The big news around the family doesn’t come from here in Witch Falls
today. Chris and Martin have a car; and
picked it up today. Dawn and Violet have
mixed feelings about that; but it’s probably scarier for Uncle Rick and Aunt
Melissa. I didn’t hear if Chris or
Martin have any issues with getting a used car when Violet had been given a new
one; but I’m sure that most of their friends will be impressed enough with a
five-year old Chevy Malibu.
Then again, it might be less-scary than letting the boys
drive their vehicles! ;^)
We didn’t stop in at Landry’s and make any vehicle
purchases; but it’s still been one of those really great days. Michael came over for Tai Chi this morning;
but then went home and got ready for a work at home and the Inn
morning. I helped Mom with making
breakfast, cleaning up, and getting Ethan and Ehlana ready for a second day in
a row at KidZone before getting ready for the day too and heading out with Dawn
and Jillian on our bikes. We met up with
Rowen at her house and then we went for a little ride around town before
parking our bikes in front of the Emporium and going shopping for a couple of
hours.
My feelings about shopping at the stores in our little town
have changed in the years since Mom and I moved here, but not because of teen
boredom or anything – it’s mostly because I’ve become so close to most of the
people that own or work at those businesses.
Whether that’s because of practically being related to some – like Uncle
Adam’s parents at the Emporium – or having friends and classmates that are
cousins of other store owners; the inside of every store feels like home. You don’t get that sensation at a Mall; where
every chain store is practically identical in any city you visit. That convenience has some important
advantages, but it isn’t personal.
We stopped in and had our morning snack break with Aunt
Leanne and Claire. While my aunt usually
works from home nearly half the time now and leaves running the office to
Claire, she also puts in more time on the weeks that Dad’s in the city; and
they’ve both been busy this week with people wanting to talk houses and visit the
model home, apartment, or townhome while on March Break. I should mention here that they have a new
model home to show off in the new section of town now because the Green’s will
be moving into the first one they’d used at the end of the month. The new place isn’t on the river, but it is
closer to what the average house will be like – three-to-five bedroom family
homes that are modern and efficient while still fitting in with the ‘old’ parts
of town and in price ranges that will work for a lot of families.
We didn’t buy any houses today either, but Aunt Leanne and
Claire did appreciate the Olde Bakery treats and Emporium drinks that we
supplied for our snack break; and we had fun chatting with them. After doing that, we went for a longer bike
ride north of town and out along the river before going home again in time to
have lunch with Mom, Violet, and Dillon.
I didn’t ask about it, but I’m fairly sure that they took advantage of
the empty house this morning to do a Magi lesson. Violet can do a lot of her training on her
own now – or with Dillon; but she’ll still need to do lessons with Mom now and
then when they can make time for them for several more years at least before
she’s where other Magi teens her age are now with upwards of fifteen years more
training time than she’s had. Being
trained by a Magi Master makes up for some of that; but not nearly all.
We had a little picnic by the river for lunch, and then we
had our first sleepover guest arrive while we cleaned up and waited for Michael
and Tim to join us for another canoe ride.
Claire had run out to the farm for lunch and brought Emma back with her
so that she could spend the afternoon with us too. Violet and Dillon had other plans for the
afternoon, but they helped us with getting three canoes into the water before
leaving; and we had everything else ready to go by the time Michael and Tim met
up with us by the river.
Our ride on the water didn’t end up being very long this
time because we paddled down to the turnaround point near the falls and back,
but we were gone nearly the same amount of time as yesterday because we stopped
at the park to hang out and chat with some of our friends there for nearly half
of the time we were gone. There was
still time to put two out of three of the canoes away before Michael and Tim
needed to be at the school for another football scrimmage; and the third one
was left tied to the dock at Mom’s request in case anyone wanted to go for a
ride before or after dinner tonight.
Michael and Tim still went on ahead of the rest of us again, but that
was mostly because I wanted to make another visit to the Emporium for drinks
and snacks before we met up with them at the school football field.
We had extra friends to hang out with today while we were
there because Sally and Gretchen got rides into town with Sally’s
brothers. While most of the ‘farm kid’
guys hadn’t been able to come to most of Kyle’s scrimmages this week, almost
all of them had been allowed to take part of the afternoon off today to catch
the last one of the holiday. Emma hadn’t
said anything, and apparently hadn’t known; but her older brother, Lucas, had come
into town to play too.
I haven’t seen Lucas play football very much, but he’s surprisingly
strong for his size – probably from working with his father on the farm. He’s also nearly as fast as Michael and Tim
are; and that discovery surprised more than a few of the guys out on the field
today – including our team’s current top running back, Caleb Palmer. Since most of the guys were playing both
offense and defense, Caleb found that out by underestimating Lucas and getting
beat three times before making some adjustments that evened the match-up
between them.
