Cassie's Journal - April 29, 2016

My day has been as busy as I expected; which is why I’m exhausted – and why this is going to be a very short update.

The morning routine was fun with Tai Chi by the river and breakfast in the sunroom that Michael stayed for before heading home to get ready and over to the school for his weight training.  Our school day was short for some of us because we had a truckload of fruit and vegetable boxes to unload – and then start re-loading as orders were picked up by teens and parents.  That work went well-enough, but the rain rolling into the area made the outdoors part of the job uncomfortable.  Michael, Tim, Rowen, and I were all on the work crew from the time the truck arrived until the last boxes went out – or most of us were; since Michael needed to be at the Inn in time to help with the dinner rush.

That’s why I didn’t get started on delivering my own orders – and most of Michael’s – until we were done at the school.  Dad helped me with that; and it was closing in on seven o’clock by the time we were finished.  Mom had delayed dinner so we could do that first; so we ate once we were home; I went to grab a shower after that because I really needed one; and then I’ve spent the last couple of hours watching a movie with Ethan and Ehlana.  Michael worked to close, and is working the breakfast shift too; so he went home after work instead of stopping in for a visit.  Ethan and Ehlana went to bed after our movie and cuddle time; and I was already pretty much ready for bed after my shower; so I’ve only had my bedtime computer and email checks to do before writing this update.

Going to sleep now is my top priority so I’ll be ready for what might be a very wet yard work day, and that’s all the news that really needs to be reported today; so, until next time...

...May the Magi Force be with you!

Cassie's Journal - April 28, 2016

Happy 14^th Birthday, Emma!

Michael and I were there for part of her lunchtime party, but we did not go to her dinner and party at the farm because we helped out at the Inn with the dinner rush instead while Rebecca was doing that with Lucas.  I’m sure she’s had a fun day; though I won’t hear the details until tomorrow morning – when her party is sure to be one of the top stories on the school grapevine.

Since I wasn’t having a lot of birthday party kind of fun, my day has been a bit boring by comparison.  My pre-school morning was uneventful; the bit of birthday fun we did have during our lunch break was about as entertaining as our day got thanks to some fairly dull thanks to the subject matter – not the teachers.  Michael and I went straight to the Inn and worked through until the kitchen clean-up was finished; and then we went to my house for the best part of our day – some alone time while my parents, brother, and sister were at the Inn with most of my family and our usual gang of game night enthusiasts.

Yes, there was definitely some make-out time while we had the chance, but we did our homework; had a music practice; and I did about half of my work and studying too before my family got home again.  A time phase was required to make that possible, but it was worth it; so I’ll just be quiet and deal with the exhaustion without complaining.  Michael stayed long enough for the update exchange, but then he went home; I helped with getting Ethan and Ehlana tucked in for the night; and then I came up to my room to finish my work while Mom and Dad went to do some work in the office.  I used a time phase again for that – and this update, but while I’m out of steam now; I did get everything done ahead of the weekend.  That included finishing up my studying for Dutch; so I’ll be able to move on to the next language in the list on Sunday or Monday night.

My talent for languages, by the way, is fairly special even for Magi Masters; though we all can and usually do learn multiple languages.  I can just learn them quite a bit faster; and can mimic the accents and dialects perfectly.  I’m not writing that to brag – it’s just a fact; like Mom’s talent for computers, Ehlana’s mind for science, or Ethan’s extraordinary ability to read and process information.

I don’t want to spend a lot of time on this update, since I am going to need to recover from too much time phasing today; so let’s just wrap this up.

Tomorrow is going to be a busy day because it’s our first delivery day for the fruit and vegetable boxes.  Michael, Tim, Rowen, and I will be part of the work crew dealing with unloading the truck when it drops the boxes off; and then the distribution to follow.  We also have a truck, driver, and helper to get the boxes for the Maple Valley students to their school so they can deliver their orders too, and while we’re in charge of that this month; they’ll take a turn every other month for doing that run.  I’ll need to do my personal deliveries after school tomorrow, and I’ll likely do Michael’s too, since he’ll be at the Inn helping out there; but I’ll let you know how that goes.  I’m going to have a busy weekend after that with a major yard work day on Saturday because the new patio and driveway are now confirmed to be worked on next week; so we need to have everything ready for the crews to come in and get right to work.  Sunday will include at least the dinner buffet shift for me at the Inn, and I’ll have homework to get done too; but I’ll also try to have some open time available to spend with Grandma and Grandpa between church and my shift at the Inn – unless they’re too busy too.

