Happy 10th Birthday, Jaimie!
I had absolutely no involvement in my
cousin’s happy day beyond sending a gift and an email, but she did answer my email;
so I know that she has had a lot of fun today.
Uncle Mark, Aunt Grace, and Caleb were there too, and while I didn’t
mention it with my last update; they went there yesterday afternoon and are
still on the way home now as I write this – leaving at around eight o’clock so
that Caleb would sleep most or all of the way home.
While the birthday fun for the family has
been in Granite Park today; I’ve had a lot of fun here at home too. That started out with my sofa sleepover
wake-up call, but before I get to that; let’s review the date night in at
Michael’s house first.
By the time I got to Michael’s house, he
already had most of the set-up finished for our movie night. That included having snacks set out in the
living room; pizzas cooking in the oven; and cold drink options available in
the kitchen. Rowen and Tim joined us
just a few minutes after I got there, so Michael and I didn’t have much time
for hugs and kisses; and then Rebecca and Lucas arrived together – in Lucas’
truck. For the record, he won’t be
sneaking up on anyone while driving it because it’s fairly loud and
distinct-sounding; so maybe his mother didn’t have a problem with that at
all. He definitely won’t be able to come
home late without her knowing it – unless he pushes it for the last half-mile
or so.
The first thing that I should do for this
part of my update is thank the guys for taking a night off from college
football. Rebecca, Rowen, and I know how
much of a sacrifice that was for you – especially when it meant missing out on
watching a few upset matches. It’s still
early in the season, though; and they’ll survive. We did still go with action movies instead of
chick flicks; so it wasn’t all bad for them.
All three boys were happy to start out the evening with pizza, and while
Lucas and Tim can pretty much eat all of the time; Michael’s motivation had
more to do with having a very early dinner break followed by hours of cleaning
in the kitchen. We – the girls – only had
a slice or two each, but that had nothing to do with watching or weight or
anything – we just weren’t as hungry as the boys were.
The entertainment picks were the new
Terminator movie and Jurassic World, and while the on-screen action was
entertaining; it was the cuddle time with Michael and chat time with our
friends that we loved the most. Tim and
Lucas both have a knack for movie commentary that’s fun too; and having Miranda
and Jacob join us for a while between getting home and heading up to bed was a
nice bonus. So was the sofa sleepover
with Michael, and we managed to set that up when Lucas, Rowen, and Tim all
needed to head home. After seeing Rowen
and Tim out, we offered to take care of the clean-up while Rebecca was busy
saying goodnight to Lucas. We were still
doing that when she went up to bed, and once the work was done; we went back
into the living room to snuggle on one of the sofas and spend some quality time
saying goodnight to each other with no intention of me actually going home
unless parental veto powers were invoked to put an end to our ‘accidental’
sleepover plans.
We are very lucky that our parents all
think that we’re so darned cute when we do fall asleep on the sofas. I woke up for a few moments when Miranda
checked in on us at a bit after three.
She wasn’t fooled for a second, but instead of sending us up to separate
bedrooms; she just took a picture; sent it to Mom; and advised me that she
loves me a lot and plans on making sure that Michael keeps me.
I love you too, Miranda; and don’t have a
problem with that plan. ;^)
Michael woke me up this morning with a
soft, tender kiss or three; I ran home to get changed for Tai Chi and had time
for a short round of teasing from Mom, Dad, Ethan, and Ehlana before he met up
with us by the river. It was a beautiful
morning for exercising outdoors, and that was the last bit of quiet we had for
the rest of the morning – except for prayer time at church. I hit the shower after our workout; got ready
for church; and headed over to Michael’s house for breakfast – and some more
teasing from Michael’s family. The
highlight of that meal was actually a video chat with Jake and Stephanie; live
from Europe. It was afternoon local time
for them, so breakfast chats do work for them; but I don’t get to be in on them
very often. They’re loving it in Europe,
and joke about staying there; but I also know that they really miss home too –
and they will be coming home next May – at least for a few months before they’ll
need to go back to New York for their final year of college.
While our gourmet breakfast was a highlight
of my day, it didn’t seem like very long before we needed to head over to the
church; and then Michael and I were busy with the service and then Sunday
school. I’m also going to mention that
Lucas did not drive his truck to church today; though I’m only mentioning that
to point out that he’s a bit brighter than the average teen when it comes to
personal finances. His parents may have
given him the truck, but the expenses are all his; and Lucas is not going to
spend money on gas when he doesn’t need to do that.
I did not work at the Inn today, so I
walked Michael to the Inn after church; hugged and kissed him goodbye; and then
went home to hang out with my family for the rest of the day. We had a small gang over for lunch; played
for a couple of hours on the river and at the park; and then Dad needed to get
some work done in the office. Mom,
Ethan, Ehlana, and I joined him there to either work on the family business or
study; and I did both so that I could get to bed early tonight. Michael came over for his afternoon break; he
did his homework while hanging out with us in the office too; and then I took a
break and went for a long walk with him that included Emporium ice cream treats
and a walk around the park on the paths.
We only had the five of us for dinner
tonight; Dad and I did some more work in the office after that; and then I came
up to my room for some Jacuzzi time at eight-thirty. I finished up my language study while in the
tub; did my hair and finished getting ready for bed; and I’ve been doing one
last computer and email check since getting into bed with Mandy and snuggling
in for the night.
Getting a decent night of rest is going to
help me out this week because we have a lot going on over the next seven
days. Michael’s birthday is on Tuesday;
Uncle Nick’s is on Wednesday; Mom and Dad’s fifth anniversary is on Friday –
along with the football game; and then they’re going to be away for the weekend
while Rowen and I are booked to babysit Ethan and Ehlana while they’re
gone. We’ll have adult back-up if needed
from Uncle Adam, Aunt Leanne, and Rowen’s parents; but I don’t expect to have
any problems. Having all of that going
on in addition to our already packed schedule is going to be tough – even when
it also means a lot of extra fun; so I’m going to sleep when I can – starting right
now.
Until next time...
...May the Magi Force be with you!
