Cassie's Journal - September 29, 2016

Happy 16^th Birthday, Michael!

I’m still working on that; so I’ll keep this update short and fill in the blanks with the next report.

Tai Chi by the river was chilly; we had a fun birthday breakfast for Michael here while his parents were busy at the Inn; Rebecca joined us for that; and then Michael had to hurry to the school for the weight training with the team that Tim wouldn’t let him skip just because it was his birthday.  The rest o my morning was fairly uneventful until we got to school; there was more birthday fun here and there for Michael all day – including going out to get his license during second class and a mini party at lunchtime.  He had to get to football practice after last class because, for some inexplicable reason, Coach Robinson didn’t give him the day off from that as a birthday gift either – despite the fact that Michael is one of his favorite players.  I came home and did my family business work and language studies in the office while Michael was busy.  A time phase helped to get that done with time to spare so I could get dressed up a bit and ready for Michael’s birthday dinner at the Inn; and then Mom, Dad, and the twins came with me for that dinner – and the game night that we all stayed for after celebrating Michael’s big day.

Jacob and Miranda had quite a gang at the Inn for the meal, since all of Michael’s team mates were invited – as were all of our classmates; significant others as needed; and all of his home town, extended family.  This was one dinner party that I got to be at the center of with Michael, so I was in on most of the birthday entertainment – including the roasting that Michael had to deal with as part of the dinnertime entertainment.  We were at a table with Rebecca, Lucas, Rowen, and Tim; and Miranda and Jacob took turns joining us when they could take little breaks while also continuing to work in the kitchen and dining room to keep up with the dinner rush that was only busy because of the big party that they were throwing for their son.

While most of the birthday fun was during dinner, Michael and I stayed for game night – as did most of his dinner guests; so game night was a fairly crazy couple of hours of fun with more than double the usual gang.  That wasn’t a problem thanks to the new dining rooms; and Miranda just spread out the gaming into all three rooms to accommodate the overflow.  Miranda loved having so many teens there for the gaming tonight since she doesn’t get many of us anymore when we’re all busy with football, band, and everything else we all have on the go in the fall; but staying for that meant that Michael and I still had to do our homework after we got home to my house.  Maybe it’s a conspiracy or something, but our teachers didn’t feel that we should get a night off from the studying for Michael’s birthday either.  He did get the night off from working at the Inn, though, and Miranda is letting him stay with me for a sofa sleepover tonight; so I guess we can handle those little academic and sports injustices.

We’ve done our homework now; Mom did a Magi lesson with us while Dad was doing his homework; and Michael and I took care of the bedtime routine with Ethan and Ehlana that included taking Silkie out for a bedtime bathroom break and walk.  I’m currently getting ready for our sofa sleepover now while Michael’s doing the same in the guest bathroom; and I’m multi-tasking this update and the rest of the basic bedtime computing I’ve already finished while doing my hair and getting ready for the major birthday make-out session I have planned for my boyfriend.

Don’t worry, guys – I’ll make sure that he’s healed in the morning if needed so that he won’t be too tired for the game tomorrow night! ;^)

Okay, most of the guys will never hear about that, but Tim did joke about it before he and Rowen headed home from the Inn, and if the team loses tomorrow night; there is a good chance that I’ll get blamed for it – especially if Michael has a bad game.  I don’t think that will happen, but if it does; that’s going to be another story that we’ll never, ever live down.  Then again, if we have that much fun tonight; maybe we won’t care!

I’ll have to let you know how that goes tomorrow night, though; since it’s time for me to wrap this up and get back to helping Michael out with what I hope is at least a top-five birthday if not a best-ever-so-far kind of day.

It’s been fun; our evening is about to get hotter in a really great, clothing-optional sort of way; and I really need to get to that now; so, until next time...

...May the Magi Force be with you!

Cassie's Journal - September 28, 2016

Happy 4^th Birthday, Valerie!

For the second day in a row, my only involvement in a birthday was through a breakfast phone call.  Mom and Dad left Valerie’s gifts with her parents last week, so she opened them while we talked with her; and she was a very happy camper by the time we ended our call to make way for other incoming best birthday wishes calls.  The Malloys had a busy day planned for their kids, family, and friends; and I’ll guess that they’re all worn out by now – though I haven’t heard the stories yet.

