Cassie's Journal - January 30, 2013

What a difference a day makes!

The cliff-dive into winter wasn’t welcomed by anyone yesterday, but the snow we had this morning was very exciting – at least for most of the kids and teens in town.  Even the grown-ups weren’t too upset about a little shoveling; and some, like Aunt Leanne, were having nearly as much fun playing in the snow this morning as the kids were.

Rowen and I definitely had a lot of snow fun today.  That started with a running snowball fight that Patrick started when we left their house on our way to school.  He got some help from Michael, Tim, and a few other guys, but Rowen and I won the fight with a little help from Rebecca and some of the other girls that joined the battle along the way.  I know I’ll hear about this for a day or two, but Michael found out that sneak attacks are a bad idea when attempted on a friend with extensive martial arts expertise, and while landing in the snow was a bit softer for him; he also ended up with a fair bit of snow down his back.

That might not have been too big of a problem for me, but we were almost to the school by then; he decided that he was tough enough to pull his coat and shirt off to shake the snow out; and then Tim started the jokes about me doing that on purpose just to see Michael ‘half-naked’.  You can guess how that part of the rest of my day went from there, and I’m sure Aunt Leanne will have a lot to say to me about it when I see her next tomorrow; but honestly, I had way too much fun today to really care at all about any of that – or giving Lisa and her best friends another batch of reasons to be annoyed with me.

At the risk of giving Aunt Leanne future ammunition some day when this journal is available to her to read, I’ll also add that, while I really was just defending myself in a reasonably fair and entertaining snowball fight; none of the girls around Michael this morning, including Rowen and me, minded seeing him without his shirt on.  No, that doesn’t put me in imminent danger of crossing over, but I’m not dead either. (That line is unapologetically stolen and adapted from Aunt Leanne, the movies, and married women everywhere.)

Starting out the day with a little snow fun led to an upbeat, entertaining morning of classes; though that probably made our teachers’ jobs a bit tougher, and not everyone was as happy as Rowen and I were.  We were out in the thick of the outdoor action at lunchtime, and had a blast with more snowball fights and helping Jessica Bassett and some of her friends to make one of the snowmen that dotted the yard by the time we all needed to get back inside for our afternoon classes.

Note to the boys in our class – just because you’ll take your shirts off when it’s cold and snowing does not mean that girls will do the same if you dump snow down the back – or front – of their shirts.  Attempting to do that to girls other than your own girlfriend is also a bad idea; and some of you already discovered that your girlfriends don’t find the experience nearly as fun or exciting as you did.  If you don’t understand why, try wearing a cold, wet bra for a few hours and see how you like it.  The good news for the guys in our class that did end up on their girlfriend’s naughty list today is that you still have a week and a bit until the next school dance, and two weeks before Valentine’s Day, to redeem yourselves.

I should also mention that ‘Tommy’ was one of the boys getting in trouble with his girlfriend, and although we know it’s wrong; Rowen and I still found that very entertaining.

We had fun in all of our afternoon classes, and then Rowen and I went to my house for the after school snack and story time with Mom, Ethan, and Ehlana.  Getting our homework done was quick and painless; and then we were off and running again for some more snow play.  Ethan and Ehlana wanted to play too, so we spent a half hour or so with them in the back yard.  There are now twin toddler-sized snow people close to the back porch – a little boy and girl; and where Michael, Tim, and the other guys failed miserably in their attempts to win snowball fights against us; Ethan and Ehlana managed to win our little snow battle.  I even ended up with a little snow down my back for the first time all day thanks to a sneaky little toddler hug and kiss.

Ehlana, you better have been joking about telling Michael how successful that little snowball fight tactic was for Ethan.  That would so not be funny no matter how much you, Rowen, Mom, and Ethan think that it is.

After leaving my devious and comedic brother and sister with Mom, Rowen and I still had time to play at the park for an hour.  There were more snowball fights there; we added a snowman to the collection that dotted the baseball and football fields; and got in on some of the playground fun that included a zip line ride that ended with a twenty or thirty-foot long slide on the sheet of ice and snow on the ground at the low end of the line.  Depending on the tweens watching, Rowen and I either earned bonus points or demerits for being particularly good at that zip-and-slide game; but we were having too much fun to really even pay much attention to any of the usual tween stresses and pressure.

I was a bit late getting home for dinner, but Mom didn’t seem to mind; and my outdoor adventures – and Ethan and Ehlana’s – provided lots of dinner entertainment for all of us.  Missing out on the cooking did mean that I was drafted for the clean-up; so Dad and I took care of that while Mom, Ethan, and Ehlana played in the living room.  The rest of the night has been fairly quiet.  We did an Empathy lesson; worked or played in the office while Dad was doing his homework; and after a busy play day, I was ready for another long visit with my Jacuzzi.

