Cassie's Journal - June 30, 2016

Happy 4^th Anniversary, Grandpa Grant and Grandma Eleanor!

I’ve had absolutely no involvement in their special day; but hope they’ve had fun – even though this has been a work day for them anyway as everyone in town is getting ready for the holiday weekend.

That’s certainly been true for me.  I did yard work all day; and got that done so we won’t have any of that kind of work to do while we’re busy with other work or family and friends fun time.  Michael was busy at the Inn except for his breaks anyway; so that worked out for us too.  We hung out together during his breaks; though I worked too except for when we were having snacks or going for cool-down swims.  It was very hot today, but the thunderstorms held off until around dinnertime; and then we didn’t really get that much of a storm anyway – at least not compared to what’s been happening in other areas.  Unfortunately, we might not get that lucky this weekend.  There’s a lot of rain in the forecast; so when it drops around here will make a big difference on whether our play time will be outdoors or in on Saturday and Sunday – and possibly Monday and Tuesday too.  It is supposed to be nice tomorrow, which will work out for our fruit and vegetable boxes deliveries; but I’ll keep you posted on how that goes with the next report.

For this update, the only other news I have is that I had dinner at home with Mom, Dad, and the twins; did my family business work in the office using a time phase to get everything done faster; and then I came up to my room to end my day with some quality Jacuzzi time before getting ready for bed and snuggling in with Mandy and my computer.  I’ve done one last email and computer check before getting to this report, and there wasn’t anything new with any of that; so I’m ready to wrap this up and get a decent night of rest ahead of the non-stop busy we’ll have over the next four days – and beyond as we then start the summer visits for our cousins.  I’ll go over all of that soon too; but not tonight.  Now it really is time to nap; so, until next time...

...May the Magi Force be with you!

Cassie's Journal - June 29, 2016

This is going to be a short double-update because I’m tired and need some quality unconscious time.

Joshua’s birthday party was a blast, and Michael and I got to have some fun ahead of time while waiting for everyone to get there – after we were finished helping with the camp and party set-up.  We played hard; dinner was early so that those of us that needed to get back to town for band and praise team practices could do that; and then those practices were awesome too.  While there were only a few of us at both practices; Michael and I still made it back out to Quarry Lake in time for the campfire.  While there was some minimal parental supervision, we – the teens – were mostly left to have fun without any interventions required.  Michael and I handled most of the campfire music; the storytellers kept busy when we weren’t playing and singing; and we had some cameo moments from visitors that were usually entertaining – including when Jenny brought her lifeguard around for a visit  and to show him off to the girls.

I’m not actually joking about that last part; but let’s not take that line of thought any further.

We stayed around the campfire until one-thirty or so; had some more fun around the campsites after the fire was out; and eventually went to bed to get a nap before needing to get up again in the morning.  I’m sure you’re wondering whether there were some tent mate swaps; so I’m happy to report that there definitely were – and yes; Michael and I were among those campers lucky-enough to have co-ed cuddle buddies while having those naps! ;^)

There was a bit of quality make-out time going on before we got around to the napping; which is why we really didn’t get much sleep before waking up for sunrise Tai Chi by the lake.  That was amazing too; and we had a bit of an audience for most of our workout too.  We have so got to remember to bring a hat along for making breakfast money when we do that; since we got a round of applause for our efforts and could’ve make a few bucks along the way!

Okay, I’m only joking about that now; but it does feel like we’re putting on a show whenever that happens.

Breakfast was all easy-to-serve food and drinks; we needed to pack up our gear; and then some of us were able to play for another couple of hours before heading back to town or home.  Michael had to work the lunch shift, so we were back in time for that; I went home to deal with my laundry and some house work; and then I went to the lab with Mom, Ethan, and Ehlana after lunch so that I could be there with Ethan in the archive while he played with his books and I worked on the family business using a time phase that let us both get a lot of work done.  I worked the dinner to close shift at the Inn after that; had a bit of wind down time with Michael at his house after we were done work; and now I’m in bed and ready to crash once I have this report finished.

I’m skipping a lot of the details, but all that matters for posterity is that I’ve had a really great couple of days playing with Michael and our friends; and now I’ll be heading into a couple of work days to finish getting ready for the long weekend.  Getting the extra sleep will make keeping up with that work a lot easier, and that’s all of the news I’m going to write about tonight anyway; so, until next time...

...May the Magi Force be with you!

Cassie's Journal - June 28, 2016

Happy 16^th Birthday, Joshua!

Michael and I are about to head out to Quarry Lake, and I’ve decided to leave my computer behind for a day; so look for a double update tomorrow – or in your case reading this in my future; flip the digital page to find out all about the birthday party and camping adventure!

