Michael Stone is my boyfriend!
Oh yeah, you already knew that from yesterday, but it was a
news story around town today; and there were two people who were not happy to
get that grapevine bulletin.
Of course, while Michael and I are a couple now, we didn’t
get to spend much time together today except at church; during his afternoon
lunch break; and when we went for a swim after he was finished work for the
night. He was busy the rest of the time
at the Inn, and I had another crazy-busy
morning; helped with the massive lunch we put on at our house; and then spent
the rest of the day playing with Rowen and my cousins while most of the parents
and grandparents were away driving wedding guests and Mark’s family to the
airport.
I’m getting ahead of the story, though, so let’s back up to
this morning – starting with waking up at a bit after six o’clock. Mandy and my cousins were all still sleeping
then; so I grabbed a quick shower, dried my hair, and threw on some shorts and
a top before going down to the kitchen and getting to work. Mom and Dad weren’t there yet, but I knew
what the main breakfast menu plan was; so I started mixing up pancake batter
after starting the first pot of coffee brewing.
I had four batches ready by the time Dad joined me; and he started
working on cooking sausage and making the pancakes while I moved on to
scrambling a couple dozen eggs. Mom,
Aunt Melissa, and Uncle Rick joined the work crew next, and I was re-tasked to
set both the dining room table and the patio table on the back porch; where most
of the kids and teens were going to have breakfast in groups.
We’d gotten a dash of rain between the time I went to sleep
and woke up, and it was cloudy; but the grass had already pretty much dried by
the time Mom and Dad were ready to feed the first wave of guests at seven. I ate on the fly and kept helping Mom and Dad
except for a ten-minute break while I ran up to my room to get dressed up for
church. The clean-up didn’t completely
get done before we needed to leave for church, but I worked at that too until
the last group had finished eating; and Mom and Dad were ready to leave. Ethan and Ehlana had gone on ahead with the
group that Uncle Rick and Aunt Melissa led, so we only had the stragglers with
us – and Michael; because he waited for me on the front porch steps of his
house.
That earned him a good morning hug and kiss, and just to
make sure that nobody missed hearing about my change in status; I introduced my
new boyfriend to everyone in our group who hadn’t met him yet. Mom and Dad both thought that was very
entertaining; and Michael seemed to enjoy being referred to as my boyfriend a
lot too. I can probably stop mentioning
this soon, but we held hands while walking the rest of the way to church, and
sat together for the teen-led holiday weekend service.
I hadn’t really thought about that while writing my update
last night, but there was not going to be a heat-relief service because the
teens and kids put a lot of effort into these special events; and they wouldn’t
cut out any of the songs or skits. The
good news is that it was a fast-paced, entertaining hour and five minutes; so
nobody really minded the heat at all.
Michael needed to get to the Inn
right away, so I walked there with him; shared a hug and kiss; and then went
home. I was changed and working on the
rest of the kitchen clean-up before anyone else got there, and soon had more
help as the crew that was working on the post-wedding lunch barbeque either got
changed before helping in the kitchen; or joined us after stopping in at their
own homes first. While Dad and Grandpa
fired up the grills, Uncle Rick led a gang of draftees and volunteers to set up
tables and chairs. We’d considered using
the pavilion again for lunch, but Mom and Grandma had decided that Aunt Leanne
had done enough over the last four days and she didn’t need to worry about
another big meal too.
We also had some time constraints because so many of our
visitors needed to get to the airport for late afternoon or early evening
flights; with the first groups needing to leave by one o’clock. Since I wasn’t a driver, and could help with
the younger kids while we were short of parental support this afternoon; I was
on the kitchen work crew until nearly two o’clock. After that, Dawn and I helped Kara and Eddie
with their move over to Uncle Adam and Aunt Leanne’s house. They were staying there until next Sunday
with Chrissy, Jonathan, and Nicole while the rest of Uncle Adam’s aunts,
uncles, and cousins were heading home this afternoon. We eventually moved Jaimie and Kaitlyn into
the two guest bedrooms on the third floor, but we didn’t do that until after
dinner – and after Chris and Martin both opted for second-floor bedrooms when
they were finally able to get their own rooms for the rest of their visit.
Kara and Eddie were moved and we’d added Rowen to our gang
by the time Michael was on his afternoon break, so pretty much all of the kids
and teens went swimming then while the parents who still needed to pack and get
ready to go home did that. Grandma, Grandma
Mercy, Grandma Carrie, Aunt Leanne, and Aunt Deborah were in charge of all of
the cousins who were staying for one or two weeks while most of the guys, Mom,
and Violet were all driving people to the airport.
There was time after our swim to play in the back yard, and
then Michael needed to get back to the Inn while I helped my uncles and aunts
load up three vehicles and started an hour-long round of goodbyes that began at
our house and ended at Uncle Adam and Aunt Leanne’s. Jayden was the only kid going home from our
house today, and he was a bit cranky about leaving without Jaimie and Kaitlyn;
but that was mostly because Aunt Alison had kept him awake so he’d sleep for at
least some of the drive to Granite Park.
