It’s a girl!
Congratulations, Elaine, Kevin, Nicole, and the rest of the Johnson
family!
Robyn Johnson was born at 5:37 this morning; weighing in at
8 pounds, two ounces. Aunt Leanne sent
pictures, and Robyn is beautiful, healthy, and both Mom and baby are doing
great. We found out later than Uncle Adam confirmed that while they were there;
and I’m looking forward to reading his report on Robyn in our Magi Project
archive. Edgar and Doreen Johnson didn’t
try to make the flying round-trip to see their newest great-granddaughter, but
Uncle Adam and Aunt Leanne went to Rosemont with Grandma Christine, Uncle Nick,
and Aunt Deborah. They left first thing
this morning, and though I haven’t seen them because it’s so late; they got home
again about an hour ago.
It’s been an exciting day for the Johnson family, so my
report for today will probably seem boring by comparison. Ethan and Ehlana were up early and wanting my
immediate attention, so I started out the day by dealing with a pair of diaper
changes. Ethan and Ehlana played on the
floor and watched me work through my Tai Chi after that, and then we did
another wake-up call for Dawn, Jillian, and Rowen before I left them with the
other girls and went upstairs again to take an early turn grabbing a shower.
I helped Aunt Melissa with making breakfast after that – Mom
and Dad were on their own until they were supposed to meet us at church. My timing for personally getting ready for
the day wasn’t very good, since I ended up helping with the clean-up too; but
Uncle Rick, Violet, and I had fun while we worked too; and Ethan and Ehlana did
a lot of giggling as they supervised us.
Chris and Martin were opposites this morning. Martin was up early and again took extra time
getting ready for church while Chris acted exactly as he normally has on every
Sunday I’ve been around him for. I
didn’t really need the confirmation from Dawn and Jillian to figure out that
was because Nikki had recently started going to their church too, and Erin didn’t go to any church. Martin may have dragged things out a bit to
avoid any kitchen work too, but Chris was barely conscious long enough to eat
and get ready to go out the door when it was time to head out.
I was more organized, and even with the cooking and
cleaning, I had my bags, and all of Ethan and Ehlana’s things, packed and ready
to go before we left for church. Mom and
Dad, Grandpa Richard and Grandma Carrie, and Jillian’s parents, were all at the
church already by the time we got there.
Thanks mostly to Chris, we didn’t have much time until the service
started, so the good morning hugs and kisses were quick; and then we went in
search of someplace to sit in the sanctuary.
Rowen and I had fun with Dawn and Jillian; and with their
friends while we were in Sunday school, but I that tugging sensation from the
general direction of home I’d been feeling all weekend seemed stronger while we
were at the church. It almost felt as
though I could hear our Pastors and praise team; and I definitely missed the
usual weekly hugs with my favorite people.
The Sunday school classes were all spending at least some time working
on their contributions to the upcoming Easter weekend programs, and while Rowen
and I couldn’t help out with learning the skits or music, we were able to help
out with the sets, decorations, and costumes; and we would have been doing
things like that at our church too if we’d been home. With just five weeks left until Easter this
year; that really isn’t much time left to get ready – especially at Dawn and
Jillian’s church. They told us that half
the kids would be away for both March Break Sundays, so they were trying to get
nearly everything ready before the holiday.
Time seemed to speed up for a while after church. We all went back to Uncle Rick and Aunt
Melissa’s place – including Jillian’s parents and Nikki. Rowen and I were put on the cooking crew
because we were leaving for home right after lunch. While we were doing that with most of the
women; Dad and Uncle Rick loaded the minivan; and this time, Aunt Melissa
provided some entertainment for all of us by putting Chris and Martin in charge
of Ethan and Ehlana. The twins confirmed
to us later that they definitely played up the normal toddler act because it
was funny to watch our cousins try to keep up, but the diaper changes that the
boys refused to deal with were not part of the act; and they were both glad
that Chris and Martin didn’t attempt fumbling their way through getting them
cleaned up and dry again.
