Cassie's Journal - October 31, 2012

Happy Halloween!

Rowen and I didn’t win any costume prizes today, but our twin snowy owls were a hit with everyone who saw them at school – and again when we were out trick-or-treating tonight.

The highlight of the day at school was the haunted house in the gym; and the show that the teens put on this year was better than ever – even with having our trip through it toned down a bit for Ethan and Ehlana’s benefit.  Mom, Aunt Leanne, and Claire Norton were all helping out at lunchtime with costumes and make-up for the girls again this year, so Ethan and Ehlana were with us all afternoon for the haunted house and class party.

We’ve had a beautiful, warm fall day for all of the fun, though it started out chilly; and is going to cool off again overnight.  While the high school students spent the morning setting up the haunted house in the gym, everyone else in the school had to at least pretend to be having regular lessons.  For our class, that meant playing our way through Math and English, and then going outside for Phys-Ed; since the gym was in use.  That was fun too, but we actually exercised fairly hard too; so Rowen and I weren’t the only kids in our class running a bit behind at lunchtime after grabbing showers before moving on to the girls’ costume and make-up room.

The Grade Seven and Eight classes didn’t do the haunted house until two-thirty, so the main part of our parties was between lunchtime and then; and we mostly just cleaned up again after getting back from the gym until it was time to go home.  Ethan and Ehlana loved hanging out with us all afternoon; joining in as much as they could for the games and entertainment; and helping out with making the munchies and drinks disappear.  We were all on sugar overload by the time we headed home.

Ethan and Ehlana had also spent the morning with Naomi and Aiden, splitting their time between doing a Halloween Magi lesson at our house and going to the KidZone Halloween party.  Rowen and I had to wait until after school to hear about their morning adventures, and that was part of our daily re-cap and snack time with Mom.  We had time after that to go to the park for a little play time, and then were home again for an early, quick dinner before getting into our costumes again.

Dad needed to take a bunch of pictures, and then we were set free to go trick-or-treating while he and Mom stayed home to hand out treats to the three hundred or so kids they expected to get tonight thanks to the extra-nice weather and town reputation for being the best place to be on Halloween night.  We hit every house on our street, just as every kid in town would, and then worked our way south.  Rowen and I took the stroller with us, but we still needed to carry Ethan and Ehlana a lot; and covering the entire town wasn’t going to be an option for us – especially since my brother and sister attracted a lot of extra attention at every stop.  That meant skipping streets or blocks of houses, but we made sure that we stopped in to see all of our favorite people – like Rowen’s grandparents; Uncle Nick and Aunt Deborah; and Grandpa Grant and Grandma Eleanor.

Even with skipping half the town or more, I’d say we’re set for sugar and snack fixes at least until Thanksgiving.

We were home by eight-thirty, and though Rowen and I did have the option of going back out again for a bit longer, we’d had enough; and I really wanted to spend some quality time with my Jacuzzi.  I walked Rowen home first and we gave her parents the trick-or-treating recap for a few minutes before I went back to my place and helped Mom with getting Ethan and Ehlana changed and into bed while Dad continued to handle the incoming ghouls, goblins, and other creatures and characters.  I’ve been in my Jacuzzi since then, and multi-tasking so I can go straight to bed and sleep after I’m done in the tub.  I’m actually doing this journal entry first; mostly because I didn’t feel like dealing with email, work, or studying yet.  I do need to get on with all of that, though, and have pretty much covered the news for today, so I’ll wrap this up and move on.

Say ‘goodnight, Cassie’.

“Goodnight, Cassie.”

Cassie's Journal - October 30, 2012

The top news around town today has been Frankenstorm Sandy, though with the kids and teens; Halloween was still about a tie for the most talked about topic.

Since Mom was keeping up with all of the storm news so that she could direct some of our charity resources to where they were needed most, I’ve been more informed about what’s been happening along the east coast than most kids at school; and I helped out a bit while working on the family business after school.  Sandy really has been a weird monster; with everything from storm surge, hurricane-force winds, and rain along the coast; to blizzard conditions and two or three feet or snow in the Appalachian Mountains.

Compared to that work, writing about something like our Halloween costumes seems trivial, but for Rowen, Ethan, Ehlana, and me; getting them finished tonight was fairly important.  The twins look adorable in their fluffy, white snowy owl costumes, and Rowen and I could fit right in to any Hogwarts school scene – though there wouldn’t actually be any eleven-year old Prefects in the books or movies.  That would have worked out better in a few years, but by then, Ethan and Ehlana probably wouldn’t want to dress up as our snowy owls anymore.

The costume fitting really was something we just sort of fit into the evening after dinner, and it was mostly a work night in the office for Mom, Dad, and me.  Ethan and Ehlana were with us for most of that time; and they happily did some studying on their iPads while we were busy.  I wrapped up my family business work when it was time to get them ready for bed, and have been taking care of my usual nightly computing while relaxing in my Jacuzzi.  It’s time to get out of the tub and get off to bed, so I’m going to wrap this up.

Say ‘goodnight, Cassie’.

“Goodnight, Cassie.”

