It was very cool waking up to see Violet and Mandy cuddled
together and sleeping in the bed next to me; and the warm tinglies stayed with
me as I got ready for Tai Chi, left them sleeping, and went downstairs to put a
pot of coffee on to brew while waiting for Michael to come over for Tai Chi.
Violet didn’t sleep through that because Ethan and Ehlana
pounced on her for an enthusiastic wake-up call, but she did stay cuddled in
bed with Mandy while we exercised; and didn’t get up until we’d headed
downstairs to either take turns getting ready for the day or to start making
breakfast. Michael stayed for breakfast
so that we could both spend some more time with Violet; and that gave us a chance
to at least start talking about Rowen’s birthday – and ways that we might work
that out with the Championship game trip that Michael was sure that he and Tim
would be going on. We have a tentative
solution; but I’ll get to that in a bit with the evening part of the update.
We’ve had a busy work day, but I really loved having Violet
home; and she couldn’t even come close to covering three months worth of
college stories during breakfast as she kept the rest of us entertained for
almost an hour. I’m sure than no one
reading this would be surprised to know that she and Dillon have both changed
because of the new experiences overload they’ve been on almost constantly since
moving away to school, but being a bit more worldly and wise hasn’t changed who
they are; and Violet seemed especially glad to be home and out of the rat race
for a while.
A lot of the work was fun today, and I got started on that
after seeing Michael out with a hug and kiss; grabbing a shower; and getting
ready for the day once we’d finished breakfast.
Michael and I had been cook assistants, so I wasn’t on the kitchen
clean-up crew; and instead started my chores out with a third-floor
clean-up. We really did have a lot to do
today, so I cheated; and had those chores finished – and a first load of
laundry running in the washing machine – before the breakfast clean-up was
finished. From there, I did the same on
the second floor, and had Ethan and Ehlana help me while doing a mini Magi
lesson with them while we cleaned their rooms and the guest bathroom. Violet joined us for part of that just
because she didn’t get to play like that at school; and then we all helped Mom
with the main floor before I went outside to help Dad with the chores we needed
to get done around the yard and in the storage barn.
We had a time limit for that work because Mom, Dad, and I
were booked to help Uncle Adam and Aunt Leanne with getting their house ready
for the holiday weekend. While our
families are away for Thanksgiving this year, Uncle Adam and Aunt Leanne have
Barb and Corey Collins staying with them for the weekend. That really doesn’t make for a lot of extra
work, but after six weeks where Zack has been his parents’ top priority; the
to-do list was long; and we kept busy through until dinnertime – except for the
family lunch we had that Grandma, Grandpa, Uncle Mark, Aunt Grace, Uncle Nick,
Aunt Deborah, and Dillon joined us for.
That lunch meal was the last time I saw Violet or Dillon
today because they’ve been with his family since then. The Carrington homestead and estate grounds
were sparkling clean by dinnertime; and we celebrated with a country stew and
Olde Bakery sub bun sandwiches dinner for eight – though Zack demanded his own,
specialty meal instead of having what the rest of us were eating. Aunt Leanne was getting grandparent support
tonight from Uncle Adam’s parents; so Mom and Dad took Ethan, Ehlana, and me
home when they came over after closing the Emporium for the night. We’d finished the clean-up by then, but had
the table set for two and the food ready to go so Uncle Adam could feed his
parents too after their long day at the store.
I’m sure they’ve had a fun night with Zack, but I’d classify
my evening as really great. The Jacuzzi
time right after we got home was a really good start to that, and then it got
even better when Michael brought Tim along with him so that we could make plans
for Rowen’s birthday. Michael had been
set free from the Inn early too, so the hour or so we spent talking with Tim
didn’t even cut into our Saturday night alone time – bonus!
Having some happy dreams about that will be nice once I do
get around to sleeping; but let’s get back to talking birthdays before I get
distracted. Tim and Michael are going to
the Championship game next Friday; and they’ll be staying overnight so that the
players on our team can attend some of the other championship games and other
events going on for the players and coaches.