We spent nearly an hour having lunch together, and then it
was time to get on the road for Witch
Falls. I wish we didn’t live so far away from our
cousins, and it’s always really hard to say goodbye to Violet, but we also
really needed to get going; and Mom and Dad didn’t let the goodbyes drag
out. I went with Dad for the first half
of the drive, and Rowen went with Mom so she could help out if Ethan or Ehlana
needed anything. It was smooth sailing
to Crystal Springs, and we only made one short stop at Wal-Mart so that Mom
could pick up a few supplies before continuing on to Witch Falls. Ethan and Ehlana assured us that they were
going to nap for the second half of the drive, so Rowen and I both went with
Dad, and kept him entertained with the stories from the last week that we
hadn’t been able to share with him while we were all busy with everything else
that had been going on.
We made good time, and were home with enough time to get the
van and truck unloaded and put everything away before we needed to meet up at
the Inn with Rowen’s parents and brother.
The original plan was for Uncle Adam, Aunt Leanne, Uncle Nick, and Aunt
Deborah to be there too, but not having them there wasn’t all bad, since we
were able to squeeze in around one table instead of being split up like we normally
are.
We got to the Inn before
Rowen’s parents and brother did, and there weren’t many people in the dining
room yet for the first buffet. I didn’t
see Miranda or Stephanie in the main room, so I went back into the kitchen to
get hugs and kisses from some of the people I’d missed so much while I was
away. I’m sure it was just random chance
that Michael was the closest person to me in the kitchen, and I was hugging him
before either of us even really thought about it. He hugged me back, and the moment probably
lasted at least a few seconds too long; judging by the grins we could see after
stepping apart.
Miranda was right there to tease me about that, but I didn’t
care, and hugged her for a long minute too before moving on to share hugs with
Jacob, Jake, Rebecca, Stephanie, and Jenny.
By the time I was ready to go out to the dining room again, Michael was
really getting razzed by Jake and the other guys, and looked like he was both
very happy and mortified. He was already
in for a bad night now anyway, so I hugged him again, apologized for putting
him in the tweeird zone, and assured him that I wasn’t sorry about the hugs
because I really had missed him. Then I
left the kitchen, and completely ignored the laughs, whistles, and jokes.
Miranda didn’t wait long to continue teasing me by starting
her round of welcome home hugs with Dad and Ethan before moving on to hug the
girls. I was home, was filled up with
the warm fuzzies, and just went along with the jokes and had fun. Witch
Falls has really felt
like my home for quite a while now, but something changed this weekend; and
it’s just a little different now – and stronger. I’ll try to study that a bit, and write about
it some more if I figure out why that’s happened.
For tonight, though, I was just happy to enjoy another great
buffet dinner; spend time with my family and friends; and be home again. We’d needed to rush around a bit to go to the
early buffet, but we did that because Dad needed to work in the office to get
ready for appointments he has on Monday – or may have. The buzz in the dining room was about the
worsening weather forecast for another winter storm to hit us; possibly as
early as Monday morning, but currently expected to start in the afternoon. The timing will be the problem; and could
mean the difference between a lot of freezing rain and a lot of snow. The good news for us is that whatever
happens, we’re mostly still ready from the extra work that was done just ahead
of the last storm.
I must have been in a very strange place tonight, because I
included Michael in my round of goodbye hugs before Mom and Dad took Ethan,
Ehlana, and me home; and I mostly did that because I wanted to – and because I
knew it would get Jake and the other guys going again. Since Michael hugged me back again, grinned,
and didn’t look at all upset anymore; I’m sure that he knew exactly why he was
getting the bonus hugs.
After getting home, while Dad worked in the office, Mom did
Magi lessons with Ethan, Ehlana, and me that also took care of the little bit
of storm readiness we did need to do – giving the guest bedrooms and bathrooms
a once-over in case we needed them sometime over the next couple of days. We followed that up with the full bath and
bedtime routine for the twins; and then I was set free to spend a little
quality time with my Jacuzzi. Mandy must
have missed me, because she came into the bathroom with me while I was in the
tub. We talked while I soaked and got
started on my usual school night studies.
I did my archive assignment while having my bath; did my hair and got
ready for bed; and I’ve been cuddling in bed with Mandy for the last couple of
hours while doing my language studies and the usual nightly computer checks.
It’s been a long day, and I’ve wound down enough to be able
to sleep now, so I’m going to wrap this up and call it a night. The forecast is still looking rough as of my
last check, and tomorrow could be a very interesting day.
Until next time, this is Magi Master Cassie Proctor; logging
out!
