Welcome home to us!
I really am glad to be home, and cuddling
with Mandy while I’m writing this is great too; but I was both fired up and sad
this morning when it was time to get up way too early and start heading for
home.
Rowen and I rushed through our showers and
getting dressed; finished packing up everything we’d needed this morning; and
then went to help the parents with all of the younger kids while the boys
mostly took care of getting the luggage out to the vans – with some help from a
couple of young men on the hotel staff.
Getting all of that done and hitting the road for the airport took a bit
too long, so we ended up having fast food for breakfast at the airport instead
of stopping to eat at a restaurant. We
did at least have time for that. I’ve
heard Tim’s stomach growl during morning classes if he hasn’t eaten enough
before – or after – their morning weight training; and listening to that for
the entire flight would not have been fun – and possibly would have scared
small children. ;^)
The airport time at each end of the flight
took nearly as long as the flight, which I’ve mentioned before is silly and
annoying, but we dealt with it; and didn’t have any major check-in, security,
or baggage issues. Our flight was
uneventful, and Michael, Tim, Rowen, and I mostly worked on final holiday break
assignments that had required real-time vacation data to complete – the usual
creative writing assignment along with math and science questions that required
information from our activities this week.
I’ll guess that we were among the fastest students in our class; along
with other milestones that would all be thanks to going on extreme rides.
By the time we landed at our ‘home’
airport, retrieved our luggage, and got everything and everyone loaded into the
minivans and truck; we were all ready to stop somewhere to pick up a late lunch
to go and hit the road for home.
Stopping at a restaurant had been an option too, but the decision to go
with fast food had not been motivated by getting Aunt Leanne one more fix – we just
wanted to get the rest of the trip finished and be home again. This time, Michael went with Dad, Ethan, and
Aiden in the truck for the drive home; Rowen and Tim were with Mom, Ehlana, and
Naomi; and I went with Uncle Adam and Aunt Leanne so that I could take care of
Zack – though he ended up sleeping most of the way once we’d done a little
telepathic chat with him.
We had work to do after getting home;
starting with getting everything unloaded.
Dad then did a loop around town to drop off luggage, kids, and teens at houses
and one store – though the Olde Bakery stop was temporary and Hannah left work
early to go home with Aiden and Hailey and Dad dropped off Aiden’s things after
taking Naomi home and doing the luggage transfer at her house too. While Dad was busy with that – and getting
Tim’s things home too; I helped Michael with carrying his bags to his house, we
did the goodbye hugs and kisses there, and then I came home again to help Mom
with the piles of work we needed to get started on there – like unpacking and
laundry.
Before I get to the rest of the day,
though, I need to mention that it’s been a very nice day here in Witch Falls –
sunny, warm, and very spring-like. I
didn’t even mention the passing of the first day of spring in the appropriate
journal update while we were in Florida; but it just didn’t seem important when
it felt like summer to us instead of the transition from winter to spring. My point with the weather comment, though, is
that we enjoyed coming back to warm and sunny instead of cold or rainy; and it’s
made our late afternoon and evening here very pleasant – even with all of the
work we’ve been doing.
Working at the Inn with Michael and his
family had been an option for me, but I decided to help Mom and Dad instead;
and didn’t really want to miss out on the family dinner at the Inn either. It was great being on the trip with Uncle
Adam and Aunt Leanne, but I really missed the rest of my aunts, uncles, and
cousins. We’d booked the late buffet for
that to allow for any travel delays, so that gave Mom and I time to get most of
the unpacking finished and several loads of laundry started. Dad went to work in the office after he got
back from doing the running around, and other than the break for dinner; he
worked straight through until we all went to bed at eleven o’clock – on Mom’s
orders.
That worked out okay because we did a bit
of time-phasing to help out with the workload, and while Dad had the most
pressing work to get done; the rest of us either worked on the family business
after dinner or college studies. Our
dinner at the Inn was the local fun highlight of the day. Spending that time with my family was
amazing, but so was visiting with friends and neighbors; and I especially loved
my reunion with Michael’s family and everyone else working at the Inn
tonight. I’d brought a few gifts along
with me, and while what we’d picked up for Rebecca and Jenny were the most fun
to deliver for Michael and me; we did also have a few gag gifts to share with
everyone there – most of them from Weasley’s Wizard Wheezes and a collection of
the best-known Potter candies or chocolates.
Michael and I still have some gifts that will need to wait until our
packages get here from Grandma and Grandpa; but I had room in my bags for a
couple of wands and pygmy puffs for Rebecca and Jenny – and a few pieces of
jewelry and gifts for Miranda and Jacob.
We don’t really need to get into all of
that, and I didn’t even have much time to spend with everyone in the kitchen
anyway. They were too busy; and I had to
get to dinner before Tim and his Uncle Lee polished off everything on the
buffet tables! I’m only joking about
that, but Tim was there with his family too – as was Rowen, and a half-dozen
other friends – most of them kids of store owners. Most stores had been open both Sundays for
the holiday weekend; so I wasn’t surprised that most of those parents weren’t
interested in cooking after working fourteen days straight for the first time
since the Christmas rush and holiday.
I was at the kids’ table for dinner, and
while I missed out on a lot of the adult conversation and story time; Ethan,
Ehlana, and I still got to see Uncle Mark, Aunt Grace, Uncle Nick, and Aunt
Deborah a fair bit too as they helped me out with kid control when needed. I didn’t get to have Caleb and Sebastian with
me while we ate; but did take a turn watching both kids for a while – Caleb while
the parents were getting their plates filled and doing the same with the
younger kids; and Sebastian while Uncle Nick and Aunt Deborah had dessert. Since Dad needed to get back to his work, we
didn’t drag out our meal – though we were still there for nearly an hour and a
half by the time I’d done my pre and post dinner visits to the kitchen.
That second visit was mostly to distribute
some goodnight hugs and kisses – including an extended kiss with Michael that
he probably got teased about straight through until they went home for the
night. Mom and I got drinks for everyone
after we got home, but then we all worked in the office in high gear until her
eleven o’clock bedtime order. I didn’t
go straight to bed, since my Jacuzzi really, really missed me and we needed to
get re-acquainted; but I multi-tasked my tub time with some language studying
in a time-phase so that I wouldn’t be up past the additional ‘be-asleep-by-midnight’
directive. I did most of my bedtime
computer checks then too; but saved this update until after I was tucked in
with Mandy.
There were quite a few emails waiting for
me, but most of them were college-related; and all of my favorite collegians
are safely back at school and ready to start classes again in the morning. Ditto part two of that for Dawn, Jillian,
Jaimie, and Kaitlyn; and they all had a fun holiday too – if not Disney and
Universal Studios kind of amazing.
I’ll be able to say the same for our
upcoming week; but I’m also going to be very busy too. We have a future plans meeting tomorrow
night; all usual school and extra-curricular activities during the week; work
and game nights; and what will likely be a catch-up weekend for work around the
house and yard after being away for the past two weekends. As I’ve mentioned, there is going to be a lot
happening around here over the next few months, and while that’ll be most
exciting for certain projects like the new med center; I’ll be more involved
with things like everything we’ll be doing for Jake and Stephanie’s
wedding. That’s going to mean bonus time
with Miranda and Rebecca; so I’m good with all of that – and the shopping and
other fun will all be nice bonuses to go along with the work.
I do need to get sleep when I can do keep
up with all of that, and there isn’t anything else that needs to be covered
tonight; so I guess that’s it for now.
Until next time...
...May the Magi Force be with you!