My nightly computing, language lessons, and archive studies have kept me busy for the past three hours – including my time in the tub.  I miss the extra sleep I was getting while studying in a time-phase, but I’m not more tired or rested in the mornings; and don’t miss it so much that I want to literally rush growing up just so I can spend a couple of extra hours a night in dreamland.

I am ready to get some sleep now, though, so...

...until next time, this is Magi Master Cassie Proctor; logging out!

Cassie's Journal - January 29, 2013

This has been one of those strange weather days where we’ve gone from warm spring temperatures straight down to winter freeze in just over twenty-four hours.  It’s been raining off and on too, and the forecast is for some freezing rain and snow by morning.  I’d say that everyone in town would agree with me that going from cold to warm was way more fun than the big reversal today has been.

The change around school was obvious too.  The yard was basically empty all day; the whole atmosphere and mood seemed to drop right along with the temperature; and I didn’t even see one classmate blankly staring out a window and daydreaming of being outside instead of concentrating on our lessons.  Yes, one of the guys did get caught dozing off by Mrs. Warren, but that really wasn’t that unusual for him regardless of the weather.

After the tween issues in the park yesterday afternoon, I was doing my very best today to stay under the radar as much as I could, though that’s not always easy when Rowen, Michael, and I are frequently the go-to answer whizzes for all of our teachers.  That’s never really bothered me before, and I’ve honestly never really even thought about it, but having a few of the girls in our class watching me, and seemingly annoyed with just about everything I do, has forced me to think about things like that a lot.

I’ve been thinking about Lisa and her best friends too, and think I should mention that we’ve always gotten along just fine before now; and they’ve always been as friendly, even while they’ve also always hung out with different groups than Rowen and I have.  Hopefully this will just be a tween phase that we’ll all get past soon, since I seem to be fairly lousy at handling the situation.  That does make me wonder how hard being a ‘normal’ tween must be when it’s like this for a Magi Master with a broad, post-graduate college level education.

I mostly managed to avoid most of the tween weird today except for a couple of comments before our first afternoon class that were related to the lunchtime music practice that Michael joined Rowen and me for.  Since our practices are always fun for us, I really wish our classmates in general would cut us some slack; that the guys would stop razzing Michael about it; and that Lisa would not get so upset about Michael practicing with us twice a week when she has nothing to worry about from me.

Going home to work in the office after school was a good way to stay out of any more tween trouble with the bonus of being dry and warm.  Alicia and Mom were busy with the twins and working around the house while I did my homework and spent a couple of hours on the family business.  Dad was a bit late getting home after his last appointment went longer than expected, and then we all spent most of the evening in the office after having dinner and cleaning up.  We split our time between work, Magi lessons, and a little computer play time until it was time for Ethan and Ehlana to get ready for bed.

I came up to my room then, and had a long soak in my Jacuzzi while Mom and Dad did the bath and bedtime routine with Ethan and Ehlana.  While in the tub, I finished the archive assignment that went along with my lesson tonight; did my nightly computer checks while getting ready for bed and drying my hair; and worked through my language studies after getting into bed with Mandy.  Starting all of that early let me get a bit extra done, and though I could have kept going, it’s after midnight; and I’ve had enough fun for today.

Until next time, this is Magi Master Cassie Proctor; logging out!

Cassie's Journal - January 28, 2013

The last four work and school days of January have started off with an even nicer spring-like day than we had yesterday, and I’m really glad that Rowen and I were able to go outside and enjoy it; since we’ll be returning to more normal temperatures again over the next couple of days.

It wasn’t quite warm enough to take our Tai Chi – or the twins – out to the river first thing this morning, but it seemed like everyone was more cheerful today thanks to yet another break in what has again, so far, been a very mild winter.  There seemed to always be at least some kids and teens outdoors all day while we were at school.  Quite a few gym classes were out on the track or football field; a handful of teachers found some excuse to do lessons or some kind of exploration outside; and nearly everyone was out during lunchtime – and at recesses for the younger kids.

With less than a week left to go until the Super Bowl, a lot of the guys were in full football mode, and while there weren’t any pick-up matches until after school; there were groups of guys tossing footballs around – including at least a few dozen ‘illegal passes’ in hallways and classrooms.  Rowen and I managed to mostly stay away from both the talk and action while we were at school, but we took Ethan and Ehlana with us to the park; Ethan really needed to go play football with the guys; and Michael was happy to help him do that when we got to the football field, and Ethan toddled out to join him and the other guys.

I’ve managed to get through a few days without writing about any of the usual tween problems that seem to crop up so regularly in my life, but having Michael play with Ethan brought a little unwanted attention my way from Lisa and a couple of her friends.  They were there with probably close to twice as many girls as would usually be watching the guys; and Lisa was not happy while watching Michael with Ethan; the hug and kiss Ehlana had for him when he brought Ethan back to us; and my smile, thanks, and close contact with him while he handed Ethan off to me was probably not interpreted well either.  All of that would have been enough, but Ehlana innocently decided to make things a bit tougher for me by inviting Rebecca to go with us when we were ready to head over to the playground with a devastating combination of dimples, a hug, and a simple “Come too?” question.  I didn’t need to look back to see the looks directed my way, though Rowen did let me know about them later when we were back at my house and hanging out in the lounge.

