It’s late, and this little Santa’s helper needs to get a
little sleep while I can; but it’s been a very busy day, and writing this will
help me to wind down a bit so I can get into nap mode.
Michael enjoyed his wake-up call this morning, though that
wasn’t too much fun for us; since Ehlana chaperoned while helping me out with
that. Tai Chi was the quiet before the
storm, and then we were all on the go for the next couple of hours while taking
turns getting ready for the day; helping out with the work; and having a big
country breakfast. Michael, Rowen, Tim,
Naomi, and Aiden all went shopping with Mom, Ethan, Ehlana, and me; so we went
to get that done at the same time that Dad went to work so that he could help
with the transportation. He had the boys
with him while Mom took the girls in the minivan.
While Mom needed to pick up a few last-minute things at the
grocery; the main stop for us this morning was the Olde Bakery so that we could
pick up our first holiday order and enough Santa-approved cookies and reindeer
treats for all of our families. The boys
weren’t interested in the stop at Palmer’s, so Michael and Tim took Ethan and
Aiden over to the Fix-it Shoppe instead.
We’d mostly gone into Abby’s store to window shop, but I found a dress
that wouldn’t let me go home without it – especially when Abby offered me the
Boxing Day sale discount in case I wanted to wear it tonight instead of coming
back for it in a couple of days.
We didn’t have the extra vehicle for the trip home, but
Michael went to the Inn then to help out through the lunch break, and Tim and
Rowen walked to the shop and computer store respectively; so Mom and I were on
our own with Ethan, Ehlana, and their friends when we headed home again. We made a pair of quick stops to drop off
bakery orders with Grandma and Grandpa and Aunt Leanne; and then I unloaded the
minivan while Mom did most of the work getting the four younger kids
un-winterized and set up with hot chocolate and snacks.
Naomi was picked up before lunch to have a play afternoon
with her Dad; but we kept Aiden with us while his parents were busy at the
bakery. Dad was home and finished work
for the day in time to have lunch with us; and we all went outside to play in
the snow for a while after cleaning up from a homemade mac and cheese with
octopus side meal. (The octopus are hot dogs cut in half, with about half of
those sections cut length-wise to make four legs that curl up when boiled in
water so they look like four-legged octopus.)
We were still outside when Michael joined us while on his
afternoon break, so he caught the tail-end of some back-yard sledding runs; and
stayed for the hot chocolate and bakery treats snack. The rest of my afternoon got really busy from
there; starting with Michael and I going over to his house to welcome his
grandparents and carry their luggage up to the room they used during their
infrequent visits home. This was their
first visit since the Memorial Day weekend; which meant that it was also the
first time they’d been here since Michael and I started dating.
I don’t really know Michael’s grandparents very well yet,
and they may have changed a bit in the years since they retired and moved away
to be closer to Michael’s aunt and her family; but they are quite a bit
different than their son and daughter-in-law.
They’re different than my grandparents too, but I don’t mean that in a
good or bad way – they just have different personalities. While we were the unofficial welcoming
committee for his grandparents, we didn’t actually spend a lot of time with
them before we headed over to the Inn so they could see the rest of their
family – just long enough to get them settled in and have a chance to freshen
up after a long drive.
Lloyd and Francis Stone may not miss the work at the Inn,
the house they raised their kids in, or even the rest of their friends and
family in Witch Falls; but they were genuinely happy to see Jacob, Miranda, and
all of their grandkids. Lloyd is also
very proud of his son, and is happy that Jacob and Jake love working together
in the kitchen – something that he couldn’t share with his own son because it
was really just a job for him and not a passion.
For Michael, there had been more changes than a new
girlfriend in the nearly seven months since he’d last seen his
grandparents. The most noticeable to
them was that he was now an inch taller than his grandmother. He’d officially hit the teen years; and that
apparently changed how his grandparents treated him. They’re very kind and easy-going with their
grandchildren; but I was a bit surprised at how little they actually know about
Jake, Stephanie, Rebecca, and Michael.
Only seeing them a couple of times a year is certainly part of that, but
there were a few moments that were just a bit weird because they didn’t know
some pretty basic things about their grandkids.
I helped out with the Christmas Eve day dinner rush, but
before I did that, I had to leave for a little surprise hair appointment that
Mom set up to have Liz do my hair so I’d look good when Michael and I were
doing our duet at the church service.
That was a half-hour blast of fun and junior gossip time, and Michael’s
reaction when he first saw me when I got back to the kitchen at the Inn proved
that Liz did a great job.
