The storm left behind a messy blend of ice
and snow that we spent some of the day dealing with – or all of it for the
people working to get the roads cleared and the other storm-related issues
dealt with.
While the adults were stuck working all day
– even the retired members of our little town like Grandpa; Michael and I were
among the kids and teens that also got to have some play time today too. It’s gotten a bit colder since the storm, and
while I’ve been okay with temperatures in the sixties and seventies in December;
the sub-freezing temperature will keep the snow around with us for at least a
couple of days – and that’s nearly as good as a winter weekend away before
returning to warmer weather back at home.
No, I haven’t been able to do that here; but Mom and I have lived other
places that were mostly-warm in the winters so I do remember what that’s like.
Snow and ice was big news around town
today, and getting to play in the snow – even though it was fairly messy – was fun;
but my top story of the day is actually about the surprise that some of our
parents sprang on us today after getting together and setting it up for
us. We’re doing a ski trip to Blue Ridge
Ski Center tomorrow, and not only are Mom and Dad taking us; but we have a
group of parents going along – including Jacob and Miranda! We’re also doing some sleepovers, including the
one at our house; so that’s made for a fun night too – though we aren’t staying
up too late ahead of the early-morning start we’ll be having for our little
snow adventure trip. I’m not even going
to have a sofa sleepover with Michel tonight – though that has been very
tempting.
Since Rowen and I really do need to get to
sleep soon, though; I’d better speed up this report so that I can pack up my
computer and we can do that.
Tai Chi was out today; Michael and I spent
an hour or so before breakfast clearing and salting driveways and sidewalks; we
split up to eat; and then we spent more than another hour and a half finishing
up the snow and ice clearing work before splitting up again to hit the showers
and get ready for a play day. The hills
were a bit too icy, and we needed to be very careful; but we took Ethan,
Ehlana, Naomi, and Aiden tobogganing on the ridge with help from Rowen and
Tim. We hung out with other kids and
teens too – including all of Michael’s younger cousins; so we helped out with
Sophia and Ryan so that Jessica could spend more time with her friends – and with
us when she wanted to do that too.
We had the usual gang back at my house for
lunch, and Mom had already whipped up two soup options to go along with hot
drinks, bakery buns, and various meats and cheeses options for our mini
subs. In hindsight, I know that Mom had
been working on our surprise by then, but it hadn’t been finalized; and we didn’t
hear about the plans until dinnertime – and we were at different houses when
getting that news. Our afternoon
included more sledding and outdoor fun; a warm-up break back at my house; and
one more, shorter blast of fun before we’d had enough for the day and split up
to head home.
Michael and I were at my house for dinner,
and while there weren’t extra kids; we did have Jacob and Miranda with us – to help
with springing that surprise as well as contributing to the dinner food
options. Rebecca was having dinner with
Lucas; but that was negotiated with his parents because all three of the Norton
kids are staying with Rebecca at her house tonight – and they’re going on the
trip with us tomorrow. That’s why Naomi
and Aiden were home for dinner tonight too – to spend time with their own
families ahead of their sleepover and snow adventure with us. While we’d missed out on most of the work
after our blast of action this morning, we did not get out of the dinner
clean-up; and didn’t have a problem with that after getting the surprise
dropped on us shortly after we sat down to enjoy that meal in the sunroom.
It was seven-thirty or so when we had that
work done; Michael went home to pack an overnight bag and everything he’d need
for tomorrow; and I got the lounge set up for teen and kid entertainment. Mom and Dad both had work to do tonight to
start making up for the day off tomorrow, so they worked in the office; and let
me host our kid and teen guests. The
boys had been stuck with chick flick movies a few times leading up to
Christmas, so I gave them a break from that; and watching college bowl games
and video gaming were the television options tonight. Tim was okay with multi-tasking that; and
Michael, Ethan, and Aiden pretty much went along with him as they played games
in between the main action for the football game.
The twins and their friends were ordered to
bed by ten o’clock; we had until eleven to wrap up the teen fun and clean up;
and Rowen and I have been in my room with Mandy since splitting up for a while
to say goodnight to our respective boyfriends before they went on to their own
rooms. Violet and Dillon were out
tonight, and aren’t back yet; but they will be here tonight eventually. Last I heard, they hadn’t decided whether to
go with us tomorrow or not; but that might have more to do with Dillon wanting
to work at the lab and make extra money while he can before heading back to
school in January. I’ll let you know
about that with the next update; but I guess that really is just about all I
have for you tonight.
My bedtime computing has just been the
basics; there wasn’t any major family business work that can’t wait until
tomorrow night or Thursday; and I might even be sleeping before midnight if I
hurry up and get to that napping. We’ve
had a really good day, and I have a feeling that tomorrow is going to
awesome. It’s probably too much to ask
for temperatures in the sixties and seventies to return for January and
February, but that will be a fun thought to take into dreamland – as long as
Michael has a starring role too; so, until next time...
...May the Magi Force be with you!