They’re going with Lee and Sarah because Tim’s parents need to stay home
and run the shop – business will be busy for them too on the holiday
weekend. Rowen’s going to be very
unhappy when she finds out that the boys are going to be away for the entire
day, and I’ll try to help her out with that, but if we get full approval for
our birthday surprise; I’ll have to let Rowen be disappointed for the next six
days.
So here’s the plan, pending full parental approval. Rowen and I will go on the trip too; we’ll
watch some football; and then celebrate Rowen’s birthday by going out to dinner
and spending the evening at a sports entertainment center while the players and
coaches are busy with their own events.
I already have parental approval for me, and we don’t think that Rowen’s
parents will have a problem; since they’ll be busy all weekend at the computer
store too. Tim’s aunt and uncle don’t
have room for four, so I’m going to talk to Sally Reynolds and her parents about
getting a ride with them, since both of her brothers are on the team; and
they’ll be going to the game too. If
they have room for two; we’ll be good to go.
The absolute best part of the plan, and the reason I didn’t
need to knock any sense into the boys, is that we’re going to spring this on
Rowen by having Tim invite her to go with him as his date for the trip. I don’t really have any doubt that this plan
will work out; and I can hardly wait to see Rowen’s reaction. Once we’d talked about everything we wanted
to do, and did a little online research for things like restaurants and that
sports entertainment center; Tim headed home so that Michael and I could get
started on our movie and alone time.
We had a short delay before getting to that while we did the
bedtime snack and story with Ethan and Ehlana, but after tucking them in for
the night; I led Michael up to the lounge and spent some quality time making
sure that he knew how happy I was about what he and Tim were going to be doing
to help make Rowen’s birthday her best ever so far.
Close your eyes and sing some la-la-la’s if you don’t want
that mental picture; and you might want to skip the next paragraph while you’re
doing that.
Michael and I may have a fair bit of physical maturing to
do, but we like what we see about each other; and saw quite a bit again
tonight. That may sound really funny for
anyone reading this in the future who knows us as adults, but Michael is in really
good shape both from being active and years of helping out at the Inn; and I am
my mother’s daughter – as well as being active and blessed with a
hyper-metabolism. I’m sure we’ll
continue to fumble around and have lots of awkward moments as we learn how to
play together, but we also get to do that together; and being Magi does give us
quite a few advantages over other teen couples.
Some of those advantages; and my extra enthusiasm tonight is why I’m
ranking tonight’s make-out session a ten out of ten on the hot scale. Maybe it’s a good thing that we don’t get
alone time more often!
Okay, you can open your eyes and take your fingers out of
your ears now – if anyone actually did that.
Michael needed to be home by midnight, and though we would
have liked to spend more time together; I did make sure that he was happily
tired out by then. Oops – maybe I should
have mentioned that before telling you it was safe to open your eyes. Anyway, I saw him out and watched him walk
home from the front porch; though we talked to Mom and Dad for a minute before
he left. They’d been in the office, and
were packed up and ready to go to bed by the time I got inside again. They hadn’t been staying up late for me – or
for Violet. Dad was just trying to get
some of his work done so he could have a little extra play time tomorrow; and
Mom worked on the family business while he was busy anyway.
I’ve only done the basic nightly computing since getting
changed and into bed with Mandy, so it’s only a bit after twelve-thirty
now. Violet isn’t home yet, but while it
would be nice to have another bedtime chat with her; I’m ready for some down
time – and the Michael and me dreams I plan on having while getting a decent
sleep tonight. With Violet here until
Wednesday morning; Thanksgiving; and Rowen’s birthday and championship football
on Friday, this is going to be an awesome last week of November; and I’ve
decided to change my own work schedule so I can get the extra rest I’ll need to
enjoy all of the fun we’re going to have – starting right now!
Live long and prosper, fellow Magi of the Light!
