Day Zero Project #38: Write a Christmas letter

Hello and welcome to the first, and most likely only, edition of the Dustin and Katie Hughes Holiday Letter. These sorts of things aren’t normally “our thing” as they are best left to the professionals like Katie’s cousin, Anny. She can write a letter and you’ll laugh and cry and feel that warm fuzzy feeling that is comparable only to how you feel after a night of drinking your good friend’s spiked egg nog. Here you will only find dry humor and some pictures. Hopefully that’s the sort of thing you like.

“If it’s not your thing then why are you doing this?” you might be asking yourself.

And that would be a great question. The answer is that it just came up on a random list that I (Dustin) generated that we’re trying to accomplish this year. If you’re on Facebook, you’ve probably seen my posts on all sorts of weird things we’ve done this year. If you aren’t, I’ve included some handy best-of pictures below.

I believe that the typical thing to do is to use this space to fill-in everyone on all the major milestones that we reached over the past year. A very popular thing to do is to recap the really wonderful things that your children, accomplished so I’ll start there.

First up is our oldest, Mayor Cuddles Von Mystery, Esq. He had a big year in 2014 with highlights including that one time he almost caught the red dot and in September he escaped outside for what can only be described as 3 glorious minutes in the outdoors. He’s still a little upset about having to come back inside, but indoors is pretty much an all-you-can-eat buffet, so he’s learning to be okay with it.

Second, but certainly first in the hearts of many, is Slayer. Like her namesake, she spent a lot of this year being heavy. Seriously… she eats quite a bit. She also listed her yearly accomplishments as terrorizing The Mayor every single day, reducing the amount of sleeping hours of her parents in half and managing to hide every single toy that she is bought underneath the stove for “safe keeping.” 

 But enough about those crazy kids of ours, it’s time to talk about our favorite subject: us.

Katie spent the year at the coffee shop. No joke. I barely saw her, but when I did she was always highly caffeinated. This uptick in energy led her to get a new job, while simultaneously giving her the super power of somehow dealing with the craziness that is me. She’s a saint; a short, curly-haired saint.

 And myself? I had a big year. I got a new turntable, which increased the amount of ridiculous dancing that takes place in our house. You haven’t lived until you’ve seen me dance around the living room to a Stan Getz or Botch record in my pajamas. I also brought up the number of lists that I keep to somewhere around 80, and if you know me, you know that is big news. Next year I hope to reach 100 different lists. 

We also did some seriously awesome things, but if you haven’t figured it out by now this will not be a serious letter. So instead you are left with a mental picture of me dancing. You’re welcome.

I think that should just about do it. I’d certainly rate this letter as a solid C+ and just a “minor waste of your time” rather than a “complete waste of your time,” so on that note, I’d call it a success. And now I’ll wrap it up with a few closing thoughts and an award-winning photography collection:

By the time you receive this letter it will likely be past Christmas, and for that we apologize. But it’s not our fault, really. You see, we live in Florida and it’s at least 70 degrees every day so we were too busy getting tans and sipping on beach cocktails to realize that it was Holiday time again!

Actually, we are just lazy. But tans and cocktails sound like a much better excuse.

In all seriousness though, if you are reading this you are someone special to us and we hope that you and your family have a wonderful holiday season and, more importantly, a wonderful rest of the year, too. Thanks for being an outstanding person and doing your part to make our lives that much more awesome.

No matter what Santa says about you, we know that you are amazing.

Dustin and Katie Hughes

p.s. And now, in case this thing wasn't long-winded enough, we bring you our first, and last, “2014 In Lists” feature.

Best Books We Read In 2014

Dustin	Katie
1. “A Constellation of Vital Phenomena” by Anthony Marra 2. “The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay” by Michael Chabon 3. “The Kite Runner” by Khaled Hosseini 4. “Krik? Krak!” by Edwidge Danticat 5. “Drop City” by T.C. Boyle	1.”The Fault in Our Stars” by John Green 2. “Drinking Closer to Home” by Jessica Blau 3. “Meet the Annas” by Robert Dunn 4. “The Tainted City: by Courtney Schaffer 5. “Water for Elephants” by Sara Gruen

Best New (To Us) Music of 2014

Dustin	Katie
1. The World Is a Beautiful Place... “Between Bodies” 2. Q and Not U “Different Damage” 3. The Dear Hunter “Migrant” 4. Annabel “Youth in Youth” 5. The Sidekicks “Weight of Air”	1. She & Him “Classics” 2. Houndmouth “From the Hills Below the City” 3. The Menzingers “Rented World” 4. The Sidekicks “Weight of Air” 5. Annabel “Youth in Youth”

Best Comic Books We Read In 2014

Dustin	Katie
1. “Sheltered” by Brisson/Christmas 2. “Blankets” by Craig Thompson 3. “Jimmy Corrigan: The Smartest Kid on Earth” by Chris Ware 4. “Saga” by Vaughn/Staples 5. “Nailbiter” by Williamson/Henderson	1. “Sheltered” by Brisson/Christmas 2. “Rat Queens” by Weibe 3. “Baltimore” by Mignola/Stenbeck 4. “Saga” by Vaughn/Staples 5. “X” by Swierczynski/Nguyen

Best Concerts of 2014

Dustin	Katie
1. mewithoutYou @ The Social, Orlando, FL 2. Modest Mouse @ The Beacham, Orlando, FL 3. The World Is A Beautiful Place... @ The Fest, Gainesville, FL 4. Mouth of the Architect @ Orpheum, Tampa, FL 5. Broadway Calls @ Orpheum, Tampa, FL	1. Broadway Calls @ Orpheum, Tampa, FL 2. Captain, We're Sinking @ Wooly, Gainesville, FL 3. Houndmouth @ Local 662, St. Pete, FL 4. Less Than Jake @ Orpheum, Tampa, FL 5. The Sidekicks @ Wooly, Gainesville, FL

And now we've reached the end. We hope you all make 2015 the best year ever. We'll be right there with you trying to do the same.

“Of all the words of mice and men, the saddest are, "It might have been.”
― Kurt Vonnegut