Our last day of March Break has really felt like a wind-down
compared to the rest of the week – from the continuing drop in temperature to
the lower fun levels as we get ready to return to ‘normal’ life again in the
morning.
I’m already back into that mode now after doing my usual
school night studies and work; but the day started out just as crazily as I’d
expected it would. Michael came over for
Tai Chi and breakfast again so that he could spend a little more time with
Violet, Dillon, Dawn, and Jillian before they’d be leaving after church; and
that entire few hours was a non-stop blur of activity. It’s a good thing that we started out with
the calming influence of Tai Chi, because I didn’t stop running after
that. While Michael helped Dad with
cooking breakfast, I took a turn grabbing a shower, got ready for church,
helped Dawn and Jillian pack, and we all had a bit of hair and make-up time
before stopping to eat. The breakfast
conversation was almost entirely about travel plans and getting ready to go
back to school, college, or work in the morning; and I couldn’t help feeling a
bit sad even while it was still a fairly entertaining, if short, break. I was on the clean-up crew, and Michael went
home then to get ready for church too before meeting up with us there.
We needed to pack Violet’s car and put Dawn and Jillian’s
luggage in the minivan right before we left; and then Dad and Violet both drove
over to the church – partly because it was cold this morning, and so that Aunt Grace
and Uncle Mark didn’t need to take a side-trip to our house to get Dawn and
Jillian’s bags. Since we’d had them
overnight, Violet and Dillon sat with his parents, and Dawn and Jillian went
with them so that Dawn could be with Violet for that last little while – both
of them really feeling the impending separation that would keep them apart
until Violet and Dillon finished their first year of college in May.
I was feeling that too by the time we were set free from
Sunday school. The service had gone a
bit long, so Michael had needed to head over to the Inn
right away. I would have felt a little
better if he’d been able to stay with me while everyone in my family – and most
of Dillon’s – gathered to say goodbye to my cousins, Dillon, and Jillian. Dad and Uncle Mark did the luggage transfer
while the rest of us were busy with goodbye hugs and kisses, and then way
before I was ready for it; Uncle Mark and Violet had their respective cars
heading up Quarry Road, turned right onto Witch Falls Road, and then they were
out of sight.
It seemed very quiet at home when we got back there –
especially since it was just Mom, Dad, and me because Ethan and Ehlana were
spending the afternoon with Aiden and Naomi respectively. Mom and Dad were happy to accept those offers
because they both had a lot of work to get done today – Dad to get ready for
work; and Mom to return the house to some semblance of normal after having
guests for the past four nights. I
helped out with the work on the third floor after we also made lunch and
cleaned the kitchen so that Dad could concentrate on his work instead.
That kept my busy until Rowen and Tim came over to do one
last little blast of homework with Michael and me. Michael wasn’t far behind them after being
set free for a few hours from the Inn, and we got the homework out of the way
first before playing video games and chatting about a few of the upcoming
events we have over the next four weeks between now and Easter. We’ll have another round of study modules
starting tomorrow, and a big push to get through them before we get distracted
with the usual activities surrounding Easter.
We don’t actually have anything major on the schedule for
the next couple of weeks – unless you include Tim’s musings about potential
practical jokes for April Fools’ Day.
There are quite a few birthdays coming up in April, including Michael’s
brother and Rowen’s father and brother – along with some classmates and
friends; but Jake’s in New York, Patrick is having a party with his buddies
that Rowen and I are going to stay out of the way for, and I don’t expect to
get invitations to the next couple of classmate birthday parties.
Spring clean-up weekends are in our collective future,
though, and tax season is here too; so keeping busy won’t be a problem for
us. There are other things coming up now
that I couldn’t talk about with my three best friends today; but we have
another family business and future plans meeting tomorrow night; so I’ll do an
update on that then.
As far as the rest of my day, though, I went with Michael to
the Inn and helped out with the buffet rush until my own family came to the Inn for the late buffet.
Mom and Dad were regaining custody of the twins while having dinner with
my grandparents, uncles, aunts, cousins, and some friends. Michael was allowed to join us once the
second buffet was out and most of the cooking was almost done, but he ate
quickly and then went back to the kitchen right away because they were a bit
short-handed tonight.
I considered helping out after dinner too, but Miranda told
me to go home with my family instead; knowing that I’d just work later tonight
to make up the time if I did stay at the Inn
until closing. Dad had more work to do
in the office, and Mom and I did a Magi lesson while he worked and Ethan and
Ehlana did some studying for their college courses. We also had a little chat together instead of
a bedtime story for the twins so that Mom could bring us up to speed on some
news that she hadn’t discussed while Dawn and Jillian were here.
She really had some fun over the past few days. Christina had the Magi chat with her; Violet
accepted Aunt Grace’s summer intern job offer; Dillon took the lab job that
Uncle Adam presented to him; and Andrew Jennings was thrilled with his new
summer job that will have him setting up computer systems at the lab with Mom
and Owen – and pay way better than anything he’s done before now. Christina got a job offer too, but that was
from her aunt and uncle; and she’ll be working at the Emporium. Mom’s going to start getting her involved in
the family business too, but that will be on the side; and Christina doesn’t
really care about what job she’ll have – just that she’ll be here with
Josiah. I don’t think it’s been finalized,
but I’m fairly sure that Christina will stay with Uncle Adam and Aunt
Leanne. Aunt Deborah and Uncle Nick are
an option too, but she’ll have enough on her plate with work, Leah, and her
pregnancy – even with having Uncle Nick off from school for most of the summer
too.
As I mentioned, I’ll cover the rest of the future plans news
tomorrow. The rest of my night was all
work, and even without staying later at the Inn; I still needed to use a bit of
Magi power to get my studies and work done and still be ready to go to sleep
before midnight. The only news from any
of that worth mentioning comes via my email inbox. Dawn and Jillian had fun with Uncle Mark and
Aunt Grace; went out for lunch and a bit of shopping after meeting up with
Uncle Rick and Aunt Melissa; and then had dinner at Jillian’s house with both
sets of parents while Chris and Martin were busy with some friends trying
desperately(according to Dawn) to get their holiday assignments finished.
I guess they spent too much time looking for cars and then
playing with their new toy to have time for the assignments before the last
minute.
Stephanie sent me her usual weekly update too, and she and
Jake had an amazing week together – even with all of the work they also had to
deal with. I needed to read between the
lines to get to ‘amazing’; but I don’t mind not knowing some of the details
that made their week so special. Violet
and Christina each sent short notes just to let me know that they – and Dillon
and Josiah – had gotten back to their campuses safely. There’s some crazy cramming going on with
other students and friends in their residential halls; but they’re all ready to
go for morning classes and the long push through to freshman finals in May.
That’s pretty much it, and I can get to sleep before
midnight if I hurry; so, until next time...
...Live long and prosper, fellow Magi of the Light!
