Happy 10th Birthday, Jessica!
Michael spends so much time with my brother
and sister that it’s only fair for me to help him when he’s recruited to help
out with his cousins. That’s why we
spent most of our free time today helping his aunt and uncle with Jessica’s
party. There was some work involved in
that for Michael; but I mostly got to play with Jessica and her friends – and
with Sophia until she went to hang out with Ehlana and Naomi after dinner.
Before I get to the party recap; let’s do a
quick review of the news for the rest of the day.
It was cool this morning, but sunny and
beautiful outside; so Tai Chi was back out by the river again. My lack of sleep over the past few days had
me using a bit of Magi power to make up for the missing down time, but that’s
caught up to me now too; so I’m just as tired now as I was last night. We didn’t spend every minute of our school
day doing final preparation for our trip, but Mr. Ayres did have a lot of
things to go over with us today; and Principle Jacobs spent a little time
talking with us too. Her chat was mostly
her version of the ‘ambassadors of your school and town’ good conduct speech;
though I doubt that she’s seriously worried about any of us getting into serious
trouble while we’re away – even though she joked about that being why she’s
going on the trip with us.
Okay, so maybe she is worried about one of
us getting into trouble; though I’m really hoping that we don’t have any of
that kind of trouble from the Hathornes.
We managed to get through the last school
day of the week without any more break-ups in our class; but that’s really just
dragging out the teen drama and putting off the inevitable. I’ll skip the details for all of that for
now; since it’s a safe bet that there will be more to write about over the next
week. I will mention that Allen looked
at least a bit happier today, and his closest friends are doing a good job
helping him while he gets over his most recent heartbreak.
While Michael and I were busy with Jessica’s
party tonight; Rowen and Tim were having a play day that included our usual
Friday after-school and evening entertainments.
They borrowed a canoe from my house for a while too, and they stopped by
for a short visit with us; but that’s all we saw of them tonight. I had a computer chat with Rowen a little
while ago when I first came to bed and started doing my nightly checks; so I
know that they had a good night that included some alone time fun for two. I wish Michael and I could say the same, but
that just didn’t happen for us. I’m sure
that Michael’s having fun playing video games with Ryan instead.
I guess that brings us back to party time;
and Jessica had a gorgeous afternoon and evening for her big day. Except for the boys in her family, it was an
all-girl party; and Michael did his best to keep Ryan from annoying his big
sister and her friends too much. Michael
and I went over to his aunt and uncle’s house shortly after dropping off our
school gear at our homes; and started helping his Aunt Sylvia while Jessica got
ready for her party and then waited for her friends to arrive after going home
to do the same. My kid-control duties
began with the arrival of Jessica’s best friends, Lindsay Faulkner and
Geraldine Sheldon.
We started out with a meet and greet,
snacks and drinks break while waiting for all of the girls to join us, and then
we played games in the back yard until dinner was ready. Sylvia had lots of family support for her
work crew even though a lot of the Bassett family members were also busy with
their usual Friday night store and shop operations. Grandfathers were recruited for grilling
duties and grandmothers and aunts helped out in the kitchen. Michael’s Uncle Bill was only able to stop in
for a short visit that he timed for when the cake and ice cream was served; and
he left shortly after Jessica opened her gifts.
Dinner was outdoors, and while the birthday
girl sat with four of her friends and a rotating group of parents and
grandparents; Michael and I mostly supervised the rest of her friends during
that hour and a half blast of food and fun.
Continuing kid-control duties got me out of the post-dinner clean-up;
but Michael was drafted to help with the work – along with Ryan and most of the
other guys who were there.
The games and play time continued after
dinner and through until it was nearly dark out before we moved the party
indoors and the first movie was cued up for Jessica and her friends. As I already mentioned, Sophia had gone over
to my house to spend the evening and night with Ehlana and Naomi; but Michael
waited until the movie started to take Ryan home with him. I stayed to help Sylvia with snacks, drinks,
and some outdoor clean-up; we had our own little break after that; and then I
helped with getting the girls ready for their sleepover before going home for
the night once sleeping bags and pillows were set up and the second movie was
started.
I’m really glad that Jessica had a
best-ever-so-far birthday, and Michael and I had fun; but I was getting worn
down by the time I got home. Since
Ehlana had two friends over for the night, I wasn’t surprised to find out that
Aiden was staying with Ethan too. They
were already in bed by the time I got back, but they weren’t sleeping yet; so I
stopped into both rooms to spend a little time with my brother, sister, and
their friends. Those stops on my way up
to bed included bonus bedtime stories, some girl chat and giggles, and hugs and
kisses. I skipped mentioning my little
visit with Mom and Dad while they were winding down with glasses of wine and a
little cuddle time in the living room, but I only spent a few minutes with them
because they didn’t really look like they needed more kid time; and I was ready
to head up to my room anyway.
Once I did get up her, changed, and into
bed with my computer; it was time to do my nightly checks around the digital
world. Mandy is doing the sleepover with
Ehlana and her friends tonight, so I’m on my own – though I do have a couple of
the stuffies that Michael has given me to cuddle with when I do get around to
sleeping. I’ve already mentioned my chat
with Rowen, and though I’ll skip the details; that was fun – even if I’m also a
bit jealous that she’s having more boyfriend fun time than I am right now. There wasn’t much going on with email tonight
except for a bit of family business correspondence that I took care of before
getting started on this update.
My Saturday is booked with a yard work day,
and I’ll need to finish packing for my trip tomorrow night; so I’d better wrap
this up and get started on some down time.
It feels early compared to the past few nights, so hopefully it won’t
take me too long to relax and drift off to sleep. With three extra toddlers here to start the
morning with; I’ll probably need that extra nap time! Until next time…
…Live long and prosper, fellow Magi of the
Light!