It’s too bad that hanging out with Rebecca for a little while upset Lisa, but Rebecca was glad to get away from Jenny and the rest of the girls who were mostly talking about their boyfriends and upcoming expectations for Valentine’s Day; and I was happy to spend a little time with her.  She still isn’t really looking for a boyfriend, but Grade Eight might even be worse for that in a small town than either Grade Seven or high school is – especially for girls.  Grade Eight guys can date girls in Grade Seven, but girls rarely date the younger guys; mostly because of the height difference.  Niners almost never date younger teens, so there aren’t many dating options in the first place; and right now, there aren’t any available guys in her class anyway.

I’d make a comment about why the most beautiful – and one of the smartest – girl in Grade Eight was also the only girl in her class not dating anyone; but that would be just a bit too close to what Aunt Leanne has said about me more than a few times; so I won’t do that.  Let’s go with the idea that being the brightest girls in our grades is helping Rebecca, Rowen, and me be smart enough to stay away from guys while they’re going through the worst of the tween and early teen years – even if two out of three of us would give up their single status in a second for the right guy.

That’s more than enough of the whole tween-teen thing for me right now; so let’s move along.  Rowen and I had a music practice after getting home to go with our little chat time; we did a little surfing on my computer; and then Rowen headed home when Mom drafted me to help out with making dinner.  It still seems a bit strange to not be doing Monday night Magi healing lessons with Uncle Adam, but he and Aunt Leanne went for a walk with us after dinner, and then stopped in for a while so we could have a family business meeting.  That was good for a couple of hours of fun while they were here even though we were mostly talking business and future plans.

Our meeting pushed back my Magi lesson with Mom until after Ethan and Ehlana went to bed, so it was nearly eleven by the time I started my nightly computing and studies.  I cut back a bit on the language lessons, but did all of the archive research and reading that went along with my Magi lesson; and I kept my email, news, entertainment, and sports checks to a minimum when I didn’t even get that started until after one-thirty.  It’s going on two now, and I’m ready for some down time, so it’s time to wrap this up and get some sleep.

Until next time, this is Magi Master Cassie Proctor; logging out!

Cassie's Journal - January 27, 2013

Rain moved into the area overnight, but most of what little did fall came overnight, it moved on by lunchtime; and we had an overcast but very warm afternoon.

My morning started out great after my nice, long winter’s nap.  From the time that Mom, Dad, and I exercised together until we went to church, we had fun; and even the work before and after breakfast was entertaining as we played as much as we worked.  Mom, Ehlana, and I had some extra fun playing dress-up and doing our hair; and Dad and Ethan had time to actually play games while we were busy.

There isn’t anything special to report from church or Sunday School today – we’re in a bit of a lull for kids and teens, and that probably won’t change much until sometime after Valentine’s Day when Easter-related practices and projects will start.

Rowen invited me to spend the day with her family, so I only stopped in at home after church long enough to get changed and grab my saxophone.  Patricia and Owen were actually taking the entire afternoon off for a little play time with their kids, and since Rowen had invited me, Patrick had Scott with him for the afternoon too.  I don’t think they were intentionally taking the day off from their usual antics when they’re around us, but we also spent most of the afternoon biking and playing outside; Owen kept them busy most of the time we were indoors around lunch and dinnertime; and there just weren’t many good chances for them to get into full-goof mode.

I needed to stop in at home again long enough to get my bike once the decision to go riding had been made after lunch, so Rowen and I did that while her parents had a short chat with mine, and Patrick and Scott put on a little riding show for Ethan and Ehlana while my brother and sister sat on the front porch steps with Mom and Dad.  Yes, that sounds weird to be sitting out on the front porch steps on the last weekend of January, but like I mentioned; we’ve had a warm afternoon, and it felt more like spring than winter today.

After leaving my house, we biked out River Road for a half hour or so before returning again and doing a loop of the park on the trail before stopping to catch a little football action and hang out at the playground.  Since there were some other fathers playing football, Owen was recruited as a substitute for a while, and I think he did pretty well for a computer geek even if Patrick and Scott razzed him.  If Lee Landry was coming after me, I’d be trying to dump the football off to anyone else too; and Owen did manage two laterals that were successful – at least until Lee caught up with the guys who then had the ball instead.

