Happy Fourth of July! (Happy Un-Independence Day, Mom!)
This holiday has been one of my favorites since moving to Witch Falls;
and today definitely qualifies as the best-on-ever so far!
We had a bit of rain roll through off and on overnight and
early this morning, but that didn’t even get in the way of our Tai Chi; and the
weather has been great since about eight-thirty or nine. Breakfast was a wild event. With the Inn
closed for the day, all of our visiting wedding guests needed to be fed; and we
had a total of thirty-six at our house for the meal. Add in the work that needed to be done for
our contributions to the food booths and to get everything ready for a day at
the park; and the usual holiday crazy was several notches above anything I’ve
experienced here so far.
Being in the parade this year changed a few things too, the
biggest being that I needed to be at the school early enough to help with the
last bit of work that needed to be done on the trailer and truck we were using;
including loading the large baskets of candy we’d be dipping into as we went
along the parade route and tossed the treats to the spectators.
Even with everything I’d been doing at home for the nearly
three hours since I’d gotten up, I was still ready to go before Rowen was;
though that was mostly because she was having second and third thoughts about
wearing one of her new biking shorts and top sets during the parade. Owen looked like he was having second thoughts
too, but for a completely different reason.
It only took me five minutes to convince Rowen to stick with plan ‘A’,
and five more for some hair enhancements that Patricia helped me with; and then
we were on our way to the school to meet up with Michael and Tim. They were already working around the trailer,
and I may need to transfer that photographic memory moment to digital file some
day; because the expressions on their faces were priceless when they saw us.
I can also assure you that Michael had a fairly strong
reaction to my outfit when we shared a little good morning hug and kiss too.
We all needed to finish getting everything ready, and we had
time to run through our trick repertoire once before it was time for Tim’s Dad
to get the truck and trailer lined up and in the spot we’d been placed for the
parade between one of the VIP classic cars and a fashion show float that
Palmers was sponsoring. That gave us
time to visit with some of our friends, and take a look around at the other
parade elements that we wouldn’t get to see or listen to this year.
That seemed strange, and I missed getting to share all of
the fun with my family; but being in the parade and sharing the experience with
Rowen, Michael, and Tim was a blast too – especially once we found out right
from the start that we were a hit with everyone watching us – or almost
everyone. We had Tim and Rowen start out
on the trailer while Michael and I were on the road; and Tim’s Dad turned on
the music as soon as he had the trailer straightened out behind the truck and
on the road.
Our ‘street’ obstacle course was fairly simple. There were two rows down the middle of the
trailer for each rider to navigate the length of; we switched lanes for the
return trip; and then there were two ramps on each side of the trailer near the
back that we used for our big, tandem, three-sixty jump to the ground. The obstacles included a balance beam, boxes
of varying sizes to bunny hop on and off, and a couple of things to jump over
along the way. We each had some
variations of the tricks, so there was some variety too; and we all seem to
have a knack for showing off.
We’d been sure that the jumps would get the biggest reaction
from the crowds, and they did, but they weren’t actually the hardest tricks to
do – especially while the trailer was moving.
While doing the ‘road’ part of our routine, by the time we finished a
candy-tossing run there really wasn’t all that much time for wheelies and
one-eighties; but Michael and I – and Tim and Rowen, when it was their turn –
managed to fit in three passes along the truck and trailer in the minute and a
half we had before needing to hop on the trailer again.
There was a little extra showing off each time we were
passing members of our own families – and all of the extra guests that were
home for Aunt Grace and Mark’s wedding.
I didn’t get to hand out candy to my brother, sister, and cousins; but
Michael and I did pull off one of our best sets of tricks of the day for them
while it was our turn on the trailer. By
then, we were almost to the park, so we only had time to run through our
routine three more times before Tim’s father turned right onto River Road after
crossing the bridge instead of going into the park and trying to turn around
there.
