Cassie's Journal - January 30, 2017

The only news of the day for me is our shopping trip to Crystal Springs – and we had a blast!

My early morning and school day was mostly-fun too, but that was thanks to the entertainment that went along with talking about our Florida trip and the imminent shopping adventure – at least for Rowen and me.  Michael and Tim weren’t as excited about it as we were, but they had fun tonight too; and we did feed them a lot of fast food as a bonus to thank them for coming along.

The drive time to and from the city wasn’t as much fun as the shopping, but that was partly because we multi-tasked doing our homework – with Tim doing his while Michael drove us there; and Michael doing his while Tim drove us home.  Yes, Rowen could have driven too, but she was happy to hang out and talk with me instead – and I won’t be able to drive on my own until I can take my test after we get back from Florida.  We left shortly after getting set free from our last class of the day; we were at the Mall by fife-thirty; and the boys had a snack at the food court before we got started on the shopping.  Rowen and I did not do that, since we wanted to actually fit into the clothes we plan on wearing next week.  Yes, I have a hyper-metabolism; but even my system can’t work in minutes without some Magi-powered help – and that wasn’t an option at the mall anyway.

I don’t consider any part of the shopping boring, but won’t give you the play-by-play for everything.  Rowen and I picked up enough new clothes to get us through the week; though the selection was a bit limited for summer clothing.  There was a better selection for swimsuits, and those stops were especially fun for Rowen and me – and for the boys.  For some reason, Tim didn’t mind being asked for his opinion on Rowen’s choices as she tried them on; Michael and I had fun too; and the other women and girls in the store seemed to enjoy the entertainment.  You might also be wondering if they were asked for their opinion by any other girls.  That did happen once; Tim readily offered his opinion; and Michael pled the fifth on the grounds that he didn’t want to get in trouble with his girlfriend.

Michael and Tim each picked up some new tees, shorts, and at least one pair of summer-weight pants, but they got that done in two stops that only took about a half hour in total – while Rowen and I were doing our own thing in neighboring stores anyway.  Michael picked up a new pair of trainers too, but only because he didn’t want to look bad by comparison when I picked up new shoes.  We also got a deal on the two pairs; so that was a bonus for me; and he can always rotate his current ‘everyday’ trainers to his workout shoes – and retire those old ones – hint, hint, hint. ;^)

We shopped for an hour and change after that first snack break for the guys; had dinner at the food court; and then went back to the shopping until shortly before the mall was going to close.  Before leaving, we picked up a few treats to bring home with us; made a fast food stop to go on the way out of town because Tim was starving again by then; and then we had another hour and a half of studying and chat time until we got home by a bit before eleven o’clock.  We unloaded Tim’s things at his house; he came with us to Rowen’s where we repeated the process with her things; and then Michael and I had a very short visit with her parents and brother before going on to his house and leaving Rowen and Tim behind.  We took his things up to his room; had a micro-chat with his mother because she came out of her room to welcome us home before going back to bed; and then Michael helped me with carrying all of my purchases over to my house.

It was eleven-thirty by then, but Mom and Dad were still working in the office; so we had a visit with them – and with Ethan and Ehlana when they came downstairs to see us too.  Michael stayed until midnight; went home; and I came up to my room to get started on my work after tucking Ethan and Ehlana into their beds again and spending a few minutes with each of them.  It’s been all work and not much fun since then, but I am keeping up with my work schedule; and will be ready for the week off by Wednesday or Thursday.

Work will be the word of the day for the rest of the week – starting with the bands and teen praise team practices tomorrow and ending with being packed and ready for the big trip.  I don’t really need to include any of those details tonight when I really need to just be sleeping instead; and it’s past-time to wrap this up anyway.  Michael, Tim, Rowen, and I really have had one of those really awesome days; with the doing everything together the main reason for why we had so much fun.  The shopping tonight also has me fired up even more about the trip to Florida; and that should help me out with getting through the next couple of days – especially when I’m sure they will be tough on me.

I can deal with that starting in a few hours, though, and don’t need to go on about it now; so, until next time...

...May the Magi Force be with you!

Cassie's Journal - January 29, 2017

I’m writing this update ahead of the bedtime computing, studying, and work because most of that will be too boring to write about anyway; and I’ll have this done if I fall asleep during the work before getting everything done.

