Cassie's Journal - March 31, 2014

What a way to end the month – and though March may or may not have come in like a lion; it definitely has gone out like a lamb!  How nice was it?  Michael, Tim, Rowen, and I skipped our after-school study time in favor of playing instead – and Michael and I did our homework after dinner at his house instead.

I’ve gotten ahead of the story; so let’s back up to the beginning.

Happy 2^nd Birthday, Brandon Green!

While Brandon’s first birthday in his family’s new home was a big deal for them; I’m really only mentioning it because Brandon occasionally plays with Ethan and Ehlana at church or KidZone; though he’s enough younger that he can’t always keep up with the twins and their usual group of playmates.  Ethan isn’t close enough to Brandon to be invited to the party today; but Aiden was – though that had more to do with the two boys being neighbors now than anything else.

We weren’t having birthday party kind of fun around home this morning, but I did enjoy the good morning hugs and kisses with Michael; our Tai Chi; and a fairly quiet morning before meeting up with Rowen and heading off to school.  We had a bit of rain this morning, but nothing major; and it had moved out of the area well before lunchtime so that spending time outdoors was an option.

The mood around school was pretty upbeat for a Monday.  Part of that was due to the weather – even with the morning rain; but being done with March seems to have everyone thinking that spring really is here.  Then again, it could just be that there are a lot of kids and teens spending the day working on perfect April Fool’s Day jokes for tomorrow; and there’s really no deeper meaning to the happy at all.

There are some other signs of spring fever around the school.  The countdown to Easter seemed to start in earnest today, and as usual; that starts with the youngest kids as they work on themed lessons and crafts.  That’ll make for a colorful change to the displays and walls around the school, and while that would probably get laughed about by teens at high schools in cities; it’s never a problem here – or if it is with any teen; they’re at least smart enough not to voice those opinions.

While there aren’t those kinds of problems at our school, spring fever and teen drama go hand-in-hand, and even in our little town; the battles can be intense and there can be casualties – particularly of the broken heart variety.  As I think about that, the strangest part of the teen drama here might be the fact that there aren’t that many players in the show.  That doesn’t mean that there is never any drama with the ‘permanent’ teen couples; but they also don’t usually do much of the break-up and make-up kind of thing either.  The real drama comes from the teens that haven’t ‘found their match’ yet.  This year, for example, there are only three senior high school teens still in that group; and they account for most of the drama.  The scale flips the other way down through the grades to mine, so there are more active players in Grade Eight; and there’s still a majority of my classmates in search of their most-compatible boyfriend or girlfriend.

There are times when I wonder what that must be like, but I certainly wouldn’t trade what Michael and I have just to find out for myself.  I also don’t think that I’d like being on either side of a heartbreak either; though I guess that I have been to some extent with Patrick’s crush on me – and through being the girl for Michael that Vanessa and Lisa wish they could have been.

That’s gotten off-track, and way too heavy for such a nice day; so let’s get back to the update.

I’m not going to get into every teen drama story, and don’t want to pick on Jenny; but I hear more about her problems with Garth that most other stories, and they do manage to cover quite a bit of the range of troubles those ‘temporary’ couples seem to deal with.  In their case, part of their problem is simple geography – he’s out on the family farms and she’s here in town – and without him around far too often for her liking.  It was one thing last fall when he was staying after school every day for football and had the Friday night games.  After that, there was the Christmas holidays, and then Jenny wasn’t all that interested in being out and about during the worst of winter; but that’s changing again now.  The bad news for Garth is that this is also a very busy time of year for his family, and hanging out with Jenny after school instead of working in the greenhouses isn’t an option.

That doesn’t work for Jenny at all, and while it’s by no means their only issue; it is a problem when she compares them to other couples – particularly the other footballers and cheerleaders.  Jenny doesn’t have any immediate prospects for her next boyfriend, and I think that Garth is still hoping that they can work things out; but I’m not the only person around them to see the writing on the wall.  They may drag it out until summertime; but I doubt it will be quite that long before they break up.

So much for moving along!  Let’s try a bit harder to get back to the normal news of the day.