Cassie's Journal - October 29, 2012

Happy 1^st birthday, Aiden!  Welcome to Ethan, Ehlana, and Naomi’s exclusive little Magi club.

Here we go with another moment that will only ever be known about by a very few people, but is way more important than the top news around town – or even in the country.  Since nearly everyone is watching Hurricane Sandy hitting the east coast tonight; that’s a fairly audacious claim; but if you’re reading this far enough into the future, you know for sure that I’m right.

Before I get on with the rest of the recap, Hurricane Sandy is something that Mom, Aunt Leanne, and Miranda are keeping a close eye on; and they’ll be ready to help out where they can through our charities.  I don’t really have anything to handle for that with my end of the family business, but if this storm ends up being as bad as it could be; that might change.  The timing this close to Halloween has earned Sandy the nickname ‘Frankenstorm’.  If it lives up to that name, I just hope everyone in its path will be safe over the next few days.

Now that I think about that, the Hathornes are right in the middle of the storm.  If things get too bad for them, I’m sure they’ll just put up a shield around their estate or something.  If Corwyn was still in charge, he’d probably have tried to nudge the storm up a notch or two and cause as much havoc as possible.

Compared to Frankenstorms, my day has been fairly quiet.  We mostly just played at school, though there were some actual lessons baked into the fun.  It’s no surprise that Halloween and sports were the two top topics among the kids and teens; though a Hurricane hitting New York City was exciting enough to earn some attention.  Ethan, Ehlana, and Naomi had a more entertaining day while I was at school.  Naomi was still hanging out at our house when Rowen and I got home, so after doing the snack and recap with Mom, and our homework; we took all three kids to the park.  Watching my friends going temporarily insane around boys may be weird, but it was cute watching Naomi while Ethan was having his weekly football moment with Michael.  She and Ehlana also managed to charm every girl hanging out around the bleachers before we moved on to the playground for some slide and swing action.

Naomi’s Dad was already at the house to pick her up when we got back; and he ended up giving Rowen a lift over to the computer store on his way home.  I helped Mom with making dinner after that while Ethan and Ehlana supervised and played on their iPads.  Now that would make for a cool YouTube video; but wouldn’t be a good idea – especially if the camera caught the kind of things they were doing on them.

It’s been a standard Monday night since then.  Dinner; clean-up; Magi Healing lesson with Mom and Uncle Adam; family business time for Mom and Aunt Leanne; and my usual nightly computing and studies.  I don’t plan on staying up late tomorrow night, and Halloween night is a write-off; so I worked a bit later tonight.  I’ve had enough now, and don’t have anything else to add to tonight’s report, so...

...say ‘goodnight, Cassie’.

“Goodnight, Cassie.”

Cassie's Journal - October 28, 2012

It was a crazy morning at our house today.

Mom, Dad, and I skipped Tai Chi, but more than made up for that missed exercise while keeping up with Ethan, Ehlana, Naomi, and Aiden.  Actually, it was all of the girls in the house taking care of the toddlers while Dad tried to keep the comedic duo of Patrick and Scott under control while making breakfast for all of us.

He got some help from Uncle Adam when he and Aunt Leanne joined us while she helped Mom with getting all of us girls ready for church – though that was mostly getting to play with hair and make-up; picking out clothes; and choosing accessories.  I don’t need to know what my parents, aunt, and uncle were up to last night to be smiling like they were all morning, but I doubt that keeping up with ten kids was more than a small part of the reason why they were all talking about having afternoon naps by the time we had lunch together after getting home from church again.

Uncle Adam and Aunt Leanne might have been able to fit a nap time into their afternoon plans after Violet, Dawn, and Jillian left for home, but Mom and Dad had work to do in the office.  Rowen and I had some homework to do too, and we practiced our music for a while; but we also took care of Ethan and Ehlana for a few hours too.  We went to the park for a little play time, and then spent the rest of the afternoon in the lounge until Rowen needed to go home and get re-acquainted with her family after spending most of the weekend with us.

We were on our own for the rest of the day; went with a light dinner; and had some Magi play time before starting the bedtime routine for all of us.  That’s all of the news from home, but I added a full check on the Hathornes to my nightly computing; and they’ve been very busy this weekend too.

There was a party at the estate on Saturday night, and while we obviously can’t know about everything that happens with the Hathornes, there is quite a bit of information that gets plugged into their computer systems.  For instance, the VIP guest list can tell us a lot about who’s hot and not with Gawain and Kellie; and also who might be worth keeping an eye on.  Gwyneth continues her child prodigy journey; and must be impressing everyone around her if some of the email and text messages I scanned were any indication.

I wish I could report that Hathorne Industries is going downhill since Corwyn’s death, but the company is doing better than ever with Kellie in charge.  Unfortunately, they’re doing that at the expense of even more people than ever too; though we’ve been seeing some differences too.  It seems as if making money and gaining power is what drives Gawain and Kellie, and though that motivation is very different from the intentional suffering and worse that Corwyn enjoyed and nurtured; the results aren’t that much different, and the motivation behind their actions don’t matter at all to their victims.

We’re going to be able to change that, though I don’t mind admitting that it would be nice if that could happen a lot sooner than Ethan, Ehlana, and I know it will.  What we do manage to accomplish now is only significant for the few Hathorne survivors we’ve helped through our charities.

