My lounge is currently teen central for Chris, Martin, and a
bunch of their Witch
Falls friends; including
Rebecca, Jenny, and Shane. having Jenny
here with her boyfriend might be stranger for Martin than for me, but probably
not by much; and I’ve had the added bonus of seeing other girls showing new
interest in him now that Jenny no longer has a claim on him.
Jaimie and Kaitlyn are sleeping in their room for the first
time this weekend, and Dawn and Mandy are somehow managing to sleep in my bed
despite the noise from the lounge. I’m
once again writing this while sitting in the window alcove, and though I’m
still hearing more from the lounge than I’d like to; at least I don’t have the
permanent visual to go with the audio track.
Let’s move back in time and recap the rest of the day instead of
thinking about that too much.
Tai Chi with Mom and Dad was again the calm before the
Sunday morning storm that is the norm for a Proctor family holiday
weekend. Somehow, between wake-up calls
and leaving for church, we managed to feed seventeen people; clean up the
kitchen from that major meal; juggle eleven showers in four bathrooms; keep
five younger kids and toddlers entertained; and have everyone dressed up and out
the door fifteen minutes early. We even
managed to get to church five minutes before Uncle Adam, Aunt Leanne, and their
guests, but then again, they didn’t look nearly as frazzled as the parents in
our group did by then.
The last service of twenty-twelve was fairly normal compared
to the last few holiday events, and there must have been as many people away
for the weekend as there were here visiting; since we didn’t need to have
overflow seating this week. Sunday
school was pretty much just free play and craft time. Pastor Martha kept the service comparatively
short too, and we were home again by a bit after eleven o’clock. That gave all of us time to get changed;
lunch was on the table by noon; and the kids were set free just in time for the
guys to take over the living room for another day of football – this time, the
final week of the NFL regular season instead of college bowl games.
Dawn and I took Jaimie and Kaitlyn with us; picked Rowen up
at the computer store; and headed out for a chilly afternoon of park and playground
action. There were some younger boys
playing at the park, but most of the tween and teen guys must have been either
working or watching football too. Mom,
Aunt Alison, Aunt Grace, and Violet brought Ethan, Ehlana, and Jayden to the
park for a while at around two, so we played with them while they were there,
and then we went home with them for a hot chocolate and snacks break before
Dawn, Rowen, and I headed out again once we were warmed up.
While we spent most of the afternoon outdoors, the lounge
had been chick flick central for some of the girls. Ehlana, Jaimie, and Kaitlyn joined that group
after our break; getting some quality cuddle time with their grandmothers,
moms, and aunts. Ethan and Jayden played
in the lounge for a while too after deciding that sitting around doing nothing
but watching football with the guys was just too boring compared to racing
cars, playing with action figures, and bouncing balls around the lounge and my
bedroom.
There were three buffets at the Inn
today, and Grandma and Grandpa had reservations for the second sitting for
everyone. Rowen had to run home to get
ready for that too when Dawn and I did, since her family was going to be there
too. We had lots of adult support
getting the younger kids set up with their food first, but then Dawn, Rowen,
and I were in charge of the ‘kids’ table; and spent most of the hour and a half
we were there keeping up with Jaimie, Kaitlyn, Ethan, Ehlana, and Jayden. They didn’t actually run off all that often,
so I guess it’s more accurate to say that we needed to keep them entertained,
and get them to eat something more than ice cream and Olde Bakery dessert
treats.
One of the bonuses tonight was getting to spend a couple of
minutes talking to Isabelle Jacobs and Andrew Jennings. Violet’s spent some time with them while
hanging out with Dillon, but I basically haven’t seen them at all since they’ve
been home from college for their Christmas break. They’re both doing great with their
academics; love their college; aren’t so crazy about residential halls; and
miss Witch Falls a lot. Ethan and Ehlana
are happy about that last part, since they expect to have Isabelle as one of
their teachers when she does graduate and come home to work at our school. There were other cameo moments with other
college kids or visitors that I’ve met over the past couple of years, and
between those little visits; playing with my brother, sister, and cousins; and
having some awesome food; I’ve got another set of great memories to add to all
the others I have from the Inn.
With New Year’s Eve day just one sleep away, most of us were
going with an early night – with Chris and Martin being the obvious
exceptions. We didn’t have any extra
family house guests after coming home from the Inn, and while some of the guys
needed to catch up on the football action; Mom, Aunt Alison, and Aunt Melissa
did bath time with Jaimie, Kaitlyn, Jayden, and the twins. I was put to work making sure that my lounge
was clean, stocked, and ready for the tween-teen invasion, but Dad and Uncle
Rick made sure that I had help hauling pop and snacks upstairs from the
pantry. Dawn and I also folded two loads
of towels and put them away after that, but then stopped working once Chris and
Martin’s friends started arriving.
There were a few teens – including Rebecca, Jenny, and Shane
– that couldn’t come until later, but the noise level and gaming action kicked
into high gear shortly after Chris and Martin led their first group of guests up
to the lounge. Dawn and I split our time
between the lounge and living room, but once all of the teens were in the
lounge, it wasn’t long before we decided that being anywhere else was a good
idea. Dawn assured me that she feels
exactly the same way at home whenever her brothers have a gang of both boys and
girls over for a gaming or movie night.
She’s even thinking about moving to Witch Falls
with Violet next summer, or going to live with Jillian, if boy-girl pool
parties become a daily thing at her house.
I guess we do at least have the advantage here of spreading that kind of
weirdness out along miles of river – or out at Quarry Lake
and the other campgrounds.
In addition to our time in the lounge or living room, Dawn
and I also did the bedtime story and snack with the younger kids, and had a
little girl chat with Violet while she got ready to go out again and meet up
with Dillon, Jake, and Stephanie. After
our last visit to the lounge, there was a little cuddle time with our parents,
aunts, and uncles before Dawn decided that going to bed and cuddling with Mandy
was more fun that either football or Zone Weird with her brothers. Rebecca was the only teen to actually
acknowledge our brief goodnight visit to the lounge; and I had a bonus hug for
her after sensing that she didn’t really want to be there either, but was doing
it for Jenny.
I don’t expect to be able to sleep until after the party
ends next door, but there really isn’t anything else to report for today, so
I’ll move on to something else while waiting for the exodus that will happen
about ten or fifteen minutes before the midnight curfew that most of Chris and
Martin’s friends have to be home for tonight.
Say ‘goodnight, Cassie’.
“Goodnight, Cassie.”