My school day was pretty good, if not very exciting; and then I came home to work once we were set free and Michael moved on to his football practice.  I worked in the office; used a time phase; and got all of my studying and work finished by dinnertime.  Ethan and Ehlana worked in the office with me – studied; and Mom split her time between the office and kitchen so that she could cook dinner too.  While I didn’t help with the cooking; I did take care of the clean-up after we had our meal in the sunroom; and then the twins and Silkie came with me for a walk around town that included some front porch visits on our way to the Inn to meet up with Michael.

He didn’t need to work until close; so we were home again by eight o’clock.  We did our homework first; had a Magi lesson with Mom; followed that up with some music play time in my room; and then we took care of getting Ethan and Ehlana tucked in for the night.  That didn’t leave us much time for any sort of quality make-out time; so I ‘made’ time for that with a time phase before sending Michael on his way home at ten-thirty.  I had a bedtime chat with Mom and Dad on my way up to my room again; had a nice soak in my Jacuzzi; and did a bit of surfing on the web along with the usual bedtime computer and email checks.  With my work and studying finished early; going to bed before midnight is an option that I plan on taking advantage of tonight.  I’m sure to have a few late nights ahead of me through the weekend; and I’ll need the extra rest now.

That’s going to be especially important for me tomorrow, but I’ll save that news for the next update; and just wrap up this report without dragging it out – especially since you can just flip the digital page to read on anyway.  Cliff-hangers don’t work when you can do that, and I don’t have a good one to offer anyway; so, until next time...

...May the Magi Force be with you!

Cassie's Journal - September 27, 2016

Happy 11^th Birthday, Jaimie!

Other than sending a gift and a breakfast phone call to wish her a happy day, we didn’t have any involvement in Jamie’s birthday; and I don’t have any other news to report from her today either – mostly because she was likely having too much fun with her friends to email me with the birthday report yet.  I will mention that birthdays with Jaimie and Kaitlyn feel different for me than for any of our other cousins now that they’re edging into the tween years; since it doesn’t seem very long ago that they were closer to Ethan and Ehlana’s current age – or Jayden’s.

Next thing you know, it’ll be Uncle Blaine’s turn to worry about his little girls hanging out with the local boys around here whenever they’re visiting for holidays and vacations! ;^)

I’ve had enough fun in my day, if not birthday party kind of excitement, but it’s been a long, tough day too; so let’s move this along so that I can get to nap mode sooner instead of even later than it already is now.

Tai Chi by the river was chilly again; I’ve already mentioned the only breakfast highlight; and we were kept busy in our classes all day.  Some of our studies every day now seem to be linked to the presidential elections, and while I would really prefer to ignore the entire circus; that apparently isn’t going to be an option.  today, for instance, we spent a bit of time on the math and systems used for post-debate analysis in Algebra and Computer classes; the debate last night came up in our Spanish class; and we spent some time in English class learning all about the bad habits that crop up in modern debates.  We did not, however, talk politics at all during Phys-Ed; which could be why that’s one of my favorite classes so far this year! ;^)

I didn’t get to have much of a lunch break when we had cheerleading practice too, but even though I wouldn’t do just two practices a week; it does work out well-enough for us to get four of our practices out of the way in one day – and have three school nights each week when we aren’t busy with practices or games.  We worked on two new half-time routines; and we’ll have one of them and a back-up routine ready for Friday evening.  We’ll make the pick depending on the weather; though the forecast looks okay so far for game day.  Our concert band practice after school was mostly Halloween-themed; and we’re confirmed to provide music for both a seniors’ party and the Haunted Halloween Walk.  I didn’t get much of a break between band practices because I was busy with marching band fundraising work, but we need to keep up with all of that; and this is a fruit and vegetable boxes delivery week too.  We also have a lot of money coming in for the raffle; and there is always extra coming in from the Maple Valley teens; since we don’t see them every day.