Scott and Melanie seemed to be looking forward to their
first kid-free week since Kara had been born while Melanie also had a few tears
when saying goodbye to her babies too. Kevin
and Elaine hadn’t been sure about leaving Nicole for her first holiday in Witch
Falls, but their precocious three-year old (going on four) daughter had not
wanted to miss out after learning that Eddie was staying. She did not think that the ten-month age
difference between them was a big deal; and wanted to do everything he
did. Elaine had some tears when she said
goodbye to Nicole, but I’m sure that Robyn will be able to keep her busy while
her big sister is here with us. Chrissy
and Jonathan didn’t have that problem with their parents or sisters when they got
on the road for home; though their father did ask Chrissy to ‘watch out for
those Witch Falls boys – especially that Josiah
Palmer’.
He’s still blissfully happy with the Witch Falls
girl he married; so I don’t see why he’d have a problem with a guy as great as
Josiah. He and Dillon aren’t as hot as
Jake, but they’re definitely next best in class; and they’re at the top of
their class with Stephanie – just like Michael and Rowen are with me in our
year.
Let’s keep the story moving along. By four-thirty or so, the last of our weekend
guests and family that were going home were on the road. The only difference from other holiday
weekends was that we didn’t send them off after going to one of the buffets at
the Inn – only because we’d just had as amazing a meal at the wedding instead. Aunt Leanne was sent for a little nap then,
and the three grandmothers were available if we needed them at my house; but we
– the kids – were set free to play until six o’clock.
Rowen, Dawn, and I took all seven of the younger kids to the
park first, and played there for just less than an hour before going home again
so we could cool off in the river before dinner. Aunt Leanne had come over by six o’clock too,
and there were more than enough leftovers to feed everyone – even Chris,
Martin, and Jonathan. The three boys had
been hanging out with other teens this afternoon, and were off again on their
bikes about five seconds after finishing second helpings of Olde Bakery
desserts.
I’m really glad that Grandma hid the last few slices of
cherry cheesecake – Dad would’ve been disappointed if the boys had scarfed them
too.
There was another trip to the park after dinner, and one
more swim with the younger kids, but by eight o’clock, Grandma and Grandma
Mercy started doing bath times with Ethan, Ehlana, Jaimie, and Kaitlyn while
Grandma Carrie helped Aunt Leanne with the bath and bedtime routine for Kara,
Eddie, and Nicole. That left Rowen,
Dawn, and I free to just hang out together and relax for a while; though we stayed
around the house, and helped out with bedtime stories and getting the four
younger kids tucked in for the night.
Before I get to the swim time with Michael – which was the
highlight of my evening; I should mention that Josiah came by our house shortly
before the kid bath times were starting; and invited Chrissy to go for a walk
with him while Violet was away and Dillon, Jake, and Stephanie were all busy at
the Inn. I seriously doubt that her
father’s warning about Witch
Falls boys even crossed
Chrissy’s mind when she accepted the invitation.
Then there was Martin and Vanessa. They were only in the back yard long enough
to grab a pair of drinks and life jackets; and then they grabbed a canoe and
started paddling toward the falls. I’m
going to stop commenting on the vibes I’m getting from Vanessa, but I’m sure
that their choice of direction had everything to do with the chance that
Michael would see them out on the river each time they passed the Inn. I found out
later that he actually did see them, but I imagine that Vanessa was more surprised
later when Martin was walking her home and they passed Michael on his way here
after he was finished work.
Rowen was suddenly exhausted when Michael joined us, and
while her excuse for going home was transparent; I’ll concede that Dawn’s
simultaneous desire for some quality time in my Jacuzzi was at least plausible
after four days of fighting for bathroom time with me, Jaimie, Kaitlyn, and
Kara. Since we hadn’t had any alone time
all day, though, Michael and I pretty much just thanked them; and happily
accepted their gift.
Getting to that alone time was delayed a bit when Mom, Dad,
Violet, and all three grandfathers got home from their airport run. We ended up getting a condensed version of
the travel recap before all six grandparents went back to Grandma and
Grandpa’s; Violet went to meet up with Dillon; Mom decided that Dawn’s plan for
some Jacuzzi time was for her too; and Dad went to get some work done in the
office.
Michael and I were both tired by then, but playing in the
river was relaxing, and then we sat on the dock and talked for nearly an hour
before deciding it was time for us to go and get some sleep. Okay, we shared a few kisses too, and that is
something that we both like a lot; but it was being together and winding down
from another busy day that I loved the most.
Well, maybe second-most after goodnight kisses. ;^)
After Michael went home, I stopped in to talk with Dad for a
few minutes before coming up to my room.
Dawn and Mandy were already sleeping by then; so I got ready for bed in
the bathroom, and then sat in the window alcove again to do my nightly
computing. Most of the email I dealt
with tonight was confirming that all of my favorite travelers got home safely. I’m sure that Uncle Mark and Aunt Grace have
better things to do while on their honeymoon, but they did send me a message
earlier this afternoon to let me know they’d made it safely to the resort where
they’d be spending the first part of their holiday. Their ‘undisclosed location’ wasn’t a secret
for a Magi Master who was trained by a computer expert; but that is one secret
I can keep until it doesn’t matter anymore.
There was a bit of family business work to deal with tonight
too, and I got to watch Jake, Stephanie, Dillon, Violet, Josiah, and Chrissy go
for a swim while I was taking care of that.
They came inside after cooling off, but since I haven’t heard Violet on
the stairs or people leaving again since then; I’ll guess that they’re watching
a movie or something.
They may still be able to keep going, but I’m going to need
more than three or four hours of sleep tonight; and don’t have anything else to
report for today, so...
...until next time, this is Magi Master Cassie Proctor;
logging out!
