The Thanksgiving holiday really felt like it was over by the
time I headed to school this morning; mostly because we’d started the day with
an early goodbye breakfast for Grandma and Grandpa before they left for Arizona again.
Uncle Adam and Aunt Leanne joined us for that – and for
morning Tai Chi. Grandma and Grandpa had
the van loaded, and were ready to go, before driving over to our place. Getting to spend that time with them was
great, but reminded me that I didn’t get to spend nearly enough of the weekend
with them while they were home. I guess
that won’t change as I get older, and we all get busier, so I’ll just try to
enjoy these little moments whenever we can share them.
There were lots of fun moments at school today. The football team players – and Kyle Landry in
particular – were heroes with all of their fans. Rowen and I weren’t the only friends that
didn’t get to spend much time together during the holiday, so weekend recap
chats were at least tied with football for top topics of the day. Christmas wasn’t being talked about yet, but we
started learning to play Christmas songs in music class; and that had me
thinking about it – and the fact that we’re exactly four weeks away from
Christmas Eve Day.
That’s put me into an especially happy mood, and after
school, Rowen and kept the fun going.
Our homework didn’t take long to finish, and then, though it was fairly
cold today; we bundled Ethan and Ehlana up and took them to the park for a
while. The usual group of guys was there
playing football, but only a few girls braved the chilly temperature to watch
their attempts at sporting heroics.
Ethan didn’t let the cold keep him from his Monday afternoon football
moment either, but Ehlana, Rowen, and I were soon ready to move on; spend a
little time at the playground; and then head home again for some hot chocolate
and warm, indoor play time.
Rowen stayed for dinner, but then needed to head home after
that, while Dad and I cleaned up before Uncle Adam and Aunt Leanne came over
for our Monday night healing lesson and family business meeting. Mom, Uncle Adam, and I always have fun with
our lessons, but it was the business and future plans part of the night that
was the most fun for Ethan, Ehlana, and me.
We started that part of the evening out by getting hot
drinks and snacks before moving into the office; and then the first order of
business was to talk about Aunt Grace and Mark.
They’d both been given more details about their jobs over the weekend,
and while I would have loved to be in on those little chats; it’s enough to
know that they’re both even more excited than ever to be moving here. Mark probably thinks that he’s taking a cut
in pay for his new job, and joked about Aunt Grace needing to support them; but
he’ll eventually find out that his new partnership will pay better than he
could ever imagine; thanks to our family business.
Uncle Blaine’s end of our future plans was up next, and he
expects to have the plans for the lab finished by the New Year’s Day long weekend
when we’ll be doing our family Christmas.
He’s also going to have the first batch of housing plans ready –
including the home that he just found out that he’ll be designing for his
sister and brother-in-law-to-be. That
little gift should end up somewhere right at the top of Aunt Grace’s best-ever
Christmas present list!
The rest of the updates from Mom, Dad, Uncle Adam, and Aunt
Leanne included telling us about the little nudges that were helping Violet,
Dillon, and several other teens along toward making decisions for their
futures. For some, that meant thinking
about different career options; or about new opportunities here at home instead
of elsewhere. Aunt Grace may be the
first member of a Witch Falls family to be drawn back to her hometown; but
there are going to be many more; and that’s going to be one of the most
exciting things about our collective future.
Ethan, Ehlana, and I had a few new future details to pass on
to our parents, aunt, and uncle too; though there is still a lot more that
they’re not meant to know about yet. We
know that frustrates them, but it’s also a burden for us – one that we accept
and deal with as best we can. We’re
heading into a bit of a future plans quiet time for most of the winter; though
there will be a lot of behind-the-scenes work to get ready for next spring and
summer. Not everything that’s meant to
happen will require our direct involvement, but we will need to keep an eye out
to make sure those little side-events still happen.
Anyway, moving along, our meeting lasted until nearly eleven
o’clock; so I got a late start on my usual studying and nightly computing. My archive homework took more than an hour; I
studied languages for another hour; and finished my email, entertainment, news,
and sports checks before wrapping up with this.
It’s heading toward two o’clock, and I need to get some sleep, so...
...say ‘goodnight, Cassie’.
“Goodnight, Cassie.”