With Tim in our little best-friend foursome, warm weather means football; and he had Michael and some of the other guys tossing a ball around at lunchtime while Rowen and I sat on the bleachers with some of the other girls.  We were invited to join in, but the grass was still wet from the morning rain; and we didn’t feel like spending the afternoon wet or dirty.  Michael managed to get through that with nothing worse than wet shoes and socks; but Tim had to change into one of his gym tees, and spent the next couple of hours with wet pants thanks to putting a bit too much effort into his game play.  We were back outdoors again for Phys-Ed class, and while what we did wasn’t as important to any of us as just being outside; I didn’t mind running some laps around the track or playing a bit of soccer instead of our usual gymnasium action.  We will get to be outdoors for Phys-Ed more as we move into April and it’s time for our track and field and soccer modules; and I’m really looking forward to that a lot.

It was as we were heading inside again to hit the showers that Michael, Tim, Rowen, and I decided to blow off our study session and play instead until dinnertime.  That might be a problem for some teens – at least for their parents – but mine don’t have an issue for obvious reasons; and even Tim’s parents cut him some slack today – something they might not have done before he started studying with the rest of us every day.  Then again, he’d have avoided studying at all if he could manage it in those ‘before’ times. ;^)

So instead of studying, we grabbed our bikes, went for a ride; took Ethan and Ehlana to the park for some playground time; the boys played more football while we were there; and then Michael and I dropped the twins off at my house before going on to his for dinner with his parents and Rebecca.  The only change from our normal Monday evening was the study session in the dining room after we’d cleaned the kitchen.  The meal, guitar lesson, and wind down cuddle and chat in the living room with Miranda and Jacob was the same – and as much fun as always.

I was home again in time to tuck Ethan and Ehlana in for the night and hear about their new college ‘classes’; but missed the bedtime story and snack.  Mom did my Magi lesson after that, and the rest of my evening was all study and work and not much fun.  There certainly isn’t anything from that blast of computer action worth writing about here, and I should probably get as much rest as I can tonight anyway – just in case there are April Fool’s Day pranks directed my way tomorrow.  Michael and Tim haven’t tried anything since my first year here and those no-hugging-zone posters, and Patrick and Scott have been pretty good so far in the New Year; but I’ll still be ready for anything just in case – and there are bound to be pranks and gags going on tomorrow; even if they aren’t targeted specifically at me.

Whatever happens, it should be an interesting day, so I’m out of here and off to dream land.  Until next time…

…Live long and prosper, fellow Magi of the Light!

Cassie's Journal - March 30, 2014

Happy 19^th Birthday, Jake!

I’m sure that it has been – especially since Stephanie took him out for a birthday party that included a hotel sleepover for two.  Miranda missed having her baby home for the day – especially since that was a first for any of her kids; but we did our best to help her to celebrate and have fun too.  I was with Michael at his house for the birthday breakfast that Jake and Stephanie were only able to attend via phone call; and I made sure that Miranda had extra hugs here and there throughout the rest of the day whenever I was around and it looked like she needed one.

Backing up a bit, Michael came over for Tai Chi, and then I rushed through getting ready for the day before meeting up with him again at his house for Jake’s in-absentia birthday breakfast.  Rebecca happily sent him pictures of the dishes he was missing out on using Miranda’s phone; and that added to the entertainment fun while we ate and talked with Jake and Stephanie for over half an hour.  Michael and I took care of the clean-up while his parents and sister got ready for church; and then we met up with my parents, brother, and sister and walked to church together.

While Jake’s birthday was the big event for the Stone family, the top stories at church this morning were Heather and Adam Green’s move into their new home and the weather.  While they still have unpacking left to do, Heather, Adam, and Brandon spent their first night in the new house last night; and Brandon is apparently already keeping his parents busy with his fascination with having a river in his back yard.  Since they bought Aunt Leanne’s first ‘show’ home, a lot of people in town – maybe even most – know just how beautiful it is; and we’re all very happy for them.

The weather had everyone’s attention too, and in a good way too; thanks to the temperature climbing back into the seventies again.  That had everyone thinking about spring a lot more than any amount of yard work possibly could; and spending time outdoors doing anything was very popular today.  I missed out on the drawn-out social time after church because Michael needed to head to the Inn right away after an extended service; but then I went home after that and was already changed by the time Mom and Dad got home with the twins.  I took care of Ethan and Ehlana; helped Mom with making lunch; and then Ethan, Ehlana, and I were set free to go play after we finished eating while Mom and Dad cleaned up before moving on to some office work they each needed to deal with.

