We have a full house here tonight, or at
least it feels that way with the Rice family all here with us tonight – and I
love having everyone here!
The rain in the forecast for today didn’t
show up anytime that mattered during the day; so it was pretty much a normal
Friday before the Memorial Day weekend – including the annual afternoon work
sessions around town for all of the students at our school. For that, our class was at the park again
this year; and we did our very best to get it cleaned up and looking great for
the weekend.
By the way, in case that changes in the
future; the Memorial Day weekend is the only holiday that the students help out
with for that work. We may not have a
lot of veterans here in Witch Falls, but we do think that they deserve the
extra effort.
Getting back to the news of the day, mine
started out with Tai Chi by the river; breakfast for seven that Michael stayed
for; and then we were all off and running to get ready for school or whatever
else we had booked for the morning. My
school day was easy, since the morning was pretty much left open to work on
projects or assignments; and Michael, Tim, Rowen, and I didn’t really have anything
to do. We spent that time doing some
more exam studying – though Tim managed to find a half-dozen excuses to wander
off and basically socialize for most of the morning. We took it easy at lunchtime so that we’d be
ready to work after that; and then we walked over to the park and kept busy
until we were set free in time for the farm kids to get back to the school and
catch their bus rides home.
It’s an all-hands-on-deck weekend at the
Inn, so Michael had to go there after school; and Rowen and Tim were helping
their parents too. Mom didn’t need my
help around the house, but she did appreciate my offer to take Ethan, Ehlana,
Naomi, and Aiden to the park to play while she took care of making dinner and a
last bit of pre-cooking she was doing for the weekend. That kept me busy until we went home again;
and Naomi and Aiden stayed for dinner before getting picked up shortly after we’d
finished eating.
Violet’s family all left Woodvale at the
same time as soon as Chris, Martin, and Dawn were finished school for the day;
and the boys drove their car while Dawn came in the SUV with her parents and
grandparents. Since they couldn’t leave
early, they stopped in Crystal Springs; met up with Dad; and then had dinner
there before getting on the highway again and heading here. With the traffic snarl at rush hour; they
probably would have gotten here at the same time anyway; so it worked out for
all of them – and gave Dad some company for the drive home because he ended up
with Grandpa Richard, Uncle Rick, and Dawn in the truck with him while Grandma
Carrie and Aunt Melissa drove the SUV.
They were all here by shortly after nine; and had a fairly large
welcoming committee – including my grandparents, Uncle Adam, Aunt Leanne, and
Zack.
The rest of my evening has been a bit of a
blur of non-stop action. We unloaded
vehicles after the first round of welcome home hugs and kisses; followed that
up with a social hour in the living room; and then it was time for Uncle Adam
and Aunt Leanne to take Zack home to bed and get ready for the incoming McEwan
clan. Grandma and Grandpa stayed longer
and took care of Ethan and Ehlana’s bedtime story and getting them tucked in
for the night; but then they didn’t stay much later either before heading home.
I’d better back up for a minute; since I’m
thinking about Christina and Josiah after mentioning her incoming family. I haven’t mentioned it in my journal yet, but
she isn’t staying with Uncle Adam and Aunt Leanne right now – she’s at the
Palmer’s with Josiah. She may help Aunt
Leanne and spend some nights there after the baby is born; but she didn’t want
to add more work to Aunt Leanne’s already crazy-busy life right now as she’s
getting ready to take time off with the baby – and staying with Josiah was a
nice added bonus! ;^)
I guess there isn’t really much else to add
from today even though it feels as though I’ve been busy enough that there
should be a lot more to add. Dawn and I
stayed up late talking with our parents, her grandparents, brothers, Violet,
and Dillon. We came up to my room at a
bit after midnight; have had a fun, lengthy girl chat since then; and Dawn and
Mandy fell asleep about a half hour ago.
I’ve done my usual nightly computer checks since then; took care of a
minor family business job; and will be joining them in nap mode once I’ve
finished this report.
The weather is still looking bad for the
weekend; but how much outdoor fun we get to have is going to depend on the
timing for the rain. There’s a chance
that we won’t get much during the day tomorrow – and I’m still hoping that the
forecasters will just be wrong again – even if that isn’t very likely this
time. Whatever happens; you’ll be able
to flip a digital page in your ‘now’ while I’ll have to wait and live it. I won’t be able to do that very well without
some sleep, though, so I’m going to get to that right now.
Until next time...
...May the Magi Force be with you!
