Cassie's Journal - June 29, 2015

The countdown to the holiday weekend is on, and depending on when your holiday weekend begins; we’re down to either four or five sleeps to the long weekend!

Michael and I know this for sure because we ended up having a chores morning today before getting around to some play time.  For him, that meant the usual chores for his days off on Monday and Tuesday with a bit of extra work to get ready for the weekend.  I was kept busy helping Mom with everything from chores around the house to pre-cooking for the weekend.  Mom and I had fun with the work; but there isn’t anything newsworthy to report from our work time.  Mom set me free after lunch; and the real fun of the day got started then.

I went over to Michael’s house after finishing the lunch clean-up; we had a little visit with his parents; and then headed out to meet up with Rowen and Tim.  We went biking on the park trails for a while; had some play time with Ethan and Ehlana at the playground when we met up with them – and Mom – there; and took over watching them while she went home to keep an eye on cooking that she had on the go.  An Emporium visit for ice cream followed that; we went for a swim at my house; and then it was time for Rowen and Tim to move on and for Michael and I to go over to his house for dinner.

Jacob was already working on dinner by then, and while we didn’t help out with that; Michael and I did take care of our usual pre-dinner chores.  We also got to have a nice chat with Jake and Stephanie after they got home from their afternoon play time; and with Rebecca once she got back from spending the afternoon with Jenny while both of their boyfriends were busy working.  Our dinner meal was a highlight of my day, with the experimental entree being the main reason for that; and the family time and dinner conversation a major bonus.  The clean-up wasn’t as much fun, though that wasn’t a problem for Michael; since he got to escape that while at his ball practice.  Rebecca and I managed to get the work done without him; and then we moved on to another wedding meeting after that.

Stephanie’s parents and all of the members of the wedding party were at the meeting; we collectively were updated on the latest news – including the shopping that was completed on Friday while we were in the city.  Our schedule will get busier after the holiday; but there won’t be much going on between now and next week while most of us are busy with work and holiday weekend family and friends fun.  Michael got home again in time for about the last half of the meeting; and then we headed up to his room once that was done so that we could play music for a while – one more fun thing that we don’t seem to find enough time to do.

Okay, there was some minor make-out time too; but we really wanted to play music too – and needed to have a little practice for our band music so that we’ll be ready for the parade on the Fourth of July.

There wasn’t enough time for either activity because I wanted to head home by eleven; and we weren’t exactly in a position to ‘make’ the extra time with a house full of people.  I wasn’t the only person heading home then, so the goodnight hugs and kisses took a while; but I still managed to get home by a quarter-past eleven.

Mom did a Magi lesson with me after doing the recap with me; I stopped by to at least give my brother and sister goodnight kisses while they slept on the way up to my room; and then I hopped into the Jacuzzi for some quality tub time.

I’m writing this while still in the tub, and did my nightly computer checks and archive assignment already too; but it’s time for me to get out of the tub soon and finish getting ready for bed.  Michael and I are getting to have a play day tomorrow with no major work plans; and I want to be rested up for that – especially since we’re hoping to wrap up that play day with some alone time tomorrow night! ;^)

Oh, look at the time!  I’d better get on with the rest of my bedtime routine right away; so, until next time...

...May the Magi Force be with you!

Cassie's Journal - June 28, 2015

Happy 15^th Birthday, Joshua!

I’ll take a wild guess that Joshua and Sally had a lot more fun today than Michael and I did; since we spent most of the afternoon and evening in the kitchen at the Inn while they were having a play day and birthday party.  That fun included the early dinner buffet at the Inn too, so we did get to see them then for a few minutes; but Michael and I didn’t go to the party or dinner.  Rowen and Tim did; so there day was more fun than mine too.

That isn’t a back-handed complaint, since I was happy to spend the day with Michael and his family; but that doesn’t change the fact that our fun level today was fairly low by comparison.

Working in a hot kitchen for both the lunch and buffet shifts was also exhausting; which is why this is going to be a very short report.