I should also mention that Gawain is still keeping an eye on Mom and me; though there really isn’t much for him to learn other than how I’m doing in school, or the occasional picture or news clip that makes the town intranet.  There’s no way for them to ever find out about anything important – like our family business.  For now, I’m just glad that he’s leaving us alone.

Let’s change the subject; and not go to sleep thinking about Dark Magi.

The San Francisco Giants swept the Detroit Tigers in the World Series; wrapping up their fourth win tonight four-three.  Hopefully, knowing the details will be enough for tomorrow morning; since I didn’t even watch game highlights.  Ditto that for this weekend’s college and pro football games.

Is changing the subject to sports from Dark Magi an improvement?

No.  Moving on.

Talking language or archive studies wouldn’t be any better, so I’ll wrap up with a look at the week ahead.  While most kids and teens in town will have Halloween on the brain for the next three or four days; Ethan and Ehlana are most excited about Aiden Draper’s first birthday tomorrow.  That’s mostly because the Magi council is going to let him find out about them, and Naomi; and start doing lessons with them.  School parties and trick-or-treating will be the big story for Wednesday, and then for our family; Dad’s thirty-fourth birthday on Sunday will be the highlight of the weekend.

That reminds me that I need to do some shopping soon – not for Dad’s birthday; but for some upcoming friend birthdays.  It’s hard to believe that my only trip to the city since August was that flying trip to see Angela, Terry, and their new baby.  We’re definitely due for a shopping trip soon!

Now that’s a nice thought to drop off to sleep with!

Say ‘goodnight, Cassie’.

“Goodnight, Cassie.”

Cassie's Journal - October 27, 2012

It was freezing this morning – and I do mean water turns solid kind of cold outside.  That probably wouldn’t feel quite so bad if it hadn’t been summertime hot here just three days ago; and it didn’t exactly warm up much while Dad and I spent nearly three hours doing yard work.  Since that wasn’t much fin, let’s just skip the details and move on.

Sleeping in only meant about an hour later than usual for a Saturday, and even with waiting until after Tai Chi to wake them up; it was about normal time for Dawn and Jillian.  Violet had made it home sometime before Ethan and Ehlana gave Mom and Dad their wake-up calls, but we let her sleep until breakfast was nearly ready while Rowen, Dawn, Jillian, and I took turns in the bathrooms getting ready for the day.  While Dad and I were working, Dawn and Jillian played with Ethan and Ehlana, and Violet helped Mom around the house.  Alicia had the morning off because she and Erin have been babysitting us since we got back from the Haunted Halloween walk while Mom and Dad are out playing with their friends at Sheldon’s Pub.

Before I get to our perspective on their adventures in babysitting, there’s still a lot to cover.  I’m sure that Violet would have rather spent the day with Dillon, but he, Jake, and Stephanie were all working at the Inn; so we got to play with her this afternoon instead.  Since Mom had booked a trail ride for us, and then did a long Magi lesson with her while Rowen and I took Dawn and Jillian out to play at the park for an hour; I think that Violet managed to have fun while her boyfriend was hard at work.

Rowen, Dawn, Jillian, and I had fun too even though it was a very chilly trail ride, and there wasn’t much action going on at the park while we were there either.  The hot chocolate and warm pie snack break at home after the trail ride was great, and we wrapped up the afternoon with some Halloween television action in the lounge that we had Ethan and Ehlana with us for while Mom and Dad worked on making dinner with a little help from Uncle Adam and Aunt Leanne.

We were having quite a gang over for dinner tonight, including Uncle Nick and Aunt Deborah; Rowen’s parents, brother, and Scott Faulkner; the Seagers; and the Drapers.  Most of our guests didn’t come over until after most of the stores closed for the day, and Mom timed dinner to be ready for then so we could sit down and eat as soon as everyone was there.  It always feels awesome when we can all get together for a few hours of fun together, especially when everyone is so busy; and we don’t get to have evenings like this very often.  That’s probably why these moments are so special to me too – that, and the fact that Mom and I didn’t really have any experiences like this during the first nine years of my life.

Mom and Aunt Leanne had pumpkin carving planned for after dinner; and only half-joked about doing that to get the Moms and Aunts out of kitchen clean-up duty so they could do that with all of the kids while the guys did the dishes.  Since Ethan, Ehlana, Naomi, and Aiden were the only kids that actually needed help; it was really just chat and play time for all of us while we made a dozen jack-o-lanterns in the hour we had between dinner and needing to head out to the Haunted Halloween Walk.

Everyone in our group, except Violet, was going on one of the first guided walks; mostly so that the twins, Naomi, and Aiden wouldn’t be out late, or waiting around in the cold.  The narration and scary skits didn’t change much from year-to-year, but I loved it just as much this year as I had my first time.  Actually, since I know all of the guides and actors now, I think I love it even more every year.  For instance, I know now that ‘the witch’ is always played by a Palmer descendant, and they try to do the same with all of the other characters when possible; except, obviously, for the dark wizard.  That’s not a problem, since there are always lots of guys willing to volunteer for one of the coolest parts in the whole production with the bonus of getting to play with lasers and the rest of the gadgets and tricks.