It always seems a little surprising to me that there are
actually quite a few customers for dinner on Christmas Eve, but the dining room
was nearly full. Our guests tonight
included Michael’s grandparents and some of their hometown friends, along with the
families of nearly every store-owner in town; everyone helping out to get
everything ready for the service at the church; and some straggling,
last-minute shoppers who didn’t have time to go home and still get back to the
church on time.
I worked until I just had enough time to go home, get
changed, and get a ride to church with Mom, Dad, and the twins. The Christmas Eve service is one of the most
magical of the year, and while my duet with Michael was my favorite part of the
night; nearly everything was special and amazing tonight. Having Pastor John, Stacey, and Rebekkah with
us for their first Christmas since moving home was nice; and Pastor Martha’s
Christmas message was really amazing.
That was especially true for those of us who know where she
got the material for her imagining of the first Christmas. This wasn’t the first time she’d used parts
of the Magi Christmas story; but the beautiful, polished version she told
tonight has some serious potential for being a Christmas classic – at least
here in Witch Falls. While all of the
music and everything else was heart-warming, I thought that my duet with
Michael was even more special than it was at the school concert; mostly because
of the darkened, candle-lit sanctuary and the hushed, near-silence that seemed
to blanket us in quiet joy and peace as Michael and I sang and played. Our song ended the service, so there was no
applause or anything because the recessional began right away; and the Pastors
had wanted to end the evening on a silent night kind of moment.
I’m not going to suggest that I didn’t notice everything
going on around us as always, but that didn’t keep me from getting as lost in
the music as Michael did; and I am so glad that I’ll be able to perfectly
remember those few minutes forever.
Since I was at the piano anyway, we continued to play softly during the
recessional, and even in the dim candlelight; we were able to see that we’d
again made a lot of Moms and Grandmothers cry with our song – our own
included. Just in case you, dear future
reader, aren’t going through weeks or months worth of these journals in one
sitting; here’s another YouTube video of our duet song – by the group we based
the harmonies on for our version.
We were among the last to leave the sanctuary, and though
there’s a chance that jokes are still going on in the future about it; we were
not late because of the hug and kisses I shared with Michael once we’d finished
playing. He had to pack up his guitar;
and we talked with several people, including Pastor John and Stacey, before
meeting up with our families again.
Our plans after the service hadn’t really been settled
earlier, but Miranda and Jacob needed to go back to the Inn for a while with
some of their staff, and Michael’s grandparents pretty much just wanted to go
home to bed by then; so Michael was set free and allowed to come home with me
for a while. We had Grandma, Grandpa,
Uncle Adam, Aunt Leanne, and Zack with us for a little snack break and visit
too before they went home for the night; Violet and Dillon were staying with us
for another sleepover; and Christina and Josiah only stopped in long enough to
wish us all a Merry Christmas before they went to spend the night at his house
so they’d be with his parents, brother, and sister first thing in the morning.
I think that my favorite part of that round of holiday fun
was when Michael got to hear Aunt Leanne’s Magi Santa story for the first
time. He thought that it was very funny
that I’d helped her out with understanding how Santa could do all of his
‘magic’ by seeing me doing phase-shifting and time-phases; but let’s skip over
what we might have both been thinking when Aunt Leanne suggested how
advantageous those particular talents would have been if she’d had them when
she was a teen.
No, I don’t plan on a late-night visit with Michael; and
that would be very tough to explain how I got into Michael’s bedroom if we were
caught.
Moving along, we did the snack and hot chocolate or
alternate hot drink thing; had a nice little visit; and then Michael and I
helped with getting Ethan and Ehlana ready for bed once my grandparents, aunt,
uncle, and cousin left for home. We had
a little privacy for our first Christmas Eve goodnight kisses after the twins
were tucked in for the night; and then it was time for Santa’s helpers to get
to work after Michael went home.
Violet and Dillon helped with that too, so it really didn’t
take all that long to haul gifts down to the living room; stuff stockings; and
munch on the Olde Bakery cookies and reindeer treats. I was back in my room by a bit after
midnight; and have been in bed with Mandy for less than a half hour. I’ve skipped most of the usual nightly
computer checks, and the Christmas music I’ve been listening to while dealing
with a few email and this update is lulling me to sleep. Since I expect that Ethan and Ehlana are
going to help Violet and Dillon with their family time juggling act by waking
up early; I’m going to wrap this up with a digital bow and call it a night.
Live long and prosper, fellow Magi of the Light!