The only real news today, for all of the teens in the band, is that we’re counting down the days to when we head for Florida next Saturday.  Top news today was Orlando weather – because it was raining and comparatively-cool there today; and we don’t want our first full day there to be like that next Sunday!  Fortunately, the forecast for next weekend looks pretty good right now, but we’ll all be keeping watch on that; and I’ll keep you posted if that changes.  Getting ready for the trip on a personal level was next on the top-gossip list for the girls; and Rowen and I actually have news for that too.  We didn’t finalize everything until later in the day, but we are now officially booked for a trip to the city after school tomorrow.  Michael and Tim are coming with us; Michael has his parents’ minivan; and we’ll all be looking for some summer-weight clothes and one or two swimsuits – along with a few other necessities like sunscreen and other personal supplies.

We were running out of time, so I didn’t think that we’d get to do that trip, but while I could raid Mom’s and Aunt Leanne’s closets if needed, Rowen can’t do that, and she didn’t feel comfortable with most of her summer clothes from last year; so she pushed a bit harder to get this set up.  I’m glad to help out – and get some new clothes that will be fun for Michael too; so it wasn’t tough for Rowen to convince me.  This will mean another late night for me, but it’ll be worth it; and I really am looking forward to an evening out with Michael and our best friends.  Yes, we are going to be spending an entire week together, but that is a bit different; and you know what I mean.  Even when we do a lot of things together; it sometimes feels as though we don’t actually get to just hang out with our best friends very often anymore.

Speaking of that, I’m not getting to spend much quality time with Michael either; so maybe we’ll need to try to work on that while we’re in Florida too! ;^)

I have too much work to do for those thoughts; so let’s wrap this up so I can get started on the rest of my night.

Tai Chi was early; I had breakfast at Michael’s that included a vid-chat with Jake and Stephanie; we had fun at church – particularly with the girl and teen chats about the Florida trip; and then Michael and I worked the full lunch-to-close shift at the Inn.  That shift, by the way, will officially be my last buffet shift working in the kitchen.  I’ll be able to work the dining room by the time we get back from Florida – after my birthday; and Miranda already has me booked and we’re both excited about getting to work together more closely than we normally do when I’m on the prep line or washing dishes.  I’m sure there will be times when I’m needed in the kitchen now and then, but I am going to like working as a server a lot more – even though it’ll mean spending less time with Michael.

By the way, it probably is totally sexist to keep Michael in the kitchen instead of offering him a server job back when he turned sixteen, but he knows where his parents need him most; and he basically runs the dishwashing crew now when he works; and his Dad will need that experience – especially once the remodel is finished and we’ll have so much more seating.  We’ll also have a second chef by then and Stephanie will be ready to help Miranda, but they have big plans for the future; and will need a few years to gear up for that.

I’m rambling on and don’t have time for that.  Michael and I worked the lunch shift; actually took our afternoon break and spent most of that time on our own except for a short visit at my house while we had lunch; and then we worked non-stop through the buffet-to-close part of the day.  The band trip might have had something to do with the extra business, since we did seem to have a lot of teens there with their families tonight; but it’s also always possible that everyone had the same no-cook good idea on the same day.  Whatever the reason; we ended up staying at the Inn until ten-thirty; Michael and I did our goodnight hugs and kisses outside of his house; and I came home and had a short bedtime chat with Mom and Dad before coming up to my room for the night.  The twins were in bed by then, but I stopped in to wish them a good night on my way up here; so it was a bit after eleven by the time I was tucked in with Mandy and had my computer fired up.

My email check came before this update, but only because I wanted to check for any family news in case there was anything exciting to add to this report.  There wasn’t, but I can tell you that our favorite collegians are doing well; Dawn was able to go flying yesterday and today; and she and Jillian are semi-excited to have dates to their high school Valentine’s Day dance.  I haven’t mentioned that, but our dance is on the Friday we get back from Florida.  If we don’t have any travel issues, we’ll be back in time to attend, but if we do have issues; it could be the smallest school dance in a century or more!  Maybe I’ll be able to get fired up about that dance the day of, but we have too much going on between now and then for it to break through to the top stories on the gossip network.

I’m also back to rambling on when I should be working already, and there really isn’t anything else to add tonight; so, until next time...

...May the Magi Force be with you!