While going on the walk was the most fun, we also spent nearly another three-quarters of an hour wandering around the booths that were set-up to do a little fundraising while keeping everyone entertained before or after getting a turn at going on the walk.  We played some games, bought a few treats, and had hot drinks before heading home again.  All of the kids were spending the night at our house, and once Alicia and Erin came over; the adults were free to split up and get ready for their night out at the pub.  Rowen, Dawn, Jillian, and I had until Mom and Dad left the house again before Patrick and Scott transformed into little monsters; and began their campaign of terror against us.

Okay, it wasn’t quite that bad, but they did do their very best to bug us for the next few hours – especially while Alicia and Erin were busy with Ethan, Ehlana, Naomi, and Aiden until the four younger kids were tucked into bed for the night at around ten o’clock.  Patrick and Scott were hanging out in the lounge with us, but found their entertainment in heckling the movies we watched; trying to gross us out, scare us, or pull off lame pranks.  The only thing that was really scary about all of that was finding out that Dawn and Jillian actually thought all of that goofiness was more fun than annoying; instead of the other way around.

Even with the boys’ continual attempts to disrupt our movie watching, we managed to catch most of Girl vs. Monster and The Great Ghost Rescue.  They didn’t go quietly, but Patrick and Scott are in their second-floor bedroom now; and haven’t snuck up here to pull any pranks on us in nearly twenty minutes.  That might be because Dawn and Jillian were both asleep during their last visit, and it just wasn’t as much fun for them without the two girls giggling at their antics.

Rowen’s talking about getting to bed now too, so I’m going to wrap this up so we can do that.

Say ‘goodnight, Cassie’.

“Goodnight, Cassie.”

Cassie's Journal - October 26, 2012

Dawn and Jillian are passed out on the sectional sofa, so I can get started on today’s journal entry while Rowen and I watch the rest of the Halloween movie the four of us started to watch together about a half hour ago.

It’s been another awesome day, and while there was definitely some Halloween-scary going on tonight; Rowen and I have decided that we really love school dances.

Before I get to that, though, let’s cover the rest of the day.  We’re all the way back to fall temperatures, so Tai Chi was indoors; followed by a hot shower; hot breakfast cereal and drinks; and a cold walk to school with Rowen for me while Dad got a ride to work with Aunt Leanne.  All of the teachers did their best to keep us focused on our lessons today, but that wasn’t easy when every kid and teen was more interested in the weekend plans; with the dance, Haunted Halloween Walk, and parties at the top of the fun list.

There isn’t anything particularly exciting to report on from our classes today, though Rowen and I had fun – especially since we were among the few kids in our class that were able to concentrate on what we were supposed to be doing while also being entertained by classmates who were more interested in goofing around and chatting about the impending extra-curricular activities.  Some of that, especially from the girls, was a bit scary, but scary can sometimes be funny too; and usually was today.

When we were free from school for the weekend, Rowen and I stopped in at the computer store for a visit; went to Rowen’s place to pack everything she’d need for the weekend; get her costume gown; and then moved on to my house.  Mom was already working on dinner by then, so we took Ethan and Ehlana along with us and went up to my room to hang out with them while she was busy.  Since we were going to have company all weekend; that worked out great for the twins too; since we could do a nice long telepathic chat with them before they needed to play normal toddlers while Dawn and Jillian were here.

Mom and Dad weren’t doing a dinner and a movie night this week, so Rowen was our only dinner guest; and Mom went with an easy-meal menu so that we could sit down and eat shortly after Dad got home from work; and have everything cleaned up by the time Violet pulled into the driveway with Dawn and Jillian.  They’d left Woodvale within a half hour of getting out of school, but had hit traffic snarls getting through Crystal Springs, and it had been nearly seven o’clock by the time they made it to town.  I’d expected Dillon to be over right away too, but Violet advised us that he was at the football game with Jake, Stephanie, and some of their friends – mostly because they were usually working at the Inn on Friday nights.  She was going to meet up with them there, but went upstairs to grab a shower and get ready for the dance first.  Rowen and I helped Dawn and Jillian get their bags up to the third floor bedroom that they’d likely only be using for a change room, and then we went back downstairs to hang out with Mom, Dad, and the twins for a while before Rowen and I would need to get ready for the dance too.

Violet was dressed for watching football on a cold night when she was ready to go, but had a bag with her costume with her.  Since I now know what she and Stephanie wore to the dance, I can assure you that there were several very good reasons why they didn’t wear their costumes to the game; and I’ll guess that Uncle Rick would have wanted Violet to wear more than the jacket or shawl that Dad wanted me to wear with my gown.  I’m absolutely positive that Aunt Leanne will be impressed when she finds out; and Dillon and Jake both looked like they were very happy campers tonight.

Every member of our football team, and all of their biggest fans, were happy tonight too.  They won their game against Mount Pleasant twenty-seven to zero.  Apparently the game was a lot closer than the score implied, and it was Kyle Landry and our defense that kept Mount Pleasant from even getting a decent field goal attempt, and nothing even remotely close to a touchdown opportunity.  Rowen and I found that out at the dance, but we were at the school shortly before the game ended – right on time for the start of the dance.

