It’s mostly been a holiday weekend and wedding work day,
starting with housework and pre-cooking this morning and ending with decorating
and filling gift baskets for the wedding tonight.
My jobs this morning, after Rowen went home to work around
the house with her Mom and brother, included a two-hour stint as cook’s
assistant; an hour taking care of the third-floor cleaning; and the rest of my
time between breakfast and lunch giving Mom and Alicia some babysitting
assistance with Ethan and Ehlana.
Rowen and I were both able to spend a couple of hours this afternoon
practicing our bike tricks with Michael and Tim after Michael was finished
helping out at the Inn during the lunch rush.
We finalized the routine, and Tim and his Dad finished making the
obstacles and jump ramps for the trailer on the weekend; so we were able to
practice with them. They won’t get put
onto the trailer until Wednesday, but Michael and Tim had them set up for us
like we’ll be using them; and the only difference to what it’ll be like for the
parade was the height off the ground.
We’ll get to have one practice for that on Wednesday sometime, so that
change shouldn’t be a problem; and it’ll just make the jumps from the trailer
to the ground a bit easier.
The biking was at the top of the fun list for today, and so
was the cool-off swim that we hit the river for at my house after we were done
our practice. Ethan and Ehlana came with
us for that; and we all had a blast until Nora tracked us down and reclaimed
Tim. Michael had to get back to the Inn
and I needed to get back to helping Mom by then anyway; so that was the end of
our play time until after dinner.
Mom and Dad only had the twins and me home for dinner. Violet was with Dillon, and everyone else had
other plans until we were meeting at Uncle Adam and Aunt Leanne’s house for a
wedding work evening. I helped with the
cooking and cleanup tonight, and then Mom sent me off to play with Rowen,
Ethan, and Ehlana at the park for an hour or so before joining the gift basket
work crew. I’m sure that the timing of
that play break had everything to do with Michael being at the park for his
team practice too; but I was okay with that – and with having him hang out with
us for a while after he was finished playing baseball.
I’m going to take a little side trip for a minute because
there was some teen weirdness tonight that doesn’t have anything to do with me
directly; but is apparently a big deal for Jenny.
There’s a new guy in town, and though Rowen and I haven’t met
him yet, he was at the park tonight too; and hanging around with some of the
other teens – including Jenny and Rebecca.
Michael told us that his name is Joel Alden, he’s fourteen, and will be
here in Witch Falls with his Dad for about half of the summer holidays. Jenny apparently caught his eye earlier today
while he was taking a first look around town after getting here last night
sometime, and from what Rebecca told Michael while they were having dinner;
Jenny’s definitely interested in him too.
I love Jenny a lot, but it sounds like she may have
temporarily lost her mind; and flirting with Joel while still having a
boyfriend is not likely going to end well for one or more of them. Thankfully, we weren’t close enough to their
group for Ethan, Ehlana, or I to get hit by the empathic bombardment that
usually happens in situations like that; and we were on our way to Aunt
Leanne’s before passing Shane and some of the other teens when they were on
their way into the park to join up with Rebecca and Jenny.
The empathic sparks were probably really flying after that,
but then there were some sparks with Michael and me too – especially while we
were having a little swim with Rowen, Ethan, and Ehlana before we all went
inside to help with the gift baskets. I
did warn Michael in advance that we’d get teased if he came along, but he was
willing to risk it; and we were both happy to have the extra time
together. Rowen, Michael, and I mostly
decorated baskets while Ethan and Ehlana joined the assembly lines that were
filling them with four different sets of mementos and treats.
Mom let us work until ten-thirty, though Ethan and Ehlana
needed to play normal toddlers; and didn’t last nearly that long before getting
bored and being set free to go watch a movie in the living room. Rowen decided to go home then, and helped
Aunt Leanne and Aunt Grace tease me by getting Michael to go home with me and
help put Ethan and Ehlana to bed while Mom and Dad stayed to work for another hour
or so.
Michael and I didn’t have a problem with that set-up; and we
had fun getting the twins ready for bed and then cuddling with them while
Michael told them their bedtime story. Michael
went home shortly after we finished tucking Ethan and Ehlana in for the night,
but just to make sure that we didn’t totally disappoint my aunts or his mother;
we practiced our goodnight kisses for a little while before he left.
Trust me; we really don’t mind making those little
sacrifices for the people we love the most!
I needed to stop in and distribute some tickle hugs when I
heard my adorable little brother and sister giggling at me on my way up to my
room; Ehlana and I had a little girl chat; and then I hopped into my Jacuzzi
for a soak. Mom and Dad were home by the
time I’d finished drying my hair and getting changed, so we had a little visit
in the office while Dad took care of some work; and then I came up to my room
again. I wasn’t planning on staying up
late tonight, but some family business work that couldn’t wait until Wednesday needed
to be done; and I spent an hour doing that before getting to the rest of my
usual nightly computing.
That change in plans also meant that I wasn’t sleeping when
my new membership into the menstrual cycle club was re-affirmed. Yes, I did make the adjustment so I could be
on the same schedule as Rowen, and I can make the experience easier for both of
us; but that doesn’t make the experience any more fun for us – just a little
less uncomfortable. I can tell you that
I’m happier this time around, but that has everything to do with Michael, being
on holidays, and the upcoming Fourth of July and wedding fun. The good news is that if Rowen’s on schedule
too, we should both be done with our periods by Thursday.
I wouldn’t exactly say this is a great way to end my day –
or this journal update – but it’s after one; that’s all the news I have; and
getting some sleep is now at the top of my priority list, so...
...until next time, this is Magi Master Cassie Proctor;
logging out!