Ethan and Ehlana:
Happy 2nd Birthday, Nolan Ryan!
While our Johnson clan cousin’s special day is a top story for Ryan and his family; we didn’t actually have anything to do with his celebration beyond the group gift that was sent to him.
As for our news of the day, the top stories are from Naomi’s birthday party. Yes, Ehlana, her favorite stories happened once we were alone for the co-ed sleepover part of our night, but I am not going to write about that at all; and I’m sure that you and the rest of your girlfriends heard more about that than I want to know about – and certainly more than I’d ever share with Aiden or any of the guys!
We do need to write about the rest of the details from Naomi’s birthday; so let’s get to that. Ehlana and I went over to Naomi’s house early yesterday to help get her day off to a happy start – though Ehlana helped with that more than I did by joining in on extra hair and dress-up time with the help of my future mother-in-law. They had fun with that; Naomi liked the first round of gifts we had for her; and I really appreciated how amazing she looked by the time we met up with Aiden and headed for school. Our academic adventures were good, but the highlights of our school day included bonus birthday fun with Naomi at breaks that included more gifts and bakery treats and a special lunch that Ehlana and I took care of with support from Aiden. The first school band practice wasn’t something we could skip because we’re getting ready for the seniors’ Valentine’s Day luncheon that we’ll be playing at next month, but that wasn’t really a big deal for Naomi’s birthday dinner and party.
The highlights from last evening included the dinner that included Pizzeria pizza but also had a selection of finger food sides that we helped to cook – with the ‘we’ excluding Naomi for obvious reasons. She didn’t need to help with the clean-up either, but led our ‘live’ music that we played for our friends while they enjoyed the dancing. There was only a minor bit of video gaming for the guys and a movie that Naomi picked – the first part of the Wicked musical that was also one of her gifts. I’ve skipped over that part of her birthday party, and she did love the gifts from her family and friends, but that really isn’t the most-important thing for Naomi; and she loved sharing the happy moments with some of her favorite people. I should add that her future in-laws were there for dinner too; and Mom and Dad also kept her parents company while the house was over-run with teens.
Eli gave his sister a brother-free night and went home with Zack before the music and movie. The rest of her guests headed for their homes by eleven o’clock; and I’ve already mentioned that details of our co-ed sleepover won’t be written about here in our journals. We had fun; didn’t get a lot of sleep; and I took care of the Magi-powered, fatigue healing that we needed this morning. Naomi’s party was a top news story at school; we had a good day; and then Ehlana and I play-worked at the lab or archives until dinnertime. Dinner with Mom and Dad was quiet and on-time; and then our four best friends came over again for another study evening. Mom did a group Magi lesson with us after our study session; we had a music practice after that; and wrapped up our evening with some co-ed cuddle and chat time before our friends needed to head for their homes. We took Silkie for a walk while seeing Naomi and Aiden to their houses, but it was chilly; so we kept the goodnight hugs and kisses short and hurried home again.
Ehlana and I have been wrapping up our day with the usual computer checks and twin chat time, but before we go there for a quick update; I should add that Ehlana and Aiden enjoyed their co-ed sofa sleepover last night too. For some reason, she’s suddenly uninterested in having me write down any of those details, and that’s inconsistent; since she thought it a great idea for the stories about Naomi and me! I will happily stay true to my own thoughts on the issue, though; so let’s just admit that we all had fun last night and move on.
Cassie and Michael have finished day three of their time in Costa Rica; they had some sightseeing today along with two meetings; and they’ve discovered yet another country that they love a lot and will need to visit again sometime for more than just work. We’d love to go along for any of those future ‘fun’ trips, but we’ll see whether that’ll be an option for us between now and when we start college.
As for world news, there may be a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, but we’ll reserve judgment; since this appears to be political theatre ahead of the inauguration on Monday and might mean nothing that will actually help the Palestinians being killed, injured, and starved. There are ongoing reports of infrastructure damage, with the most-recent related to attacks on a gas pipeline in Turkey. The precedent set by the NordStream bombing is going to have long-term impact on the world; and we’ll hope for better while expecting nothing when the worst that people can be is more-likely. Ukraine continues to be ugly for everyone involved; and something needs to be done before there is nothing left of Ukraine – and the estimates to rebuild from the damage already done will hit trillions of dollars. Sure, there are likely corporations willing to help with that in exchange for ‘owning’ everything while the surviving people serve them for decades to come and be happy in their servitude, but it remains to decide whether that will be western or eastern masters.
That is fairly-depressing, but then that’s true for most of the problems in the world. Here in our country, wildfires are still a big story, but politics is ramping up into the inauguration as the outgoing power players do their worst to make the job of running the country tougher for the incoming leaders for no other reason than petty narcissism. Our Grade Eight trip is going to be very interesting for bad reasons if politics is going to be this toxic for the next four years.
Okay, that’s enough for tonight. Ehlana and I are happy, tired, and ready to get some sleep now – so we will.
Until next time, live with love, fellow Magi of the Light!
