Heirs of the Magi News Flash!

***Heirs of the Magi News Flash!*** Winter has, for the most part, been mild so far - or awesome for the month that Cassie and Michael spent in summertime-Australia! They are home now and will be working from home for most of the time until Easter. The hometown work will include getting ready for their next trip, but there will be a lot of fun to get in on and share with their favorite people - including their March Break trip to Florida adventure. All of your favorite Magi Masters will continue to work and play while their future plans unfold; so... ...Visit Witch Falls often to keep up with all of their latest stories; and Happy Reading!

Friday, August 4, 2017

Cassie's Journal - August 3, 2017



We’ve had an awesome weather day around here, but I didn’t get to enjoy much of it; since Michael and I put in a lot of time at the Inn today.  I’m not going to write about that tonight, though; since I really want to do an update about Rebecca and Jenny.  I’m way overdue for that; and I should write about what’s going on in the lives of the people I care most about more often.

Rebecca, Lucas, and Jenny are getting ready to head off to college, and while they’ll be staying in residential halls; there is still a lot for them to get done between now and when they need to head off on their collegiate adventures.  I haven’t written about any of the things they’ve been doing; since I’m out of the loop for most of it; but I do hear about everything – and have done my part for one fairly-large part of their plans for the next four years.  College is part of that; but the more important plans for them – and for our town – are all about the pizzeria they want to own and run.

I’ll start with that; since their plans have come a long way since my last update about it.  They’re going to have lots of help for it beginning this fall, but Aunt Leanne has a store by the river that they’ll be leasing – and that will be worked on through the winter to get it ready for them to open in time for the Memorial Day weekend next year.  They’re going with a take-out pizzeria, but will have tables and chairs on a patio by the river that we’re sure will become the teen hang-out during the spring, summer, and fall.  Opening up their shop when they’ll still have three years of college to go might sound risky, but most stores to a large percentage of their annual business during the summer in our town; and it isn’t really all that unusual in our area for stores to cut back on their hours in the off-season.  Sure, they’ll be open seven days a week after college, but they’re also going to try and work it out so that they have the pizzeria open on every weekend – even if that means taking turns coming home for alternate weekends while keeping up with their studies too.

That hasn’t been decided for sure yet, but my point is that they do have a good plan; and it’s been approved by some of my favorite Moms – including Miranda, Mom, and Aunt Leanne.  Part two of the pizzeria plan will hopefully come together soon; since Rebecca and Jenny are going to get part-time jobs with a pizzeria somewhere near their college so that they can learn the business – particularly the cooking great pizza part of the job.  They’re a bit worried about that, but I’m not; since they both have a lot of restaurant experience that any pizzeria manager would love – and it doesn’t hurt that they’re young and beautiful!  They do have some criteria of their own for places they want to work, but that’ll be fun for them – and for Lucas; since it involves trying out the pizzas in the different restaurants to find the best.  Once they do that; they’ll try to get jobs with one of those restaurants.

There’s much more to the plan, but you’d likely just be bored if I write about the technicals or finances.  Yes, our family business is involved in part two of that, but for the record; we approved this investment exactly the same way we would any other – based on the merits.  I can also add that they’re going to be old school for their pizzeria – and that’s partly because the expense of the high-tech equipment wouldn’t pay off for a long time in a small town – if it would ever be worth the cost of the automated ovens.  I plan on being very supportive of Rebecca and Jenny’s pizzeria; so I’m glad that they’re going with quality over quantity – and won’t mind paying a bit more to get the better food! ;^)

Okay, let’s move on to the college side of the plans.  Rebecca and Jenny are both taking the four-year Bachelor’s degree program for Hotel and Restaurant Management.  That’s obvious and makes perfect sense, but I’ll add that they’re not looking to earn their Master’s degrees too because they’ve decided that it would just be a waste of the money and their time when they’ll have everything they need to run their little business without going the post-grad route.  Lucas is going into a four-year course too; but he’s enrolled at Central State in the Agricultural Engineering program.  That’ll come in handy on his family farm; and is just part of the plan that he has with his parents and family to make sure that their farms will continue to do well for the next generations of Nortons.

Finally, I should add that Rebecca and Jenny’s plans are going to have a significant impact on my life; since they won’t be working at the Inn very much anymore – if at all.  They’ll need to work those part-time pizzeria jobs whenever they’re at college; might need to spend some of their holiday time doing that too; and will be working on setting up their pizzeria when they are home – probably by the time they have their fall break – or Christmas at the latest.  I’m certainly not complaining; but it will mean that Miranda and Stephanie will need Michael and me to help out as much as we can – even once we’re into football season.  Michael’s okay with that, since he wants to earn as much money as he can for college; and it will help me too – even if that will mostly be for appearances; since my family business job will more than cover my college expenses.

That’s an update for another day – though I should do that before the end of summer too; since there is a lot that we’ll be doing to get ready for when we go to college next year.  I think that’s also enough for tonight.  Michael and I put in extra time at the Inn to help his mother and father get ready for a busy weekend and the busy breakfast and dinner shifts; I’ve spent a few hours on the family business after getting home; and now I’m ready to head off into nap mode for a few hours before getting up and doing it all again.  I’ll need the rest, since we have four ballgames this weekend in addition to the work and chores; though I’ll also miss all or part of three of them because I will be at the Inn instead.

More on that over the next few days, but that really is it for now; so, until next time...

...May the Magi Force be with you!