly and, after waiting about a half an hour or so, some nurse chick came out and skewered the insides of my skull with a 2-foot q-tip.  They did a Rapid Test as well as the more accurate test that takes a few days to get results, and told me that if I ended up testing Positive for Covid that they would call me within a half an hour.

Well, 20 minutes later I got the great news.

What has two thumbs and Covid-19?  This guy.

Stocking up on the essentials around here.

This basically destroyed our weekend prospects, which was definitely disappointing because we had both been looking forward to a weekend away for quite some time.  Fortunately, we were able to contact the hotel and just push our reservations back two weeks without having to pay anything extra, which was awesome.  Now we get to take our 15th anniversary in early November. . . which I guess is better than nothing.

The Johnsons dropped off some beverages to help us along. 

Yours Truly was now looking at ten days in quarantine; the start of my official quarantine being the day I started exhibiting symptoms (Saturday morning), and lasting until next Tuesday.  After contacting my principal to let her know that I had the pandemic, the school had to go into full-on scramble mode in order to identify those students who I had been in close-contact with.

Long story short, 68 out of my 115 students had to go into quarantine.  All because of me.

For our anniversary dinner this evening we decided to place a take-out order from Maru sushi.  They're pricey, but pretty good.

So I generally drop some money on a decent gift for the 'big' anniversaries (the 5th, 10th, and now, 15th anniversaries.)  Usually this means diamonds, and this year I had to put some serious research time into selecting a quality diamond pendant for the ol' ball and chain.  Took months of shopping around, studying cut, clarity, carat, color, etc., and then dealing with our insurance agent behind Kris' back in order to have the diamond put on our policy in case she loses it or it gets stolen.  Fortunately I was able to pull all this off without her knowing of it, and even though I wasn't able to give it to her at a nice restaurant somewhere in Frankenmuth, it still went over well.

Ended up going with a half-carat, VS1, E-colored round cut.   Thank Jesus this is only one of those every-five-years sorta things. . .

Abby notifies the family of her self-imposed banishment to her quarters.

And so here we are, half-way through my Covid quarantine.  Not celebrating our wedding anniversary the way we wanted to, and no longer feeling sick at all.  My taste and smell have more or less come back, and besides being constantly short of breath, I'm feeling pretty good.  Spending my time creating video-lectures for my sub to show my remaining students in the classroom, hosting Zoom help sessions for my students stuck at home, binge-watching Hulu's Wu Tang: An American Saga (sooooo good), and logging in hours and hours of time on Elder Scrolls Online.

I've had it far shittier, folks. 

- Brian

Remember Remember Ye Randoms November: A Return to Quarantine

The day after Halloween: first snow of the year.

How's it goin', Internet.

Here we are at the end of yet another November, affectionately referred to around these parts as 'Holiday Pre-Season.'  This year was obviously far different than in previous years, seeing how Covid-19 is on the warpath and rampaging across the land like a legion of angry Huns.  Usually, for Yours Truly, November consists of an easy two weeks of school, followed by a three-day conference down in Lansing with my school's chapter of Michigan Youth in Government (which I co-sponsor), and then Thanksgiving Break. Work flies by, and, before you know it, it's time to throw up a Christmas Tree.  No complaints here.

And so it begins. . .

Well, this year, thanks to all those f***ing idiots who don't know wear masks 'cause it 'robs them of their freedumbs,' etc., Covid-19 is reaching levels previously unheard of.  Positive cases are skyrocketing, the death toll is climbing, and Michigan is now the 5th worst state in the entire country for the pandemic.  

Awesome.  

Post-Halloween sleepover in the basement with Sam and Ella

Consequently, on Friday, November 13th, our district made the call to shut down face-to-face instruction for our schools.  This was a solid call, since on that Friday afternoon block of school I had a grand total of FOUR STUDENTS - the rest were sick or otherwise quarantined due to exposure.  What's kinda spooky about shutting down schools and heading back into Quarantine on Friday the 13th is that the last time we shuttered schools it was also Friday the 13th.

March 13th.

Creepy coincidence, right?

The weird stuff my kid records at school (pre-school shutdown, obviously.)

The girls stayed going to school until the following Friday, Nov. 20th (Midland's cases were nowhere near as bad as ours), so I taught from home that week and shuttled kids to and from school in the meantime.  From the 23rd on, however, we've been locked up in the house and returning to our virtual classrooms. . . which is just as shitty as it sounds.

Alayna recording a Zoom homework assignment for Orchestra. . .

Anyway, in summary, this has been a weird, weird month, very similar to March.  I'll leave you now with a bunch of pictures and videos that showcase how we Houghs spent this weird November, both pre- and post- societal collapse.

Enjoy. . .