He parked the trailer at the lab construction site, and we
got to work on packing everything up while waiting for the roads to clear. Rowen and I dealt with the signs,
decorations, and candy while Michael and Tim helped Martin with quickly
disassembling everything on the trailer and loading it all into the back of the
truck. Once that was done, Martin set us
free so we could bike home once the parade was over, but he needed to wait
until the crowds heading into the park along Quarry Road cleared before he could get
back across the river too.
Getting home took us a while, mostly because we needed to
stop regularly to spend a few minutes with our respective families and some
friends. I didn’t really think about it
until then, but this was really the first time that I’ve gotten that kind of
public attention in my life. Michael had
his music, and he and Tim both get attention when they play sports, but this
was new for Rowen too. We had fun, but
there is still a little part of me that was cringing and worried about the
dangers of getting noticed like that.
Old habits and fears are hard to get over; but then new
things – like spending a lot of my time with Michael today – can be very easy
to get used to; and like a lot!
My first order of business after getting home was to grab a
quick shower, and then get dressed for baseball; though I wore a swimsuit too
in case we wanted to cool off in the river before or after the game. I met up with Rowen and Michael for the walk
back to the park, but Tim had already hooked up with Nora and the gang they
were going to hang out with for the afternoon by then; so we didn’t see him
much until our baseball game started at three.
Mom and Dad were taking a turn this year working a food
booth – mostly because the Fix-it Uppers weren’t playing a noon game. Grandma and Grandpa were officially watching
Ethan and Ehlana while they were busy, but Michael, Rowen, Dawn, and I all joined
in to help with kid control while we had lunch; and then we played with the
mid-aged kids – like Jaimie, Kaitlyn, Kara, and Eddie – for an hour and a half
or so until Rowen and I needed to get to our warm-ups.
That was another wild blast of non-stop action, with a blur
of little cameo visits that were all fun, while not really giving us much time
to spend with anyone other than the kids we were helping to entertain. One thing that was really different this year
was not having a cheerleading competition with – or against – Miranda at the
noon co-ed ball game. I wasn’t the only
person missing that today; and there were noticeably fewer spectators watching
the Gas Guzzlers play the Big Shots. We
checked in with Miranda and Jacob a couple of times, and Miranda seemed
particularly happy to see us spending the afternoon together – even though that
meant that Michael wasn’t spending much time at all with his grandparents,
uncle, aunt, or cousins.
We managed to play quite a few games with the kids before
our ball game, and though the games continued for my cousins and the other kids
while Rowen and I were busy with our team warm-ups; quite a few of them came to
watch the game and join the cheerleading squad that Dawn led with some lawn
chair support from Aunt Leanne.
I mentioned earlier that not quite everyone was thrilled
with our biking demonstration, and you probably guessed correctly that it was
Vanessa and Nora who were not impressed.
The reason I bring that up now is because there were some tweeird zone
moments for me to go along with the baseball highlights. First up for that was when I picked Michael
for my good luck hug and kiss partner before the game. That earned me another loud scolding from
Coach Sarah; whistles from Miranda and Aunt Leanne; and the full-out
fire-and-ice glare from Vanessa. All of
that helped to motivate me, and Michael didn’t seem to mind helping me out with
that little change in recent tradition; so I didn’t have a problem with being
teased about it – or having Vanessa mad at me.
Dad needed a hug after the game, and seemed just a little disappointed
to find out that he was out of a job as a baseball good luck charm; but I think
he’ll be okay.
We were the home team today, so the Cheetahs were at bat
first. They didn’t get off to a great
start, and I have to wonder if that was because of getting some bad information
about our team – and Rowen and me specifically.
As I think about the scenes from the game now, there were definitely
some smirks being directed my way in the lead-up to nearly every hit belted
toward me during the first few innings; and Rowen was tested a half-dozen times
too. Unfortunately for the Cheetahs,
that didn’t work out very well. In the
first inning alone, I caught a fly ball for an out; Rowen held the second
batter to a single; and Rebecca and Carolyn helped me turn the double play that
I started by letting the hit from their fourth batter bounce in front of me to
force the surprised base runner to try to get to second base even though it was
already too late by then.