Yes, that did mean that were there too early, but we were saved any reputation hit by a pair of teens who drafted us to help out with a few set-up errands that kept us busy until the action really got going.

I don’t know if it happens for every school dance, since this was my first, but we had quite a few visiting teens from other schools.  Since the Mount Pleasant football team and their fans were already in town for the game, I wasn’t really surprised to see that nearly all of the teens stayed for the party, and all together, we had around two hundred tweens and teens in the gym.  That added some extra weird to the night, from my perspective, but since our visiting partiers were almost all high school students; Rowen and I didn’t have to worry about being targets of the weird and hormonal.  I’d say that Jake and Dillon both had to keep close to their seriously hot girlfriends, but then Violet and Stephanie had nearly as much to worry about from the girls that were eyeing their boyfriends all night.

Of course, I got teased for asking both Dillon and Jake to dance with me; and then got teased some more for turning Jake down later when I smelled a set-up coming – and spotted Stephanie pulling Michael out onto the dance floor.  My little plan to ask them each to dance had been specifically to avoid any traps, and for what seemed like the first time in a long while; it worked, and I didn’t end up with any personal weird or scary moments.  I don’t know if Michael did or not, since I kept my distance on purpose; but I’ll guess that his night was mostly fun with just a small chance of some weird.  Now that Vanessa had given up on him, tonight he had another of our classmates, Lisa, inviting him to dance with her at least a half-dozen times.  Since Tim was busy with Nora all night, I think that worked out just fine for Michael; and Lisa looked thrilled every time they were together.

Rowen had some commentary for me about Michael and Lisa, and I’ll guess she perfectly predicted what Aunt Leanne will have to say to me when she finds out about that part of the dance news.  Since teasing me kept her from brooding about a certain other guy; I was glad to provide her with the distraction.  We also danced our butts off.  Other school dances might do more slow dances, but tonight it was mostly up-tempo songs, and it seemed like nearly every other song was Halloween-themed.

While we had a blast tonight, Rowen and I also had an eleven-thirty ride home from Dad that wasn’t optional.  Since there were a lot of couples getting very cozy by then, that worked out just fine for us – especially since there was some specific action going on that Rowen did not want to hang around to witness.  Aunt Leanne may be disappointed in me again, but Dad sure seemed happy to see us meet him outside without any guys escorting us to his truck like we saw happening with some of the other kids being picked up early by their parents.

Ethan and Ehlana hadn’t been in bed all that long after staying up to watch a movie with Mom, Dad, Dawn, and Jillian, and while Dad had picked us up; Mom had sent Dawn and Jillian upstairs to get ready for bed while she put a bedtime snack together for all of us.  Rowen and I did the dance recap for them while we had our snack and drinks, and then Mom and Dad went up to bed; Rowen and I got changed too; and then we met up with Dawn and Jillian in the lounge for the late movie.

There isn’t much else to report.  Violet was going over to Dillon’s after the dance, and I honestly won’t be all that surprised if she’s either really late getting home – or sometime after breakfast if she and Dillon fall asleep in the living room while they’re getting some alone time.  Rowen and I are going to finish watching the movie while we do a little more surfing; and then we’ll head to bed.  She’s working at the store in the morning, and I have yard work; but sleeping in a bit later than usual is an option; so we’re not in all that big of a hurry to call it a night – plus we’re both still winding down after a couple of fairly high-octane hours of fun.  It may take a while to do that, but this little part of my nightly computing is done, so...

...say ‘goodnight, Cassie’.

“Goodnight, Cassie.”

Cassie's Journal - October 25, 2012

It was apparent this morning at school that I am not paying as much attention to the world of sports as I should.  Yes, I knew that the World Series started last night, and that the Giants beat the Tigers, but either every other kid in town watched the game; or I was the only one willing to admit that I didn’t.  I’ve mentioned before that while I love playing baseball, or cheering for Mom and Dad’s team, I don’t really like just sitting around and watching it on television; so I don’t plan on watching the rest of the games either.

Ditto that for tomorrow night’s home football game.  Our nice warm weather moved away this morning, and by game time tomorrow; it’s going to be downright chilly.  Football talk around school was about tied with the World Series for top stories, but in this case, I wasn’t the only girl to decide that sitting on bleachers in the cold for two or three hours before going to the dance didn’t sound like fun.  Since Rowen and I were going to be having Dawn and Jillian with us for the weekend, that gave us an extra excuse – I mean good reason – to miss the game.

Other than sports news, there isn’t much to report from school.  We had one test; more Halloween-themed fun; and Rowen, Michael, and I spent most of our lunch practicing in the music room.  The only change from our regular Thursday for Rowen and I was the after-school Halloween costume session with our Moms while Alicia took care of the twins.

