Happy 19th Birthday, Jake!
I’m sure that it has been – especially
since Stephanie took him out for a birthday party that included a hotel
sleepover for two. Miranda missed having
her baby home for the day – especially since that was a first for any of her
kids; but we did our best to help her to celebrate and have fun too. I was with Michael at his house for the
birthday breakfast that Jake and Stephanie were only able to attend via phone
call; and I made sure that Miranda had extra hugs here and there throughout the
rest of the day whenever I was around and it looked like she needed one.
Backing up a bit, Michael came over for Tai
Chi, and then I rushed through getting ready for the day before meeting up with
him again at his house for Jake’s in-absentia birthday breakfast. Rebecca happily sent him pictures of the dishes
he was missing out on using Miranda’s phone; and that added to the
entertainment fun while we ate and talked with Jake and Stephanie for over half
an hour. Michael and I took care of the
clean-up while his parents and sister got ready for church; and then we met up
with my parents, brother, and sister and walked to church together.
While Jake’s birthday was the big event for
the Stone family, the top stories at church this morning were Heather and Adam
Green’s move into their new home and the weather. While they still have unpacking left to do,
Heather, Adam, and Brandon spent their first night in the new house last night;
and Brandon is apparently already keeping his parents busy with his fascination
with having a river in his back yard.
Since they bought Aunt Leanne’s first ‘show’ home, a lot of people in
town – maybe even most – know just how beautiful it is; and we’re all very
happy for them.
The weather had everyone’s attention too,
and in a good way too; thanks to the temperature climbing back into the seventies
again. That had everyone thinking about
spring a lot more than any amount of yard work possibly could; and spending
time outdoors doing anything was very popular today. I missed out on the drawn-out social time
after church because Michael needed to head to the Inn right away after an
extended service; but then I went home after that and was already changed by
the time Mom and Dad got home with the twins.
I took care of Ethan and Ehlana; helped Mom with making lunch; and then
Ethan, Ehlana, and I were set free to go play after we finished eating while
Mom and Dad cleaned up before moving on to some office work they each needed to
deal with.
I took the bike and trailer to the park so
that I could take the twins for a ride.
We met up with Rowen and Tim there; played at the park with a bunch of
other kids and teens; and Tim and Ethan played a bit of football with some of
the guys for a while too. Michael joined
us for the last part of the football action, but then we needed to head back to
my house to get our homework finished.
With such a beautiful afternoon, we took our work out onto the back
porch, and it didn’t take long to get everything finished; but then Michael and
I just ended up going back to the Inn a bit early to help out with the prep
work for the buffets. Tim and Rowen went
out biking again, and that would have been fun; but I liked spending the time
with Michael and his family too – even if we didn’t get to enjoy much more of
the warm and sun today.
The weather affected the buffet crowd a
little bit; though that would have been more noticeable if we hadn’t had most
of the Green clan at the first sitting having a ‘thank-you for helping us move’
dinner that Heather, Adam, and his parents hosted. Without them, we wouldn’t have had a full
house for the first sitting; and we were only a bit more than three-quarters
full for the second sitting. That did
allow everyone working at the Inn to take it a bit easier than usual; and my
favorite part of the evening was when Michael, Rebecca, and I took our dinner
break and ate our meals out by the river – though off to the side from the Inn
so we wouldn’t be in the way of the diner’s view of the river.
There wasn’t anything special that happened
during that break – it was mostly just the comparative quiet; just getting to
be outdoors instead of cooped up inside; and the chat time with two of my best
friends that made that handful of moments special. We didn’t even really talk about anything
earthshaking enough to write about here – just a quiet re-hash of some of the
tidbits of news from the day and a little talk about what we each had going on
over the next week or two. With Rebecca
in Grade Nine, Michael and I still miss out on lots of things she’s doing with
other high school teens; but that’ll likely start changing again this summer –
and when we hit high school in September too.
Because of the quieter second buffet
sitting, I was able to head home early, and I was determined to get back on
track with my early bedtime plans for school nights. Mom did my Magi lesson with me before we did
the bedtime routine with Ethan and Ehlana.
While I’m thinking about them, they’ve finished their first semester
college exams; and will be starting their second freshman semester next
week. That gives them about three months
to finish their first year of college before summer holidays; and then they’ll
start their second year in September – right on time for having access to the
equipment at the lab.
After getting the twins tucked in for the
night, I decided to mix my studying and work with some Jacuzzi time. I needed to use just a touch of time-phasing
to get everything done, and that meant spending a bit too much time in the tub,
but I am in bed now; and will be sleeping before midnight – so it worked out
for the best. I’ve only done my email
check and this update since getting cuddled with Mandy; and don’t have anything
newsworthy from my inbox to report either; so I guess that’s it for
tonight. Until next time…
…Live long and prosper, fellow Magi of the
Light!
