It’s Friday night, and I’m going to be
sleeping a lot earlier than I expected; mostly because we wrapped up our dinner
and a movie night early – and Michael was ready to go home and get some sleep
instead of coming home with me after we left Uncle Mark and Aunt Grace’s
house. He’s working the breakfast shift
at the Inn, so he needs the rest too; but we do still seem to have our
priorities a bit messed up compared to a lot of our friends. I don’t need to check in with Rowen to know
that she’ll likely be staying up late with Tim tonight – though they don’t
start their Saturday work quite as early as Michael does.
We had another chilly start to the day, and
this time; it was definitely too cool for Tai Chi by the river. Staying indoors for that wasn’t as much fun;
though Michael and I did work on our Pushing Hands forms that we won’t likely
do very often outdoors – and definitely not at the faster speeds we can do them
at already. Michael didn’t stay for
breakfast, so it was just the five of us in the sunroom for that – and we didn’t
do anything special for that meal today.
Ehlana and I had some hair and dress-up play time after breakfast
because I wasn’t on the clean-up crew and had the time to do that with her; and
then I was off to school again. We didn’t
have anything particularly exciting happen at school today; though we did go
outside for part of our lunch break and the guys tossed a football around for a
while because Tim needs to do that whenever he gets the chance. Rowen and I did a bit of skipping with some
of the younger girls while our boys were playing; but that was just a cameo few
minutes of fun in a day that really wasn’t all that exciting.
Uncle Mark and Aunt Grace were hosting the
family and friends dinner and a movie night, but Mom and Aunt Leanne were
helping out with the dinner contributions; so Michael and I helped them out too
after we got home from school. We did
some kid control duty for a while too that lasted through until after dinner
when we were drafted for the clean-up crew, so while we didn’t get to spend a
lot of time with the adults in the house; we did get to have fun with my
brother, sister, cousins, and a handful of other kids – including Pastor John
and Stacey’s kids.
Since I’m thinking about them, let’s take a
tiny little side trip thanks to something that was mentioned during the
clean-up. Apparently, there are some
people even in our little town that get a bit weird about having our Pastors
and their family over for meals or play evenings with the top reasons for being
uncomfortable being concerns over things like serving adult beverages; use of ‘colorful’
language, or other social niceties. If
you’re reading this and might be like that with the current or future Pastors
in our church – get over yourself! ;^)
Jesus’ first miracle was turning water into
wine for a party. Our Pastors do not
have a problem with responsibly consuming adult beverages, and try not to be
shocked; but they even enjoy having a glass of wine or similar drink now and
then. I’d also like to remind you that
Pastor John and Stacey did mission work in some pretty tough places, so while I’m
not suggesting that anything goes when you’re hanging out with them; they also
are strong-enough to handle it if they hear a bad word or two slip out. Rumor even has it that Pastor John might have
even said a bad word once or twice over the years – or maybe even while helping
out with the work in the new sanctuary before Easter when hammer met thumb
instead of nail.
I’m just saying that our Pastors are human,
and if you like them as much as we do; it’s okay to treat them the same way you
treat the rest of your friends – and to be yourselves!
Getting back to the update, the play time
and dinner with the kids was fun for Michael and I; and I was really glad to
have that few hours to spend with my family when I really don’t get to do that
nearly enough – and that isn’t likely going to change anytime soon. The clean-up took a while, so we missed out
on the after dinner walk or outdoor play time; but then we gathered in the living
room for the movie part of our night.
There’s some irony in watching Minions with the Pastor and his family,
but the kids loved the show; and Pastor John and Stacey were just as
entertained as the rest of the parents in the room.
We also had a bunch of sleepy kids by the
end of the movie; which is why it was time for most of us to head home after
that. Michael walked home with me, and
we sat out on the front porch for a little while before saying goodnight in a
non-verbal way; but he didn’t come inside so that we wouldn’t be too tempted to
stay up late and watch another movie – or try for a sofa sleepover when we both
need to get the extra sleep when we can.
That isn’t very exciting, but it’s the way we are; and I’d like to think
that we’re doing pretty well – even if we’re boring compared to most teens our
age.
After coming inside, I had a long bedtime
chat with Ethan and Ehlana while getting them tucked in for the night; came up
to my room; and got ready for bed too.
Mandy and I have been cuddling while I’ve been doing my computer and
email checks; there was one bit of family business work that I finished up in
just a few minutes; and that brings us up to date for my day.
It’s been fun, but I really do want to get
off to sleep now; so, until next time...
...May the Magi Force be with you!
