Let’s keep this update short. I have a bus to catch in a few hours; and
really don’t want to be late for it!
The band trip was the only news of the day
for all of us going on the trip – including the teachers and other adult
chaperones. My morning included a last
review of the parent and student information for the trip while we had
breakfast. While a lot of parents might
have been doing that this morning, my review included the latest information
that Mom and Dad had from the Magi council and my ‘special’ chaperones. We don’t expect or sense any imminent risks,
but they all want to be prepared in case anything does happen; and I don’t mind
the bits of inconvenience when the benefits of having so many people caring
about me more than makes up for the downside of getting more adult attention
than the other teens will have while we’re in Florida.
Our school day was all about wrapping up
the week ahead of our imminent travel adventure. In most classes, we were allowed to do prep
work or research for our trip assignments; though most of my classmates were
more interested in goofing off than studying.
I can’t blame them, but for those of us who did work today; we really
won’t have all that much to do next week.
All Michael, Rowen, Tim, and I have left to get done is the parts of the
assignments that we have to experience first before doing the work – whether that’s
doing the math for one or more extreme rides, writing a story about our trip,
or learning all about animals, sea creatures, or other sciences while we’re at
Disney, Cape Canaveral, or Sea World.
I’m supposed to be making this quick; so
let’s move along. Michael and I were two
of the volunteers helping out after school with getting the band equipment bus
loaded and ready to go so we don’t have to do that before we leave in the
morning. That might sound crazy to teens
in big cities, but we don’t have to worry about having the bus or equipment
stolen around here; and it did take nearly an hour to get everything onto the
bus. Michael and I needed to get to the
Inn after that to help out with the dinner prep work; and then we kept busy
through until we closed the Inn at a bit after ten o’clock. We were able to have a decent dinner break,
but that was only because we had all of the teens working tonight while all of
the adults except for Jacob and Miranda had the night off before starting their
seven days of extra work while we’re away.
I should mention more about that plan,
since Michael’s parents are paying more for their workers next week so that
Michael and Rebecca – and the rest of us – can go on the trip. Yes, their full-time staff got extra time off
over the past two weeks, but they still have to pay overtime for everyone next
week – and almost all of the adults will be working between fifty and sixty
hours to make up for the ‘Absent-With-Leave’ teens. While we’ve had a lot of help from everyone
to make this trip possible, the business owners and a lot of the farmers are
due extra recognition for their contributions – especially when they’ll all be
working harder this weekend and next week while we’re playing and having fun.
Okay, with that done; let’s wrap this up.
I stopped in at Michael’s house for a short
visit and to say goodbye to his parents before coming home. Mom, Dad, and the twins were all still awake;
we did the bedtime snack, drinks, and chat in my room while I finished my
packing; and then Mandy and I were left alone so that I could do a micro
bedtime computer and email check and this update before heading off to nap
mode. There was no email news; all was
clear for my Hathorne Industries check – at least when it comes to any hint
that they’ll be in Florida next week; and there was no new family business work
to deal with.
We won’t need to leave quite as early as we
did on our last trip to Florida, but that’s only because we also won’t be in
Orlando by lunchtime either. I do still
need to be up again in a few hours, though; don’t have anything else to add to
this report; and want to be as rested as possible ahead of our big travel day;
so, until next time...
...May the Magi Force be with you!