Our marching band practice went really well, and while I’ve mentioned that we’re not ready for college or pro football half-time shows; I’m a bit surprised at the simple little marching tricks we are adding into our half-time routine now.  We’re already doing more than I expected we would; so the second half of the season should be fun – as long as we don’t end up with a bunch of lousy-weather games.  I’m willing to admit that I’m a fair-weather band member; and will be very happy if we get through the season without any more messy-weather games – or parades; when we get around to the Christmas parades in December.  Speaking – or writing – of, we haven’t started in on the Christmas music yet; but will need to do that before too much longer to be ready for those parades.  I’ll keep you posted on that, but it isn’t just about the music; since we’ll also need to work up color guard routines and plan out any special marching routines we might want to use in the parades – especially since we’ll use those opportunities for more fundraising.

After band practice, Michael and I headed for the church with the rest of the praise team; we had a longer practice because we need to be ready for the fall festival weekend service; and that meant that we didn’t get home to my house until a bit after ten o’clock.  We did our homework while Mom, Dad, and the twins were still studying or working in the office; Mom led a Magi lesson for Michael and me; and then we took care of getting Ethan and Ehlana into bed before Michael went home at eleven-thirty.  I came up to my room after that; hopped into my Jacuzzi; and began multi-tasking my work while enjoying the time-phased tub time.  I stayed in a time phase for as much of the work and studying as I could, but still had more than an hour of ‘real’ time work to do to; and a half-hour or so of online language studying that included a multilingual chat with some teens from three other countries.

Don’t worry, Dad – I won’t be setting up any meetings with anyone I meet online! ;^)

I guess that pretty much covers the news of the day, and it is really late; so let’s call it a night.

Until next time...

...May the Magi Force be with you!

Cassie's Journal - September 26, 2016

I don’t have much news for today.  Tai Chi by the river was a bit chilly with the temperature dipping into the forties, but we dressed warmly-enough; and this was just a reminder that our opportunities for being outdoors for our morning exercise are going to be more limited as we move toward winter again.  Michael went home for a quick breakfast after that before moving on to the school and his weight training with the team; and I had fun with my family while we ate and got ready for the day.  Ethan, Ehlana, and I met up with our best friends for the walk to school; and my classroom adventures were not exactly exciting today.

A side-trip for some of that might be in order, but to be honest, we’d be better off with Mandy as our next President than the options available this year; so I should stay away from political commentary for this entire election.  Instead of wasting my time with that; I’ll stay focused on the things I can do something about – like all of the work we do through the family business and charities.

Maybe I shouldn’t have mentioned the word ‘charities’ when that’s one part of the kabuki theatre that is the presidential elections this year, but since I did; I can assure you that we are not involved in any way with the Clinton Foundation – or with any of the political campaigns going on here or anywhere else in the world.

We’d rather use our money for more important things – like making life better for everyone we work with in our businesses or help through the charities.  I know it’s a novel concept; but it works for us!

Moving along, it really was a quiet day at school, and since Michael was busy with football after school; I decided to do as much of my family business work then instead of now.  After getting home and having a short visit with Mom, Ethan, and Ehlana; I worked in the office using a time phase; got all of my work and studying finished; and helped the twins with their college studies too while Mom took care of some other work around the house and made dinner for four.  I wasn’t part of those dinner plans because Michael and I were at his house for dinner and the evening; and I went over there with him when he stopped by to pick me up on his way home from the school.

Dinner was nearly ready by the time we got there; the gourmet meal was a bonus; and the dinnertime entertainment with his parents, Rebecca, and Lucas was pretty good too.  Lucas couldn’t stay after that because he needed to be home to help out on the farm, so it was just Rebecca, Michael, and me for the post-dinner clean-up; and then we all got busy with our homework.  We did that in the dining room; had a visit in the living room with Miranda and Jacob again; and then Michael and I went up to his room for a music practice and minor make-out session before I needed to come home again.

I was back here by ten o’clock; did a Magi lesson with Mom; took care of getting Ethan and Ehlana tucked in for the night; and then came up to my room to get ready for bed too.  Other than my usual bedtime computer and email checks, there wasn’t anything else left for me to do tonight; so I’ll be able to get to sleep before midnight for a second night in a row!  With four practices on the schedule for tomorrow that won’t happen three nights in a row; but I’ll enjoy them when this does work out for me.  This hasn’t been a top-ten most-exciting day, but the fun level – and the work – will be kicking up a few notches tomorrow; and I want to be ready to keep up with everything; so, until next time...

...May the Magi Force be with you!