Cassie's Journal - January 28, 2017

The first half of my weekend has been exactly as I expected.  Michael and I started our day early with the breakfast shift at the Inn; I helped out at home with chores for the rest of the morning; it was homework time after lunch while Michael was on his break so we wouldn’t be stuck with that tomorrow afternoon; and then we were back at the Inn for the dinner-to-close shift.  That was a busy handful of hours thanks to a couple of dinner parties; and we wrapped up for the night there at a quarter-to-ten.  I went home with Michael; we had some chat time with his parents before they went to bed; and then I stayed long enough for a bit of quiet cuddle time before coming home to get started on my family business work.  Staying for a sofa sleepover would have been a lot more fun – something I have mentioned now and then and likely a bit too often; but the responsible side of me won out again tonight.

Rebecca, by the way, is out at the farm with Lucas tonight; so that really was a tough choice for me to make tonight.  Her side of the girl chat will be more interesting than mine tomorrow too; but don’t expect an update on that here in my journal.

Moving along and wrapping this up, I came home; had bedtime visits with my parents, brother, and sister – with two of those visits happening in the twins’ rooms; and then I got ready for bed and started in on the digital stacks of work that were on my to-do list for tonight.  That wasn’t exciting, but I have done as much of the work in a time phase as possible; so I’ll be able to get a bit more sleep tonight – even if the trade-off for that doesn’t really help with recovering from the power drain.  Self-healing in the morning is an option, though, and I’m not going to drag out this update when there really isn’t any interesting news for the day anyway; so, until next time...

...May the Magi Force be with you!

Cassie's Journal - January 27, 2017

I really hope that we’re going to have an amazing week in Florida; since the work that we’re all doing ahead of that adventure is really tiring me out!

The busy today included our regular morning classes; Michael, Tim, Rowen, and I were all among the volunteers unloading and reloading trucks and doing the last fruit and vegetable boxes deliveries; and then Michael and I worked the dinner-to-close shift at the Inn.  For the fundraising work, we had a full transport truck to unload; Michael and I were two of the worker bees that dealt with the two pick-up truck loads that we delivered to Maple Valley after that; and then we had to deliver our own personal orders before getting to the Inn for our shift there.  Miranda is continuing to give her full-timers extra time off all weekend, and that also helps our fellow band members because they’re getting extra hours that will help out with the spending money for the trip too.  That isn’t an issue for me, but the servers are particularly happy because they’re also getting extra-special tips from our customers as everyone around here pitches in to make sure we all have everything we need for while we’re in Florida.

We – the teens – are putting in the time and effort too; which is why I’m writing this report in the wee hours of Saturday morning instead of doing something more fun – like having a sofa sleepover with Michael.  Instead of doing that, we worked until nearly-ten at the Inn; had a bit of wind down cuddle time at his house while talking with his parents, Rebecca, and Lucas; and then I came home when Lucas left for the farm so that I could get started on the bonus family business work I’m doing this weekend.  I had a bedtime visit with Mom, Dad, Ethan, and Ehlana before getting to that work; so it was heading toward eleven-thirty by the time they all went to bed and I got changed and ready to work while cuddling with Mandy in our bed.

While I’m thinking about pets, let’s take a little side-trip to add an update for Silkie.  I’m sure that the twins write about her in their journals regularly, but my moments with Silkie are usually brief and just part of everyday life right now.  A few hugs and scratches behind the ears for her are about all I have time for most days; so I don’t even have walks or other play time with Silkie to write about.  Ethan and Ehlana do take care of her with some help when needed from Mom; and Silkie really is a wonderful addition to our family – even if I don’t even mention her in my journal very often.  Before I move on, I’ll also add that Mandy tolerates Silkie, but thinks that her puppy antics are silly; and usually just keeps her distance and watches Silkie with the superiority that only cats can get away with in this day and age of inclusiveness and political correctness.

Maybe we should have elected a cat for President last November!  ;^)

That joke just proves that I’ve been working too long.  I am keeping on-track for my work-ahead plan, though; and will keep doing that for at least the next six days.  I am booked for the breakfast shift at the Inn – and the dinner-to-close shift too; so I really should get to sleep now anyway.  I’d predict a boring weekend for Michael and me, but while I have to wait and live the next two days, you can just flip digital pages in the future and find out right away; so that seems pointless – even if it’s also likely to be what happens.

Going to sleep within minutes of wrapping up this report is a certainty that I’m past-ready for, though, and I’m just rambling on now anyway; so, until next time...

...May the Magi Force be with you!