I’m going to keep this short and get what sleep I can before
we’ll be up early and hitting the road for our amusement park adventure in the
morning.
Let’s start with my dinner buffet time at the Inn this afternoon and tonight. This was Dillon’s last shift at the Inn, and that felt nearly as strange as it did to be
playing in the kitchen with Michael and Rebecca without Jake and Stephanie
there too. Sure, they hadn’t been
working on Friday night either, but they had been in the dining room at the
party; and now they were in New York beginning their assimilation into big city
life for a while before they’d be moving into their respective college dorms at
the start of freshman orientation week.
That kept an undercurrent of emotion floating around the
kitchen today; and I did what I could to help out by adding a little fun and
regular doses of hugs and kisses for Jacob, Miranda, and anyone else who seemed
to need a bit of cheering up. I’d done some
more of that this morning at church too with friends who were missing their
college-bound kids; and Rowen and I dropped of surprise Olde Bakery afternoon
snack treats – and hugs and kisses – to Samantha and Stewart at the furniture
store too just before hanging out with Michael and Tim during Michael’s
afternoon break from the Inn.
I’d wanted to be at the Inn tonight because of it being the
first buffet for Michael and his parents and sister without Jake and Stephanie,
but that was all for moral support – the actual work managed to go on just fine
without them. The memory lane stories
that were included as part of Dillon’s unofficial last shift roasting were fun
too; but his heart wasn’t in it without having his best friends there. I missed out on the family dinner that Mom
and Dad brought Ethan and Ehlana to for the early buffet, but I did take a
little break for a drink and visit while they were here; and it was a fair
trade-off for getting to spend the time with Michael instead.
Helping out at the Inn tonight and looking forward to our trip
in the morning have been the two things I’ve been thinking most about tonight,
but I should probably mention the tween weird that was going on at church this
morning too. I honestly hadn’t really
thought about it, since there hadn’t been anything going on with Tim and Nora
since their break-up; but this was the first time since then that we were
together with all of our classmates in one place.
Nora may have intentionally been avoiding Tim, but she was
not happy; and that meant that Vanessa and their best friends weren’t happy
either. They didn’t talk directly to
Tim, Michael, Rowen, or I; but I was able to hear most of the whispered
comments; could ‘read’ a handful of notes that were passed back and forth during
Sunday school by watching the pen flow; and the frosty glares and sneers were
back in full force today too. Tim was a
little uncomfortable to be getting the cold shoulder; but the fact that he
looked happier than he’d been in weeks instead of crushed really frosted Nora
even more.
I’m playing some memories back now after that thought, and
Tim really has been happier for most of the last week than he had been before
the break-up – even when he’d been hanging out with us there had been a
difference that I doubt he even noticed.
That should help to make the next couple of play days with Michael,
Rowen, and me even better for all of us – though I doubt that Nora or Vanessa
were happy about that news either when they heard about it this morning.
Okay, there’s more that went on today, but I really do need
to get to sleep; so here’s the condensed version.
Tai Chi by the river; breakfast with Michael at his house;
tweeird zone church and Sunday school; lunch at home; and play time with Rowen,
Ethan, Ehlana. The snack break surprise
for Stephanie’s parents was next; Michael, Tim, Rowen, and I went biking during
Michael’s break; and we ended that time with a river swim that included some
water play time with Ethan and Ehlana. I
split up with Michael long enough to get cleaned up and changed; and then spent
the rest of the afternoon and evening at the Inn until we were set free near
the end of the last buffet.
We met up with Rowen and Tim, since they were spending the
night at our houses; and found out that they’d spent most of the last couple of
hours together while waiting for us.
Michael and I wanted to go for a cool-down swim then; so we did that at
my house and then we had a little visit with Mom, Dad, Violet, Ethan, and
Ehlana in the kitchen before Michael and Tim left for the night. Rowen and I helped with getting the twins
tucked in; and then we came up to my room to get ready for bed too. She and Mandy are already sleeping, and I
need to join them in slumber land, so...
...until next time, this is Magi Master Cassie Proctor;
logging out!