Rowen and I didn’t stay to watch the football game for very long, and part of the reason for that is because Patricia and several of the other Moms are as much sports groupies as some of the tween and teens girls are – and possibly even a bit more scary.  Football did work as a great diversion for Patrick, Scott, and most of the other boys, which allowed the girls to rule the playground.  We had Ehlana with us for a bit of that time after Mom and Aunt Leanne dropped her off with us before going on to watch their boys – including Ethan – join the football game too for a while.

There was only a little more football intervention in our time at the park, and that only lasted until we talked the parents into an afternoon snack break at the Inn.  Dad, Uncle Adam, and Owen took some heat from the other guys for abandoning the field of battle, but before we left the Inn after our Olde Bakery treats and hot drinks break; more than half of the other players had decided to do the same thing; and Miranda had some unexpected, but welcome, bonus business to help fill up the interlude between the lunch and dinner rushes.

After leaving the Inn, we split up again, and those of us with bikes rode back to the Emerson’s.  Rowen and I had time for a long music practice, and then we helped her Mom with making dinner for six while the guys spent all of that time playing video games in the living room.  Sitting down for an hour and having dinner was fun, and even the bit of goofiness from Patrick and Scott was mild enough to stay entertaining instead of getting annoying.  That might be at least part of the reason why Patrick and Scott were set free after we finished dessert to return to their video gaming while Rowen and I helped her parents with the cleanup.

I biked home shortly after that, and we had a third quiet night in a row at home.  Mom did an early lesson with me; she, Dad, and I all helped with the full bath and bedtime routine for Ethan and Ehlana; and I was in bed and doing my nightly computing and studies by shortly after nine o’clock.  All of that is done now, and I’ll still be sleeping before midnight if I finish this up now, so...

...until next time, this is Magi Master Cassie Proctor; logging out!

Cassie's Journal - January 26, 2013

We’ve had another quiet day around the Proctor home, and I’m good with that; though quiet did not mean that there wasn’t anything going on.

There was the usual Saturday morning chores; Rowen and I got to spend the afternoon together; and Mom and Dad spent the evening playing with Ethan, Ehlana, and me before we all went up to bed early again tonight.  Cleaning the third floor; helping with the laundry; and doing a bit of work outside with Dad didn’t include anything special worth writing about here.  Rowen and I did a little biking after lunch and hung out with some friends at the park for a while, but then we spent the rest of the afternoon in the lounge until she needed to head home for the night.  It seemed strange to not be having even one sleepover this weekend, but I guess even best friends should take a weekend off from things like that now and then.

I didn’t want to write about any more tween issues yesterday, and I’m happy to report that there wasn’t anything weird or annoying to report today.  Maybe I should hide at home most of the day more often!

Taking the night off from studying was an option, so I’ve only done my usual nightly computing, and I plan on being out for the night within a few minutes of wrapping this up and shutting down my computer, so...

...until next time, this is Magi Master Cassie Proctor; logging out!

Cassie's Journal - January 25, 2013

I wrote about enough tween weird yesterday, and don’t really want to do that again tonight; so I won’t.

That actually doesn’t leave much else to report, since there isn’t anything else of interest from school today; Rowen and I just hung out in the lounge with Ethan and Ehlana after we were set free for the weekend; and it was a quiet, no-company family night here from the time Dad got home and Rowen headed out for the dinner she and Patrick were having with her grandmother.  Ethan, Ehlana, and I had fun getting to play with just Mom and Dad for a few hours, but even an hour of Magi-powered entertainment didn’t include anything new worth mentioning.  I came up to my room early; spent a little time in my Jacuzzi; and caught up on the language and archive studying that I didn’t get done last night.

Not thinking about bunnies won’t be necessary tonight, since I’m pretty much ready to crash for a few hours.

Until next time, this is Magi Master Cassie Proctor; logging out!

Cassie's Journal - January 24, 2013

Happy 12^th Birthday, Lisa!

I hope she’s had a good day, but it was occasionally a bit weird for me.

This was probably the most awkward time I’ve had so far with giving someone a gift, and the only thing that made it even a little easier was that it was a joint gift from Rowen and me; and Rowen gave it to Lisa before first class this morning.  I’m sure that Lisa liked what we gave her, but wasn’t any more comfortable about it than I was.

Giving Lisa her gift early was Rowen’s suggestion, and that was as much for my benefit as it was to avoid any potential bonus awkwardness that might have come if we’d done it later – closer to when Lisa, and most of our classmates, would be going to her birthday party after school.  If I’d had a little luck, giving Lisa a birthday present would have been the only weird moment of the day; but luck wasn’t with me today.

