Waking up to below-freezing temperatures
felt wintry even without any snow, and we had a very Christmassy sort of last
day of school; but the rest of my day wasn’t exactly the most exciting start
ever-so-far to my Christmas holidays.
Tai Chi this morning was good, and so was
breakfast for five with Mom, Michael, Ethan, and Ehlana; so my day did get off
to a great start. Most collegians might
not think that their day was very good to write two final exams in one morning;
but I’m sure that Ethan and Ehlana did have fun as they wrapped up their
unofficial fourth year of college and earned their Bachelor’s Degrees while I
mostly played at school until we were set free for the next two weeks with the
usual, customary early release. The movies
and class party was great; but most of the rest of my day has been all about
working with only the entertainment that goes along with helping out at the Inn
and at home adding any holiday fun to the mix.
Michael and I took a break between school
and helping out with the dinner rush at the Inn, but it’s an all-hands-on-deck
weekend; so full days off are not an option for Michael. They won’t be for Rowen either as she helps
out with the Christmas rush between now and next Thursday; so Tim’s putting in
extra time at the shop too. They’re
busy-enough with the extra auto servicing and winter tune-ups right now; but
that really just helps to keep all of the mechanics busy while they have less
work to do for the farms during the winter.
Lack of work won’t be a problem at the Inn through until the New Year;
and we had a full house in the dining room tonight as the Christmas parties
began in earnest.
I was happy to help out with that, and
spend the time with Michael, Rebecca, Jenny, and the rest of the gang working
the Inn tonight; but I did have to trade that off with missing out on the
family meal and the early evening parts of the dinner and holiday cooking night
that Mom and Dad hosted tonight. Okay,
Mom hosted it on her own until Dad got home from the city, and he missed the
dinner too; but our house was home base for the cooking this time so that Aunt
Leanne didn’t have to deal with that extra work along with everything else she
has on the go right now – including dealing with some extra property closings
and rental moves that her customers all want to have done in time for Christmas
or year-end.
Compared to that kind of wheeling and
dealing, or Dad’s lawyer work; helping out on the prep line or washing dishes
at the Inn is easy. Don’ take that the
wrong way, since most of the jobs at the Inn are physically challenging, and
working the dining room comes with a whole host of issues; but I also don’t
think of my work there the way I do about my family business job. Maybe I would if Michael and I could do that
work using our Magi gifts, but that isn’t ever going to happen; so let’s not go
there – especially after a night where we’ve washed a lot of dishes the
old-fashioned way – with industrial-size dishwashers! ;^)
That’s really only half-true, by the way;
since we scrub a lot of the cookware by hand; but I don’t really want to go
there right now either.
I helped out at the Inn until the major
dinner rush was finished, and then I came home to help out with the cooking
there. Spending that time with Dad, my
aunts, uncles, and cousins was great too; so I really loved being home for that
– even if we did do a lot of work too.
Michael stayed at the Inn until close, and he’s working the breakfast
buffet that Jacob and Miranda are offering tomorrow; so he didn’t come over
after work tonight. That’s too bad for
us, and made sure that our Christmas vacation didn’t begin with any kind of
make-out time; but that trade-off is so that he doesn’t work until close
tomorrow night – and can instead help out at my house with our babysitting
services instead.
We are going to have quite a gang of kids
here for that, so I’d better wrap this up and get all of the sleep I can to be
ready for another long day.
The cooking wrapped up at around ten o’clock;
though the oven was in use until the last batch of baked dishes was finished at
ten-thirty. Our cooking helpers were all
at their own homes by then; I had the twins in bed; and I was in my Jacuzzi
before Mom or Dad took care of that last batch of cooking. My tub time was relatively short, so I was in
bed with Mandy and my computer by about a quarter-past eleven. I’ve only done my basic bedtime computer and
email checks before starting this report; so I’ll be in nap mode before
midnight for sure. I don’t have any news
from around the family or elsewhere; so all that’s left for this update is my
Christmas song choice for the day.
My cousins watched the Holly and Hal Moose
Christmas show tonight, and it’s becoming an annual favorite for lots of kids
around here, so while this song isn’t really very Christmassy at all; I’ll
include it in the list again this year for my favorite siblings, cousins, and
their friends.
Maybe Michael and I should have done this
song for our duet at the Christmas concert this year! Moose antlers would have been easy, and while
Mom probably wouldn’t let me make Michael fly too; it still could have been
fun.
There’s always next year! ;^)
That is all I have for tonight, and I really
will need to be at full power to keep up with a gang of kids tomorrow night;
so, until next time...
...May the Magi Force be with you!
