The sub-freezing temperatures were back
again this morning; and it didn’t warm up much all day. We didn’t get any snow, and I have been
enjoying the warmer weather when we get it; but it did feel more Christmassy today
as we enjoyed a busy day of school and Christmas fun. That included all of our music practices at
school and at church; and trimming the tree at Michael’s house tonight with his
family and Lucas.
Adding tests at school and homework
assignments to that mix just doesn’t seem to fit in at all, and that did
happen; but let’s just leave those un-fun parts of the day there and move
along.
Michael and I had a blast with our kid
music practices today; and my new little reindeer buddy, Winter, is saving up a
lot of Christmas love and magic thanks to the cuddles and kisses she’s getting
from all of those kids – and more than a few teens too. Other Elf Pets are showing up around school
already today, so I may have started a trend today; but at least mine won’t be
as glaringly annoying as the orange fashion phase the boys so recently
abandoned. I really hope that one doesn’t
come back next year!
The other musical highlights of the day
were our band teen praise team practices; and both of them were all about
Christmas. For band, we’re getting ready
for the Maple Valley Christmas parade on Saturday morning; and we’re continuing
to get ready for the Christmas concert with the teen praise team. For that, I haven’t mentioned that other
teens have been working in other groups on the skits and everything else that’s
going into the mini-cantata that we’re putting on this year; but we were all
together tonight for our first full run-through of the entire program. That took a little extra time, but it went
pretty well; and we’ll be doing a full dress-rehearsal next Tuesday evening. It’s hard to believe that concert is now just
a week from Sunday night away!
With all of that music time going on,
adding in a tree-trimming and dinner meant staying very busy all evening – and a
bit rushed; but that was all amazing too.
Miranda and Jacob worked around our schedule; and Lucas is spending the
night at their house too so that he was able to do the tree-trimming with
Rebecca. He’s technically staying there
as Michael’s guest; but that’s really just a fiction that their parents are
having fun with – particularly Miranda and Claire.
The actual decorating happened in two
stages for us – before our praise team practice and after we got home
again. Some other work went on while we
were gone; but Miranda made sure that we were all there for the important parts
of the decorating – like hanging the ornaments.
That is something extra-special at Michael’s house because his mother
has the best stories about so many of those family ornament heirlooms from both
the Stone and Bassett families. On her
side of the family, those ornaments are just part of the family story, since
her parents handed some of those family treasures down to all of their kids,
but Jacob’s sister basically didn’t want any of their Christmas treasures; so
Jacob has all of them – and he and Miranda know all of the cool stories that go
with them.
As you might expect in a town with family
roots that go back for centuries, some of those heirlooms are actually quite
valuable; but it’s the hand-made ornaments with the great stories that I loved
the most. I also loved seeing that those
family traditions are being carried through to today – and Michael, Rebecca,
and Jake all have their own contributions to the family tree – so to
speak. I’ve never really thought about
that much, but Mom and I don’t have that at all – the physical family history
for things like Christmas – or even family photo albums or anything else – not that
we could show them in public even if we did.
Sure, we have the archives, and some of those books were written Mom’s
parents; but that isn’t the same at all.
The good news is that we’re getting to
build that history now – since moving here to Witch Falls; and our new family
is happy to share their history with us.
Anyway, I should move this along; since it’s
really late and I’m going to be having my third night in a row with only having
time for a nap. It was eleven o’clock by
the time I went home after some cuddle time with Michael in the living room by
Christmas tree light so that we – and Rebecca and Lucas – could appreciate our
decorating efforts. Miranda and Jacob
were there for the start of that little break in the action, but they’ll
actually be getting up soon to get ready for work at the Inn; so they went to
bed at a bit before ten-thirty. Mom,
Dad, Ethan, and Ehlana were all still up when I got home; so I did my Magi
lesson with Mom then while the twins were finishing up one of their college
exams and Dad wrapped up his work homework for the night too.
We did that until midnight; Mom, Dad, and I
all got in on the fun for putting Ethan and Ehlana to bed; and then I came up
to my room and got started on my bedtime studies and family business work as
soon as I was changed and in bed with Mandy.
There was some fun mixed in with that too, but it was mostly work; so
let’s not have the details from that mess up all of the fun I’ve had for the
rest of the day. That said, tomorrow is
our after-school work day, and while I’ve been using Wednesdays for a sleep
catch-up day; I’m not planning on doing that this week. Instead of getting the extra down time; I’m
going to keep pushing the studies and extra family business work; and try to
get enough done so that I can start my Christmas vacation from that at the end
of this week instead of next week. Yes,
as always, I’ll still have the daily upkeep for the family business; but that
shouldn’t take hours a night – and I won’t have the language studies at all –
or archive assignments either if Mom gives me the time off from my lessons.
I really want to take the time to enjoy the
holidays with my family and friends this year, and if you’re reading this in
the future and don’t take enough time to just sit back and enjoy life now and
then; try to do exactly that now and then too.
Trust me, I can relate to the pressure that comes with responsibilities
and a drive to achieve, for whatever reasons; and I should definitely take my
own advice more often.
If I’m still around when you read this in
my future; let me know how you think I’m doing with that! ;^)
For tonight, though, I’ve definitely had
enough fun, so let’s do the Christmas music video pick of the day and call it a
night.
I love this song; and the version of How
the Grinch Stole Christmas that it’s from!
If you haven’t seen it in whenever your now is; I hope you can – it
should be a Christmas comedy classic!
May the Magi Force be with you!
