Happy 15th Birthday, Marc!
I’m sure that it has been – especially when
it’s also his first with new girlfriend, Gretchen! Other than getting a gift to him, Michael and
I weren’t involved in his big day at all, and while that would have been fun;
we were also busy enough without the added bonus of a birthday party to fit
into our schedules today.
The highlight of the day for me was the
Christmas dinner at the Inn that Michael and I attended with my family. Dad and Aunt Leanne were hosting the dinner
and party that only included our families and the Nortons, and while we were
officially with that group; Aunt Grace was also hosting the BMR Labs Christmas
dinner with everyone really just one big happy group. Before I go there, though; let’s do a
micro-review of the rest of my day before the dinner party.
Tai Chi and breakfast were uneventful; I
spent the morning helping Mom out around the house; and then worked the lunch
shift at the Inn with Michael. I had the
afternoon off to play, and while Ethan, Ehlana, Michael, and I went outside for
a while; we spent most of Michael’s afternoon break in my room and lounge
playing video games and music. Michael
had to help with the dinner prep work at the Inn before getting to take the
rest of the evening off to spend with me; but our dinner didn’t start until
six-thirty anyway so that everyone could be there after finishing work for the
day. While Michael was busy with that,
Mom, Ehlana, and I had fun getting ourselves appropriately beautiful for the
occasion; though we stayed relatively casual with our clothing choices.
By the way, since I’m thinking about
clothes – and shoes; let’s do a quick side-trip about something that came up in
conversation today – heels and height.
I rarely think about it, but Michael and I –
and most of our friends – have either reached or are closing in on our adult
heights now. That’s becoming more
noticeable for me when I do wear heels; and it was a chat topic before dinner
tonight because I was taller than quite a few of my favorite women attending
the dinner. That shouldn’t be a surprise
to anyone, since I’m still about an inch shorter than Mom, but now that Michael’s
four inches taller than I am at five-eleven; adding an inch or two with heels
is an option that I wouldn’t have used when we were near the same height not
all that long ago. Maybe discovering
that I’m taller is only annoying because I’m still fourteen for another month
and a half or so, and that’ll be easier once I’m a bit older; but the issue was
entertaining for a while tonight – even if I was on the receiving end of most
of the jokes.
Getting back to the update, we were
wrapping up our mini makeovers when Dad got home; and we were ready to go by
the time he’d grabbed a shower and gotten changed – including having the gifts
ready to go for Claire and her family.
Aunt Leanne had a bunch of little gifts for the youngest kids at both
parties too; but I didn’t actually find out about that until we were at the
Inn. I met up with Michael in the
kitchen; he’d already freshened up and gotten changed; and then we joined the
gang in the dining room for the half-hour or so of socializing that we had time
for before sitting down to dinner. We
didn’t have the only Christmas dinner party of the night; but we were
collectively the largest group – mostly because Uncle Adam and Uncle Mark had
invited all of the med center staff too; though that was at least partly
because three-quarters of them had some involvement with the lab anyway.
I’m sure you can guess that Michael and I
were on kid control duty for the evening; and we had help with that from
Rebecca, Lucas, Emma, and Benjamin. The
bonus help was great, but it also meant that we weren’t at the same table with
any other teens so that we could have teen or older kid supervision at each kid
table. Michael and I had Zack, Brianna,
Leah, and Sebastian, and Caleb with us; though we had some parental support
when needed. To be blunt, Zack was
bribed to be good; and actually managed to get through the meal without any
major issues for us. It’s a bit scary
that he actually considers things like that while building his ‘public’ image,
but it is also fairly entertaining to watch him work on that as seriously as he
does – despite the fact that most of his current and future peers will not
remember much about their toddler years once they’re all older anyway.
Dinner was pre-selected so that Jacob and
Miranda could be ready for the big gang on a Tuesday night, and while Michael
and I went with one of the special offers; the rest of our dinner companions
went with fries, chicken strips, or baby food.
Brianna tried a bit of the pasta from my plate, and then ate more of it
than her own meal; but that still wasn’t very much because she was more
interested in everything that was going on around us than in eating – at least
until we got to the dessert stage and she wanted some ice cream and cheese
cake. That part of the meal time was
scary despite Zack being on his best behavior; and Michael and I spent as much
time feeding and cleaning kids as we did eating our own desserts.
I’d have needed to apologize to Uncle Adam
and Aunt Leanne for winding their kids up on sugar and sending them home after
dinner, but that ended up being our problem anyway because Zack and Brianna
wanted to come to our house after we wrapped things up at the Inn instead of
going over to the bigger party at Uncle Mark and Aunt Grace’s house. Uncle Adam and Aunt Leanne left them with us
to make an appearance at the other party first too; and then wrapped up their
night at our house with the rest of the adults in the living room. I hosted the kids and teens in the lounge;
the boys played video games for an hour or so; and then we wrapped up our
mini-party with a Christmas movie that helped to get most of the kids wound
down and ready to sleep by the time their parents collected them and took them
home for the night.
All of that was still fun for us; and
Michael and I especially loved getting to hang out with Rebecca and Lucas –
even if we were also busy keeping up with the rest of the kids. Rebecca actually ended up going home with
Lucas for the night, and while I was tempted to keep Michael too; we didn’t do
that because we’d already booked a sleepover for tomorrow night that Ethan and
Ehlana will have their best friends doing too so that we can spend the time
with them ahead of the holiday weekend.
The Nortons were the last to leave at a bit before midnight, and while
that was really late for them when Karl, Lucas, and Benjamin are used to being
up very early; they really don’t get to enjoy parties very often – especially when
they also have a teen designated driver available for the ride home. Michael stayed to help with the post-party
clean-up; we took care of getting Ethan and Ehlana tucked in for the night; and
then he headed home while I came up to my room again and got ready for bed.
Yes, there were a few goodnight kisses and
hugs before he left, but Dad had a bit of work to do in the office, and Mom was
still busy in the kitchen then; so there wasn’t an opportunity for any make-out
sessions tonight. I’ll see what I can do
about making that up to Michael tomorrow night! ;^)
I’ve had a bit of family business work to
deal with since getting into bed with Mandy and my computer, but no studying to
do this week while we take a break from Magi lessons and I’m ready to move on
to my next language in the New Year. The
computer and email checks took a while; but I have all of that finished now
too. Sleep is next up on my to-do list,
and I am so ready to go there now; so let’s wrap this up with my Christmas song
pick for today and call it a night.
I’ve already mentioned that one of my
favorite Christmas albums for this year is a praise and worship album from
Chris Tomlin. Here’s another song that
we’re using at our church; and I hope that you enjoy it as much as we have been
over the past few weeks.
Until next time...
...May the Magi Force be with you!
