Happy 14th Birthday, Marc!
It always seems a bit strange to me when we
celebrate Marc’s birthday so close to Christmas; but at least we could do that
this year without getting in the way of family holiday plans. Marc was very happy about that too; though
I’m not going to suggest it was a best birthday ever for him because there was
some minor teen drama going on at his party tonight.
Before I get to that, though, I promised a
double update; so let’s back up to recap the news from yesterday.
Since I ran out of steam last night, it’s
funny to start this out by reporting that I was at full power on Sunday morning
after getting a good night of rest. Tai
Chi was good too, and having breakfast with Michael and his family again this Sunday
was another holiday highlight for both the amazing food and getting to spend
that time with Jake and Stephanie when we weren’t working together – or at
least only cooking and cleaning for ourselves instead of hundreds. For Michael and I, and most of the teens, the
main action for the rest of the morning was at Sunday school when we were doing
a final check and preparing for the Christmas concert last night.
After the service ended, it was all-work,
all afternoon for Michael, Jenny, Rebecca, and me – and everyone else working
at the Inn. The dining room at the Inn
was packed for lunch, and then we moved straight into two early buffets so that
we could feed everyone before needing to get back to the church for the
Christmas concert. Michael and I weren’t
the only teens that needed to be at the church as early as possible, and we
also weren’t the only ones to be late because of holiday weekend work at the
Inn or other stores. We missed most of
the teen praise team warm-up; but we were still good to go – even if we hadn’t
had much time to freshen up and get changed after seven hours and change of
sweaty kitchen work.
The concert was definitely the highlight of
the day for all of the teens involved – and hopefully most of the members of
our congregation too. Our concert
program was basically a mini-cantata with some extras, and while Stacey’s
inspiration for it was the duet that Michael and I did at the school Christmas
pageant last year; we only used one other song from that cantata in our show
while also mixing in other songs that fit in with the story that Stacey and
some of the older teens put together to go with the skits that they also
wrote. As I noted with my Christmas
music video pick from last night, Michael and I sang the ‘Not that Far from Bethlehem’
duet again, and while that was one of the concert highlights, we also had one
other shorter duet; a couple of little solo lines each in other songs; and
several other moments when our harmonies were the focus of songs while the rest
of the praise team were doing background vocals.
Our music did really stand out, and we were
thanked a lot after the concert; but it was the magic of all of those moments
that I’ll remember forever. Michael and
I were the musical stars of the night; and I’m only mentioning that because
it’s a fact; not to send a brag out into the distant future. There were stars of the show on the acting
side of things too; with the minor comedic moments earning both laughs and
appreciation. That might seem to be an obvious reaction, but keep in mind that
we are teens; and our idea of humor doesn’t always translate to the older
generations. The guys can all thank
Stacey and Pastor John for helping out with that; since they did have some
editorial control over the final skits – even if they couldn’t do anything
about the on-stage improvs.
Between the concert and the little
reception that followed, it was heading toward ten-thirty by the time things
started to wind down at the church.
Michael and I got to stay for the reception, but his parents, Jake,
Stephanie, and some other staff went back to the Inn to finish the clean-up and
get the dining room set up for breakfast.
They were still there when Michael walked home with me, and though we
were seriously tempted to shoot for another sofa sleepover, we decided to save
that up for a better holiday opportunity – like New Year’s Eve; and settled for
a little good night cuddle time in the living room at his house until Rebecca
got home. She’d spent as much time with
Lucas as she could before he went back out to the farm with his family and then
checked in at the Inn on her way home; and part two of that was probably to
give Michael and I that bit of alone time.
Since I pretty much went straight to bed after getting home, there isn’t
anything to add for the Sunday update. I
suppose the fact that I ran out of gas after actually getting a full night of
rest is news; but that does happen to Magi Masters too now and then.