Instead of being able to stay out of Lisa’s way, as I wanted, there was a series of moments that annoyed her; and led to more than a few dark looks directed my way.  While it wasn’t actually unusual, having not one, but two test results returned to us with the opening line – “Congratulations to Cassie, Michael, and Rowen for perfect scores plus bonus points.”  I’m fairly sure that our teachers are not in on Aunt Leanne’s matchmaking conspiracy, but I’d really appreciate it a lot if they’d think outside of alphabetical order once in a while.  Michael didn’t try to do something dumb like join us for music practice at lunchtime on his girlfriend’s birthday, but Rowen and I heard later that there were some jokes directed his way about that; and Lisa was not amused.  Add in an art class supply share, and Michael rolling his chair over next to Rowen and me to work out a problem with our assignment in computer class; and by the time we were set free for the day; Lisa was definitely ready to not see me around for a while.

By the time I got home, I was ready for a few hours of full-immersion family business work; and even left my homework for later so I didn’t have to think about anything school-related.  I even stayed away from working on anything that even remotely involved tweens or teens; going over financial reports and new project proposals.  I managed to get all the way from the end of the school day through until we went to the Inn for game night without any more weird, and though I thought that I’d be safe there with all of my classmates that would usually be at the Inn too away at Lisa’s party; I was wrong, and wish I’d just stayed at home.

To be fair, nothing that happened, and none of the comments or jokes, was meant to be anything more than good-natured fun; but sometimes those little moments add up to make things very weird and uncomfortable.  Explaining why we weren’t at our classmate’s birthday party – a handful of times – was a pain for both Rowen and me; and being Magi of the Light does not mean that we don’t still need to deal with the little social lies that keep the real world spinning.  No, we weren’t the only two kids not going to Lisa’s party, but we were in a very small minority.  Some jokes and one-liners from Aunt Leanne and Miranda added to my growing frustration, and if that wasn’t enough; there was some Michael and Lisa gossip making the rounds with the junior championship competitors that I didn’t want or need to hear.

Eventually escaping all of that didn’t end the weird for me tonight – there was more of it waiting for me when I got around to my nightly computing after Ethan and Ehlana were tucked into bed.  Usually, I’m happy to keep up with my ‘friends and classmates’ email and chats, but the party recaps that even included some pictures and videos had a fair bit of weird to go along with the entertainment.  A chat with Rowen assured me that I wasn’t the only one glad that we’d missed the party – while also wishing we hadn’t been sent the pictures, links, and videos.  There were quite a few things that we each wish we were still blissfully unaware of, including anything to do with ‘Tommy’ and his girlfriend for her, and some scenes with Michael and Lisa for me.

No, you shouldn’t infer that I’m crossing over – I’m not.

My discomfort was from the visuals, and accompanying comments about Michael’s reluctance every time the group prodded him and Lisa together for birthday kisses – which they apparently did as if they were at a wedding reception instead of a birthday party.  If that’s going to be a regular part of future boy-girl parties; I’m going to be sick for every one of them that I get invited to from now until that little trend passes.  Michael apparently did well-enough to earn bonus points in the girlfriend birthday gift category, but lost one or two when he couldn’t be talked into playing guitar and singing a birthday love song for Lisa – despite the fact that he might never live something like that down with the guys if he had done it.

Not being there didn’t save me from getting into trouble anyway – at least with Lisa.  I managed to do that a few times, starting with a joke about Michael playing love songs with me during our lunchtime practices when they were trying to get him to play and sing for Lisa.  There were other comments or jokes, but the last straw, so to speak, was probably the conversation about when the next classmate birthday was.  The fact that Michael came up with that answer first, and he knew the date, didn’t go over well with Lisa; and neither did the follow-up comments about my birthday being on the same night as the school Valentine’s dance – or the jokes about how I might get a Valentine for my birthday.

I am so glad that I don’t plan on going to the dance or have a ‘friends’ birthday party!

All of this has managed to throw me off tonight, and it’s taken me longer to get less done than I wanted to do tonight.  I finished my homework, but only managed to read one foreign language book; and barely covered a thousand pages in the archives.  It’s after two, and I’m going to finish this up now despite the urge to write an expose on the benefits of a time phase for all tweens that would jump us through these awkward years.  Even if it was possible for me to do that with all of my classmates, I’m sure that suddenly having a Grade Seven class full of fourteen or fifteen-year old teens would be noticed; and Mom – and the Magi council – would have a problem with it too.

Instead of doing that, I’m going to once again try not to think of soft, cuddly bunnies; and get some sleep.

Until next time, this is Magi Master Cassie Proctor; logging out!

Cassie's Journal - January 23, 2013

Happy 29^th Birthday, Liz!

It seems a bit strange to be starting so many journal entries with best birthday wishes, since there was only one a year before Mom and I moved here; but I love it too.  Adding all of the Seagers to my ‘friends’ birthday list is happening mostly because Naomi’s friendship with Ehlana and Ethan is bringing our families closer together.  Getting Liz for my favorite hair stylist ever is just a great added bonus!

