Happy 17th Birthday, Chris!
We basically had no involvement in his
birthday, and he was away most of the weekend with some friends, but we did
send a gift for him up to Woodvale; and Mom, Dad, Ethan, and Ehlana had a nice
chat with Uncle Rick, Aunt Melissa, and Dawn later this afternoon that he and
Martin weren’t back home yet to join in on.
I was at the Inn while that was happening; but I’ll get to that in a
bit.
First up today was Tai Chi for one, and
though it was cold out; I went outside to do that anyway to enjoy the beautiful
pre-dawn morning. Breakfast with the
Emersons was as entertaining as always, and after doing that with them twice in
one week; I’ve been reminded that I need to spend more time with Rowen’s
parents than I have been lately. As
usual, I’ll have to add that to the list of things that I don’t have enough
time for; but maybe I’ll get a few of those items crossed off now and then too –
or not.
While not seeing Michael all day on
Saturday was strange because I knew he wasn’t in town, it was different today
starting with going to church and being there without him. I didn’t get to hold his hand during the
service or Sunday school; there were no boyfriend hugs and kisses; and I didn’t
walk him to the Inn after the service on my way home either. Mom and Dad didn’t plan our afternoon play
adventure because I was missing Michael, but I’m glad that they did set it up;
because it really helped me a lot with that – and helped Rowen too.
I don’t know why we haven’t done it before
now, but we went out to a farm that wasn’t far from the highway and about ten
miles this side of Meadowvale to pick our own pumpkins at their pumpkin
patch. ‘We’ included my family, my
uncles, Aunt Leanne, Leah, Zack, Rowen, Aiden, and Naomi. Aunt Grace and Aunt Deborah were ordered to
stay home due to the advanced stage of their pregnancies; but we brought back
special treats for them to help make up for that – not that they weren’t okay
with the quiet time anyway.
Speaking of pregnancies, I’m overdue for an
update on that; so let’s digress for a moment and do that.
Aunt Deborah can pretty much switch her
countdown to due date in weeks or days now; since she barely has a month left
to go for that. Aunt Grace is due a week
or so after that; though she’s been making some jokes about going first or
trading due dates with Aunt Deborah.
Both sets of Moms and babies are doing just fine, and while we’re all
looking forward to the new additions to our family; the big issue with both of
my aunts over the next few weeks is going to be getting ready for each of them
to be off work for a while at the lab and clinic respectively. For Aunt Deborah, those plans are pretty much
the same as they were for when she was off work with Leah; though having two
doctors will help too. Mom’s going to
help out at the lab; but most people won’t know that. In that case, Uncle Adam will ‘officially’ be
in charge of everything while Aunt Grace is off; and she plans on continuing to
work part-time or from home starting sometime in January.
Okay, back to the pumpkin patch!
We had separate lunches; met up at our
house; and then had a mini-convoy out to the farm. In addition to the pumpkin picking, there was
also a seasonal shop that was a fall produce and Halloween version of the
Christmas tree farm store; so there was more to do that just pick out a handful
of pumpkins. There was also a hayride
out to the pumpkin patch and back; and that was a lot the same as the Christmas
tree farm too. The two places aren’t
that far apart, and though I have no idea whether the owners of the two places
know each other; there is a good chance that one of them got the idea for their
business from the other.
The hayride and pumpkin picking came first;
we picked up some pies, bags of apples, jugs of apple cider, and a few other
treats at the little store before heading home again; and Rowen and I had a lot
of fun with Ethan, Ehlana, and the other kids.
The Dads in our group also got some awesome pictures too – including some
of my personal favorites – like the one of Zack and Leah ‘riding’ a giant
pumpkin that was on display outside of the store. Some of us needed to be home in decent time
for other commitments, and though I hadn’t really planned on helping out at the
Inn tonight, I called over there to see if Michael was home yet, and after
finding out that he wasn’t going to be back until after dinner sometime and
they were also very busy and short-handed; I decided to surprise Miranda and
show up to give her a hand.
I love you too, Miranda; and you’re welcome
again! ;^)
That meant missing out on some fun at home
and dinner with Mom, Dad, the twins, Aiden, Naomi, and their families; but Mom
did save me a slice of pie that I got around to having after getting home from
the Inn and a little visit with Michael at his house after we closed the Inn
for the night.
While Miranda was happy to have me there, I
didn’t actually spend much time with her because she was too busy in the dining
room. I did get to hang out with
Rebecca, though; and we had a blast even while working hard to first get the
food cooked and out to the buffet tables; and then help with the clean-up and
dishwashing. I also got to here all of
the latest teen news – including about the double date that Rebecca and Jen did
with their boyfriends on Saturday night – though that was just dinner and a
movie night at Rebecca’s house while Michael was away and her parents were busy
at the Inn.
I was not surprised to find out that Jenny
had suggested the idea – or that she and Lance regularly found excuses for both
of them to not be in the same room with Rebecca and Lucas for long ‘breaks’ of
various kinds – at least until Jacob and Miranda got home.
It felt strange to be at the Inn without
Michael, but it was a lot of fun to be there to help welcome him home when he
walked into the kitchen at a bit after eight o’clock – especially since Miranda
didn’t tell him I was there. I also
really love him; and loved getting to see the look on his face when he first
saw me. For those next few moments while
he walked over to me and we shared a long hug and kiss, there wasn’t anyone
else in the room; and I really, really hope that every girl in the world gets
to experience that feeling at least once.
