Happy 35th Birthday, Dad!
Before I get to the birthday fun and the rest of the news
from today, let’s start this update with the college report I skipped last
night.
Now that our favorite freshmen are more than half-way
through their first semester; they’ve all settled into routines – and the
college life in general. That doesn’t
mean that the Halloween festivities on campus weren’t still a bit wild compared
to here in Witch Falls; because most of the teens were
still surprised – and needed to be extra-careful while navigating the parties
and craziness.
That’s probably hardest for Stephanie, because Jake can’t be
there for her all of the time while they’re at different schools. Violet and Christina deal with peer pressure
and guys hitting on them too; but they have Dillon and Josiah at school with
them. It sounds like Stephanie had an
even tougher week with those issues than normal because of all the extra
parties and activities; and Jake wasn’t able to spend as much time with her as
usual because of everything they both had on the go. I’ll guess that Jake’s having some issues
too, but he’s not saying anything to Stephanie about any problems he’s having
with girls chasing after him; and he rarely sends emails to me – or to Michael
and Rebecca either. He does slightly
better with Miranda; but he wouldn’t talk to her about things like that any
more than he’d tell Stephanie and have her worried over nothing.
The main news to write about tonight for the college teens
is that Violet and Dillon will be home for the week of Thanksgiving, but Jacob,
Stephanie, Christina, and Josiah won’t be.
In Jake and Stephanie’s case; they’re not going to spend the money – or
all of that travel time – just to come home for what would end up being just a
couple of days. Christina and Josiah are
going to make a trip home – just not to Witch Falls. They had to pick one, and since Abby will be
busy most of the weekend at the store; they’re going to be with the McEwans for
Thanksgiving. The good news there for us
is that both couples will be in Witch Falls for Christmas – though Christina
and Josiah will spend time with her family too while they’re off for the
Christmas break.
Violet, Stephanie, and Christina all sent Halloween
pictures; including shots of everything from dorm room decorations to best
costumes and wildest party scenes. Okay,
they did make sure that all pictures were kid-rated; but then none of them
would have saved any inappropriate videos or photos anyway. I’m sure that won’t keep them from having
really great stories – the kind Aunt Leanne will be interested in hearing all
about; but I’ll try not to be around for those conversations.
Moving along, one other minor item that didn’t get mentioned
in my weekend journals was the annual fall time change early on Sunday
morning. That really wasn’t a big deal;
though I did appreciate the extra hour of nap time. I’d get into a discussion about how messed up
our time and calendar system is, but don’t feel like doing that tonight, and
since nothing is going to change with that anytime soon; pointing out the
obvious stupidity in the system is a pointless waste of effort.
Now that we have all of that out of the way, let’s talk
birthdays!
Ethan, Ehlana, and I loved getting to give Dad his wake-up
call this morning and give him our gifts.
We’re also quite happy to pretend that we don’t know why he and Mom were
so tired this morning – even though they tried to hide that from us. We’re also good with me being at Rowen’s
tonight while the twins are with Grandma and Grandpa. Dad didn’t get a weekend away in Florida for his
thirty-fifth birthday like Mom did for hers; but I’ll guess that his night has
been hotter.
I so wish that I hadn’t gone there – even if I’m happy for
them too.
Our morning routine was only slightly different than normal;
mostly because Dad had his annual birthday get out of work card. Michael came over for Tai Chi, and stayed to
help out with making a special breakfast and getting Ethan ready for the
day. He ate with us, and Dad had more
gifts to open – including one from both Michael and me; and then Michael went
home to get ready for school while I helped Mom with the clean-up before
getting cleaned up and ready in record time too – thanks to a little
Magi-powered assistance.
There was only one topic being discussed by the majority of
guys at school today – football. Our
team was in the playoffs; and the Raiders fans have high hopes for their
chances this season. Kyle and the other
guys on the team are getting treated like rock stars – or as close to that as
ever happens in our little town. Tim
loves all of that, and you can practically see the dreams of football glory in
his mind. Okay, maybe I can ‘see’ that
better than most; but the main reason I mention it at all is because he’s going
to do whatever it takes to play football; Michael will be right there with his
best friend all the way; and that means football is going to be a bigger part
of my life pretty much from now on.
Maybe I’ll like the game more when they’re playing. After all, I do like to see Michael win – as
long as he isn’t competing against me! ;^)
That wasn’t a problem today, because Rowen and I were on the
same team with Tim and Michael when we played football at lunchtime today. That might be the last time we play in any of
those scrimmages for the rest of this year; mostly because Rowen and I really
don’t like playing when it’s cold – no matter how much we love spending the
time with our favorite boys. It was
fairly nice outside at noon today, so Rowen and I weren’t even the only girls
playing today; and winning the match was a nice little bonus for us too. Michael and Tim also played some football at
the park after school – and after we did our homework at my house; but Rowen
and I stayed home to help Mom with Ethan and Ehlana – and to get ready for
Dad’s birthday dinner at the Inn.
Mom had needed the help so that she could go all out with
getting ready for the dress-up part of her birthday plans for Dad; and there
was no doubt that he was floored when he saw her after getting home from
work. Let’s leave that thought there
too, though I am going to mention that my perspective on that is a bit
different now; and I will be a very lucky girl if my husband still looks at me
like that when I’m thirty-five.
