My day is ending the same way it did the last two nights –
with me sitting in the window alcove with my computer while three of my cousins
are sleeping in my bed or on the sectional sofa in the lounge. I was crazy-busy all day again too, though
the work and fun were both a lot different than it was for the holiday.
After Tai Chi and breakfast, one of my first jobs was
supposed to be cutting the lawn, but Aunt Melissa drafted Chris and Martin to
do that; and I worked in the gardens with Dawn, Jaimie, Kaitlyn, and Kara
instead. Dawn, Jaimie, and Kara all had
to go for hair appointments first before helping me to plant some new flowers,
but Kaitlyn was in the wedding party; so her appointment isn’t until late
tomorrow morning.
We went swimming a couple of times to cool off and get rid
of some of the dirt from the gardening – especially right before lunch; and
then my job for the afternoon was to keep my younger cousins, brother, and
sister entertained while the adults and teens were all busy with other
things. Rowen and Dawn helped me with
that, and it was fun getting to play even while it kept all three of us running
to keep up with the gang we were watching.
There were two trips to Uncle Adam and Aunt Leanne’s house
to see the pavilion tent. Our first
visit ended because a couple of the boys were a little too enthusiastic, and
were getting in the way of the men and women who were raising the
pavilion. We didn’t return until the
work was done, and then we still had to be careful while the younger kids raced
and chased each other around the tables, chairs, and poles. After doing that with them, spending an hour
running around at the park, doing a major ice cream run to the Emporium, and
going for two more swims; Rowen, Dawn, and I were definitely ready for the
little break that the parents gave us before dinner.
While I’m at that brief pause in the action, let’s go over
some of the things that were going on today that I wasn’t involved in at
all. Our house – and Uncle Adam and Aunt
Leanne’s – were where most of the final wedding preparations were
happening. There was also a crew at the
church this morning to decorate the sanctuary, and a handful of shopping
volunteers dealing with the errands to re-stock food and supplies; and pick up
everything from dry cleaning to bakery orders.
On the tweeird side, Martin spent some time this afternoon
with Vanessa. I strongly suspect that
she has revised the game plan for Michael, based on a couple of smirks that
were directed my way this afternoon; but she may actually like Martin too. Martin was enjoying the attention, and
definitely likes her if the vibe he was giving off at dinnertime was any
indication. If they’re going to hook up
while he’s here for the next two weeks, there is sure to be more than a little
tweeird in my life. Chris and Jonathan
haven’t made any love connections yet that I’m aware of, but we’ll see if that
lasts through the weekend – there are going to be a lot of people at the
wedding.
Getting back to the main story, while Rowen, Dawn, and I had
a little break before we had the little snack dinner that would tie us over
until the rehearsal party later; we were back in charge of the kids’ tables
again while we ate. We followed that up
by leading the evening entertainment for all of the kids except babies, Kellum,
and Kaitlyn while the members of the wedding party were at the church for the
rehearsal. Our play time included
another visit to the park, an optional swim in the river, and some back yard
action that included some little canoe rides that Rowen and Dawn led while I
was in charge of the lawn games. We
needed to move the gang down to Uncle Adam and Aunt Leanne’s when it was time
for the party to start.
There had been more guests arriving right through until
then, so there were a whole new group of friends of the bride, groom, and their
families to meet. Every room at the Inn was full, and so was every guest bedroom that Aunt
Leanne and Grandma could arrange. Most
of the incoming today were from the Granite
Park area, though there was one more
group from Seattle
too.
I especially loved getting to meet all of Aunt Grace’s and
Mark’s best friends, and their long-time family friends, but since I was also
still helping out with the younger kids; there wasn’t time for more than little
cameo chats and a handful of favorite stories.
It was a little strange to find out that Aunt Leanne and I were both
known by all of those friends while the jokes and teasing were fun too. I even had two girls want to watch a movie
and cuddle with me just in case it’d work for them too!
Moving along, there was too big a gang to feed to do that
indoors, so we used the pavilion instead.
There was just too much going on to cover here, but the highlights
included an open house next door for anyone who wanted to check out Aunt Grace
and Mark’s new home; the food was great; and though Chris, Martin, and Jonathan
had a group of video gamers with them in the third-floor game room; there were
also more lawn games to play too. That’s
what Rowen, Dawn, and I were doing a lot of the time, though our group started
shrinking by ten-thirty when the youngest kids started running out of
steam. A group of Dads and Grandfathers
put an end to our fun at eleven-thirty when they were drafted to get all kids and
most teens heading back to their assigned homes and off to bed.
Rowen went home then, while Dawn and I helped Dad and our
uncles with getting the younger cousins ready for bed and tucked in for the
night. That was delayed a bit when Aunt
Grace and Aunt Leanne came home with Mom at midnight because Jaimie and Kaitlyn
needed a little extra time with Aunt Grace before they were ready to settle in
for the night on the sofa in the lounge.
That reminded me again of just how big a deal Aunt Grace’s move to Witch Falls
is for her nieces. She’s lived close to
them their entire lives, and it’s going to be very different for them to not
see her several times a week like they have until now. It’s probably a good thing that they’ll be
with us for a week so they’ll be too busy having fun to miss their aunt after
the wedding.
Ehlana has Kara with her tonight; and Violet is bunking with
Chrissy so that Aunt Grace and Aunt Leanne could us her room. Jaimie and Kaitlyn fell asleep fairly soon
after being tucked in by Aunt Grace, but Dawn and I talked for another half
hour before she nodded off. I waited
until then to kick my computing into a higher gear, but there really isn’t that
much for me to do tonight while in the middle of a four-day weekend.
That’s giving me a bit too much time to think about Michael
and me; and our first date. I wouldn’t
say that I’m scared, but there are equal parts of excitement and
nervousness. You may be thinking that
because I have the Sight there shouldn’t be anything to worry about, but
knowing what parts of the bigger picture are supposed to be like doesn’t mean
that there won’t be good and bad surprises along the way; and I can’t help but
wonder whether having a first date at something as big as a wedding is a good
or bad idea. When you think about it, I
don’t have much control over anything; and we’ll have my entire family and a
lot of our friends and neighbors there to witness the event – whether it goes
great or bombs spectacularly.
I wonder if anyone would notice if we skipped the reception
and went with a pizza and a movie night in instead? Yeah, that’s not gonna happen.
That would be a terrible waste of shopping effort too after
going through all the trouble of finding the perfect dress and shoes; so I
guess I’m committed. Then again, some of
the younger girls probably think I should be committed – though they do at
least concede that Michael is different, and nicer, than most of the boys our
age.
Been there recently enough to relate. ;^)
It really is past-time when I should be sleeping, so I’m
going to wrap this up now and try to do that.
There’s only about thirteen hours to go before the wedding ceremony, and
even I’m going to eventually run out of steam if I put too many nights together
with only four or five hours of sleep.
Until next time, this is Magi Master Cassie Proctor; logging
out!