I’d be okay with feeling that with Michael every day forever!
The whistles and laughs eventually got our
attention, and Michael got razzed by the other guys; but we didn’t care. We also didn’t get much time for a reunion
either, because after spending a minute or two with his father and Rebecca; we
both got to work – again for me. The
cooking for the second buffet was done by then, but there was still lots of
work to get done; and it was going on ten o’clock by the time we closed the Inn
and walked home. I stayed with Michael,
and we had a little weekend update bedtime story to go with our snack and
drinks. Michael did most of the
storytelling, starting with the Friday night football game from his perspective
and then moving on to the long drive to their hotel; the lack of sleep there;
everything they did on Saturday; their second night at the hotel; and then the
bonus play time with Kyle today before they hit the road again after having
lunch with Kyle.
There’s something else I’m going to add
here for future reference without specifying what it is; and this is strictly
for the Magi power issue involved – not to embarrass Michael or tease him in
the future when he reads this some day.
While Michael’s stories were very
entertaining, I know there was something that happened to him that he left out
specifically because he hasn’t figured out how to tell me about it. Yes, I know what it is, but the Magi part of
that wasn’t because of me using the Sight.
I found out through my empathy and telepathy; and that’s why I’m writing
about it tonight – because this might be a bit freaky for other Magi. Mom, Ethan, Ehlana, and I do not go around
passively reading the thoughts of other people, but very strong emotions from
others can make it nearly impossible for us not to pick up both thoughts and
empathic vibes when we’re in close proximity to that person. That was why I was able to pick up those
thoughts and vibes from Michael tonight despite the fact that I wouldn’t
intentionally invade his privacy that way.
He does plan on telling me about what
happened, so I’ll wait until after he does do that to have a little chat with
him about this; but I don’t think that he’ll really mind too much. It’s not as though this happens between us
all that often – partly because he usually has control of his thoughts and
emotions – or we’re linked together anyway when we don’t and are having a
little play time for two. I probably
should move on before I start thinking too much about the complete lack of that
alone time this weekend – though I’m sure that Mom, Dad, and the twins would be
very amused if I skipped Tai Chi in the morning and took Michael somewhere to
make out with him until breakfast was ready.
Hmm... I like the way I think sometimes!
;^)
Where was I? Oh yeah – inadvertent telepathic and empathic
reception. As I mentioned, that doesn’t
happen with Michael all that often, but as I think about it; I should report
that it does happen more often now with others around me. I’ll need to work on that more, and part of
it is certainly because I’m growing stronger as a Magi Master even as my
physical size is developing; but there are likely other factors too – like going
through puberty and other, more basic physiological and even spiritual
changes. The only problem I’ll have with
investigating that will be how to juggle learning more about the passive limits
to this ability with respecting the privacy of everyone around me.
Not to mention that when we’re talking
about strong emotions, there are things that a thirteen-year old girl doesn’t
need to know about her family, friends, neighbors, or anyone else.
Okay, I’d better move this along. After doing story time with Michael; Jacob,
Miranda, and Rebecca all went up to bed or to hit the shower before going to
bed; and they left Michael and I alone in the living room to say goodnight to
each other before I needed to head home.
We had fun doing that, but he was also worn out by then, and I still had
a lot to do too; so we kept that little bit of micro play time short. Mom and Dad were still working in the office
when I got home, and while I’ve been too busy with everything else I’ve had on
the go; I did know that Dad was going to need to work late after being busy
with other things most of the weekend since getting home from his week in the
city.
Since he was up anyway, Mom did a Magi
lesson with me despite it already being after eleven by then; which is why I
didn’t get started on my studies and family business until after midnight. As I mentioned, I had a lot of work to do;
and that was nearly four hours ago. I
was tempted to use a little bit of time phasing to help out with that; but decided
against doing that tonight. Yes, I get
more sleep; but the power use is really a wash compared to all other options –
including self-healing from extreme fatigue in the morning. Time phasing is really handiest when I need
to get something done fast before moving on to something else.
Anyway, the language and archive studies
were fine, if a bit boring for the archive assignment; and the family business
work was interesting but exhausting; so I am past-ready to get started on my
nap time now. I haven’t done a college
teen update, but there really isn’t much to report anyway. My favorite collegians are pretty much just
in the middle of a lull in the action between mid-term exams and the Halloween
action that will likely keep them entertained for the next couple of weeks –
just as it will here.
That does remind me that some Halloween
costume decisions were made today while we were on our pumpkin-picking
adventure. Ethan and Ehlana have decided
not to do a twin thing this year. Ethan
is going to be a dragon, and Aiden is going to be a dragon-fighting ‘Mike the
Knight’. Ehlana and Naomi are going to
be good little witches a la Sofia the First.
I’m going to miss not having the twins with me for the Halloween party
at school this year; but then I’ll be busy with the Haunted House in the gym
anyway and they’re a bit young to help out with scaring the other kids and
teens.
I really need to wrap this up and get some
down time. There isn’t anything else
major to report from today, and I’ll make sure you get the update on that story
Michael still needs to tell me whenever he gets around to doing that. I’m done with the journal news for now,
though; so, until next time...
...May the Magi Force be with you!