Michael and Tim didn’t have the element of surprise with the
other guys anymore, but they still did pretty well; and they showed that
smaller and faster does have some advantages – even when their quarterback
couldn’t come up with the throws to match their speed. The bad news for them was that a bad throw
usually put them at risk of getting crunched by the defensive guys – even with
them playing light contact. Then again,
a light hit from Kyle Landry is like getting hit by a compact car – at least
according to Tim. He doesn’t want to
find out what a full-speed hit from his cousin feels like.
We’ve all seen the players on the other teams after games
last season; so we don’t really need to guess how tough those hits are. There are going to be some college players
finding out all about that next season; and I really hope for their sake that
they don’t underestimate Kyle too much.
There was, of course, more teen weird happening around the
game, and while I don’t want to pick on Jenny; she earned a fair bit of
attention again today because Garth and Joel were both there. Once again, it isn’t as though Jenny and Joel
were doing anything together that was improper exactly, and I guess did at
least act the same around Joel while Garth was there as she had when he wasn’t;
but that doesn’t change the fact that it still felt wrong to me. Jenny had to know that Garth was hurt and
angry no matter how hard he tried to hide it; and I think I’ll just skip
commenting on Joel’s reaction. He
obviously still has a thing for Jenny, so that wasn’t surprising; but it wasn’t
nice to sense or watch.
Sometimes being so empathic is not at all fun.
Sally and Gretchen had their overnight bags with them, so we
went straight back to my house after the football fun was over for the
day. Michael headed to the Inn again,
and though he’d normally have Friday night off, holiday rules apply this week;
and he was helping out through the dinner rush.
He didn’t end up needing to stay for the entire clean-up; so at least he
was able to come over for the movie part of our dinner and a movie night. Tim eventually joined us in time for dinner
too; but he’d gone home to grab a shower and change first – and checked in with
his parents at the shop.
By the time we got home, Mom had lots of helpers in the
kitchen and outside working the grills.
Ethan and Ehlana had brought Aiden and Naomi home with them after
KidZone; and Rowen and I were put in charge of the four toddlers – though we
had lots of help with keeping them entertained.
That included doing a lot of running around; playing by the river; and
even taking them for little canoe rides in pairs while most of the adults were
busy with the cooking and dining room set-up.
We had a full house for dinner, including grandparents, aunts, uncles,
cousins, and some friends of all ages; though not everyone stayed for the
entire evening.
That meant that we needed to use the kitchen table too, and
though Tim was the only guy with seven teen and tween girls; he didn’t seem to
mind being so outnumbered. Rowen wasn’t
sure how to feel about that, but while he may not know it for sure yet; I have
no doubt that she has him hooked for good already so she has nothing to worry
about from any other girls – even if he is outgoing to the point that he seems
to be flirting sometimes.
Mom had put together a fairly large assortment of food
options that ranged from steaks and chicken to cold salads and veggie and dip
trays. Tim was the only teen at our
table to opt for one of the steaks while the rest of us either went with
grilled chicken, burgers, or jumbo hot dogs for our meat choices. There were bowls and platters of everything
in the dining room, but we had a buffet set-up on the counter in the kitchen
instead of piling everything onto the smaller kitchen table. That meant needing to get up for seconds, but
saved us from passing everything around – and Tim was the only one of us to
return to the counter for third and fourth helpings anyway; not including the
dessert round.
Since I’m so often put in charge of Ethan and Ehlana during
big dinners, it was a nice change to spend that hour or so with my cousin and
friends instead; and we had lots to talk about – especially with Sally,
Gretchen, and Emma. We tried not to bore
Tim too much while we mostly talked about girl-stuff related to our collective
adventures this week; but then he wasn’t nearly as bored as he pretended to
be. He did get some occasional support
from Dillon, Josiah, or one of the adult guys stopping in to the kitchen now
and then for various reasons; so he wasn’t stuck with us on his own the entire
time; but I did wish that Michael could have been here for dinner too.
That might have been for the best, though. Gretchen may not be all that upset about
breaking up with Elliott this week, but I did catch her looking a bit wistful
now and then when she saw one of the teen couples holding hands or cuddling
together tonight. That’s the main reason
why Sally decided not to invite Joshua to come for the dinner and a movie part
of the night; but having Dawn, Jillian, and Emma there without guys helped too.
While I didn’t have to help out with making dinner, I was on
the clean-up crew. Rowen opted to help
me, but Tim and the rest of the girls were all recruited to go over to the park
and play with the younger kids there. Sophia
Bassett had been added to that little group; and she’s staying with Ehlana and
Naomi for the sleepover tonight too. Rowen
and I had help with the work from most of the guys, and Violet and Christina
stayed to help out too while the Moms and Grandmothers were set free to either
take care of babies or go along to the park too.
