The day after Christmas in Witch Falls doesn’t have the big
city shopping madness that you see on the news, but it is always a really fun
day; and it was that and then some this year.
After taking yesterday morning off, I loved doing Tai Chi
with Mom and Dad today, and then Ethan, Ehlana, and I got the news that we were
doing the early breakfast buffet at the Inn before getting started on our
Boxing Day shopping adventure. Grandma,
Grandpa, Uncle Adam, Aunt Leanne, and all of his family were doing the
breakfast buffet too; so Miranda had set aside a large block of tables just for
our family. Ehlana, Ethan, and I were
put at a table with Kara, Eddie, and Nicole; and Michelle and Chrissy won – or
lost – the draw to sit with us and keep their younger cousins under
control. I’m fairly sure that Michelle
was only teasing us about reconsidering becoming a teacher after hanging out
with us, but I guess if she’s going to change majors at college; she should do
that sooner than later since she is a sophomore this year.
Rowen wasn’t at the Inn for
breakfast because she was at the computer store with her parents to help them
get ready for the big sale; but she was set free in time to meet up with me and
join our bargain-hunting expedition. I
picked up a couple of things at her store later when we stopped in to deliver
Olde Bakery snacks for her Mom and Dad, but we had the most fun shopping at
Palmer’s, Taylor’s, and the Emporium.
Violet and Dawn made it to town in time to catch the last hour or so of
morning shopping. Dawn spent that time
with Rowen and me, while Violet shopped with Chrissy and her sisters. Since she and Chrissy are getting to be
pretty good friends, it’s too bad that they didn’t have more time together, but
by noon, all of Uncle Adam and Aunt Leanne’s guests were back at their house;
getting packed and ready to leave.
Mom, Dad, Ethan, Ehlana, and I went over there to do a quick
round of goodbye hugs and kisses, but then we left them to their work; and
headed home to have lunch with Violet, Dawn, and Rowen. After eating and helping to clean up, Rowen,
Dawn, and I headed out for a little more shopping. We stopped at the Inn and got Miranda’s
permission to borrow Rebecca for an hour or so to go shopping with us, and thanks
to a little empathic insight I got from Rebecca earlier while we were there for
breakfast; I knew that’s exactly what she needed to cheer her up.
The dress she picked out at Palmer’s helped a lot too, with
the perfect combination of looking amazing on her and being on sale for half
price. I’m really glad that we could
help put Rebecca in a better mood by the time we dropped her off at the Inn
again, and really glad that I’d picked out the clothes I wanted to get earlier;
since I might not have bought anything if I’d been trying on clothes next to
Rebecca and comparing results. When I
mentioned that to Rowen later, she laughed, and again reminded me that I’m
going to grow up to look like my mother.
That’s true, but doesn’t help much when I feel like the ‘before picture’
poster child while Rebecca is closing in fast to the dream girl ‘after
picture’.
Moving along, after leaving Rebecca at the Inn,
Rowen, Dawn, and I went back to my house.
We had a snack break, and then spent the rest of the afternoon in the
lounge with Ethan, Ehlana, and Mandy.
Rowen and I played a little music, and Dawn tried playing the sax and
flute for a while. We watched music
videos; played some games; and talked about what we’d been doing since Dawn was
last home at Thanksgiving. Mom and Dad
were having Grandma, Grandpa, Uncle Adam, Aunt Leanne, Uncle Nick, and Aunt
Deborah over for dinner; so Dawn and I were recruited to set the dining room
table after Rowen headed to the computer store to meet up with her parents, and
help them with a little post sale clean-up and re-stocking work.
Dinnertime was when my little Christmas hug and kiss moment
with Michael caught up with me. I should
probably be grateful that Aunt Leanne waited until it was just family around to
start teasing me about it, but everyone else, including Dawn, Ethan, and
Ehlana, were having just a little too much fun with the whole thing for my
taste. I may not have been able to do
anything about tonight, but I plan on being very careful for the rest of the
holidays anytime I’m anywhere near Michael and Aunt Leanne at the same
time. With a little luck, that’ll only
happen at church for the next week and a half, so hopefully my dear Aunt won’t
have any opportunities to cause trouble.
I know, but it’s worth hoping for.
My grandparents, aunts, and uncles were making an early
night of it after a long, busy weekend, but Rowen came back over after
finishing up at the store and having dinner with her parents; and was staying
for a sleepover with Dawn and me. Violet
was going out with Dillon, Jake, and Stephanie, so she was only home after
dinner long enough to get changed and have a little hair and make-up fun with
Mom before going over to the Inn to meet up with her friends. Mom and Dad were going with a quiet night in,
and Ethan and Ehlana split their time between hanging out with us in the
lounge, and some pre-bedtime cuddling in the living room with Mom and Dad.
We’ve been watching chick flicks in the lounge; played
around with the sax and flute again; surfing the net; and kept entertained
talking about everything except boys or sports.
Making plans for the next two days we have free to play and do whatever
we want until the Proctor clan starts getting to town for the long weekend was
at the top of the list, and though snow fun isn’t in the cards; having cold but
sunny weather does give us lots of outdoor play options.
Dawn fell asleep about a half-hour ago, but Rowen and I are
finishing our third movie of the night before climbing into my bed with
Mandy. There isn’t really anything else
to write about tonight, so I’ll wrap this up and move on to do one last email
and news check before shutting down for the night. Christmas is over, but the good news with
having it near the start of our break from school is that we still have a week
and a half of play time ahead of us before getting back to the real world
again. Rowen, Dawn, and I are going to
get started on that by fitting as much fun into the next couple of days as we
possibly can!
Say ‘goodnight, Cassie’.
“Goodnight, Cassie.”