Mid-week dinners at the Inn are a bonus too; and that’s where we were tonight to help Liz celebrate her big day.  I was at the kids’ table, as usual now, but since we had Naomi with us too; we were at the table next to her parents, so I didn’t need to get a post-party report to find out what had been going on with the parents tonight.  Roasting Liz was a top priority for her friends, but talking babies was a close second; and a pregnancy update is probably in order.

Since it’s Liz’s birthday, I’ll start with her.  She’s ‘officially’ only known for a bit over a week, and isn’t due until September, so other than some fairly unpleasant morning sickness; there isn’t much else to report.  Hannah Draper has started her third trimester, and both she and the baby are doing great.  Her repertoire of baby and bakery jokes has expanded faster than her waistline, and she easily wins the comedy award in the pregnant women category this year.  Aunt Deborah is next on the due date calendar, and her continuing claim to local fame is the almost total absence of the usual pregnancy problems.  She’s near the end of her second trimester, and looks amazing even after putting in a long day at the clinic.  I noticed a couple of smiles and looks between her and Uncle Adam that has me suspecting that he’s helping her out with a little more Magi Healing than they’ve told Mom and me about.

While there weren’t any other expecting moms having dinner with us, but Aunt Deborah, Liz, and Hannah have quite a bit of company in their little club this year; and there’s a good chance that their new babies are going to have a few more classmates than usual once they are old enough to start school.  Amy Spencer and her sister-in-law, Natalie, are among a young group of friends who will all be having their first children this year.  Since they’re all around ten years younger than Mom and Dad, except for getting school day updates from Amy, I get the rest of my pregnancy information from Uncle Adam’s reports in our Magi project archive.  One thing that he is very interested in is that he’s already confirmed as many Magi babies as there would normally be in an entire year; so there’s a possibility that we could have even more new Magi born this year than two years ago when Ethan and Ehlana helped set a new record – at least for recent history.

While I caught most of the conversation at the parents’ table, the toddler action going on around me was entertaining too.  Chicken strips and fries was the most popular meal choice, and I’m sure that was mostly because they have a low mess quotient compared to something like spaghetti.  Staying mostly clean ended when the birthday cake and ice cream was delivered; and that little mess event also gave Aunt Leanne a too-easy opportunity to play matchmaker with her current favorite targets.

It was near the end of the evening; there weren’t very many customers left in the dining room by then; and Miranda sent Michael over to help with the clean-up.  He and I made the mistake of actually having fun while we did our best to get four toddlers – and the table, chairs, and floor around them cleaned.  Aunt Leanne started things off with a comment about how cute we were, doing such a great job with the kids; and predicting that we were going to make great parents some day.  Things went downhill from there, though that was just my perspective – and Michael’s – since the adults around us all thought that all of the jokes and teasing that followed was a lot of fun.  I’m just hoping that their collective little Kodak moment of entertainment at our expense doesn’t make it to the school grapevine tomorrow.

I don’t really want to write or think about that anymore, so let’s skip the details.  Once Aunt Leanne, Hannah, and Miranda decided that they’d had enough fun with Michael and me, all that was left to do before heading home was have Liz open her gifts; and follow that up with a long round of goodnight hugs and kisses.  After getting home, Dad needed to get to work in the office, so I helped Mom with Ethan and Ehlana’s bedtime routine; including doing a short Magi lessons in the elements with them that we multi-tasked while they were in the bathtub.

Once the twins were in bed, Mom did another Magi lesson with me, and then I came up to my room to start my own bedtime routine with a long soak in my Jacuzzi.  Working in normal time doesn’t keep me from multi-tasking too, and I finished my language studies while in the tub; did my usual nightly email, entertainment, news, and sports checks while dealing with my hair; and wrapped up my night with an hour and a half of archive study while cuddling with Mandy in bed.

I guess that’s about all for today.  There wasn’t really anything exciting to report from school today; and though Rowen and I had fun with our after school play time, all we really did was wander around downtown, and hang out by the falls for the hour or so that I had between when we finished our homework and when I needed to be home to get ready for Liz’s birthday party.  We have another classmate birthday tomorrow, but Lisa didn’t invite Rowen and me; and there’s one more reason why I hope the jokes about Michael and me from tonight don’t get passed around at school tomorrow.  That’s not the kind of story any girl wants to hear on her birthday when it involves her boyfriend and another girl.  It’s definitely not something I even want to be thinking about right now either, but it’s not easy to turn off the photographic memory.

Time to not dream about soft, cuddly bunnies; and get some sleep.

I will not dream of bunnies; I will not dream of bunnies; I will not dream of bunnies.

Until next time, this is Magi Master Cassie Proctor; logging out!

Cassie's Journal - January 22, 2013

Today marks the start of eight long weeks until our next holiday – March Break.

I guess that kids and teens shouldn’t complain about that, since most adults have to wait until Easter for their next holiday, but Easter is early this year, so they won’t have to wait too much longer than we do.