Having dinner at the Inn with our family and friends was
mostly done because Mom didn’t want to be working half the day and evening
instead of spending the time with Dad; and I didn’t have a problem with that
plan either. Dad had time to freshen up before
we needed to get to the Inn, and while he was doing that, Rowen and I took
Ethan and Ehlana with us; picked up Michael and Tim along the way; and walked
over to the Inn a bit early. Grandma and
Grandpa were already there, and had a bit of help doing some minor table
decorating for the tables we had reserved.
We had a big group, and that meant my friends and I were on
kid control duty while Mom and Dad got to enjoy dinner with Uncle Adam, Aunt
Leanne, and some of their friends. There
were enough younger kids that Michael and I sat at the table next to Tim and
Rowen; and had six kids each to help feed and keep entertained. We had Ethan, Ehlana, Naomi, and Aiden with
us, along with Michael’s cousins, Sophia and Ryan Bassett. Jessica had wanted to sit with us too, but
settled for being behind me – and next to Rowen – instead. I would have liked to be able to spend a bit
more time with Mom and Dad than we could, but that wasn’t going to happen with
such a big dinner party anyway; and we did get them all to ourselves this
morning for a couple of hours.
Though we were on the fringe for a lot of the birthday
party, Michael and I still had a blast.
Ethan, Ehlana, and their friends seem to be even more fun every time we
get together for special occasions; and Aiden in particular is finally to a
point where there doesn’t need to be so obvious a difference in how he acts in
public compared to his older friends.
Getting all of them fed is fairly easy now too – especially since they
all like the same foods. Ethan and
Ehlana spent more time with Mom and Dad than I did while busy with the other
kids – helping Dad out when he opened his gifts; with blowing out the candles
on the cake; and adding some entertainment to the mix while the cake was being
sliced and served.
Having Michael with me for another big family and friends
event was great, but I really, especially loved that his parents could be there
too – without working while the rest of us celebrated. That doesn’t happen often enough, and they
both couldn’t resist visits to the kitchen and pitching in to help for a few
minutes here and there; but they managed to sit down at their table and enjoy
the party and meal for most of the time we were there. They went out to the continuing party at
Sheldon’s too, and don’t have to work tomorrow; so I hope they have a fun night
too. Michael and Rebecca are doing
sleepovers at Tim and Jenny’s houses; so there’s a very good chance I won’t
need to hear all of the details of their night any more than I’ll want to hear about
what Mom and Dad have been doing to celebrate since I went home with Rowen from
the Inn.
I’m sure they weren’t getting bugged by two annoying boys
for the next several hours, though they were at the pub; and it’s possible that
Mom did have a certain pair of guys trying to yet again badger her into another
billiards re-match. If they manage to do
that, I’m sure the church will appreciate the bonus donations next Sunday
morning. Rowen and I would love to make
a donation too, but the Pastors would probably just send Patrick and Scott back
to us; and Patricia and Abby are a bit too fond of their only sons to let us
give them away to charity anyway.
While some of Patrick’s and Scott’s antics were entertaining
enough, they never know when to quit while they’re ahead; and went overboard
with their gags and pranks and they took full advantage of the parent-free time
while Patricia and Owen were at the Pub for Dad’s party. Rowen eventually lost her patience with them,
and though the boys both seem to forget that there’s a fiery side to Rowen; she
certainly reminded them of that tonight in a very loud, graphic way that
stunned them into retreating to Patrick’s room and staying there for the rest
of the night. I guess it has been a
while since she’s let the fire take over from the normal quiet and shy; but she
also knows that Patrick will chalk that up as a victory for him – once the
shock of getting blasted by his sister wears off.
Rowen and I managed to have a music practice to get ready
for our class and band practice tomorrow, and we watched a show in the living
room after that – or tried to do both while dealing with the determined pair of
pranksters. We followed that up with a
bedtime snack and drinks in the kitchen, and then Rowen sent Patrick and Scott
up to bed by a bit after ten while we cleaned up. According to the boys, we were not
babysitting, and I’d agree with that; but only because babies are easier to
take care of and keep out of trouble.
Rowen and I spent more than an hour and a half dealing with Patrick,
Scott, and their continually expanding repertoire of gags, jokes, and pranks –
right up until Rowen lost it on them. My
least-favorite prank moments list tonight was topped by the attempts to scare
me while I was getting ready for bed in the bathroom. That wasn’t because Patrick and Scott
actually scared me – it’s just seriously weird to be washing up and getting
changed with two boys right there on the other side of the door – regardless of
what they’re doing.
Dealing with Patrick and Scott put a real kink into my usual
nightly computing and studies, but they were at least in their room and
possibly sleeping when Patricia and Owen got home from the Pub. They weren’t really late, but only checked in
with us for a minute before going to bed; and we didn’t even try to get a
birthday party report from them tonight – or tell them about our evening at
home with the prankster pair extraordinaire.
Rowen went to sleep shortly after that, and while I kicked it into high
gear for my studies and work, I couldn’t use any Magi power to help with that;
and wrapped that work up at two o’clock – even though I only managed to get
about half of my normal studies done.
I only put that time limit on myself tonight because I’m
still getting used to the time change; and it feels like three o’clock
still. There’s quite a bit that I
haven’t covered in this update, but this has been one of those nights where
there’s just too much going on to write about it all; and I’m ready to put my
computer away and get some sleep. We
might get to have a couple of fairly quiet days, but then we’ll have another
birthday party on Thursday and the football game on Friday before getting into
whatever we have going on for the weekend.
Since I’ll also need to try and catch up on the work I didn’t get done
tonight; I really do need to crash and snooze for a while, so...
...Live long and prosper, fellow Magi of the Light!