There was one little bit of news from
Sunday that I was basically out of the loop for; but was important for our
family. Grandma and Grandpa got home
yesterday afternoon in time to go to the second buffet with our family and be
at the church for the concert. I’m
really glad that they’re home, but Michael and I were so busy that I probably
didn’t spend more than about three minutes with them on Sunday; and I didn’t do
a whole lot better than that today either with Marc’s party and everything else
that we were all busy with. I’ll try to
do better between now and the weekend; but you know how that goes sometimes
with best intentions.
Moving on to day two of this update; our
first weekday of the Christmas holiday has been comparatively warm for winter
and wet thanks to rain off and on all day.
The warm-up on the weekend continued overnight, so the snow is basically
gone now except for a spit of it here and there. It was raining when Michael came over for Tai
Chi, but the weather didn’t really get in our way this morning because Michael
and I were both indoors and helping out with chores at our own houses this
morning. For me, that included more work
to help Mom with getting ready for Christmas and next weekend; and running some
loads of laundry. That wasn’t all that
exciting, but I did enjoy getting to spend that time with Mom, Ethan, and
Ehlana; and we also got to have a little visit with Grandma and Grandpa when
they stopped in to see us while doing some running around town.
After having lunch at home, I was set free
for the day; and that’s when the rain started to actually have some effect on
our holiday action. Michael, Tim, and
Rowen all came over to my house; and we ended up just hanging out in the lounge
for a few hours until it was time to get ready for Marc’s birthday party and head
out to his farm. Ethan and Ehlana could
have stayed with us, but opted to go to the lab with Mom for the
afternoon. We did not throw a party
while we had the house to ourselves – though Tim joked about it. He and Michael played video games while
cuddling with Rowen and me; and we pretty much just goofed off for a while
instead of doing anything all that energetic.
While I’m not planning any parties, Tim’s comment has had me thinking
about inviting some of our other friends over for an afternoon or evening
sometime during the holidays. The only
problem with that is making that happen when we’re all so busy with everything
from holiday plans with our families and friends to work and other
responsibilities.
There isn’t anything newsworthy to report
from our afternoon in the lounge. In
addition to the gaming, Tim wanted to keep an eye on the one college bowl game
of the day; but that was a bigger deal for the tail-end of the game because the
guys were watching it at the start of Marc’s party. We split up so that Rowen, Michael, and Tim
could go home to get ready for the party and then we met up at Landry’s
Automotive so that Tim’s mother didn’t need to drive around to pick us up
before taking us out to the Johnson’s farm.
We were there a bit early, but Marc and Marcie were happy to have the
company after spending most of their afternoon getting things ready for the
party.
Marc and his parents hadn’t exactly planned
for any major outdoor events for his party, but the rain did keep everyone in
the house when even winter parties on farms would normally include spending
some time wandering around the farm or playing games – like football.
Once all of the guests were there, that
made for a fairly loud party. The main
action was in the basement rec room.
That’s a really bug, finished room at Marc’s house, but even with all of
that space; it still seemed a bit crowded with thirty or so teens and the other
family and friends adults and kids that were there for the party too. As I mentioned, we were a bit early, and
since there weren’t very many guests there yet; Michael and Tim were drawn into
the football-watching action right away – mostly because Marc was watching the
game with his older brother, Jason.
Marcie had been hanging out with Marc’s mother and sister; so she was
glad to have the company too. We still
spent some time with the girls in the kitchen before going downstairs too, but
once some of our friends joined us; we joined the boys again – though that
mostly meant sitting around and talking while they either watched football or
played video games.
The party was pretty much teen standard
party action. We had an hour or so to
hang out; dinner was a easy-food buffet with everyone spread out either in the
dining room or rec room; we crowded into the dining room for the birthday song,
cake, and gifts part of the night; and then we were in the rec room for the
rest of the evening where music and video gaming ruled – along with Monday
night pro football. All of that was a
blast for Michael, Tim, Rowen, and me; but I guess here’s the point where I
need to add in the teen drama part of the night.