Tai Chi by the river was great; breakfast with Michael at his house was even better; and our time at church was interesting and entertaining while also being the calmest part of my day.  The service went long, so Michael and I had to hurry over to the Inn and we pitched right in to get everything ready for the lunch rush.  It was a rush too, and though the fourth of July is next weekend; there were a lot of campers coming into town to shop and have lunch so we had a full dining room for about two and a half hours.  That extended lunch left us with less time for afternoon breaks and set-up for the buffets; so Michael and I didn’t exactly get to go out and play for a couple of hours during our break.  We had a late lunch; went for a walk to the falls and back while having ice cream cones; and then got back to the busy in the kitchen again.

The buffet sittings were even crazier than the lunch rush; which was the main reason why Michael and I couldn’t do more than take a couple of minutes to wish Joshua a happy birthday while he was at the Inn with his family and some of our friends.  We worked until close except for a couple of short breaks; I walked home with Michael and his family; did the goodnight hugs and kisses with all of them in front of their house; and then came home.  Mom decided that I looked too wiped out for a Magi lesson, so after doing a short recap with them; I was sent up to my room for the night.  Ethan and Ehlana were in bed by then, so I stopped in for goodnight visits with them too on my way upstairs; and then some Jacuzzi time was next on my to-do list.  Multi-tasking was an option, but I just wanted the down time while I soaked in the tub and didn’t try doing any computing too.

I haven’t done much computing since getting into bed with Mandy either – just the basic computer and email checks before getting started on this journal update.  It’s been a long day; I’m beat; and I can always do some family business work tomorrow.  A look at the week ahead can wait a day too; though it’s the holiday weekend that we’re all looking forward to right now so we don’t exactly have any major plans between now and then anyway.  Whatever we end up doing in the days between now and then, I’ll need to get some quality sleep time before being ready for it; so, until next time...

...May the Magi Force be with you!

Cassie's Journal - June 27, 2015

It’s been another beautiful weather day – this time nice and warm with lots of sunshine; but not too hot for the chores.  I could add that it has also been a perfect weather day for playing; so I’m sure that everyone around here getting to do that had a great day – especially all of the campers out at Quarry Lake and the other area campgrounds.

I’m wishing just a little bit that I’d gotten to be one of those people getting to play all day; but the work needed to get done if we want to have fun next weekend with our family and friends.

The yard work was hardly exciting, so I won’t bore you with all of the details; but mowing the grass, wedding gardens, and getting canoes and bikes ready for the holiday weekend were all on my to-do list – with help from Dad where needed.  We got started on that early; worked until a bit after twelve; I hit the shower and got ready for my ball game; and then took a sandwich and drink to go when Rowen picked me up on her way to the park so we’d be there in time for team warm-ups.

It was a perfect day for our game, and this week; we were up against the Fix-it Shop Stingrays.  We were the home team, and while that designation really didn’t matter that much in our little town; it did help to make for a shorter game today when we didn’t need to play the bottom of the final inning.  There wasn’t a big turnout of spectators for the match; and even my usually robust cheering section only had Mom, Ethan, and Ehlana because Dad stayed home to keep working and my aunts, uncles, and cousins were all busy too.

Since I’ve already mentioned that we didn’t need to use our last at-bat, you know that our Piranha team won the game; and we did that fairly convincingly by a score of eleven-to-five.  The highlights for Rowen and I were two double plays on defense; and one triple, two doubles, three base hits, and six RBI’s between us.  Michael came over to catch the end of the game while on his afternoon break, but Tim was busy all afternoon and couldn’t come to watch us play too.  While Michael’s break timing had been so that he could spend time with me instead of just watching me playing baseball with my friends.

I was okay with that plan, but for the record; our boys don’t seem to have that same issue when it comes to having Rowen and me watching their football games.

Michael’s break time plan for spending time with me didn’t really end up being all that much of a break for him.  Rowen and I skipped the post-game ice cream run to the Emporium; we all went back to my house for a swim and snack break there; and then I needed to get back to work on my chores while Rowen moved on to check in at the computer store with her parents before eventually meeting up with Tim to spend the rest of the day with him.  My work was a bit more fun while Michael stayed and helped out, but he eventually needed to get back to the Inn; and Dad and I kept working until nearly seven o’clock.