That sounds like a bit too much work and not enough fun, but the fundraiser leads to an amazing trip to Florida; the yard work will be worth it for the new patio and driveway; and the work at the Inn is with four of the people I love most in the world so we’ll have fun even with the hard work.

Those are some good reasons for getting rested up to be ready for the weekend, though, and I don’t have anything else to add; so, until next time...

...May the Magi Force be with you!

Cassie's Journal - April 27, 2016

Welcome home, Grandma and Grandpa!

That’s the top story for our family today; so I guess that’s it and I can call it a night! ;^)

Okay, not quite, but I do need to get to sleep soon thanks to a very long, busy day; and will try and keep this short.

It’s been wet off and on today, but unlike the luck we had with band practice last night; that didn’t work out for Tai Chi today.  We were indoors for that; and it was still raining when we walked to school this morning.  Our school day was fairly standard for a Wednesday; and then I went home with Jessica to do our first saxophone lesson while Michael was busy at the Inn with the dinner rush.  First lessons on wind instruments can be scary, and this one was no exception, but Jessica did inherit the music talent from her family; she can read music; and did a great job tonight.  There’s no doubt that Michael and I can help her to be ready for a spot on the marching band by September; so the addition of some lessons to my schedule will be worth it.

After doing Jessica’s lesson, I went home to find a family dinner cook-fest in progress.  Mom had Grandma and Aunt Leanne helping with that, and Aunt Leanne left work early to lend a hand while Grandpa was put on kid-control and entertainment duty.  That can be a full-time job with Zack these days; and today was one of those days.  He was definitely fired up to see his grandparents again and was bouncing off the walls.  I was drafted for the work crew so that Grandma could be traded to the kid-control crew; and that kept me busy through until we sat down for dinner after Dad and Uncle Adam got home from work.  Grandpa provided most of the dinnertime entertainment with some travel stories, and while I was on kid control while we ate; I did get to spend a bit of time talking with Grandma and Aunt Leanne while doing that – and we all had fun with the stories.  The post-dinner clean-up crew included fathers and teens, so I was busy with that for a while; and then it was time to get to work – even though I’d have rather spent the evening with my grandparents and the rest of our family.

Dad had work to do too, so we grabbed drinks and went into the office.  I put up a time phase around the house so that even the play time could be extended; and then Dad and I both got to work.  I did my homework first; moved on to the family business work; followed that up with language studies; and wrapped up with a final round of computer and email checks.  Thanks to the time phase, my cousins and grandparents were worn out by then, so I was in on the goodbye hugs and kisses as they – and Uncle Adam and Aunt Leanne – headed home.  I was ready to call it a night by then too, so I came up to my room; got ready for bed; and have been snuggling with Mandy for as long as it’s taken me to write this report.

I’m nearly ready to head into nap mode, but let’s cover a few details from today that I wasn’t involved with at all.  First up – Mom did some work around Grandma and Grandpa’s house this morning before they got home.  She had Ethan and Ehlana spend the morning at KidZone with their friends so she could do that; and then did some shopping for the food she needed for our dinner tonight.  She took Zack and Brianna home with her too when she picked up the twins; so she had all of them with her for the grandparent welcoming committee when they got back early this afternoon.  Unloading the van apparently took a while after more than three months away from home; though they didn’t try to unpack very much before heading over to our house to get started on the dinner prep work.  That all added up to a very busy day for Mom, which is why she’s happily soaking in her Jacuzzi while I’m writing this.  Since she also has her wards up around the room, I’ll guess she’s getting help with that; but let’s not take that train of thought any further.