I’m tempted to just skip it entirely, but
these things happen with teens everywhere – even in our amazing little town; so
I also don’t want to create a record of my personal history that completely excludes
that part of life just because it’s uncomfortable and feels a bit too gossipy
to write about.
In this particular case, I’m again going to
be picking on Marc’s brother, Jason. If
you’re reading my journals over a short period of time, then you’ll remember
Jason from my comments about him during football season. To be completely honest, I’ve been okay with
not seeing him much since the Thanksgiving weekend. We still saw him around school, and he’d nod
or say hello to Michael and Tim when we crossed paths; but they didn’t hang out
together at all. That could be why his
head seemed to be so much bigger today than it was after the championship win –
or it just actually grew even bigger right along with his ego. Jason is very proud to be a two-time champion,
and with his record this season; I’m fairly sure that he believes that he’s a
lock on being team captain for his senior year.
He might be right about that; but I doubt that Michael and Tim are the
only guys on the team who hope that he won’t get the job. That’s a topic for a future report, though;
so let’s stick with the party drama instead.
Jason was at the center of the main drama
problems tonight; and I mentioned his big head and ego because that’s where the
problem starts and ends. He’s currently
in between girlfriends just in time for Christmas; and it was his single status
that allowed him to ‘play the field’ tonight.
The problem with that is obvious to most small-town teens – there aren’t
usually very many single teens at these parties. Unfortunately, Jason doesn’t appear to have a
problem with flirting with any girl – including his own brother’s girlfriend on
his birthday. She was just one of
Jason’s targets, but from the teen drama perspective; that was the biggest
issue at the party tonight – even if only some of us actually noticed. To be very blunt, Jason is a total jerk to
even think about doing something like that to Marc, and while I’m not going to
get into the details; Marcie’s reaction to that flirting wasn’t very good for
her relationship with her boyfriend – especially on his birthday and this close
to Christmas.
You’re probably wondering about whether I
was on Jason’s ‘hit on’ list too. The
short answer for that is yes; and though I tried to be polite; I also needed to
push back a bit too – both physically and verbally. Jason left me alone after that. He didn’t pester Rowen, but that could be
because he’s afraid of just how big Tim might get – or having Kyle unleashed on
him if he did try anything with her.
Maybe that’s why Erin dates Kyle – she’ll never, ever have to worry
about any of his friends hitting on her!
The rest of the teen drama was minor compared to Marc being stuck
dealing with his older brother flirting with his girlfriend and the other girls
in his class, and I think that one example is enough for this update; so let’s
move along.
It’s been a little while since my last
commentary on teen parties as it relates to me as a Magi Master; and I thought
I should include some of my thoughts about that tonight too. My thoughts about that tonight revolve around
the puberty developments for Magi and latent members of our community. More details on that are available at the
Magi project section of the archives that Uncle Adam and I started; so I’ll
keep this comparatively superficial. Now
that we better understand the Magi aura, and through regularly comparing all of
my memories of previous checks of the auras for my friends and neighbors; I can
calculate the changes – if there are any.
I use the ‘if’ for that because the aura
for most adults is fairly static except under extreme situations – usually a
crisis of some kind. Teens, on the other
hand, do experience changes as they pass through puberty. That explains some things that have happened –
like Violet’s promotion from latent to active Magi. There aren’t any current teens close to that
borderline right now, so there isn’t anyone that we should attempt to track as
having potential to make that jump too; but there are still interesting results
showing up from those comparisons. The
top news for that might be the fact that all latents and Magi both develop
stronger auras as teens; and the Magi presumably become stronger in their
powers. I know that’s true for me, and
for Michael and Rowen; but expanding that research to all teens is a work in
progress that Uncle Adam will continue to work on with the Magi council.
The degree of that change varies a bit, though
not so significantly that we’d have an entirely separate area of study to
figure out why. I’m referring to that
from a percentage point of view too, since the actual numbers do have a wide
range for obvious reasons. A one percent
increase in power for me is a lot different than a one percent change for a
low-level latent or even low-level Magi.
