Our Day Two schedule is definitely going to be my favorite,
but there aren’t going to be any classes that I don’t have fun in this year –
thanks mostly to having Michael and Tim sitting with Rowen and me in all of the
classes where that’s an option.
I like getting to start the Day One schedule with Spanish
and end it with Phys-Ed; but Tim isn’t the only person in my class who thinks
that first period is way too early to be studying in a different language. Tim entertained us with his pre-class
grousing; trying to convince us that he could barely converse in English before
noon. Spanish really isn’t his thing,
but I think that Rowen and I can help him improve his Spanish – and his marks in
the class – this year.
Art is the favorite morning class for most of my friends;
and it’s sandwiched between Spanish and Social Studies. Phys-Ed tops that list for the afternoon; but
we have to get through Math and History first.
There were more than a few times today when I’m sure that Uncle Nick
felt as strange as I did while teaching his lessons. I haven’t had that problem since Brent Palmer
taught our Grade Five class, and I can tell from the look in Uncle Nick’s eyes
and the smiles he shares with me that he finds the ‘normal’ Grade Eight student
act that I need to put on at school just as amusing as Brent did. One thing that is different this time is that
Uncle Nick doesn’t know who all of the Magi kids are; while Brent probably
knows all of them through being a member of the Magi council.
There isn’t any tween or teen news worth reporting today,
and though some fashionistas were still dressing to impress; most of us were
happy to return to normal school day comfort clothing choices. That didn’t mean we weren’t still wearing new
clothes – we just weren’t dressed up. I
like wearing dresses as much as the next girl, but it’s a bit tough to toss a
football around with the guys at lunchtime if you’re in a dress and good shoes.
Rowen and I both played some football at lunchtime today, and
I don’t really care that we got teased by some of the guys and girls for doing
that. If we’re going to be stuck with a
lot of football over the next few months, I’m not going to sit and be a good
little spectator day-after-day when playing with Michael is an option. The guys did mostly shut up after I dropped a
twenty-yard pass into Tim’s hands while he was at a full run. Rowen caught a couple of short passes from me
too; and then caught the defense off-guard the first time with a quick
hook-and-ladder to Michael, and gained fifteen yards the second time by happily
following Tim’s blocks until he led her safely out of bounds.
That play time, and an outdoors Phys-Ed class were the fun
highlights of the day at school, and though we didn’t get to have any play time
after school; we did have an entertaining study session at the Inn. Tim would
have rather stayed at the school and watch the team football practice – or go
to the park to play football with the usual gang there – but he had Mom orders
to get his homework done first; and he’s figuring out that studying with
Michael, Rowen, and me is helping him finish his assignments faster so that he
can get on with the play time. From what
we heard through the gossip network last year, his previous study sessions with
girls weren’t nearly as successful – though his definition of success for that
is likely very different than mine.
Miranda helped to make our study session entertaining; and
snack time at the Inn is always a bonus; but once we’d finished our assignments,
it was time for Michael to help out in the kitchen while Rowen and I moved on
to our part-time jobs and Tim went to the park to play football. I’m sure the only reason he walked with Rowen
and me as far as the auto shop was because he wanted to drop his computer bag
off with his parents before going on to the park – not!
I’m putting in another really late night, and I don’t have
much more to report from the rest of the afternoon and evening; so let’s switch
to condensed mode.
Mom, Ethan, and Ehlana gave me their news from today while I
worked in the office on the family business.
For the twins, that meant telling me about their first Grade Twelve
lessons. Mom didn’t do a lot of work
with them because she had a long meeting with Miranda and a shorter one with
Aunt Grace; but they were able to study while Miranda was working with Mom even
if they had to play normal toddlers while Aunt Grace was with them. Though it’s one of their days off, Miranda
has agreed to have her monthly meeting with Mom on Tuesdays at least for the
next few months – and longer if it works out for both of them.
Aunt Grace’s meetings with Mom aren’t about the construction
or business operations of the lab – she deals with that work through Uncle
Adam. They’re in the early stages of
developing the computer systems that Mom will be building for the lab. While they really do need to have everything
that Mom is going to create for them; the real reason for Mom’s involvement is
still ultimately to give Ethan and Ehlana an excuse to be at the lab. They can hardly wait for that; and they’ll be
able to be there well ahead of the official opening next September because
they’ll be able to be there once the building is completed enough for Mom to
start working on the computer infrastructure.
Speaking of that, Emerson Computers will be getting a lot of
new business for that next year too; and Rowen’s parents are going to be very
busy next spring and summer. There’s a
lot of new business for quite a few of the businesses in town for everything
from construction to lighting and supplies; but if you’re interested in those
details; they’re available in the lab project archives. I am glad that we’re helping to make things
better for everyone in town and in the Ridge River
area.
So much for switching to condensed mode, but I’m going to
give that another try.
Dinner with Mom, Dad, and the twins was fun; but since Dad
and I didn’t have to cook, we got to take care of the clean-up while Mom did a
Magi lesson with the twins. It was my
turn for a lesson after that; and then I helped out with getting Ethan and
Ehlana into bed for the night. I needed
some Jacuzzi time after that, but did all of my archive homework and some of my
language studies while soaking in the tub.
I took a break from the work while doing my hair, and then sat in the
window alcove to finish my language studies and a bit more family business work
that came up in response to some email I sent out when working in the office
before dinner.
My nightly computer checks were last, and most of my email
traffic was continuing back-to-school conversations and updates from my cousins
and collegian friends. Though I got a
slightly earlier start to my work tonight compared to yesterday, it’s still
after two-thirty now; and I’m again ready to crash for a few hours – so I’ll
save the family news update for another day.
With game night at the Inn tomorrow, I’m going to have yet another late
start to my work and studies; so I’ll either need to get used to only having
three or four hours of sleep a night, or come up with a better plan for getting
everything done.
While I sleep on that...
...Live long and prosper, fellow Magi of the Light!
