I haven’t really written much about world issues in my journal, though I do keep up with what’s going on. Since making the changes to how we run our family business over the past year, Mom and I have both talked about how great our companies and charities are doing; which I was thinking might seem strange to future readers if they compared our comments to the global news of the past few years.
Our family business isn’t immune to the effects of the ongoing financial crisis; but we’re also a diverse, private company that doesn’t have many of the issues that other corporations do; and our goals are also very different. Having Aunt Leanne, Miranda, and I to help Mom now has actually allowed us to take advantage of the downturn in the economy; and also, more importantly, help more people when they really need it most.
That doesn’t change the fact that there are immense problems in the world, or that hundreds of millions of people are suffering. Ethan, Ehlana, and I now know a fair bit about our future; but even we don’t try to see everything. The point I want to make with this line of thought is that even though the top news stories always seem to be about the bad things going on everywhere, there are bright spots; and our family business is one of the brightest – even if we’re also anonymous and unknown.
I was thinking about this today because of a problem I helped resolve with one of my companies that was about to lose a major supplier that was going out of business. It took a bit of high-powered Magi time, and that supplier’s owners had made a real mess of things; but as they say in the commercials – I was so impressed with the product; I bought the company. Problem soon to be solved, and the added bonus of keeping a few thousand people working too!
Game night at the Inn might not be news by comparison, but Rowen and I had a lot of fun – partly because we had a few less boys there than usual while they were busy elsewhere watching game two of the World Series (the Rangers won two-to-one to even the Series at one game each). Miranda was going to recruit Mom for her team while Dad was away, but Uncle Adam had to go play at the office with Luke and Ashley Spencer; who were about to become first-time parents of a future classmate for Ethan and Ehlana. They’re cousins of Jared’s, and their family has a large dairy farm. Miranda wasn’t too happy when Mom and Aunt Leanne won the Senior Championship for the night! As of my last email check; Ashley was still in labor, and Uncle Adam had a waiting room full of family there for support.
Ethan and Ehlana were ready for a nap after getting home for the Inn, so Mom and I worked in the office while we could until it was time for the midnight feeding. Mandy and I came up to bed as soon as my adorable brother and sister were in their cribs; and I’m about ready to snuggle in with her and get some sleep. While there isn’t any news about the impending increase of one to the Ridge River population, there was some email news around the family.
I’d hoped that Violet might come home for the Witch Falls Haunted Halloween Walk, but she advised me that Dillon was working all weekend because of the extra business they’d have at the Inn; so she wasn’t going to make the drive and not really be able to see him at all. They are going to meet up in Crystal Springs the Saturday after Halloween, and that three weeks between seeing each other will be the longest they’ve been apart since April or May. My cousins, including the Johnson family kids, are all getting excited about Halloween, and I had several email telling me about costume choices; reminding me that Rowen and I really need to get on with picking ours fairly soon. I’m not getting any specific news from Grace or Mark; but Jaimie and Kaitlyn have advised me that their Aunt has been especially happy every time they’ve seen her since her weekend away.
It’s not surprising that Uncle Adam has some very bright cousins; and the college students in that group are all doing very well. When we really get going on studying the whole Magi-Latent phenomena as it applies to talents; his family might prove to be a very good sample group to work with – especially since they have a great mix of Magi, Latents, and normal people; and four generations.
That’s definitely something I’m too tired to work on now, but with Thanksgiving and Christmas coming up, it is something to consider doing anytime Uncle Adam’s family is home for visits. I’ll talk to him about it the next time we’re working on our Magi project. For now, it’s time for some sleep. It’s Friday, and along with Dad coming home tonight; we’ve got a special dinner and a movie night with Grandma and Grandpa joining us before the leave on Saturday morning. I still think it would be amazing to go with them, but I guess we’ll manage to have fun around here while they’re gone too.