There must be factors that affect that for each person, just as the
physical attributes are different for every teen; but we haven’t done nearly
enough study to quantify or even identify many of those factors.
My point in writing about this tonight is
that what we’re learning about the teen years could have some significant uses
in the future. Identifying borderline
potential for latent-to-Magi teens might allow us the opportunity to guide
those people over the line. We’ve talked
about it before with pre-natal babies, and that’s something that is still being
debated among the adult Magi and the council; but this is different too; since
there are other social considerations involved with teens that are already at a
certain level of physical and mental development – and they wouldn’t have had
the years of training from birth. No,
that hasn’t been a huge problem for Violet, but it doesn’t mean that there
wouldn’t be difficulties with other teens.
It isn’t a danger, but I am thinking about
someone like Jason Johnson for that; and can’t imagine that kind of ego doing
very well after finding out about sudden super-powers. Sorry about that mental picture if you know
Jason in your ‘now’, and maybe he’s mellowed out by then; but the Jason Johnson
of today would totally be a B-movie cliché if that scenario unless he had an adult
Magi blocking him twenty-four seven.
That totally went off the rails, but I’m
pretty much done with the aura commentary for tonight anyway. I will keep adding more to the Magi project
archive for some of the ideas I have to help with this transition and training
that could help at certain points along the way that would build up that Magi
muscle; but let’s move this journal entry along so that I can wrap this up and
head off to sleep soon.
Our evening entertainment had video gaming
and football at the center of the action for the boys, so the girls mostly
listened to Christmas music videos while doing a lot of sitting around and
chatting. A bit of dancing here and
there was an option when boyfriends weren’t busy, and Michael and I had some
cuddle time too; but I spent a little more time without him that with
tonight. Since it’s a weeknight, and
parents and teens have jobs to get to tomorrow; the party started to wrap up at
eleven o’clock. Mom won – or lost – the drive-us-home
lottery, and she was there on time; so we were among the first group to
leave. That was okay with me, since it
meant that Michael and I got to have a little time together before our holiday
curfew; and we had a bit of quality cuddle time in the lounge after we got home
– and after we tucked Ethan and Ehlana in for the night.
I missed out on dinner and a family
business meeting while I was away, which is too bad; but Michael wasn’t
particularly upset about missing the bonus work night at the Inn with his
family. Violet and Dillon joined in for
the dinner, but went to hang out with some friends for the evening. I haven’t seen them all that much yet, but
hope we’ll get a chance to visit during the rest of the week.
I seem to say and write something to that
effect a lot; and then nothing happens.
I will keep hoping for the best, though; so maybe that’ll happen this
time!
Anyway, our minor make-out session was a
fun way to end a pretty good day; and now we’re down to three more sleeps to Christmas. While our family won’t be coming home for
Christmas Day, that might actually be a good thing; since we do have a lot
going on over the next two days. I’ll be
helping Mom out when I can; we have Dad’s work Christmas dinner tomorrow night
at the Inn; Michael and I have a teen praise team practice after that to get
ready for our service on Sunday; and on top of the usual Christmas Eve day fun,
we have a Christmas luncheon to go to at the lab on Wednesday before everyone
working there is sent home for a little vacation until after the New Year. There will be some people who will need to do
a little bit of work nearly every day; but that’ll just be maintenance –
something that Ehlana is happy about because she’s hoping to do extra work
there when nobody except Uncle Adam and Dillon are there to play with her.
All of that has me thinking that I’ve
written enough for tonight and should get the down time started so that I’ll be
ready for all of that fun. Let’s do my
Christmas music video pick and then I’m off to dreamland for the rest of the
night.
Before you ask; no, I am not losing my
memory or forgetting which songs I’ve picked so far to save as part of my
journal. While this is déjà vu for the
song; this version is a classic; and worth including in my Christmas song
playlist!
May the Magi Force be with you!