I haven’t written about the ongoing progress for our Halloween costumes yet, but since the dance is tomorrow night; Rowen and I needed to get our gowns and costume accessories finished tonight.  It would be more accurate to say that our Moms got them finished for us, with a little help here and there from Aunt Leanne and Grandma Emerson earlier this week.  I’ll take a wild guess that Aunt Leanne’s contribution to the effort is directly responsible for why Dad suggested that we should wear some kind of jacket or wrap with the gowns after he saw Rowen and me wearing them when he got home from work.  That was a great compliment, while at the same time, at least a little bit, I agreed with him.  Maybe we shouldn’t have given in to Aunt Leanne on this and just gone with the Hogwarts robes we’ll be wearing for the school party and Halloween night.

Oh well, it’s done now, and the gowns do look great even if there’s a bit less of them here and there than either Dad or I would like.  Rowen doesn’t share that opinion; and really loves her costume.

Since we already had half of the Emerson family at our house, we had Rowen’s Dad and brother come over after closing the store for the day; and we had dinner together.  Though Rowen’s parents don’t go to game night all that often, they decided to join us tonight; so after eating and cleaning up, we all walked over to the Inn.  Miranda had the dining room decorated for the holiday; there were some game changes for this week only; and at least two dozen Halloween treat options from the Olde Bakery.

That couple of hours of fun more than offset the extra work I needed to do after getting home.  The only thing that kept my get-to-sleep early plans for this week on-track was that I used more than a little Magi power to do that extra work at hyper-speed.  It’s amazing how much work you can get done while in a time-phase, but the down side is that it still feels like you worked hard for six or eight hours in real time when you’re done.  I’m back in real time now, but finished my family business work; and the equivalent of an hour or so each of archive and language studies.

Since that six or eight hours worth of work came at the end of an already long day, even though it isn’t midnight yet; I’m exhausted.  It just wouldn’t be good if I needed to go home early from the dance because I was falling asleep, so that’s going to be all for tonight.

Say ‘goodnight, Cassie’.

“Goodnight, Cassie.”

Cassie's Journal - October 24, 2012

Happy 13^th birthday, Jenny!

There’s a good chance that Jenny is the happiest girl this year to officially be a teenager, while her parents would be among the most reluctant – or worried – to have their little girl reach that milestone.

Rowen and I walked to school with Rebecca mostly so we could give Jenny her birthday presents this morning.  She was having a boy-girl party tonight, but Rowen and I weren’t invited; which was probably a good thing for all involved.  We were still with Jenny when she met up with Shane at school, and I got the feeling from Rebecca as we watched Jenny share a happy birthday kiss with her boyfriend that she’d rather be doing something else tonight too.  Shane’s arrival gave Rowen and me our cue to move along; and we returned to our normal place in the order of the school universe.

It was another hot, summer-like day, and Rowen and I took advantage of that after school.  We got our homework out of the way, and then grabbed our bikes and went for a long ride before picking up drinks and treats at the Emporium and going to the park to play until dinnertime.  Rowen stayed for a meal and Magi lesson before going home, and the rest of my night has pretty much been a repeat of last night.  If I wrap this up now, I’ll be sleeping before midnight again too, so...

...say ‘goodnight, Cassie’.

“Goodnight, Cassie.”

Cassie's Journal - October 23, 2012

It’s been summer-like hot today with a bit of rain here and there to help pump up the humidity.  We were able to exercise by the river this morning before the rain started, but it was a damp walk to school, and except for the walk home again this afternoon; I’ve been indoors all day.

There isn’t anything new to report from school.  We had two tests today; the Halloween themed lessons continued; and Rowen, Michael, and I spent most of our lunch time practicing in the music room.  I stopped in at the computer store with Rowen after school and had a little visit with her parents and brother before heading home and getting started on my own part-time job.  Nearly everything I worked on for the family business tonight had something to do with Christmas, which still seems strange when the house and yard are decorated for Halloween; and that’s pretty much all that’s talked about at school.  Weird or not, though, one of the fun parts of my job is the charity side of the business; and I’m also working on new programs that will hopefully help a lot more kids and families have a happier Christmas this year.  The charity work we can do always feels great, but the problems in the world always seem to be getting worse and growing faster too.  It’s a good thing there are more of us to help out with all of that now!

I worked until dinnertime; Mom did a long Magi lesson with me tonight; and I helped her with Ethan and Ehlana until they went to bed for the night.  My regular nightly computing and studying is done, and it’ll be lights out for me as soon as I finish this journal entry and shut down the computer.

I could really get to like these pre-midnight bedtimes!

Say ‘goodnight, Cassie’.

“Goodnight, Cassie.”

Cassie's Journal - October 22, 2012

Halloween fever has kicked up another notch today, and that’s being helped out by themed lessons in nearly every class.  For instance, in music class, Mrs. Robinson started teaching us simple versions of songs like the theme from the Addams’ family movies.

I know that I mention it occasionally, but Tai Chi is always more fun with Mom and Dad; and the Mondays after he’s back from his week in the city always seem a bit more special to me.  That made for a great start to the day, and the themed lessons helped keep the fun going all day.  We had rain off and on all morning, but it actually felt hot and muggy by comparison to the cooler weather we’ve been having; and Mother Nature gave us a break from the rain in time for our after-school play time.