Rowen and I went to the park once the work was done, and
caught the tail-end of the play time there before it was time to head back home
again to watch our movie – or the first one for those of us in the lounge that
were also staying overnight. Michael met
up with me on the walk back; so I was an especially happy camper for the next few
hours while we were able to hang out together – and cuddle during the
movie. Dad managed to get home while
snacks and drinks were being put together too, so we didn’t even end up doing a
homecoming intermission with him this week.
The movie-time decision tonight was to have the adults do a toddler-rated
movie in the living room and keep Ethan, Ehlana, and their friends downstairs
so that we – the teens – could watch something a bit more exciting than a
cartoon. That ended up being another
showing of ‘Frozen’ in the living room, which some of the adults hadn’t even
seen yet, and while the movie we picked had all of the elements of the standard
Hollywood action flick; I wouldn’t dream of suggesting that it was a better
movie than Frozen – because it wasn’t.
It was fun, sometimes funny, and allowed us to chat together while still
keeping up with the action and plot, though; so it was perfect fare for a group
of tweens and teens.
We did have an intermission after the movie that included
saying goodbye to some of our guests and doing bedtime stories for five
toddlers. Ehlana, Naomi, and Sophia also
had some hair play time with Violet and Christina before going to bed too; but
Michael and I took care of getting the five boys and girls tucked in for the
night – with Michael taking care of Ethan and Aiden while I had some girl chat
fun with Ehlana and her friends. Mom and
Dad were on their own by then, and went to bed; but Dillon, Josiah, Michael,
and Tim stayed for a bit less than another hour before deciding that it was
time for them to leave – at almost exactly the same time that we – the girls-
cued up the first chick flick of the night.
Four of us missed the start of that show while saying
goodnight to our boyfriends – or even walking them home and then coming back
again like Violet and Christina did; but sharing that time with our guys was
worth what bit of girl-time fun we missed out on in the lounge.
I have been thinking a lot about some Sunday afternoon alone
time with Michael once our guests are gone home or back to college; but we’ll
see if that’s an option – there will be a lot of work to do around here then
too; so that might not be an option.
While we have too many girls here tonight for Jacuzzi
sharing to work very well, Violet and Christina did lead a mini-makeover play
time while we watched that first chick flick; and we had so much fun talking
about everything from school and shopping to boyfriends, parents, and
siblings. I won’t get into all of that
here, but I will mention that Gretchen feels a lot better and happier now; and
Christina in particular had a lot to do with that thanks to her comments and
advice while Gretchen had told us some of the details about how things ended
with Elliott.
A second chick flick was put on, but Violet and Christina
opted to go to bed then because they both have a busy weekend ahead of them –
including very long drives to go back to school on Sunday. Dawn, Jillian, and Emma are crashing on the
sofa in the lounge together, but Sally, Gretchen, Rowen, and I stayed with them
and watched the movie – though Emma and Jillian both fell asleep before it was
over; and Dawn dozed on and off during the last half-hour or so even though she
was awake at the end when the rest of us were straightening up before heading
to bed.
Sally and Gretchen had the option of two bedrooms on the
second floor, but had decided to bunk together in the guest room by the back
stairs on the third floor that Jillian had pretty much just used for a change
room since getting here on Wednesday. Rowen
and I sent them across the hall with goodnight hugs, and then climbed into my
bed with Mandy. My cat had moved onto my
bed earlier after deciding that our movie and chat fun was getting in the way
of her sleep.
Rowen and I have been chatting quietly since then while I’ve
been doing my usual nightly computer checks, but she’s starting to doze off now;
and I’m ready to crash for a few hours now too.
I’m going to have some chores to do in the morning after my friends head
home; but then I’ll have the rest of the day off to hang out with Dawn and
Jillian for their last full day before they head home after church on Sunday.
That reminds me that Mom and Dad don’t need to worry about
another trip to Crystal
Springs on Sunday because
Aunt Grace and Uncle Mark are going to take Dawn and Jillian half-way home –
mostly so that they get a chance to have a visit with Uncle Rick and Aunt
Melissa. That plan was in the works for
a few days, but I didn’t hear about the final decision until dinnertime
tonight. Dawn’s very happy about getting
to have a few hours with Aunt Grace – something she didn’t get to do while
she’s been here.
Okay, that’s really enough for tonight; or I’ll soon be
writing the rest of this in my sleep.
Yes, I probably could do that, but then I’d also likely end
up deleting most of it – especially if I subconsciously detailed any dreams
involving Michael and me!
That’s a nice thought – the Michael and me dreams; not
voyeuristic journal updates. I think
I’ll put this computer away and explore those dream possibilities now, so...
...Live long and prosper, fellow Magi of the Light!
