The last hour of the month is winding down
fast as I begin writing this report, and with it; the end of our summer
holidays truly feels imminent.
As I think about that, I’m not at all sad
about getting started on our school year.
There is a lot to look forward to with the start of our third year of
high school. Having Ethan and Ehlana at
the school with us when they’re in Kindergarten in the mornings won’t really
affect me much, but I am glad that we’ll be at the school at the same time for
a couple of years before I head off to college.
What I’m really looking forward to with getting back to school is
getting to spend time with Rowen and Tim every day again – and the rest of our
friends. Sure, that’s been better since
football and cheerleading camps started, but we’re all still too busy doing our
own things with work and other commitments to spend much extra time
together. Next week, we’ll have classes
together every day; homework to do together whenever we can; and, hopefully,
more chances to hang out together when we’re not all too busy to do that. I’ll still have a crowded schedule, but need
to work on that too; so we’ll see what I can do about making a bit more time
for having fun with Michael and our friends this year.
Don’t laugh – it could happen! ;^)
Okay, I don’t want to be awake doing this
for long; so let’s get to the news of the day.
We’ve had a decent weather day, and while
we did have a sprinkle or two of rain and a couple of cloudy hours this morning
and afternoon; it was a nice summer day for outdoor fun. For me, that included Tai Chi by the river;
cheerleading practice all morning; and a play and work afternoon. I don’t have anything newsworthy to write
about from the home and cheerleading time, but we had our lunch break with
Uncle Mark, Aunt Grace, and the kids; brought the food with us; and had a nice
visit that included getting to have some cuddle time with Faith while her Mom and
Dad got to enjoy another catered meal. I
do mean that about catered meals; and their family and friends have been taking
turns do that for them this week. That
has the added bonus of keeping the visits to small groups that are spread out a
bit; while still giving them time without gangs of visitors around.
That has partially ended today, since
Grandma Mercy and Grandpa Duncan are here now; and will be staying through the
holiday weekend. I haven’t seen them
yet, but they were on the way here by lunchtime; and would’ve been here in time
for dinner. My baseball practice was the
main reason why I didn’t see them; though they didn’t go to the park to watch
the co-ed practice either because they got to babysit Faith instead while Uncle
Mark went to that practice; took Caleb with him; and they all let Aunt Grace
have a nap that she needed a lot by then.
I’m not skipping the afternoon news; so let’s
back up and cover that. Mom and I took
care of the lunch clean-up at the Everett’s house; we rounded up some cousins
and friends on the way home; and then I split my afternoon between helping Mom
with kid control and chores. We now know
for sure that most of the out-of-town Proctor and Rice clans will be here for
sure for the weekend; and we get the Rice family at our house while Uncle Adam
and Aunt Leanne take the Proctors so they’ll be next door to Faith.
By the way, I’m sure that the Everetts will
be in for an entire series of jokes that will be centered around having Grace
and Faith in their family and home – not to mention that they’ll have Mercy too
whenever Grandma’s in the house! I love
it that they’re carrying on that tradition for daughters that goes back
generations with Grandma Mercy’s side of the family.
Moving along, we played at the park for an
hour; went for a swim after that; and then I helped about half of the kids to
play in the gardens with me to help with getting them ready for the
weekend. That was mostly some weeding
and watering the plants; with the watering part of the job turning into a water
fight that also helped with hosing the kids down after they got dirty from the
work. We went for another swim after
that; the kids had a snacks and drinks break in the sunroom; and I helped out
with making dinner while Ethan and Ehlana took care of entertaining our cousins
with help from Naomi and Aiden. We kept
most of the kids for dinner; I helped out with kid control while we ate and
then took care of the clean-up; and then it was time to split up for our
baseball practices at the school and park.
Rowen picked me up for that; we had a long
final practice with our team; and then we met up with Michael and Tim at the
park; brought a handful of kids home with us; and went swimming while Mom and
Dad went to Sheldon’s for a drink with some of their team mates and other friends. For all of the parents of the kids we had
with us, that really was just for one drink and a bit of fun; and then they
came back here and either collected their kids and went home or went into the
office and got started on their work homework.
Ehlana and Ethan kept Naomi and Aiden, but they also went to bed then –
though they all hung out in Ehlana’s room for a while first.
Tim and Rowen went home to her house then
too, but Michael stayed for a while; and we had a minor make-out session in the
lounge before he needed to go home and get some sleep. I really wanted to keep him tonight, but
needed to do some family business work instead; and picked being responsible
over having fun.
That just proves that a Magi Master can be
both brilliant and an idiot! ;^)
Let’s not dwell on that; or I’ll be tempted
to sneak down the back stairs and over to Michael’s house.
After I saw Michael out, I came up to my
room and got ready for bed – starting with a soak in my Jacuzzi. The only way to do that and all of the work
without staying awake most of the night was to use a time phase; so I did that
and multi-tasked the tub time with the family business work. That is always tough to do after a long, busy
day, but I did get the work done; and will still be sleeping before September
starts – if I don’t drone on while writing this update.
I can skip the non-news that I haven’t
written about yet and don’t need to take another look at the near-future when
you can flip a digital page to find out what happens next as you read this in
my more-distant future; so I guess that I can wrap this up right now and head
off to dreamland.
Hopefully our September will be as much fun
as August has been – though I’d be okay if we can do that with a bit less work –
as unlikely as that suggestion is for becoming a reality in my life. No work or even being conscious is an option
for my immediate future, though, and I’m ready to go there; so, until next
time...
...May the Magi Force be with you!