I’m sure my thoughts of skipping game night tomorrow and bringing Michael home with me for some studying and make-out time just now is only a coincidence! ;^)

That is a nice thought to head off into dreamland with, though, and that’s all of the news for today anyway; so, until next time...

...May the Magi Force be with you!

Cassie's Journal - April 26, 2016

It’s been a wild day – and that’s true just for the weather!

We’ve had rain, warm, sunshine, and storms roll through here today; and the timing was amazing.  Tai Chi by the river was an option, but we got rained on while going to school.  There was a break in the wet at lunchtime; and the sunny part of the day came during our marching band practice – allowing us to have that practice outdoors instead of in the gym.  The thunderstorm started after we were at the church for our praise team practice; but we got wet on the walk home to Michael’s house.

We did our homework there; had a chat with his parents; and then I did not successfully dodge the raindrops on the way home.  By then, a hot soak in my Jacuzzi was in order, so I only had a micro visit with Mom, Dad, and the twins before coming up here to do that.  I’ve also been time phasing the tub time and multi-tasking my work and studies.  I’m a fairly wrinkled up prune now, but the work is done; and I’ll be able to go to sleep as soon as I’m in bed and snuggling with Mandy for the night.

It’s been fun, but I’m also exhausted; and ready to call it a night.  I will mention that Grandma and Grandpa are ahead of their non-schedule travels and will be home tomorrow instead of later in the week or on the weekend.  They either miss home a lot right now or are dodging bad weather anyway; but I’ll be glad to have them home again – even if I have no idea how much time I’ll get to spend with them.  That’s news that can wait for tomorrow, though, and it’s past-time to get out of the tub; so, until next time...

...May the Magi Force be with you!

Cassie's Journal - April 25, 2016

Happy 12^th Birthday, Jessica!

Jessica’s top gift today was a saxophone, and while music lessons weren’t an actual gift from Michael and I; we are going to be doing lessons with her between now and at least next September because she wants to be able to join the marching band and go to Florida with us once she’s in Grade Seven.

So much for my plan not to help out with the kids doing that, but Jessica is Michael’s cousin; and we wouldn’t have dreamed of turning her down.

Let’s cover the parts of Jessica’s birthday that Michael and I were involved in as we go along; but let’s rewind and start the rest of this update from this morning.

Tai Chi was by the river, but it has been a cloudy and occasionally damp day.  Michael exercised with us, but then he went home for breakfast and to get ready for school and his morning weight training.  I had more time to get ready and eat; so I was early and met up with Rowen at her house before we walked to school.  A usual, I don’t have much to report from school.  We had a project that was due and wrote a test; but we also spent the day indoors – except for a short walk for Michael and me at lunch that was rain-free; but a bit humid and we really only went out for the fresh air and a break from the noise level in the school.

Things were still weren’t looking good for Jessica to have an outdoor party tonight when we were set free from school, but things started clearing up not long after that; and the decision was made to quickly set up in the back yard.  Michael and I helped with that while Jessica hung out with her friends; we helped out with serving the dinner; and then with the clean-up.  Jacob and Miranda took care of a lot of the food as part of their gift for their niece, but while we were all there with most of Jessica’s family for dinner; her party was with her friends – and we vacated the premises once the clean-up was done.

Michael and I did our studying at my house after that; Mom did a short Magi lesson with both of us while we could actually do that early-enough to not get in the way of my family business work and studies; and then we had a music practice to get ready for all three of our band and praise team practices tomorrow.  We took care of getting Ethan and Ehlana tucked in for the night after that; and then Michael went home so that I could get to work – once I’d seen him out and gotten ready for bed too.

The studying and work has kept me busy for a while, but that’s relative; since I’ve been in a time phase since getting started on that with my family business work.

I have everything done on my to-do list for tonight, though, and none of that work or studying will be interesting to you unless you have a thing for seriously boring project reports and endless accounting figures.  I may be good at dealing with my part of the family business, but I don’t usually get a lot of entertainment value out of it.  I’d also rather be sleeping right now, and that is an option; so, until next time...

...May the Magi Force be with you!