It’s been quite a day around here! Tai Chi by the river, while fairly chilly
again, was also the happy quiet before life got very busy for me during the
rest of the day.
I’m including our breakfast break for that
because I also needed extra time to get ready for the day, so between that and
helping out with the work before and after we ate meant that I was more than a
little rushed to get everything done in time to meet up with Michael, Rebecca,
and Rowen for the walk to school.
My morning there didn’t slow down at
all. Michael and I did a practice with
one of the primary classes; we helped out with getting things set up in the
church hall for the band and Christmas party for the seniors; and still even
managed to make it to parts of two of our regularly scheduled classes. Our lunch break was shortened so that we
could again be available for the band; we were back at the church early for a
warm-up; and then we were kept busy entertaining many of our favorite seniors
for the next couple of hours. That was a
blast of musical holiday fun; and I can once again humbly report that the duet
that Michael and I were asked to sing and play at the party was one of the hits
of the day with our audience. Michael
took some heat from the guys for making all of the girls cry during the song;
but at least that happened for all of the right reasons.
While I’m thinking about that; thanks,
Grandpa Grant! I am so glad that you
married Grandma Eleanor after she advised Michael that she’d have waited for
him if he’d been singing to her like that before she was already married to
you. I’d be crushed if she was available
and Michael ran off and married her sometime after we graduate from high school
or college. ;^)
Moving along, our day didn’t slow down at
all after the party ended. We had to
pack up and haul the gear back over to the school music room; and then Michael
and I needed to get home to my house to help out with the dinner prep work for
the dinner and movie night that Mom and Dad hosted tonight. We also needed to get ready for the school
Christmas dance; so we split up to do that once Mom had some kitchen help
arrive after my aunts were finished work for the day. Dinner was delayed because Uncle Adam, Uncle
Mark, and Aunt Deborah were delayed at the med center with last-minute
walk-ins; so Michael and I ended up eating on-time in the sunroom so that we
could be done in time to get to the school early and help out with some of the
work for the dance.
We haven’t done that much so far because of
everything else we’ve always had on the go; so we were overdue to take a
turn. Rowen and Tim met up with us to do
that, so we had fun with them; but we were also ready to enjoy the party once
the dance started – with our top priority at that moment being getting drinks
and sitting down to chat with our friends and catch our breath for a little
while. Those cameo moments of
comparative calm were really nice, but my favorite parts of the dance tonight
were every moment I spent dancing with Michael and two karaoke songs that we
were badgered into singing by Rebecca, Rowen, and some of our friends. We sang one Christmas song and one country
ballad; both went over well-enough with our audience; and we had fun with it
even though I’d have been good with not being in the spotlight at all tonight.
That, by the way, isn’t because I’m shy;
which I’m sure that anyone reading this in the future who knows me too knows
very well. I just prefer not to be the
center of attention most of the time; so getting so much attention between the
seniors’ party this afternoon and the dance tonight just felt a bit
uncomfortable. Those feelings don’t
exactly match up with some of the things I do – like cheerleading or taking
lead roles in Christmas musicals; but that doesn’t change the fact that I do
often feel that way.
Moving along, Michael and I had a really
great night at the dance; we stayed to help with the clean-up as the dance
wrapped up; and that’s why we were among the last teens to leave the school and
head home. Michael walked me home, but we
took care of our goodnight hugs and kisses on the front porch before he
continued on to his house instead of coming in for what would have likely ended
up being a sofa sleepover. We have an
ulterior motive for not doing that; but I’ll save that news for tomorrow – if the
plans we talked about tonight get the appropriate parental approvals in the
morning.
I missed most of the dinner and movie night
at my house; and that included the arrival of incoming collegians. Violet and Dillon are home and with us; but
they were also asleep by the time I got home from the dance. That didn’t surprise me, since they did have
exams to write today before packing up and hitting the road for home. They’re here in Witch Falls this weekend
because Isabelle and Andrew are home now too; and they decided to hang out with
us while waiting for Martin and Dawn to finish school next Friday. They’ll likely head for Woodvale next
Thursday or Friday; and then I’m not sure when they’ll be back with us. That might even depend more on whether they
want to put in some extra work time at the lab over the holidays to make some
extra money or not. They do have ongoing
part-time jobs with the family business now; but that isn’t the same for Dillon
as working in the lab with Uncle Adam – and Ehlana when she can be there too.
Mom and Dad were in bed when I got home
too, but Mom came out to say goodnight to me while I was between stopping in to
give Ethan and Ehlana goodnight kisses – which is also when I found out that
they had Naomi and Aiden spending the night with them. That had me wishing more than a little that I’d
kept Michael for the night too; but let’s not go there or I might be tempted to
sneak over to his house and stay there – or bring him back home with me. Mom and I had a micro chat while I was
between Ehlana’s and Ethan’s rooms; I stopped in to see the boys; and then came
up to my room and quickly got ready for bed.
There was a bit of family business work to
deal with through my email; a couple of cousin emails to read and answer from
Dawn and Jaimie; and then I did a quick computer check before starting to write
this update. Now it’s time to wrap this
up and get some sleep so that I’ll be ready for the Maple Valley parade in the
morning – and the tentative teen plans we have for tomorrow night if we get
that approved. My Christmas song pick
for tonight is from another Hallmark movie – this one my favorite musical
version of ‘A Christmas Carol’. I’m not
sure if this is the only Hallmark romance movie that doesn’t have a happy
ending for the lead couple; but then I suppose there wouldn’t have been any
need for the ghostly visits if Scrooge had chosen to live happily ever after
with the love of his life.
Until next time...
...May the Magi Force be with you!