Our teachers must think that this is a perfect time to get some extra work done, so piling on the homework and starting new projects was the theme for today; and probably will be tomorrow too.  That brought on the expected grumbling and groaning from the usual groups of kids and teens, but the work isn’t a problem for Rowen and me; and our lunchtime music practice helped us to miss out on the main gripe session.

It also helped us to miss out on a lot of the football talk going on with the guys, though Rowen and I did spend all of about ninety seconds talking about it with Michael while we got our flute and saxophones ready to play.  I probably should have mentioned the NFL conference championship games that were played on Sunday, if for no other reason than because Sunday marked the two-week countdown to the end of football season for another year.  I don’t actually care that the Baltimore Ravens beat the New England Patriots, or that the San Francisco Forty-Niners will play the Ravens in the Super Bowl after winning their game over the Atlanta Falcons; but both games were a big deal for a lot of the guys even though most were disappointed with the results from one or both games.  Michael’s into football as much as Tim is, but seems to mostly be amused by the total indifference Rowen and I have toward the game while showing that we know as much or more than most of the guys do about the sport whenever we do get pushed into those conversations.

While music practice at noon works great for Rowen and me, Michael is definitely taking some heat for hanging out with us.  For some reason, the guys think it’s a problem for him to pick practicing Disney songs with us over talking football, showing off for the girls, and hanging out with the couples club.  That last part is especially annoying to Lisa, and though she isn’t razzing Michael too, the looks and obvious disappointment probably have more of an effect on him than the jokes and jabs do from Tim and the other guys.

Again, I have to ask why anyone would want to rush to cross over and deal with all of that tween angst.  I’m only a spectator, and find myself regularly wishing for the good old days when I first moved here when the guys wouldn’t hang out with girls for fear of girl germs, and the girls all thought that guys were gross and obnoxious.

Somehow, I’ve managed to completely go off the rails for today’s recap, so let’s get back on track.

Rowen and I were working after school, so we were each on our own for most of our homework, but we got together at her house after dinner so we could do some work on one of our new projects.  For my work on the family business, I spent most of my time dealing with Easter-related business issues.  I don’t think it’ll ever stop feeling strange to be working on holidays that are still months away, but since my work today included a lot of spring fashion reviews; I had fun playing with all of the plans that were being finalized.  The downside of that is knowing that I won’t be able to go shopping for those cool new clothes until after they hit the stores – and even then it’s not like we get to go to the Mall once or twice a week.  Maybe Rowen and I should stop in to see Abby after school tomorrow – just to see how she’s doing, of course!

We had a quiet dinner at home, and after spending about an hour and a half working on our project at Rowen’s house, I got home in time to do the bedtime routine with Ethan and Ehlana; followed that up with a Healing lesson with Mom; and then came up to my room to cuddle in bed with Mandy while doing my usual nightly computing and studying.

I haven’t done a family update in a while, so let’s do that next.

Violet wasn’t here for the long weekend, but she and Dillon did get together in Woodvale; and she’ll be here for the weekend before Valentine’s Day so she can go to the school dance with Dillon on Friday night.  Aunt Grace and Mark are doing a getaway at a ski resort in Colorado too, but probably won’t see each other again until Easter.  There isn’t much news from the rest of the Proctor and Rice families, and the Johnson family seems to almost be in waiting for the arrival of Kevin and Elaine’s second child now that they’re down to just weeks to go.  Nicole is certainly wishing her new baby brother or sister will get here sooner than later; mostly because “Mommy can’t do any fun stuff anymore until after the baby comes.”

I spent an hour reading in the archives; a half hour on our Magi project; and another hour and a half reading books in two different languages while having a little online chat in Javanese.  Since I didn’t get an early start, and my time-phasing sessions are over for at least the next few years, it’s now heading toward one-thirty; and time for me to wrap this up and get some sleep.  I may miss those extra hours of down time, but my first night back in normal mode was okay; and I’m actually not as tired as I have been each night after my high-speed nights.  I’ll keep track of that for a while, but there probably isn’t much real difference between my actual sleep needs whether I’m working in normal or hyper-time.

Until next time, this is Magi Master Cassie Proctor; logging out!

Cassie's Journal - January 21, 2013

Today was one for the history books; at least in America.  The second-term inauguration of our first black president on Martin Luther King Day was both historic and meaningful for tens of millions of people here; and probably around the world too.

From a kid’s perspective, though, let’s be honest and admit that this was really just a bonus day off from school.

Rowen and I spent the day hanging out together, and since it didn’t really warm up much today; we stayed indoors, and only went out once for a chilly little tour around town on our bikes shortly after lunch.  We played with Ethan and Ehlana; had a couple of music practices; played on our computers; watched a movie; and had a Magi lesson with Mom.