For Rowen and I, that included taking Ethan and Ehlana to the park, and I’d say we can call doing that part of our routine by now – just as Ethan’s football moment with Michael and Ehlana’s ‘girl chat’ with our friends have become part of our regular Monday afternoons.  Our time at the football field isn’t always easy for Rowen right now, and she definitely wasn’t having fun today, so we kept our visit as short as possible and then moved on to take a walk along the river to the falls; had the twins entertain us at the playground for a half hour; and then headed for our homes when it started to look like it could start raining again soon.

While our Magi Healing lesson is usually the Monday night highlight; today it was Ehlana’s announcement that she’d like to start working with Uncle Adam on developing drought-resistant crops that was the most fun – and important.  She told us about that while we were having a family business and future plans meeting after the healing lesson, and though the drought this year hasn’t been in the news lately; it’s obviously been something that Ehlana has been thinking about a lot.  The research she wants to start now is part of the work we’re building the lab for, but Ethan and Ehlana are currently working on Grade Nine studies, and Uncle Adam thought that it was too soon for Ehlana to start working on genetics and bio-engineering until she and Ethan showed him that they’d been doing a little studying on the side; and she’d also come up with some very exciting ideas about how to engineer those crops.  Since I’ve had a couple of those moments with our parents, aunt, and uncle; I know exactly how Ehlana felt when she floored us with that little piece of brilliance.

Monday, October twenty-second, twenty-twelve is now one of those days that only a few will ever know was the start of a bio-engineering project that is going to change the world.  Trust me on that, since not only was I there; Ethan, Ehlana, and I have a pretty good idea about what’s going to be accomplished at our new lab.

There isn’t anything else to write about that could possible top that, but after Uncle Adam and Aunt Leanne went home and the twins went to bed, I’ve been doing my usual nightly computing while in bed with Mandy; including getting my healing lesson archive studying done, and reading two foreign-language books.  I’m going to stick with getting a bit more sleep this week, though, so it’s time to pack it up and get to that.

Say ‘goodnight, Cassie’.

“Goodnight, Cassie.”

Cassie's Journal - October 21, 2012

It was another yard work day, except we spent most of the afternoon at Grandma and Grandpa’s house.  Yes, most of the work was already done before they left for Arizona, but we’ll still need to clean up leaves, cut the grass, and do other little jobs at least until Thanksgiving; and we didn’t have time to do that at both houses yesterday.

Between going to church and the yard work, there wasn’t much play time – especially since Dad needed to work in the office too.  I helped Mom with taking care of Ethan and Ehlana; making dinner; and cleaning up after we ate.  She did a Magi lesson with us before doing the bath and bedtime thing with the twins; and I’ve been working in my room since Ethan and Ehlana went to sleep.

The top news tonight is about Aunt Grace and Mark.  They’re both home safely from their weekend getaway; and I’ll guess from the tone of the email I got from each of them that they had fun.  They’re also both coming to Witch Falls for Thanksgiving with the rest of our family, and Aunt Grace is going to be spending Christmas with his family.  I’d say that’s all looking very good for us and our future plans; though I suppose that taking their relationship to the next level doesn’t necessarily mean they’ve decided to do that here in Witch Falls.

I had a little messaging chat with Dawn, and she and Jillian are getting excited about spending next weekend with us; and the Haunted Halloween walk we’ll be doing next Saturday night.  They won’t be able to go to the dance with us, but I’m sure Ethan and Ehlana will be able to keep them entertained while Rowen and I are at the school; and Rowen’s doing another sleepover with us after the dance.  The email from Jaimie and Kaitlyn had come in earlier today, so I only read and answered it; but they’re both fired up about Halloween; have their costumes already; and wrote all about their upcoming parties, including one that Uncle Blaine and Aunt Alison are doing for their combined families and friends next Saturday night.  It sounds like they’ll be having a rocking Halloween in Granite Park!

While I didn’t really need to do any archive or language studying tonight, I’ve put in an hour and a half anyway to keep ahead; working on our Magi project archive, and reading a novel in Portuguese.  I want to shoot for a bit more sleep every night this week, so I’m going to wrap this up and get to that now.

Say ‘goodnight, Cassie’.

“Goodnight, Cassie.”

Cassie's Journal - October 20, 2012

The highlights from today were Tai Chi with Mom and Dad; a big country breakfast that was a lot of fun to have Rowen with me for; and helping to decorate the front porch and yard for Halloween.  Everything else between breakfast and a late dinner was work except for a short break at lunchtime.

I’ve been in my Jacuzzi since shortly after we finished the post-dinner clean-up; and I’m going straight to sleep as soon as I’m out of the tub and ready for bed, so...

...say ‘goodnight, Cassie’.

“Goodnight, Cassie.”

Cassie's Journal - October 19, 2012

In the grand scheme of things, choosing Halloween costumes isn’t particularly important, but it’s a big deal for kids and teens.  Rowen and I found out today that nearly everyone else in our class has picked their costumes already, and with the school dance now just a week away; we needed to decide what we were going to do too.

