Extraordinary

Round 27: Spring 2025

last update/next update

Lake Draper is 68, Kendal is 49 and Chris is 10.
(Rose and Joanna Draper are both 30, Rob Ashton is 24, Patience Draper is 23 and Calvin and Troy Clarke are both 22)

Narrated by Lake Draper

Lately, I've been considering moving the shop to a larger place. Business is so good now that we're really cramped for space. Customers lining up at the register are getting in the way of those who are still browsing.

We've done so well at this location though. I worry that even though we have so many loyal customers, they might not necessarily follow if we move.

Still, I make good stuff and I know it. So maybe the business could survive a move.

It's not like I have to make up my mind right away though, so I'm sitting on it for a while.

Chris is going through what I think is a phase where I'm the coolest person on the planet and Kendal of little interest to him at all.

Kendal's trying to stay upbeat about it but I think it's bothering her a little. He gets so easily annoyed with her right now.

Kendal's very fond of Patience's boyfriend Rob and she made it her mission to make me like him too. She gave me a real good talking to after the way I acted the first time we met.

Mainly to appease Kendal at first, I started forcing myself to be a little more civil to Rob.

I don't need to force it so much any more - I've had to admit Rob isn't such a bad guy.

He's about halfway through law school, which he's paying his own way through. And he treats Patience well and I can't really ask for much more than that.

Besides all that, Patience seems pretty fond of him, so I don't think we'll be getting rid of him any time soon anyway. I might as well get used to him!

Anyway, Chris is just now starting to get close to his siblings. He was so young when they all left for college and Rose was out of the house before he was even born. I think he's about as close as he can be with his siblings now, considering the age difference.

Chris is closest to Calvin, not least because Calvin's giving him a ton of basketball tips lately.

Chris is getting very good, actually. Calvin plays for the local team, so I guess he knows what he's doing.

Chris has even got me playing, which is not something I've ever done, even when I was younger.

It really shows too. Chris beats me easily.

At least it's got me into shape again. I've been very out of shape for years now.

All our kids are back living in Sullivan now and I don't think anyone is happier than Kendal. She seems finally completely content with our family the way it is. At least one of our kids is visiting just about every day.

Calvin is over the most, but he was always the closest to Kendal.

Troy usually has to be cajoled into visiting but he's a lot better about it now than he was during college. He hasn't got much of an excuse now, seeing he lives three blocks away.

Troy's in the middle of a job hunt, which isn't going particularly well. He's certainly committed to it though. He checks job listings any chance he gets, including when he's visiting us.

Troy is looking for a job in the gaming industry and he's really keen. Kendal's so thrilled that he's decided what he wants to do with his life. He was so unmotivated in college and he just barely graduated.

Rose and Joanna, on the other hand, have been pretty settled career-wise and with each other, for years now. We were sort of expecting it after they got married but we were still excited when they announced they wanted to start a family!

They're looking at adoption and have just started to get their house ready for a baby. They've got two spare bedrooms at home that they've never had much use for before now.

They've asked us if we would be references for them when the time comes, which of course we will. Rose is excited about the whole process. Joanna's looking forward to the baby part of it but she's dreading the home study.
I don't know anything about adoption but I think Joanna will probably find the lead up a little intrusive. Rose has already warned her she needs to be on her best behaviour.


Notes:

• Title is from Extraordinary by Joel Plaskett.
• I'm in the process of building a new shop for Lake. He outgrew it a long time ago and that building could be available for someone else to start a business. It's very small and cheap, so it'd be perfect.
• Poor Kendal. Chris rolls tons of wants for Lake and he didn't roll a single one for Kendal this round. I've seen so many 10 year-olds boys who don't want much to do with their mothers though, so I guess Chris isn't too unusual in that respect!
• So now you know who will be adopting Adrienne's baby! The baby will be born by the time we visit Rose and Joanna but it will still be with the foster family at that point. Rose and Joanna need some time to prepare their house before they start their home study. Next Joanna and Rose update will mark the beginning of the home study and I'm planning for them to officially adopt the baby in Summer 2027. Which feels like a very long time away but at least you know who the baby will be going to now. Which reminds me: Tessa, were you right? When you said you thought you might have figured it out, I had a feeling you might end up being right, so I'm interested to find out if you were!