I’ll admit that my first base hit of the game was
intentionally directed at Vanessa, but it was also placed so she had no chance
of catching it anyway; and getting that double was the only time I picked on
her during the game. It was satisfying
getting to score the first run of the game when Carolyn dropped a hit in for a
single that let me get home from third after advancing there on a sacrifice fly.
Nobody was surprised that Carolyn was the best player on the
field today, but even she was a bit surprised to see Rowen and I playing a best
game of the season so far. Thanks to
Carolyn, Rebecca, and Jenny; Rowen and I scored six of our ten runs. We also were in on eleven of the defensive
outs. The Cheetahs managed to score
seven runs, but five of them came on two home runs; including the three runs
they scored in the top of the last inning that came just before Rowen earned
the last out with a fairly impressive, on-the-run, pop-fly catch.
I really do love winning, but this is the first time I’ve
gone through a post-game scene where there were anyone was actually mad at me;
and Vanessa and Nora were both throwing off some very unpleasant empathic vibes. Trying to deal with that silent anger while
doing the post-game team handshakes – and offering support to other friends on
the Cheetahs’ team who were genuinely disappointed – wasn’t easy. Fortunately, we needed to vacate the field
for the dinnertime match for the men’s division game; so that tweeird zone
moment didn’t last long. We weren’t
doing a post-game celebration because it was dinnertime; and Rowen and I
rejoined our family to help out with kid control while parents and grandparents
did the food booth runs.
Michael spent that next couple of hours with his family, and
after having dinner, Rowen and I ran home to grab showers again and get into
more comfortable clothes for the evening dance and fireworks. We met up with Michael at the park again
about a half-hour before the dance started, and while Rowen attempted to make
an escape and leave us alone, we added Dawn to the group instead; and the four
of us played a couple of games before going to the dance.
What a difference a year makes! Getting set up to dance together for just one
song last year was a lot different than how it felt to dance with Michael
tonight. There was a big difference
between being pushed together and having people cut in and split us up –
including once when my giggling sister and brother wanted to dance with Michael
and me. It may have been Aunt Leanne’s
suggestion, but they were enthusiastic about their mission.
It wasn’t as if I danced exclusively with Michael anyway – I
went for a spin with Dad and Grandpa; and we were out on the dance area in
groups for all of the up-tempo songs.
Michael could dance just fine last year, but I think he’s been
practicing for the wedding; because he’s learned some line dancing and was a
lot more confident leading tonight. Rowen
and Dawn weren’t matchmaking victims, but they did both get asked to dance by
some non-relative boys – one for Dawn; and two for Rowen. We’ll have to find time to talk about it in
more detail, but Rowen didn’t notice the effect those dance offers had on ‘Tommy’
tonight until I pointed it out to her when we met up after the two-song set
she’d spent dancing with the first of the guys.
He wasn’t being too obvious about it, since he was dancing with his
girlfriend; but he did keep an eye on Rowen for the rest of the night while
looking slightly perplexed – as if he was trying to figure out why what he was
seeing was bugging him.
I’d help him out with that, but he wouldn’t believe me right
now anyway.
That news flash made Rowen very happy, and her brighter
smiles and laughs had as much impact on ‘Tommy’ as on the guys who were dancing
with her. She didn’t spend any serious
time off of the dance floor with either guy because she didn’t want to start
anything with guys she wasn’t interested in; but it was fun to see her step
away from the usual shyness around guys even that little bit.
Tweeirdness alert!
Rowen wasn’t the only person getting some attention from
members of the opposite sex. Chris,
Martin, and Jonathan were even more popular than last summer, and things
started getting tweeird when Vanessa invited Martin to dance with her – and
then pulled him into the group that she was hanging out with – including Tim
and Nora.
And I thought that it was weird last year when Jenny and
Rebecca were spending so much time with Martin and Jonathan!
