Michael and Tim were away at our football game against
Blossom Creek tonight; so it felt a bit strange for Rowen and I to be without
them after school and during our dinner and a movie night. I didn’t even get to see Michael again since
kissing him goodbye after last class; though we just finished having a little
computer chat that started shortly after he got home and checked to see if I
was online.
Our team won that game, and it sounds like it was one of the
best of the season so far – at least if you’re a fan of defensive
match-ups. The Blossom Creek players are
probably disappointed tonight, but holding our team to just twenty-seven points
– about half of our average during the first five games – says a lot about how
well they played even if their offense could only manage three field goals.
I’m glad that Michael and Tim had fun tonight, but Rowen and
I didn’t mind missing the game – or all of that travel time and waiting around
before and after the game. We got to
play with Ethan and Ehlana after school instead; and the dinner and a movie
night at Uncle Mark and Aunt Grace’s was a lot of fun too. I’ll get to that part of the update soon, but
let’s back up to the beginning of the day along with a few notes that I skipped
last night and should have mentioned.
Hopefully Grandma and Grandpa don’t read my journal entry
from yesterday and wonder how I could have completely skipped over the awesome
breakfast that they put on for us; or Tai Chi with Ethan and Ehlana in their
back yard that had drawn a small group of neighbor spectators by the time we
were finished. I must have been more
tired than I thought to have left that out, but I’ll admit that I didn’t need
to include some of the details I overheard yesterday about what was going on
elsewhere with some of my favorite grown-ups while the kids were away –
including at our house. I’m glad that
Mom and Dad enjoyed their anniversary fun; but I could have lived without all
of those jokes and comments involving them and leather.
Thank God their next anniversary will be gifts of fruit,
flowers, or appliances!
Moving along and trying to bury those thoughts and memories
where I can’t easily find them; I was really happy to have Michael with us
again for Tai Chi this morning – and starting the day sharing hugs and kisses
with him was really great too. This time
he went home after we finished exercising and got ready for school first before
coming back to have breakfast with us; and that worked out better for both of
us so we might do that more often from now on instead of eating first and then
trying to get ready after the kitchen clean-up.
We even managed to be outside and to Rowen’s house by the
time she was ready to go; though Rebecca had gone on ahead without us since
she’d mostly had the house to herself except for while Michael was there
between Tai Chi and breakfast. It was a
Day One schedule Friday, so most of my classmates weren’t all that fired up
about starting the day with Spanish; but I was fired up again despite the lack
of sleep last night.
I haven’t mentioned this in my journal yet this week, but
the federal government shutdown this week has given our teachers an opportunity
to add some current event color to our lessons in math, social studies, and
history. From my perspective, the only
lesson everyone is learning from that political idiocy is that our government
is bi-partisan and completely united in proving to the world just how childish
and stupid groups of adults can be.
While I’m there anyway, let’s take a second to talk about
the insanity that is math in Washington
D.C. for a minute. I realize that I’m just your average
twelve-year old Grade Eight student with a part-time job managing a twenty-five
or thirty billion dollar investment portfolio; but even I can’t manage to
accept the fantasy balance sheets for our federal government. Uncle Nick certainly wasn’t towing any kind
of party line while having us analyze the federal budget and attempt to ‘solve’
the crisis for our president, senators, and congresspersons.
I’m not going to bore you with the details of that, and
Uncle Nick had fun teasing us about unintended consequences of our various
solutions; but I can safely say that the kids in my class are collectively
smarter than everyone on Capitol Hill – or more likely; we’re just way more
honest. Since this is our year for the
school trip to Washington,
we’ll be following current events there regularly between now and next May; and
learning all about the history of our government. The council probably wouldn’t approve it, but
I’m sure that some stories about the federal government since our country was
founded that are in the archives would be fascinating to the Magi kids – and
disbelieved by everyone else.
Getting back to the current news, the guys were talking
football all day while the girls in our class were mostly interested in more
important issues – like what they were going to wear to Sally’s party tomorrow
night or who they’d be going to the party with.
Sally’s going with another barn party and dance, and while most of the
other girls are thinking in terms of looking ‘hot’; I checked the weather
forecast, so Rowen and I will be dressed for comfort and warmth. That may not wow the boys at all, but
sweaters can be great for cuddling; and it is going to be a lot cooler tomorrow
night.
Rowen and I also played some football at lunchtime with
Michael, Tim, and the rest of the usual gang.