It was a bit on the cloudy side of things this morning, but Tai Chi by the river and breakfast in the sunroom was still really great – especially getting to do both with Michael.  We did some more yard work at his house after that; and then rounded up our camping gear and packed our overnight bags.  The party doesn’t start until this afternoon, but Joshua’s parents needed help with the work to set up for the camping; and Michael and I are two of the volunteers while all of our farm kid friends are busy working on those farms.  Joshua gets a partial break from that to get his license; but that’s as much for his family as for him; since he’ll be able to do more on and around the farm once he can drive on his own.

Mom, Ethan, and Ehlana are at the lab as I write this, but Miranda is going to give us a ride out to the campground; and Mom or Dad will handle the trips we’ll need to take later to get back here for our marching band and teen praise team practices – and then back out to Quarry Lake for the rest of the party.  That’s all going to be a blast, and I’m ready to get right to the fun now; so, until next time...

...May the Magi Force be with you!

Cassie's Journal - June 27, 2016

This isn’t going to sound like a very exciting report; and it’ll be short too because I’m worn out and need the down time.

Tai Chi by the river was good; breakfast in the sunroom was better; and then I helped Michael at his house for the rest of the morning with their yard work ahead of the holiday weekend.  We worked until a bit after one o’clock; had lunch; and then Michael and I were set free to play for the rest of the day.  We went biking at the park with Rowen and Tim; played and swam back at my house with Ethan and Ehlana after they got home from playing at the lab; and then we had an easy-dinner pot-luck at my house that Michael’s parents joined us for while Jake, Stephanie, and Rebecca were all doing their own thing instead.

We kept playing after dinner, including a trip to the park playground that Naomi and Aiden joined Ethan and Ehlana for; followed that up with a teen movie night in the lounge; and wrapped up the fun with a moonlight swim to cool off until nearly midnight.  I’ve been doing some family business work since saying goodnight to Michael and coming up to my room; and probably should have gone to be a couple of hours ago.  We do have the birthday party and camping adventure ahead of us at Quarry Lake; so it isn’t very likely that I’ll get much sleep tomorrow night either.

That’s a great reason to wrap this up, though, and there isn’t anything else to report anyway; so, until next time...

...May the Magi Force be with you!

Cassie's Journal - June 26, 2016

I’m tired; so this is really going to be a micro-update.

Michael and I had fun last night with Rebecca, Lucas, Rowen, and Tim.  We stayed up too late; Rowen and Tim went home while Lucas stayed the night in a guest room; and Michael and I had a sofa sleepover after we were left alone to supposedly have a bit of cuddle time before I went home.  That would have been more believable if Rebecca hadn’t tossed a blanket over us and told us that she’s see us in the morning; but it worked for me; so I was okay with the non-plan.

Tai Chi by the river was over at my house; breakfast was at Michael’s; and we had fun at church and Sunday school.  We didn’t end up getting rain all day, but just one little late-afternoon blast of wet that was here and gone in no time.  That didn’t get in the way of my fun because I was working at the Inn by then; but I didn’t work the lunch shift.  Instead, I was home for that with about half of our family and some friends; we went for a canoe ride after that; and we were back in time for me to hang out with Michael during his afternoon break.  We went swimming; played in the back yard; and had a snack break before I went back to the Inn with Michael.

It was hot out today; so it was hot in the kitchen too.  The lack of rain or storms did affect the dinner buffets, but we still had a fairly large crowd – including my family for the late buffet.  I missed out on that, and we were very busy in the kitchen anyway; but Michael and I had a lot of fun too.  I’ll skip the work news, since there isn’t much except for Jenny’s hot summer romance stories – and they don’t belong in my journal!  We got out of the Inn at ten o’clock; I only stopped at Michael’s house to say goodnight to him out on the front porch; and then I came home to get ready for bed starting with some quality Jacuzzi time – once I’d said goodnight to Mom, Dad, Ethan, and Ehlana.

I multi-tasked some family business work while in the tub; finished all of my computer and email checks; and only have this update to finish now that I’m tucked into bed with Mandy.  There’s been a lot going on that I haven’t been involved in at all today, but I’m already past this being the micro update that I wanted it to be, and none of that news really affects me at all anyway; so let’s just not go there.

We’re down to days to the holiday weekend, but we’ve got some fun and busy ahead of us before getting there; so let’s wrap up with a quick look ahead.  We’ve got a friend’s birthday on Tuesday that’ll be at Quarry Lake; and the big change from previous parties out there is that we’ll be having a camping adventure too.  Some of us will need to come back for band and teen praise team practices; but we’ll still be there for most of the fun!  We’ll also have chores, work at the Inn, and the next fruit and vegetable boxes orders and deliveries to make; and then we’ll be in for a crazy-busy holiday weekend with lots of work at the Inn and family and friends fun.

With all of that going on; I’m only wondering why I’m not sleeping already to rest up for everything.  I don’t have a good answer for that; so, until next time...

...May the Magi Force be with you!