Our friends, the Johnsons, invited Abby to accompany them to Great Wolf Lodge towards the beginning of the month (their daughter, Ella, is Abby's BFF.)  They even nabbed themselves the Wolf Den room, which the kids got a kick out of.

Reppin' the Den

Personally, I've never been to this place (Erik sent me all these pics during their stay there), but apparently there's an indoor water park that's all the rage.  As you can see, Abby was pretty thrilled with it.

I missing tubing down lazy rivers so damn much. . .

At the bottom left you can see Abby and Ella getting dumped on (haven't seen one of these things since our days of going to Sea World Aquatica, back when we had season passes.)

Pretty impressive places like this exist so that people in cold-ass states like Michigan can go swimming in frickin' November. . .

Meanwhile, back at the ranch. . .

I swear to God, we have the laziest dogs.

The next day (which was Election Day, actually - Biden 2020, baby), back in the pool for another day of swimming in November. . .

Courtney and the Disaster Duo

Seriously.  Lazy rivers are so damn awesome.

Abby and Ella, in front of the giant water structure-thingy.

Bam.

While Abby and the Johnsons crammed one, final day of indoor water park fun in at Great Wolf Lodge, Yours Truly spent the evenings after work raking up all the f***ing  leaves in the backyard.  It took me four hours, a full tank of gas in my backpack leaf-blower, but I did it.  At one point, Alayna came outside 'to help,' but this is about the extent of what she did.

With dusk rolling in, I finished getting the leaves out to the curb.  It may not look like it, but that's a shit-load of leaves, folks.

Kris recently won some prize from a local art studio (I forget the name of it), and got a bunch of free decor for our front porch (some of which is shown here.)

After I got home on Friday, Nov. 6th, I made the executive decision that it was time to start breaking out Holiday Decor.  Now, traditionally, what we've done in the past is enter into Christmas mode the second weekend of the month.  However, since it's 2020 and everything, and this has seriously been the shittiest year in recent memory - I made the call to bust things out one week early.  These are Dad Powers, and I shall wield them accordingly.

The absolute first component of the Holidays to bring one was the Christmas Vinyl.  My system, as previously discussed, is a well-oiled machine - I look forward to this all year.

The next day, the weather reached into the high '60s, which is absolutely insane for this time of year (thanks a lot, global warming), so I decided to put up our Christmas lights.  Now, obviously I'm not going to turn them on yet - we wait until after Thanksgiving for that - but you can't complain with hanging up lights when it's pushin' 70.  I mean, c'mon. . .

Kris climbed up onto the roof to help secure the lights in a few different spots.

This is the trickiest part of the whole affair, going over the crest atop the garage.

The wives had a bonfire night later that evening, over at the Collier residence, seeing how it was practically summer again and everything.

On Veteran's Day, our Masonic Lodge laid wreathes down at the war memorial, outside the City Courthouse, honoring all the Midland residents who have died in war.  Little stuff like that once and awhile in order to let the community know we're still around (despite the fact that we're the city's oldest organization, there's a lot of people who don't know we exist.)

That same day, Kris and Courtney had their Girl Scout Troop accompany the First United Methodist Church Youth Group in a city-wide effort to rake up elderly folks' yards.  They were gone for most of the afternoon working on this, but fortunately the weather was still awesome.

Ella and Abby, hard at work.

Gotta love child labor.

Wrapping up yet another yard.

Alayna wanted to update my profile pic in her phone.  Personally I think she just wanted to boost the handsome level, but whatever.

Alayna's phone has a ton of bullshit like this in her camera reel.  Is this supposed to be artsy or something?

Abby and Alayna enjoy recording videos like this around the house.  I don't understand how this could be considered 'cool.'

I've been working on stocking my auxiliary fridge in the basement with Holiday Craft Beer.  It's a work in progress, but I feel it's coming along pretty well so far. . .

A screenshot from a recent wife hangout on Zoom (feat. more of those disgusting seltzers they all drink.)

I broke out my first beer of the Holiday season on Friday the 13th, the day they closed down my school district.  It was only fitting to mark such a momentous occasion with a Bell's.

That same day, trying coats on with mom (she didn't end up getting this one.)

Behold the suspicious children in the basement. . .

Towards the end of the evening, Kris and Abby's Girl Scout troop had a cookie booth at the home of one of their members. . .

Masked up and ready for business.

They were at this for quite awhile, so after I picked up Alayna from her After School program, we swung out to McDonalds to pick up food to drop off to these guys.  Then I dropped off Alayna at home and headed out to the mall area for some Top Secret Christmas shopping. . .