I took the bike and trailer to the park so that I could take the twins for a ride.  We met up with Rowen and Tim there; played at the park with a bunch of other kids and teens; and Tim and Ethan played a bit of football with some of the guys for a while too.  Michael joined us for the last part of the football action, but then we needed to head back to my house to get our homework finished.  With such a beautiful afternoon, we took our work out onto the back porch, and it didn’t take long to get everything finished; but then Michael and I just ended up going back to the Inn a bit early to help out with the prep work for the buffets.  Tim and Rowen went out biking again, and that would have been fun; but I liked spending the time with Michael and his family too – even if we didn’t get to enjoy much more of the warm and sun today.

The weather affected the buffet crowd a little bit; though that would have been more noticeable if we hadn’t had most of the Green clan at the first sitting having a ‘thank-you for helping us move’ dinner that Heather, Adam, and his parents hosted.  Without them, we wouldn’t have had a full house for the first sitting; and we were only a bit more than three-quarters full for the second sitting.  That did allow everyone working at the Inn to take it a bit easier than usual; and my favorite part of the evening was when Michael, Rebecca, and I took our dinner break and ate our meals out by the river – though off to the side from the Inn so we wouldn’t be in the way of the diner’s view of the river.

There wasn’t anything special that happened during that break – it was mostly just the comparative quiet; just getting to be outdoors instead of cooped up inside; and the chat time with two of my best friends that made that handful of moments special.  We didn’t even really talk about anything earthshaking enough to write about here – just a quiet re-hash of some of the tidbits of news from the day and a little talk about what we each had going on over the next week or two.  With Rebecca in Grade Nine, Michael and I still miss out on lots of things she’s doing with other high school teens; but that’ll likely start changing again this summer – and when we hit high school in September too.

Because of the quieter second buffet sitting, I was able to head home early, and I was determined to get back on track with my early bedtime plans for school nights.  Mom did my Magi lesson with me before we did the bedtime routine with Ethan and Ehlana.  While I’m thinking about them, they’ve finished their first semester college exams; and will be starting their second freshman semester next week.  That gives them about three months to finish their first year of college before summer holidays; and then they’ll start their second year in September – right on time for having access to the equipment at the lab.

After getting the twins tucked in for the night, I decided to mix my studying and work with some Jacuzzi time.  I needed to use just a touch of time-phasing to get everything done, and that meant spending a bit too much time in the tub, but I am in bed now; and will be sleeping before midnight – so it worked out for the best.  I’ve only done my email check and this update since getting cuddled with Mandy; and don’t have anything newsworthy from my inbox to report either; so I guess that’s it for tonight.  Until next time…

…Live long and prosper, fellow Magi of the Light!

Cassie's Journal - March 29, 2014

This has been another very long day; though it was the spring clean-up work that has me tired out; which is a change from the usual, more mental work load that usually has me in the same condition most other nights.  The good news is that I didn’t let being tired out get in the way of some Michael and me play time tonight during the couple of hours of alone time we managed to have between the time we tucked the twins in for the night and when Michael needed to go home for the night.  Before I get to that, though; let’s do the review of the work parts of the day – which was pretty much the rest of the time from shortly after Tai Chi until after dinner.

Michael came over for Tai Chi, but then he left right away to get started on his own morning chores.  I didn’t cook breakfast or clean up the kitchen after we ate today, but I did take care of Ethan and Ehlana while Mom and Dad were busy before breakfast; and then I was outside and working in the yard right after we finished eating.  The to-do list was extensive, and wasn’t going to be finished this weekend anyway; but we did our best to make a serious dent in it.  My chores are getting appropriately more challenging for my age, and while there are some good things about that; not every new job is particularly pleasant.

Living in a big house is great, but keeping everything maintained is equally big – and I’m not just talking about the usual chores that go with having a big yard and lots of rooms to clean.  Today, Dad and I checked out everything from the furnace to the eaves and roof.  Some of that work was regular maintenance, but there were a whole raft of minor, winter-damage repairs to make.  I’m not at all afraid of heights, so working on ladders with Dad wasn’t a problem; but I did learn some practical lessons about planning ahead when working at the top of extremely tall extension ladders – like making sure that you have everything you need for the job the first time you climb the ladder.  Making that climb and descent too many times gets very tiring – especially when you’re hauling tools and supplies with you.