We worked on that during our dinner and a movie night, but let’s go over the rest of the day to that point first.  Friday is always popular, but Mom, Dad, Ethan, Ehlana, and I all especially love them more on the weeks when Dad’s in the city.  I had the added bonus of a Day One schedule, plus Rowen and I decided to have a sleepover to go with dinner and a movie night.  As I already mentioned, Halloween costumes were high on the chat list today, and tonight’s football game on the road in Meadowvale was a top story too.  Other than making sure that we knew enough about the game to be able to talk about it if asked; Rowen and I ignored most of the football conversations, but that wasn’t always possible when it came to costumes; and there was a fair bit of weird to go with that.

Think about it – what other time of year do guys talk to each other about what they’re going to wear to school, a dance, or a night out?  Exactly, and this year, we’re contending with couples costumes too.  That made for more than enough weird, though I can’t deny that it was both weird and fun to watch – especially since girls and guys have very different ideas for what ‘cool’ costumes are.  I wouldn’t want to suggest that the girls made all of those couples’ costume decisions, but then there won’t be any goy-girl two-headed aliens or monsters; hairy beast couples; or other equally gross or horrific options.

There weren’t really any education highlights today, though Rowen and I don’t mind having two tests in one day – especially when one is a combo written-playing music test that we both aced.  That’s probably a good thing, since it might be hard to live down straight-A’s in everything except subjects like music or phys-ed.  It wasn’t a particularly warm day, but Rowen and I still spent part of our lunch break outdoors, and we took Ethan and Ehlana for a walk after school.  We made a stop at Rowen’s house so she could pack an overnight bag while we were out with the twins; and then Rowen and I helped Mom with the cooking until Aunt Leanne came over once she was finished work.

Uncle Nick, Uncle Adam, and Aunt Deborah all eventually joined us; and by the time we sat down to eat; the conversation had turned from work and school reports to Halloween costumes.  Making a long story short, Rowen and I are going to be Hogwarts Prefect Witches, and for the school party and Halloween night, we’re going to have Ethan and Ehlana as our snowy owls.  Aunt Leanne was disappointed at first, since she tried talking us into something more daring – like a pair of vampires in little black dresses – but she was at least happy to talk us into going to the dance dressed up as the Hogwarts witches were for the Yule Ball.  Little black dresses will not be involved in those alternate outfits.  It would have been more fun to take Ethan and Ehlana to the dance too, but Mom vetoed that idea.

We had a really good night – especially once Dad got home from Crystal Springs.  Spooky Buddies was the Halloween movie choice, and we followed that up with a long cuddle and visit in the living room before our guests headed home and the rest of us went up to bed at around eleven o’clock.  Rowen and I have been watching Halloween movies in the lounge since getting changed; playing on our computers; and having a long telepathic chat.  Our second movie has only been playing for about fifteen minutes, but I’m getting tired, so I’m going to wrap this up; snuggle under my throw blanket; and probably end up missing the rest of the show and falling asleep on the sofa for the rest of the night.  Since it’s another work weekend; that’s okay with me.

Say ‘goodnight, Cassie’.

“Goodnight, Cassie.”

Cassie's Journal - October 18, 2012

We’re mostly back to normal today, though from my perspective, that’s not necessarily a good thing when it comes to life as a tween.

Mom and I exercised before Ethan and Ehlana were awake, and we had a fun, quiet morning together before I headed out to meet up with Rowen and get to school.  There isn’t much to report from our Grade Seven class, though Rowen will tease me if I don’t mention that Michael practiced with us in the music room at lunch again.  We had fun, and though I’m sure that Aunt Leanne won’t be the only person teasing us about it if Michael starts practicing with us regularly, I like playing music with Michael; and wish everyone could just let us be friends without attaching any compounds like ‘boy’ or ‘girl’.

Since that wish probably won’t happen, let’s move on.

Since Alicia was working with Mom after school, I was free to concentrate on my family business work, and except for a quick break before getting started, I kept busy in the office straight through until dinner was ready.  Ethan and Ehlana entertained Mom and I while we ate, and got to help out with the clean-up when Mom combined that with a short telekinesis lesson for them.  We’d had a late meal, so by the time we were finished with that, it was time to head over to the Inn.

Mom was partnered with Miranda for the night, as usual when Dad was away, but that didn’t earn them a championship this week.  Rowen and I did about as well as usual, though that doesn’t really mean anything, since we play to end up in the pack with the rest of the kids our age.  Sometimes it would be nice to play as well as we could, but I’m used to that not being an option.  We weren’t surprised when Vanessa didn’t come to game night with Nora, but her absence just made things a bit weirder – at least for Michael and me.  For him, it was because Tim had a new partner to play the games with; and for me, it was because Aunt Leanne regularly teased me about arranging to find a new partner for Rowen so I could help Michael out in his time of need.  Add to that a couple of sax jokes after she found out about our lunchtime practice; and she was on a roll tonight.

Yes, she was scaring the niece; but didn’t seem to have a problem with that.

It’s going to be a yard and house work weekend, so after getting home; helping to get Ethan and Ehlana off to bed; and coming up to my room; I’ve been putting in a few more hours of work on my computer.  Only part of that was family business, and the rest of the time I’ve been working in the archives and studying languages.  I’m enough ahead to skip working this weekend if needed, but it’s nearly two-thirty; and it’s been a long day, so...

...say ‘goodnight, Cassie’.

“Goodnight, Cassie.”