Happy eleventh birthday, Rowen!
I was up early, and made it over to Rowen’s house just as she was finishing breakfast so I could give her the special, best-friend birthday present; and then we did a little extra work on her hair and played dress-up before going to school.
Rowen’s come a long way from the ultra-shy girl I met when Mom and I first moved here, but she’s a long way from being a social butterfly; and has no idea just how beautiful and amazing she is. The girls in our class definitely noticed the extra work and great clothes, and so did at least a couple of the guys. (No, Aunt Leanne, I am not crossing over; I’m just being observant) I was prepared to help make Rowen’s whole day special, and that included Olde Bakery treats at recesses; a picnic in the cafeteria with more bakery goodies at lunch; and little birthday surprises while we were in classes.
I went home with Rowen after school with just a short stop at my house on the way so that I could get my overnight bag; the present I had for the party; and so Ethan and Ehlana could wish Rowen a happy birthday too. Rowen’s Mom was at home by the time we got there, and it wasn’t long before Rebecca, Jenny, and the rest of Rowen’s party guests started to join us. We couldn’t technically say it was a no boys party because Patrick was there, and had his best friend, Scott, staying overnight with him for support while his house was ‘infected’ with so many girls. Rowen was suitably annoyed by them, but I was the only friend staying overnight; and Patrick and Scott mostly left us alone until everyone else went home after dinner.
Other than needing to be alert for little brother trouble, Rowen had a really great party. Along with Rebecca and Jenny, she’d invited a few baseball teammates, and all of the girls in our class. That made for a full house, and a lot of noise and fun. We didn’t exactly play games, but there were some little contests with prizes; we had music videos playing in the living room; and there was lots of time for girl talk. We didn’t have dinner until after Rowen’s Dad closed the store and came home; and then it was non-stop action until after we’d finished dessert and Rowen had opened her gifts.
It was past eight o’clock by then, and while Rowen saw her guests out as parents stopped by to pick them up, or they left to walk home; I drafted myself to help her parents with the monster dinner cleanup. Patrick and Scott were involuntary draftees; and the work probably would have gone faster without them. We were nearly finished cleaning up by the time that Rowen was done saying goodbye to our friends; and then we all went into the living room to relax and wind down for a while before going up to bed.
Rowen’s birthday didn’t rate a day off from homework for our class, so we had to do that before bed too; and that was when Patrick and Scott started their mini-campaign to irritate us as much as possible. I was mostly just amused, but they did accomplish their mission with Rowen. Even though it’s a school night, we’ve been sitting in bed and talking while playing on our computers. Patrick and Scott finally settled down and went to bed a little while ago; and Rowen’s parents are probably asleep by now too.
We aren’t allowed to use our Magi abilities when we’re at Rowen’s, so that means no Telepathic chats, but sometimes I think that’s a good thing – kind of like getting lost in a good book for a while instead of speed-reading like I do most of the time in the archives or with my school work. Rowen’s starting to nod off, so it’s time to call it a night. One birthday party down this week; one to go!