It’s been an eventful day since my last
update, and it’s also getting really late; so let’s get right to the news!
After getting back to our play time last
night, the video gaming in progress had heated up while I was busy with Faith;
so the boys had to finish that fun over the next half-hour or so before we
could start the next movie. I didn’t get
to watch a lot of that show because I had to take care of getting other kids
tucked in after they fell asleep. I won’t
mess with the reputations of any of the guys by naming names; but Brianna,
Leah, and Hailey were all sleeping before the end of that show. There was a bedtime snack for the kids that
were still awake; more play time; and a minor battle to get the more-stubborn
toddlers to go to bed and stay there that lasted until after-one; and then we
had time to do a clean-up and have some couples’ quiet time until Mom and Dad
got home from the pub. Faith and Brianna
both woke up once for different needs; Michael and I ended up with Brianna for
a bonus cuddle buddy through until Mom put her to bed again; and Rowen and Tim
had Faith with them for more than a half hour before she was ready to be tucked
in again. We all went to bed after that,
since we were down to just hours left for sleeping before we’d need to be up
and getting the gang of kids going again; and Rowen was with me for the night
because of the lack of extra available guest rooms.
Morning came too early; we had our Tai Chi
workout with extra exercise buddies; and then it was a bit of a nuthouse for
the next few hours as we cooked dinner for the gang; cleaned up; got everyone
ready for church; and then needed help to get all of the kids to the church on
time. Oh, and I almost forgot that the
driveway, sidewalks, and vehicles all needed to be cleared of an inch of
snow. It was also really, really cold
out this morning; which is why walking to church wasn’t an option with all of
the kids. I am happy about getting a bit
of snow, but we might not have it around for long; since it’s going to warm up
over the next few days and a white Christmas might not be possible for us this
year.
Most of the teens had a very busy couple of
hours at the church; and it was even busier for the teen praise team because we
also had a ‘teaser’ medley to sing during the service to get everyone fired up
about the Christmas show. During Sunday
school, we finished up the work on the sets and costumes; though Michael and I
weren’t on the crew that did the sanctuary set-up this afternoon while we were
busy at the Inn. The lunchtime shift
there was busy, but we had more fun today thanks to having Jake and Stephanie
there with us. Michael and I didn’t get
to spend much time with Stephanie, but we did talk with Jake quite a bit while
we worked together; and it is really great to have them back for Christmas this
year – especially when they couldn’t be home last year while at school in
Europe.
There wasn’t an extended afternoon break
for anyone today because the buffet sittings were being done early – at three
and five o’clock. Michael and I worked
until six; went straight to the church; and we both got ready for the show
there while also dealing with things like our praise team warm-ups and
everything else we needed to do before the show started at seven-thirty. I haven’t written about it before now, but
want to mention that I really love what Stacey came up with this year for our
annual Christmas show. While we usually
tell the Christmas story through the music and skits, Stacey comes up with
great ideas for how to do that and make it fresh each year. I don’t want to write much about the show
details, but that’s only because Michael and I were center-stage a lot this
year; and that would just feel like bragging when all that is really important
is the message.
I will add my Christmas music video picks
of the day here, though; since they are three of my favorite songs from the
show tonight. They’re all Stacey’s
picks; she adapted the first one – Only Hope – a bit to fit the story and skit
from a Mary and Joseph perspective; and the third song, The Heart of Christmas,
was our show-closing song – and had the bonus of being written for one of my
favorite Hallmark Christmas movies! They
were three of the music highlights for most of the congregation too; so I hope
you enjoy watching these videos while I wrap up this report.
Our Christmas show was about an hour and a
quarter of non-stop fun; we followed that up with a social hour in the
reception hall; and Michael and I only stayed for a half-hour or so of that
before heading over to the Inn to help with the rest of the clean-up and set-up
to get everything ready for the morning opening there. Since that last buffet had been sold out;
there had still been a lot of work to get done; we didn’t have a lot of help;
and it took until a bit after eleven to get all of the work finished before we
could head home for the night. I went
home with Michael; we had a visit and wind-down break with his parents,
brother, and sisters; and then I came home by a bit before midnight.
Everyone in my family was in bed by then;
not everyone was sleeping; and we don’t need to write about what my parents
might have been doing instead. I was in
need of some quality Jacuzzi time by then, so after stopping in for bedtime
kisses with my sleeping brother and sister; I started my work and study time by
multi-tasking the soak in the tub with the work – while also in a time
phase. I couldn’t do all of my work or
studying while in the time phase, but I did do a lot of it that way; added an
hour of work in real time; and that’s the only reason why I have a bit of time
left to actually get some sleep before I’ll need to be up and going again.
Even though there was a bit too much work
to go along with the fun, it’s been an amazing, remember-forever kind of day;
and I am really looking forward to our last week of school before the Christmas
break – and the fun we’ll have between now and Christmas! There are only seven more sleeps to
Christmas, and this first one will be more a nap than a sleep; so I should
really get started on it instead of rambling on with a look ahead.
Yes, I know that you can flip digital pages
and read ahead anyway, but I still think of things like that in terms of living
my life in real time; so I’ll do that – and look forward to the family and
friends fun and excitement ahead of me.
Napping is next on my to-do list, though; so, until next time...
...May the Magi Force be with you!
