We’re down to six in the house tonight – five, really; since I’m doing a sleepover with Rowen at her place. The Rice family was on the road by nine o’clock this morning, and after that first few hours of craziness; we’ve had a fairly laid back day. Before I get to that, though; it’s time for the weekend updates that I didn’t get around to writing about over the past few days.
First of all, Santa was very good to me this year. I don’t want to make a big deal of that, but try to remember that I am only ten going on eleven. I love everything about Christmas, and being a Magi Master doesn’t change anything except maybe to help me appreciate everything I have more than most kids my age. There were definitely some favorite gifts, but having my new family and friends to share every day with is what I love and appreciate most every day.
Moving on to family news, one of my favorite current events is anything to do with Aunt Grace and Mark. It was a bit disappointing to find out that they weren’t getting together at all over the holidays, but he’d traded Thanksgiving for Christmas hospital duty, and Aunt Grace didn’t go anywhere at year-end with so much to do at work. They did have a long chat on Christmas Day, and Ehlana let me know that some of the chats I missed out on over the weekend included discussions about potential future rendezvous for the reluctant but inexorably attracted pair.
With nearly two weeks to spend together, Violet and Dillon are happy campers, though being apart so much is harder for them than what Aunt Grace and Mark are dealing with – so far. They still have another year and a half of that to deal with, but the few of us who know how great their lives will be are sure they’ll think that going through those months apart will be worth it! Ethan, Ehlana, and I don’t know any real specifics about the future for Chris, Martin, or Dawn, but I should note that I sensed a couple of ripples this weekend when the boys were hanging out with their Witch Falls friends. There wasn’t anything clear, and nothing that suggested a particularly important event; but it was the first time I’d sensed anything with the Sight that involved them; so it’s probably worth noting.
Grandma and Grandpa will be leaving for their long winter getaway the same day that we go back to school, and they had quite a few members of the family interested in taking them up on offers to visit them sometime during their months in the sunny south. I’m sure that they’ll have at least a few guests, though nothing specific has been set up yet that I’ve heard about. I’d like to pop down there for a visit with them, but I doubt that Mom would let me use a time-phase transmutation to do that for a weekend.
Moving on to some of the news around town, I’ll start with the Green family. Heather was about half-way through her pregnancy, and though she’d had quite a few bad days during the first trimester; she had been feeling much better since Thanksgiving. While Adam and the rest of their family doted on her as she progressed through her first pregnancy, they were all also getting excited about the imminent arrival of their cousins’ – Kyle and Emily – third child. Ethan and Ehlana were fired up about the birth of another friend and future classmate too.
Naomi is only a couple of weeks away from her first birthday, and though I only saw her a few times over the last few days; it looked and sounded like she’s really had fun with her first Christmas. It’s funny that I really didn’t think about it until now, but Aunt Deborah and Nick spent a lot of time with Naomi, her parents, and the rest of their family this weekend. The twins and I may have adopted Aunt Deborah into our family, but she actually is going to be one of Naomi’s aunts; and Naomi seems to think that her uncle has made a very good choice!
All of the business owners in town were glad to have the day off for Christmas, and though we don’t have any Scrooges in Witch Falls; I do wish that our friends could have more time away from the unending work than they ever get to have. Maybe I’ll work on that a bit and see if there’s anything that a trio of creative little Magi Masters can do about that. The Stones, Emersons, Palmers, and the rest of my favorite business families did all seem happy with how their businesses were going this year. Considering what Ethan, Ehlana, and I have known since September, if they’re happy now; they’re going to love our future!
Rowen and I caught up on more of the weekend news with some of our friends while we played at the park this afternoon. Rebecca and Jenny were at the park too; and we stopped by the football field for a short visit while they were busy boy-watching with their usual group of friends. Santa did not bring Rebecca or Jenny a cure for their boy-crazy affliction like we’d hoped, but they also didn’t get boyfriends for Christmas either like some of their friends had either.
With the Christmas rush over, most of the stores in town could expect a break in the action for the next month or so, but Rowen’s parents would mostly be trading store sales time for a pick-up in computer services demand as their clients worked through year-end accounting. They did expect a couple of slow days, though, and that’s why Rowen and I were having our first sleepover of the holidays at her house. Rowen thought that the even better news was that Patrick was doing a sleepover too – at Scott’s house. Since playing their little practical jokes on us is a favorite past-time for the two boys, we’re sure that parental involvement, and possibly bribery, spared us from dealing with that all night.
Rowen’s Dad didn’t have a problem with being outnumbered three-to-one; with the leftover surprise dinner for four; or a chick flick movie night before we all went to bed early after some really long days. I’ve been on my computer since Rowen and I climbed into bed, and we’ve mostly been surfing the net and talking about some of the holiday weirdness floating around in cyber-space. I knew from living in so many different places that the stories Rowen found most unbelievable were likely true, and while we were often entertained and kept laughing; other comments and a few rants were just sad and disheartening. If you’re one of the kids, teens, or adults that are angry and hating on your family and friends because you didn’t get a car, iPhone, iPad, or other ‘must have’ for Christmas – you’ve completely lost it, dude (or dudette). Are you serious? Ask Santa for some perspective for Christmas next year; and no, you won’t find it at the app store!
Anyway, Rowen and I have a busy play day planned for tomorrow, so I’m going to wrap this up and call it a night. There may not be any tobogganing or snow play for us this week, but there are some good things about having such warm weather for the holidays too!