Happy New Year – again!
Starting the day with good morning kisses with Michael; Tai
Chi for two; and a Jacob and Jake gourmet breakfast definitely started the New
Year off on a high; and the rest of the day has been a lot of fun too.
Michael and I had some work to do too; starting with the
breakfast clean-up and continuing at my house while we helped to get everything
ready for the party. We did pretty much
get the rest of the day off from lunchtime on; though we were also on the kid
control team for most of the rest of the day.
The cooking or cleaning chores were mostly avoided completely thanks to
the collective parental decision to use fine Chinette; plastic cutlery; and
cans, bottles, or recyclable glasses for everything except hot drinks. All of the food was pre-made and potluck; so
there wasn’t much to do there either except keep the ‘buffet’ table loaded.
Our guests started arriving at eleven-thirty, and Rowen,
Tim, and her family were among the first.
The football fanatics were all here in time for the start of the first
games. As usual, the living room was
football central while the lounge was used for kid entertainment, video gaming,
and what ended up only being two chick flicks.
While Michael and I were both playing with the younger kids a lot; we
weren’t always doing that together.
Michael, Tim, and some of the other guys mixed football with some play
time on the floor with Ethan, Aiden, and the other younger boys for an hour or
so this afternoon while Rowen and I played dolls with Ehlana, Naomi, and the
other girls in my room.
The guys were playing with dolls too, but just in case the
names are different in your future; in our present, boys only play with action
figures – not dolls. It’s late, and I
don’t want to get into a long rant on how silly girls in general think that is;
so let’s just not go there.
Football, kid games, and movies were the main entertainment
options, but with everyone from great-grandparents to babies at the party or
stopping by for shorter visits; there were groups of people hanging out in the
dining room, kitchen, and office today too; and several guest bedrooms were
available for afternoon naps both for kids and a few adults. Rowen and Tim disappeared for a little while
during a break in the football action just before dinner; but they weren’t
napping. I’d be a bit jealous, but
Michael and I got to have a little alone time after our guests went home for
the night after the last football game ended; and we didn’t really watch the
movie that was on the television in the lounge while we had that chance for
some play time.
Let’s back up and get to that Michael and me part of the
report in a bit. Our party guests
included Michael’s family, though Jake and Stephanie split their time between
our house and hers; and Rebecca went out to spend some time with Jenny and some
of their friends for a few hours too.
Most of my family was here for the day; though Uncle Nick and Aunt
Deborah came over later in the afternoon – in time for dinner – after spending
the rest of the day with his family.
Rowen and Tim were the opposite; and went to his Aunt and Uncle’s
football party so that they could watch most of the last two games of the day
there. Since they likely had an even
fuller house than we did; I’m sure that had something to do with why Rowen and
Tim had felt the need to find that alone time while they were here.
While a lot of my time was split between kid-play and
hanging out with Michael, Rowen, and Tim; I also managed to spend at least a little
time with Grandma, Grandpa, and my aunts, uncles, Zack, and Leah. I can’t say that for all of the drop-in cameo
visits – I didn’t even see some of our visiting friends and neighbors if they
didn’t do the rounds and I was busy in the lounge. I wish that there’d been more time to spend
with Grandma and Grandpa – especially when the travel talk about their
impending trip reminded me that they’ll be leaving on Saturday morning; and
will be away until the first weekend in March.
I guess that’s one more thing to try and fit into my
schedule for the rest of the week – more time with Grandma and Grandpa. With just four days left for our Christmas
holiday; I have a feeling that this will be yet another item on my to-do list
that there just won’t be enough time for – unless we try a little time-phasing
to help out with that.
Moving along, there’s no way I’ll cover every little thing
that happened today; so let’s start by skipping the football report. Feel free to look up the details from today’s
games if you’re really interested; but just because I’ll remember everything I
saw and heard today doesn’t mean I’ll spend any time thinking about those games
– unless the guys are still talking about them tomorrow.
I mentioned that lunch and dinner were potluck buffets, but
should have added that they were also casual; with the footballers taking
plates and drinks with them into the living room while parents or grandparents
fed the younger kids at the dining room table.
Michael and I had both of our meals in the living room – eating lunch
with Rowen and Tim; and dinner with Uncle Adam, Aunt Leanne, Uncle Mark, Aunt
Grace, and Michael’s parents while Mom and Dad were busy – and eating in the
dining room. That was practically the
only time we spent with them in a group; and Aunt Leanne and Miranda had fun
entertaining all of us – even though some of their fun was poked at Michael and
me. For the record, I have no intention
on going with any of their New Year’s resolution suggestions.
Yes, I’m sure that you want to know what at least some of
those suggestions were, no matter how far into my future you’re reading this;
but there are just some things that should be lost to history.
Michael and I continued to split our time between football
and kid play time after dinner. We
caught the end of the Rose Bowl and the start and about the last third of the
Fiesta Bowl. While we were warm and
having fun indoors, a little snow was falling outside; so we went out to shovel
the driveway and sidewalks as soon as the game was over so that they’d be clear
when everyone who was still there was ready to head home. That work was probably easier than rounding
up kids, gear, and either leftovers or empty dishes; but it was cold too, and
we didn’t waste any time just getting the work done and heading inside again.
That did give us an excuse – I mean a good reason – for the
post-party cuddle time so we could get warmed up, but since we spent close to a
half hour with the last round of goodbyes and helping Mom and Dad with the
final living room clean-up; I doubt anyone would believe that line.
It was already getting late by then, but Miranda had
negotiated the extra time for Michael right down to the running time of our
movie choice; allowance for our goodnight kiss; and time to walk home. We knew she was just having fun with us
again, and would be sleeping long before Michael got home; but she probably
didn’t intend for us to factor that in to our play time.
When you’re reading this some day in the future, Miranda,
I’d like you to know that our version of that schedule you gave us was very
entertaining for Michael and me; and a lot more precise than one hundred and
seventeen minutes for movie, kiss, and walk home. Go ahead and use your imagination – we did!
;^)
Oh, and by the way; time limits really are very silly when
time-phasing is an option for one of the participants. Michael and I could have days of fun in one
hundred and seventeen minutes if we really wanted to do that.
I’ll guess that you may never think of ‘a quickie’ the same
way ever again after that comment – especially since a quickie doesn’t have to
be quick for a Magi Master.
Don’t give me that look, Mom – I’m sure that you and Dad
know exactly what I mean from personal experience – possibly on every occasion
when I see you both smiling in a way that you shouldn’t have been for the
amount of time you were alone. That’s
also something that I can assure you Michael and I don’t have experience with,
and we won’t anytime soon – though I won’t guarantee that for time-phase make-out
sessions now and then when life gets in the way of some ‘us’ time.
I guess there really isn’t much else to report tonight. Michael went home about twenty minutes ago; I
got ready for bed and tucked myself in with Mandy; and have been doing my nightly
computing since then. That included
email replies for Dawn, Violet, Christina, Jaimie and Kaitlyn, and a few of my
school friends who were checking in with New Year’s Eve and Day news.
This really has been a great start to twenty-fourteen; and
ending the first day of the New Year with the Michael and me play time was my
idea of a perfect way to wrap up an amazing couple of family and friends
days. Now, I’m ready to have a short
winter’s nap; so it’s time to wrap this up and head off to slumber-land for a
handful of hours.
Live long and prosper, fellow Magi of the Light!