By the way, in case you’re wondering; I was completely safe the entire time – even without the obvious Magi-power backup.  We have all of the proper safety gear, and Dad made sure that I used the straps and a harness – not that I was really in any danger of a slip or fall anyway.  Magi Masters aren’t immune to injury, but we do have reflexes that allow us to react and avoid most minor accidents.

Returning to the work report, while the minor house maintenance kept us busy all morning, Dad and I moved on to the yard work as it warmed up a bit in the afternoon.  That included a bit of work on the storage barn; gardening; tree trimming; and a once-over of the dock.  That last job had Dad deciding that it was time to replace the dock this year; though he was also sure that we could get another year out of the old one.  He just doesn’t want to do the work on this one to do that and then need to replace it next year anyway.  The water is too cold to do that work now; so that’ll be a job for sometime in May or June when it’s a bit warmer.

Dad and I kept working until nearly seven o’clock; leaving just enough time for a quick clean-up before sitting down to the late dinner Mom had ready by the time we did that and were ready to eat.  Ethan and Ehlana took care of most of the dinner conversation, and though they helped Mom with some chores this morning; they had play time in the afternoon that included going to the park for some play time with Alicia.  I haven’t mentioned Alicia in my journal in quite a while, and I guess that’s just another example of how my life is changing now that I’m a teen and have a boyfriend.  Alicia still has her two after-school nights a week and helps out on most Saturdays unless we’re busy with something else – or she is.  Since her usual weeknights are Tuesday and Thursday, she’s usually done already by the time I get home from band and studying at the computer store on Tuesday; and I’m at the Inn most Thursday nights.  It’s not as though I’d spend much time with her even if I was here, but maybe that’ll change a bit when she starts putting in more time again this summer – at least until she goes away to college in August.

I wonder who Mom will replace her with.  Oh, wait; maybe I’m not in that much of a hurry to find out! ;^)

My first order of business after helping with the dinner clean-up was to grab a badly needed shower.  I’m sure that Michael was as interested in some quality alone time as I was; but he would have soon changed his mind if I hadn’t showered and changed first.  That’s one case where having heightened senses is both good and bad for me.  I’m not going to start a chat on teen body odor issues; so let’s move along to the much more interesting end to my day.

I was finished doing my hair and changed into something appropriate for cuddling – and making out – with Michael by the time he came over after being set free from the Inn.  Ethan and Ehlana were ready for bed by then, but Michael and I spent some time playing with them before doing their bedtime story and snack with Mom and Dad and then tucking them in for the night.  We came up to the lounge after that, and enjoyed that couple of hours of play time I mentioned at the beginning of this update.  Michael made sure that I wasn’t interested in napping; I made sure that he wasn’t interested in anything except me; and we both enjoyed creating some really hot, sweet memories together.

In fact, I’d rather be replaying those memories and dreaming about Michael and me right now instead of dragging this report out any longer; so, until next time…

…Live long and prosper, fellow Magi of the Light!

Cassie's Journal - March 28, 2014

Congratulations, Heather and Adam – you are officially owners of a beautiful, riverfront home in the new section of town!  I’ll guess that the Green family is in for a busy weekend helping them move in; but all of that work will be worth it for them to be in their new home in time for Brandon’s second birthday on Monday.

We’re not going to be directly involved in that move, though Mom and Dad will be helping out with some food and drinks to help them feed the volunteer movers; and we have a nice house-warming gift for them too.  Uncle Mark and Aunt Grace may help a bit at the new house, since they are going to be across-the-street neighbors, though I haven’t heard anything specific; and the Green clan really does have a lot of big, strong guys available to make fairly short work of the heavy lifting – along with a small fleet of delivery trucks to haul everything in.

Compared to getting a new house, my day was fairly tame; but Michael, Tim, Rowen, and I also had a lot of fun too – especially once we were set free from school for the weekend.  Before I get to that part of the report, though; let’s start from the beginning.

It was fairly chilly this morning when Michael came over for Tai Chi, and while he still needed to rush around a bit to do that with us and then get to his weight training at school; Mom and I didn’t let him escape without getting some hot food into him on the run.  I’d like to think that my goodbye hug and kisses helped to keep him warm until we met up again at school, but even if that didn’t work; it did keep both of us smiling for a while.