The law and real estate office wasn’t officially open today, but Dad and Aunt Leanne both spent some time there anyway.  Other than having three days off in a row, it didn’t really even feel like a holiday weekend.  There weren’t any special holiday meals or big family events; and with most of the stores closed, and almost no visitors or tourists around; it was very quiet on Main Street.  The cold kept most of the kids indoors too, though that would have been a lot different if we had snow to play in.

We still had a fun day off, and having nothing special going on this evening allowed me to get an early start on my nightly computing and studies; so I’ll still be sleeping before midnight even without using a time-phase.

That’s it for tonight, so...

...until next time, this is Magi Master Cassie Proctor; logging out!

Cassie's Journal - January 20, 2013

We’ve returned to winter-like temperatures overnight, though there still isn’t any snow play anywhere in the current weather forecasts.

There was a bit of a circus going on around the Emerson’s house while Rowen’s parents were kept busy trying to get everyone fed and ready for church in time to actually get there in time for the service.  I managed to get through my Tai Chi with only a couple of spectators before the barely-controlled chaos took over; and then Rowen and I were running non-stop until we hopped into the car with Uncle Adam, Aunt Leanne, and Emma Norton.  Rowen’s parents had the boys in the van with them, and Jessica and Lindsay got a ride with Geraldine and her parents.

While we didn’t have to deal with most of our usual little brother and buddy sleepover annoyances, but this afternoon, Rowen and I were ready to just spend a few quiet hours hanging out in my room and lounge.  We practiced our music; worked on a project for school; played with Ethan and Ehlana; and watched a movie in the time we had between lunch and when Rowen needed to be home for her family dinner plans.

It’s been a quiet evening here too, and we all opted for an early night after staying up late on Friday and Saturday.  I was in on the play time and Magi lesson after dinner, but came upstairs to spend some quality time in my Jacuzzi when Mom and Dad were ready to give Ethan and Ehlana their baths.  I did the full, time-phased nightly computing and study session after my bath too, though we don’t have school tomorrow; and that’s when I learned something that was instantly my number one top news story of the day.

Time phasing affects your biological age!

For the Magi of the future, that may not seem like a huge revelation, but you won’t find anything in the archives older than this journal entry – and the report I’ll be writing for Mom after I finish this – that even really considers the possibility, let alone quantifies it.  The measurement of the effect is actually very simple – you age by the amount of time that passes while you’re phased; regardless of how much time passes in the ‘real’ world.

That doesn’t sound like a big deal, and under normal circumstances, it isn’t.  If you time-phase to get somewhere fast, or are only trying to do something in seconds instead of minutes; aging by an extra few minutes isn’t even noticeable unless you’re keeping track of it.  Using a time phase to slow everything down has the opposite effect – you age more slowly than real time.

How cool would that be?  Maybe I should experiment with that some day and see if it would be possible to do a ‘slow’ time phase at night while I sleep.  Imagine if you could cut seven or eight hours of aging off of every day of your life!  Would that make it possible to live an extra thirty or forty years if you could sleep and be able to hold the power flows?

The reason I say that I’d need to study that sometime in the future is the same reason why I need to stop doing these big, nightly time phases – extensive use of time-phasing and puberty do not mix.  In the two weeks that I’ve been experimenting with time-phase studying, I’ve aged by nearly two days more than everyone else.  Extrapolating that out, I’d catch up to Rowen in a bit over a year; and add an extra year to my true age about once every six or seven years.  I definitely don’t want to shorten my life by one-seventh!

Now, for those of you who have read all of my journals, you’re probably thinking right now that I’ve stumbled onto the perfect solution to my ‘crossing over’ problem; but you’d be wrong.  Yes, if I could slow myself down for that seven or eight hours a day; I could slow my aging down by a couple of days every week.  Most adults would love that idea, and in some ways, it’s even tempting for me, but there would be some parts of that decision I wouldn’t like at all.

Having the body of an eleven-year old girl when I’m fourteen or fifteen wouldn’t be good, and I seriously doubt that I’d find dragging out puberty for two or three extra years much fun.  Then there would eventually be all of those little biological issues that would be very noticeable and unexplainable – like having menstrual cycles that were a third longer than any other girls.  I also didn’t always enjoy always being one of the pixies in my grade so much that I’d like to go back to being the shortest person again while dragging out reaching my eventual adult size over several extra years.

Like I said, that will be a cool experiment, and maybe Mom would like to try it herself, but even if it means I’ll end up crossing over sooner than I’d like; this really is not a good time for me to be messing with my biological clock.

While this does mean the end to my time-phase study experiment for physical reasons, it’s only temporary; doesn’t mean that I can’t still use time-phasing a little bit now and then; and I didn’t really answer the question of whether the power demands are a net benefit or not compared to doing my studying at normal speed.

For now, though, this will be my last early study night for a while, so I’m going to wrap this up; write the report for Mom; and then get a little extra sleep while I can.

Until next time, this is Magi Master Cassie Proctor; logging out!