We mostly did that because we weren’t going to be hanging out with them
tonight; though we had fun too and our team won that little game. The afternoon classes didn’t drag along like
they sometimes do on a Friday, and our Phys-Ed class literally sped by while we
were sent off on a cross-country run that Michael, Tim, Rowen, and I were back
at school from a full five minutes before the next-closest runners. That wasn’t because we’re so incredibly fast
– it was due to the efforts of our classmates to enjoy the time away from the
school and make it more of a nature walk than a run.
That was okay with me – Rowen and I were already finished
our showers and dressed again by the time the last group of girls made it to
the locker room. We had a little extra
time with Michael and Tim before they went to meet up with Tim’s Uncle Lee for
the trip to Blossom Creek. The team
players, coach, assistants, and the cheerleaders take a bus for away games, but
there are always at least a handful of cars and trucks going along too for the
team supporters. Tim probably would have
preferred to be on the bus with the guys, but Michael was okay with the more
comfortable ride in Lee’s big, king cab truck.
After saying goodbye to the boys, Rowen and I stopped in at
the computer store to check in with her parents before going on to my
house. We decided to get our homework
out of the way first instead of leaving it for later in the weekend; so Ethan
and Ehlana came up to the lounge with us and kept us entertained while we
blasted through that bit of work with a little Magi power help. Once we were finished our work, we took my
brother and sister to the park to play while Mom was busy throwing together her
contributions for the dinner at Uncle Mark and Aunt Grace’s.
There was a football game in progress at the park, but Ethan
wasn’t interested in going to play when Michael wasn’t there; so we went to the
playground for a while and then walked the main path around the park before
heading home again in time to help Mom and Dad with carrying food over to our
dinner and a movie night destination. It
isn’t a problem right now because we can walk there through Uncle Adam and Aunt
Leanne’s back yard, but it will be a pain having to go all the way around the
block to get to Uncle Mark and Aunt Grace’s house during the winter and spring
– or to visit the Seagers or Drapers.
Grandma, Aunt Leanne, and Aunt Grace were all in the kitchen
when we got there; though Aunt Leanne was sitting down and banned from helping
with any of the work. Grandpa was
outside working the grill, so Dad went to join him there while waiting for the
other guys to arrive. Pastor John, Stacey,
and Rebekkah were the only extra guests tonight, and they arrived shortly after
we got there; while Uncle Adam, Uncle Mark, and Aunt Deborah were last after
having to deal with a few walk-in patients before closing the clinic.
I’m sure that nobody will be surprised to read that babies
were the top conversation topic of the night, and Aunt Leanne spent a lot of
time asking for tips on how to speed up the process so that she could go into
labor and be done with the whole pregnancy stage. That led to a side-trip chat about the fall
festival next weekend; and I hope they were all kidding about having Aunt
Leanne go on all of the rides to help her along if her baby hasn’t arrived
before then.
Though we overheard a lot of the adult conversation while having
dinner, Rowen and I were mostly busy with Ethan, Ehlana, Leah, and Rebekkah
until we joined the kitchen clean-up crew after finishing dessert. Grandpa played with Ethan and Ehlana in the
back yard while we were busy with that and Aunt Deborah and Stacey were busy
taking care of Leah and Rebekkah. When
it was time to start the movie, we ended up sitting on the floor with the
twins; and the kid-rated Halloween movie theme continued with ‘My Friends
Tigger and Pooh – The Hundred Acre Wood
Haunt’.
I’m sure our friends would laugh at us getting stuck
watching a show like that, but Rowen and I didn’t mind; half the adults in the
room hadn’t even seen it before; and I’d be happy to have them offer
suggestions that would be appropriate – especially when we had our Pastor and
his family with us.
Moving on, I actually don’t have much else to write about
tonight. Mom and Dad took Ethan, Ehlana,
and me home after the movie; and we dropped Rowen off at her house on the way
past. I helped out with getting my brother
and sister into bed for the night, and then Mom did a Magi lesson with me while
Dad did some work in the office before we all headed for bed too. I’ve been working on my computer since
getting changed and snuggling in bed with Mandy. Michael and I had our chat; I’ve done a bit
of studying and family business work; and now I’m ready to get some sleep so I
can be fully charged for a work and play day tomorrow.
There’s some rain in the forecast overnight too that could
possibly continue into the morning; but I hope that won’t get in the way of the
yard work. We definitely want to be
ahead of the game so that we can take the entire weekend off for the fall
festival – especially if we have a new cousin in the family by then!
For now, though, that’s it; so I’m shutting down and getting
some sleep!
Live long and prosper, fellow Magi of the Light!