Speaking of Jenny, she was still technically dating Shane
this morning, but they broke up sometime today; and she was with Joel every
time I saw her at the park – and he was watching most of our ballgame today
too. I’m sure that was hard on Shane,
and I hope he had friends helping him deal with it. Jenny should have tried to handle that
better, but as I mentioned earlier this week; she’s temporarily lost her mind. Maybe it’s my own history that affects how I
feel about relationships, but even if I didn’t know what I do about my future;
I can’t imagine a scenario where Michael would just be the first of a string of
boyfriends for me the way that Jenny has been going through boyfriends since
crossing over.
I’m like Mom, Dad, Uncle Adam, and Aunt Leanne – I want the
fairytale!
Moving on, even while having breakfast and dinner, I didn’t
actually get to spend much time with Mom and Dad today, and while hanging out
with the other tweens and teens for the fireworks had been an option; Michael
was okay with the idea when I suggested that we watch the fireworks with my
family. That meant that we had Rowen,
Dawn, Ethan, Ehlana, and all of my younger cousins around us, so it was far
from a romantic end to our Fourth of July; but it was really fun and special to
get to share that family time with him.
We sat on a blanket in front of Mom and Dad, and Ethan and Ehlana sat in
our laps most of the time during the fireworks display. Rowen and Dawn were next to us, and had
Jaimie, Kaitlyn, Kara, and most of the other girls with them. Michael and Ethan got teased a bit about
being the only guys; but Ethan thought that was hilarious, and Michael was
happy to put up with the teasing in exchange for cuddling with Ehlana and me;
and sharing the occasional kiss with me.
We had to settle for a fairly short goodnight hug and kiss
after the fireworks show ended because he needed to go help his parents haul
their day camp gear home; and I needed to do the same with my family. He was home before I was, so I didn’t see him
again during the walk from the park; and I’ve been busy since then helping with
the work and getting the younger kids into bed for the night.
Ehlana got to have Kaitlyn with her tonight, so Dawn and I
have Jaimie and Kara with us; and all three girls – and Mandy – are sleeping
now while I’m again sitting in the window alcove with my computer. It’s after one-thirty, and we have another
busy day ahead tomorrow; but I needed the wind down time again, and there’s
always more work I can do when I can’t sleep and need to think.
One note that I should add from today that Violet told us
about tonight is that Chrissy McEwan and Josiah Palmer found out that they are
going to the same college. That isn’t a
surprise for Ethan, Ehlana, and me, since they’re both important enough to our
future plans for us to see parts of what’s meant to be for their future; and
it’s going to be fun watching that develop between now and when all of our
favorite freshmen leave on their college adventures in August.
There were some other stories being passed around tonight
too, but I’m sure there was a lot that I missed out on today; and it may even
take a few days before I hear all of the stories – especially since we’ll be in
wedding mode for the next three days. We
have more incoming guests tomorrow, and a lot of work will be going on; but the
only thing going through my mind right now in association with ‘wedding’ is
‘first date with Michael’. He’s going to
be busy between the Inn and his own family
guests for the next two days, and now that the parade is over; we won’t have
the daily bike practices either. Add in
a holiday weekend buffet day on Sunday; and the only times we may even see each
other will be at the wedding and at church on Sunday.
I’m still obstinately sticking to the notion that we need to
have that first ‘official’ date before we can use boyfriend or girlfriend
labels, but after today, and thinking about how not seeing Michael much is
making me feel right now; that’s pretty much just semantics at this point –
even though I’ll still wait until Saturday night to publicly concede the
obvious.
Right now, though, I need to go to bed. I’ll be lucky to get four hours of sleep, and
while the Inn will be open for breakfast so we don’t have extra guests to feed;
we do still have twenty people to feed, and seven younger kids to help and keep
entertained while the parents are busy, so I really need to wrap this up and
have that little nap.
Until next time, this is Magi Master Cassie Proctor; logging
out!