Mom had worked inside most of the day; and pre-cooking for the holiday weekend was a big part of her jobs for the day.  One advantage of her efforts was that she made a bit extra of several dishes and combined them for our dinner.  We had that meal out on the back porch; I took care of the clean-up with support from Ethan and Ehlana; and then I hit the shower again to get cleaned up before taking the rest of the night off.  Since Dad had most of his work done already, he and Mom took the night off too.  We watched a movie in the living room that Michael caught the last half of after getting here from the Inn; he and I did the bedtime routine with the twins; and then we came up to the lounge to hang out – I mean make out – for a couple of hours.

There was a movie on the television that we didn’t watch, and while I still could give you the details of that show thanks to my photographic memory; I can also assure you that the memories that Michael and I made together were way more interesting – and hot! ;^)

Since that was definitely the highlight of my day, I’ll end this update there – and hopefully take those happy memories into dreamland with me.

Until next time...

...May the Magi Force be with you!

Cassie's Journal - June 26, 2015

I love our major shopping adventures to the city, but I’m also tired; so this is going to be a micro update.

We didn’t have time for Tai Chi this morning; the breakfast buffet at the Inn was great; and we managed to dodge the bits of rain that we did get here and in Crystal Springs anytime we were either outdoors or in-transit.  The drive to the city – and back again – was fun for Rowen and I because we got to go with Violet and Christina in Dad’s truck while Mom had Miranda, Ethan, Ehlana, Naomi, and Aiden with her in the minivan.  Violet and Christina spent their shopping time with Stephanie and Lynn, and they took care of some wedding-related shopping too; Rebecca and I weren’t needed to help them out with that.

Rowen and I spent some time shopping with some of our girlfriends; but were with Mom, Miranda, and their group for most of the day.  While I could fill up digital pages with the shopping play-by-play, let’s just go with reporting that we had another great play day at the Mall; our collective summer wardrobes are pretty much taken care of now; and Rowen and I are also set for every birthday, anniversary, and other special event gifts for the rest of the summer too.  The Moms also managed to get their bulk supply shopping done too; and we took care of a couple of fast food fixes while we were in the city before heading home.

Since we were with Violet and Christina, stopping to catch the tail-end of the sale at Palmer’s and Taylor Shoes; though we didn’t have time to get to all of the stores in town before they all closed for the night.  Mom didn’t go shopping at home, but dropping off fast food for Aunt Leanne was just an excuse; since she and Miranda had both had enough fun for the day by then.  I felt a bit bad about not being home in time to unload the minivan; but we did still have to unload Dad’s truck; and then Violet and Christina both did a few deliveries of bigger purchases that had been stored in our truck instead of trying to fit them into cars or vans.

By the time we were finished putting everything away, Michael was done at the Inn and came over to see me for a while.  We did a snack with Mom and Dad; took care of getting Ethan and Ehlana off to bed once Naomi and Aiden had been picked up and taken home; and then spent a bit of quiet time for two in the lounge.  I was fairly worn out by then, so it really was just cuddling and a few kisses going on, and since Michael had worked a lot all day while I was busy playing with the rest of the girls; we were both ready to call it a night early.  Mom didn’t even last that long, since she’d finished a soak in the tub and had fallen asleep by the time that I walked Michael downstairs to see him out; but Dad was still finishing up some work in the office.  He’d taken advantage of being on his own for half of the evening; and has most of his weekend homework finished already.

That’s good, since we have a lot of work to get done this weekend to get ready for the holiday weekend.  I’ll be busy with those chores; Rowen and I have a ball game; and I’m hoping to get to spend some quality time with Michael tomorrow night if we’re not both too worn out by then.  With that in mind, I’m going to wrap this up and head off to sleep so that I’ll hopefully be ready for all of that work and fun.  The work part of our weekend probably doesn’t sound like much fun, but since that effort will all go toward what will hopefully be another amazing Fourth of July holiday; it’ll be worth the effort.

That’s something I’ll be able to put more effort into with a good night of rest, so that’s it for tonight, folks; and, until next time...

...May the Magi Force be with you!