You would not have known that a ‘polar
vortex’ was on the way here today when the temperature was in the seventies
this afternoon, but that’s been changing overnight; and we’ll probably be below
freezing by morning.
That isn’t a change that’s going to be much
fun to get used to over the next few days, but before I get to the report; I
can’t resist commenting on this whole polar vortex news idiocy. That term really caught on last winter during
that cold blast we got when the temperatures actually dropped down into the
negative thirties and even forties in some places. The news media seemed to fall in love with
the term; and now it’s everywhere – even when using the term is
ridiculous. Come on, people – it’s
November, winter is on the way, and it gets cold outside. Calling this cold front a polar vortex is
just silly. The temperature in the
seventies today should be what’s considered less-normal for this time of year;
yet I didn’t hear anyone calling it an equatorial vortex or some other
nonsense.
Bottom line here, folks, is that cold in
the second week of November is not some freaky anomaly, and while I love warm
and sunny as much as the next girl; I also like having snow for the Christmas
holidays, and cold is required for that to happen.
Cold weather is also good for promoting
quality cuddle time with your favorite people too, and my top personal news
tonight is that Michael and I actually got to have a little alone time tonight
after Rebecca, Ethan, and Ehlana went to bed.
I’ll get to that part of the report in a minute; but let’s back up and
start from the beginning of the day.
Miranda and Jacob left for Garden City
early this morning – even before we were up for Tai Chi. Rebecca and Michael were on their own to get
ready for school, but Michael stayed with us for breakfast after we exercised
by the river while Rebecca opted to fend for herself. While I’m thinking about her being on her
own, I should also mention that Rebecca did have the option of staying home
overnight tonight unsupervised; but chose to stay with us instead. That decision was all about avoiding peer
pressure, and while Jenny is her best friend; Rebecca didn’t want to get put in
the position of hosting a school night teen party – and knew that would be
exactly what Jenny would have wanted to do with a parent-free house opportunity. She is almost fifteen, and they’ll need to
deal with a situation like that some day in the not-so-distant future; but I’m
glad that she’s here with us tonight instead – and not just because Michael and
I wouldn’t have gotten to have that alone time if we’d been at a party at his
house instead.
At school, football again ruled among the
guys, and our team players are even more popular now that they’ve won their
first playoff game. Tim loves that, and
some of the other guys are enjoying the fame more than they should; but Coach
Robinson started working on deflating any big heads during their first practice
of the week. While football fever is
running high, Thanksgiving is now just two and a half weeks away; and the themed
crafts, games, and lessons are going on in nearly every class for all grades
now. That’s especially fun for the
younger kids, but we’re having fun in our classes too. Not all of my classmates would agree with
that because we’re also doing a fair bit of testing this week too; and that
included two tests today. That had a few
of my friends stressed out, but that isn’t unusual; and Michael, Rowen, and I
just try to help out when we can – though that isn’t always possible when we’re
busy with everything else we have on the go.
For Rowen and I, that was cheerleading
practice after school while the boys were busy with football. That workout was actually a bit strange
because it was so warm out; but Dani had us working up a half-time routine
geared toward what the weather is forecast to be like on Friday evening –
freezing to a handful of degrees below freezing.
Would you like a hint?
Do you want to build a snowman? ;^)
That was fun, and so was our lunch break
outdoors too, but that was pretty much all we got to do with enjoying the warm
and sunny today; which had me missing the play time that we don’t get to have
anymore now that we’re busy with so many other things. We haven’t biked or played at the park after
school at all; and I sometimes miss that freedom a lot. Rowen and I stayed at the school to catch the
end of Michael and Tim’s practice, and then waited to walk home with them after
they had time to hit the shower and get cleaned up from their practice.
Rebecca had been busy after school too, but
she was already at my house by the time Michael and I got there. Rowen took Tim home with her for dinner, but
they came over after we all ate so that they could study with us. Mom and Dad had gone with an easy-dinner
night, so both the meal and clean-up were quick; and then Rebecca, Michael, and
I got started on our homework – doing that in the dining room instead of the
lounge so that we didn’t get distracted.
Rowen and Tim joined us about twenty minutes after we’d started, and
that was another little blast of fun as we finished our assignments and studied
for our upcoming tests. Doing that work
at Magi speed would have been nice, but since Rebecca was there with us; I wasn’t
going to be having a Magi lesson anyway; so that was a fairly equal time
trade-off.
Rowen and Tim couldn’t stay after that, so
they left for their respective homes once we were finished studying; and
Rebecca, Michael, and I went to have some play time with Ethan and Ehlana in my
room and the lounge after that. Some
music time was included in that; mostly so that Michael and I could practice
for our music class, band, and praise team.
Michael still hasn’t been able to be at any band practices, but he will
start going as soon as football is over; and we still need to get ready for the
Christmas parades and concerts in December.
We watched a bit of television in the
lounge too until Mom came to get Ethan and Ehlana to put them to bed; and my
brother and sister recruited Rebecca to help out with that – and do their
bedtime story. Rebecca was happy to do
that, and then go on to bed too; which is how Michael and I ended up with that
alone time – more than an hour and a half of it before we were ready to go to
bed too. His sister was just down the
hall from us in her room, and my parents were still awake and working in the
office, so that play time didn’t rank too high on the hot scale; but we still had
a lot of fun and it was a lot hotter than anything else we’ve had the
opportunity for lately so we’re both happy campers right now.
I’m also very tired, since I got a late
start to my bedtime work and studies; and it’s going to be another one of those
short nap nights too – though I’m definitely happier than usual after spending
this many hours in the archives and on the family business. I do still have those tests at school and
three practices tomorrow; so I should really wrap this up and get started on
that down time. Some of that action is
not going to be as much fun as it was today – especially if Dani has us do our
cheerleading practice outdoors to get used to doing our routines in freezing
temperatures – which I’m sure she’ll do unless we have rain or snow too.
Now that’s a word that scares some people
around here when mentioned this early in November; but I’ll save that kind of
commentary for when and if I need it – like for whenever we do get that first
big snow.
Right now, though, it’s time for me to get
some sleep; so, until next time...
...May the Magi Force be with you!