The next day, after tackling a bunch of additional Christmas shopping, I pulled another Executive Dad Order and threw up our family Christmas Tree.  Kris and Alayna felt it was still too early to do so, seeing how it was only Nov. 14th and everything, buuuuut. . . . they're not Dad.

(I compromised by not putting out the ornaments.  I'm nothing if not generous.)

Later that evening, hanging out at the Collier residence once again.  Busted out this tried-and-true Holiday stout offering from a Michigan brewer.  Not one of my favorite Holiday stouts, per se, but not bad.

For most of the night us dads were in the basement playing Five-Handed Euchre (which I had never heard of before, let aloned played), but we routinely came upstairs to graze in the kitchen (we always bring tons of food to these small get-togethers - lots of foodies in this group.)

On Monday, after the kids had wrapped up their virtual school for the day and Kris came home, she allowed them to dye one another's hair.  Not a lot of shits being given these days, what with a second quarantine upon us and everything. . .

Meanwhile, Yours Truly was stuck at work throughout the afternoon and late into the evening for Parent/Teacher Conferences, which I was forced to do from my classroom phone.  This meant I had to be at work from 12pm until 8pm on Monday, and then from 8am until 5pm on Tuesday.  Tied to my desk phone, all damn day.  When I finally wrapped up all my conference calls on that second day, I came out to find this nonsense.

What a swell way to kick of Thanksgiving Vacation. . . 

Needless to say, this slushy, snowy, freezing rain was not fun to drive home through.  What usually takes me about a half an hour, driving from Saginaw back to Midland, took about an hour that evening.  White-knuckle, 30 mph driving.  God, I hate driving through snow.

By the time I finally reached home (after counting three other cars in the ditch along my commute back to Midland), the kids were gearing up to play in the first real snowfall of the year.  This is what 'playing in the snow' looks like, I guess.

Kris went to work the next morning, and the girls were locked up in their rooms with a half day of virtual school for most of the morning and early afternoon.  This gave Yours Truly the opportunity to knock out a bunch of crap off my To-Do list. . . such as deep-clean a bunch of used vinyl, address Christmas cards, etc.

Around 6:30pm that evening, I picked up Erik and we drove out to Midland City Brewing to pick up five orders of their Wednesday Special:  a 32 oz can of Copper Harbor (their best beer, in my opinion), and twelve dry-rub wings, all for a mere $12.  It's an insane deal, and so we couldn't pass it up.  I came up with the idea the previous Saturday of combining this special with our quasi-regular Dad Movie Night., and the other guys quickly jumped on board.  This time around it was finally my time to choose a movie, so I went with one of my favorites, Conan the Barbarian.  The stipulations for all movies we choose for our movie nights are that a.) they have to be one of your personal favorites, b.) they can't be a movie everyone's already seen (like Star Wars, The Godfather, etc.)  My choice falls under the ol' saying of 'it's so bad it's good,' for sure.

I'm so glad 32 oz cans of beer are a thing.

The day after Black Friday, Kris and the girls drove to Clare to visit her mom and take her a bunch of leftover Thanksgiving food (she was still feeling under the weather from when she had contracted Covid a few prior to this.)

Upon arrival, Kris and the girls helped her mom break out all her Christmas decorations.  Pictures of the inside of this apartment always weird me out because they remind me of our first apartment once I returned from Africa back in the Fall of 2005 (Marcy's apartment is directly below the one we ourselves used to rent, if you can believe that.)

See?  What'd I tell you (this is our living room in February of 2005.)

Decorating grandma's tree on the back porch.

Posing with Grandma and the finished product (and, randomly, the neighbor's wiener dog.) 

No idea.

After having a sleepover at Ella's later that evening, the next day Abby accompanied Ella to her aunt's house on the outskirts of town, where she owns some horses (I guess, this was news to me.)

Prancing Ponies.

Yes, I'm aware these pictures are pixelated - I downloaded them off of Facebook when Ella's aunt posted 'em.  Cut me some slack, guys.

Abby and the Johnson Clan.

After a day of virtual schooling, the girls unwind in a rare moment of peaceful co-existence.

(Abby's been into french-braiding Kris and Alayna's hair lately.  I don't get it.)

And, in closing, here's an exterior shot of our house this year.  Kris and I both decided, henceforth, to be done with icicle lights, after a decade of using them.  The last several years, like clockwork, I buy a couple new strands of 'em, test them indoors first to make sure they work fine, hang them up, and then - without fail, every year - a four-foot section craps out on me.  A stain on the exterior lighting for the entirety of the Holiday Season.  So this year, we said 'screw it,' and bought a bunch of new lights.  Kris was incredibly indecisive about this, but ultimately settled on these (I didn't care either way) - these are LED instead of incandescent, too, so they should last awhile.  Which is totally fine with me, after what we've had in the past.

- Brian