I’m tired; so let’s try to keep this short
tonight – if that’s possible for a shopping day in the city update!
My day started early, and since I was awake
earlier than expected; I got ready for the day; headed over to the Inn; and
helped out with the prep work for the breakfast buffet. Jacob was happy for the extra help; and
spending that time with Michael was pretty good too. I did head out into the dining room when it
was time to join Mom, Ethan, and Ehlana for breakfast; and ended up at a table
with Rowen, the twins, Naomi, and Aiden while Mom was busy with Aunt Leanne and
some of the other Moms. That meal was a
blast of fun and good food; and then it was time to saddle up and hit the road
for the city!
Our group of shoppers was a bit smaller
than last year, but we still had more than one-hundred and forty adults, teens,
and kids in a total of thirty-two vehicles – including the teen drivers and
their friends’ groups. Rowen and I were
together, but we didn’t have our boyfriends with us today because Michael and
Tim both needed to work. The trip to
Crystal Springs wasn’t newsworthy, though Rowen and I had fun with Rebecca and
the rest of our travel buddies.
Once we were at the Mall, it was every
small group of shoppers for themselves as we fanned out and got started on the
hunt for best sales and back-to-school gear.
Rowen and I shopped together all day, but did that with different groups
– including an hour or so with Rebecca and Jenny. We spent more time with Mom, the twins, and
their group – including having lunch with them; and eventually being part of
the gang that went to Wal-Mart for a round of supply shopping that included
both school supplies and the normal supplies that we pick up whenever we’re in
the city.
News flash for me – Ethan and Ehlana were
being outfitted for going to school in September!
Okay, that isn’t news for me, but it was
more-real for me today; and it still somehow doesn’t seem possible that they’re
starting Kindergarten in just a bit over two weeks from now. That is particularly amusing when you
consider that they will be the only kids in their class being home-schooled as
they work on their Master’s degrees; but even teen Magi Masters have to deal
with normal, human perceptions like this.
Ethan and Ehlana are growing up on me; and I’ll just have to deal with
it!
Moving along, Rowen and I picked up about
three-quarters of our fall wardrobe; most of our school supplies; and a handful
or two of gifts that we’ll need over the next couple of months. We also had fun playing dress-up with Ehlana
and Naomi, but mostly tried to stay away from doing that with Ethan and Aiden;
since Aiden finds that a bit weird and usually ends up blushing a lot when we
do that. The two boys, by the way,
managed to survive the shopping trip without too much mental scarring; and
Ethan only has three new outfits that match Ehlana!
We headed over to Wal-Mart at three-thirty;
spent nearly two hours there; and then Dad met up with us after he was finished
for the day so that he could help out by hauling most of that stuff back home
in his truck. Dinner was fast food to
go; and we came straight home without stopping for any shopping in town. I helped Rebecca with getting her purchases
in the house; we both helped Mom and Dad with unloading the van and truck; and
then we headed over to the Inn to help out with the rest of the dinner-to-close
shift. By then, that mostly meant
helping with the clean-up; though Rebecca did that while working the dining
room while I worked with Michael in the kitchen.
That meant that we didn’t get to any of the
sales in town, but we’ll survive – and there’s always the holiday sales to
check out on the Labor Day weekend!
It was a bit after ten o’clock by the time
we closed the Inn; I went home with Michael so that we could have some cuddle
time before we needed to split up to get some sleep; and then I came home at a
bit after eleven. Mom, Dad, and the
twins were all in bed by then; so I only stopped in for kisses with Ethan and
Ehlana; and didn’t try to bother our parents.
Yes, that can get weird, but then I also always know when not to walk in
on them at a bad time! ;^)
Moving along – again; there isn’t actually
much more to report. I took care of
putting my new clothes away; got ready for bed; and only did a quick email and
computer check before getting to this update.
There wasn’t any family business work that couldn’t wait for tomorrow or
later; so I didn’t bother with doing anything extra tonight. We’re going to have a busy work weekend, but
I also have the baseball game tomorrow night; and Tim’s birthday is on
Sunday. Michael and I will have to work
on Sunday too, and while that won’t leave us much time to celebrate with Tim; we’ll
do the best we can to help make his special day a good one.
I will have weekend chores to get to in the
morning, and I’m pretty much just rambling now anyway; so let’s call it a
night. We’ve had a really good day; and
I especially loved getting to spend all of that time with Rowen. We haven’t been able to hang out as much as
normal this summer; and I’m glad that we’ll be able to do that more as we get
ready to go back to school over the next two weeks.
That’s news that I can write about as it
happens, though, and I really am ready to get some sleep now; so, until next
time...
...May the Magi Force be with you!