We didn’t have anything else out of the norm going on at home this morning, and I was ready to go early enough to meet up with Rowen at her house before she was ready to head out; so that gave me a chance to catch up on some chat time with her parents and Patrick while I waited for her.  Owen and Patricia are busy with tax season, but the big rush is coming over the next couple of weeks, and with the added pressure of the new data center; they’ll be very busy.  Rowen’s going to help out more too, but I think that we should do a few bonus sleepovers at my house to give them a break on the home front; and maybe Patrick could spend some extra time at Scott’s house too.  I know that they’re overjoyed with how successful their business is becoming now; but that won’t mean much if they burn out before getting to enjoy the benefits of that success.

Getting back on track, Rowen and I headed to school once she was ready; we met up with Michael and Tim after their weight training workout; and pretty much needed to get right to our home room class.  We had a Day One schedule Friday, so I was the only student in our class that actually liked starting out the last day of the week with Spanish; but nobody minds ending the school week with Phys-Ed for last class – especially when we take it outdoors.  It was a bit cooler today, and the yard was still wet; but at least the rain moved on by then and it was nice to be out of the gym again for a change.

There isn’t anything to write about from our classes today.  We’re continuing the new modules, and while we will start seeing quizzes again by next week; there’ll be a bit of a reprieve from major tests for at least another week or two.  While that doesn’t bother me one way or the other; it certainly takes the stress level down for about half of my classmates.  The homework load is a different story.  We still took the evening off from working on it; but Michael, Tim, Rowen, and I will need to get together sometime this weekend to work on a couple of projects – even if we do the rest of our work on our own.

I sense another Sunday afternoon work session in my near future; but that’s preferable to skipping what I hope will be some Michael and me alone time tomorrow night to study instead.

On the teen talk front around school, Heather and Adam Green’s new house made the grapevine news through some cousins; and there are lots of kids and teens looking at those new homes with wishful eyes and hopeful dreams.  I might be one of those dreamers; though that’s as much because I know that my future will not include inheriting the Proctor family home from Mom and Dad.  That’ll be Ethan’s honor – and burden.  Okay, yes, I might know more than that about my future; but let’s not spoil any surprises tonight.

Returning to the teen talk topic, weekend plans were top news too; but not really in an upbeat way because nearly everyone old enough to help out with chores knew by this morning that the weather was going to cooperate for the next couple of days and make spring clean-ups a certainty.  Easter is just three weeks away, and while it’s still too cold most nights to plant new flowers quite yet; gardens and yards need to be readied for the impending spring renewal.  Add in post-winter maintenance; and most of us are going to be in for very long work days – at least on Saturday.  You will not hear me complain – especially when I hear some of my farm-kid friends telling me about some of the work they have to do every spring – often in very muddy conditions.

Work was the last thing on my mind once we were set free for the weekend.  Michael and I split up with Rowen and Tim long enough to drop our bags off at our homes and collect our bikes; and then we went for a long ride.  That started with a stop at the Emporium for trail rations and drinks; we did the usual construction sites tour; and then headed East along the river.  With all of the rain we’ve had over the past couple of days, we knew the trails at the park would be a quagmire – except for the main pathway – so we instead rode East for almost an hour to see how far we could get; and then biked back to town in time to meet up with Tim’s parents at his house after they were done work for the day.

My family was taking a break from dinner and a movie night, and since Michael’s and Rowen’s parents were both working; Martin and Tracey agreed to Tim’s request for having the four of us at their house for the evening.  While Tim’s parents share the store and shop hours with his aunt and uncle; they still put in long work weeks – just as every business owner in town does; so helping them with making dinner and cleaning up was as expected as it is at my house.  Rowen and I helped Tracey with making dinner, but there wasn’t anything sexist about that decision – Tim was put to work getting his bedroom and the family room presentable for ‘gentler’ company; and he drafted Michael to help him.  Martin allowed that, but only because Michael was used to Tim’s usual state of not-so-clean.  According to Tracey, Tim has actually improved significantly since he started dating Rowen; and she also noted that he hadn’t made that effort with anyone before her – without mentioning any names.

The boys got the worst of that deal anyway, since it really didn’t take much work to throw together a large pot of spaghetti; some appetizers; and a couple of pans full of extra-cheesy garlic bread.  While the food was great, it was the dinner conversation that I loved the most.  I hear more about the local farming news and everything else that goes on around Landry’s showroom and shop through Tim’s parents than from anywhere else – including my farm-based friends.  So far, the farmers are apparently fairly happy with the weather; though that can change fairly quickly if we get too much rain or a major dry spell.  For now, though, there hasn’t been any major flooding thanks to staggered melt-off of winter snow; and spring always brings out the optimism in most farmers around here.

All I’m thinking about for that is how optimistic – and happy – they’ll be in the not too distant future when Ehlana succeeds with some of her pet projects at the lab when it opens in September.  Drought-resistant crops are one of her top priorities, and while she can’t do too much physical work or experimentation on that yet; she has been thinking about it a lot and doing research for a while now.  I’m not going to be very deeply involved in the lab, or the work that Ethan and Ehlana will do there; but it is going to be very cool to watch it all happen!

We’re still a bit young to get very excited about cars, but it was fun hearing about some of the new vehicles that Tracey and Sarah are bringing in this year.  Tim is almost as interested in talking cars as football; but then he’s only personally interested in one car for himself – a Corvette.  Football still wins for now, but I’m sure that’ll change between now and when he can get his license.  I can relate to liking sports cars, but some of my parents’ practicality has rubbed off on me too; since I’ll be thinking more about space and convenience than fast and cool when it comes time for me to buy my first car.

Maybe we should have gotten a sports car to drive around in back when it was just you and me, Mom!  That wouldn’t have been keeping a low profile; but might have helped us with some of those close call escapes. ;^)

There was some talk about new farm equipment for this year too; but that wasn’t quite as interesting for half of us so Tracey, Rowen, and I missed out on some of that while we talked about ‘girl things’.  That included everything from new babies and pregnancies to a bit of romance gossip; and that kept us entertained through the tail-end of dinner and dessert.  It was teen time in the kitchen for the clean-up; and then Michael, Tim, Rowen, and I went outside and over to the school to toss a football around for a while.

Now that Michael and Tim are both taller than Rowen and me, they’re starting to gain some advantages over us when it comes to some sports, but I have some other advantages to compensate; and Rowen is still under-estimated by nearly everyone for her athletic ability – not to mention her fiery competitiveness.  I bring that up here because the four of us actually make a pretty good team.  I can throw a football to exactly where any of my friends are going to be when at a flat-out run; Michael and Tim can catch anything if the ball is on-target; and Rowen can run and dodge with a football better than either Michael or Tim can manage.  I can also tell you that it’s probably a good thing that there isn’t a high school co-ed football league.  The parents and teachers would likely have a problem with all of the hugs and kisses after each football play – not that Rowen and I would be interested in doing that with our boys in front of a crowd.  The group of younger girls at the playground giggled at us, though; and the boys happily gagged and tried to razz us.

We didn’t play football for very long before heading back to Tim’s house; and then we wound down the evening with some video gaming.  As usual, the boys did most of the gaming while Rowen and I were content to cuddle with them and chat for a few hours.  Some of that chat time included Tim’s parents; but they left us on our own for most of the evening.  That didn’t mean we had any alone time for even a minor make-out session – which is why I’m really hoping that Michael and I can manage that tomorrow night; but we had a lot of fun anyway.  Even with everything we fit into those hours between the start of weekend freedom and the end of the night; it still seemed too soon when it was time to head for home.

Michael and I left first, but took a slow walk while waiting for Rowen to say goodnight to Tim and catch up with us so we could walk her home on our way to my house.  That cut into the time we had for our own goodnight hugs and kisses on my front porch; but by then I was pretty much ready to come up to bed anyway – especially after running all day on just a few hours of sleep last night.

That’s why I’ve skipped a lot of my usual nightly computing after climbing into bed with Mandy, and even with a bit of family business work that came up; I’ll still be off to sleep before one o’clock.  I know, that’s still not going to be much sleep, but if needed; I can always cheat with a little Magi-powered fatigue banishing in the morning.  I am ready to get started on that sleep time, and don’t have any other news for today; so, until next time…

…Live long and prosper, fellow Magi of the Light!