Ehlana's and Ethan's Journals - January 31, 2026

 

Ehlana and Ethan:

Happy 45^th Birthday, Patricia Emerson!

Our personal news of the day-so-far for the last day of January has not been all that exciting; since we’ve mostly been working on chores since breakfast to now at multiple homes.  That has been paying forward for the fun last night with family and friends; our co-ed sleepover; and the Tai Chi and hot meal start to today with Mom, Dad, and our four best friends – and we also managed to play nice while working at Cassie and Michael’s house despite being jealous of their hot-weather adventures in Myanmar!  Ethan and I are currently getting cleaned up and ready to head over to the Carringtons where we are booked to babysit a gang of kids with Naomi and Aiden while the parents go out to Patricia’s dinner and party.  We’ll be there for the rest of the day and overnight, and we need to head over soon; so let’s move this along.

Cassie and Michael haven’t quite started their Sunday and final day in Myanmar as we’re writing this, but we know they are mixing less work with more play time for their first day of February; and they are going to love doing that when the sunny high will approach the mid-nineties!  We might not get their Sunday report until our Sunday night – unless they try a breakfast vid-chat with us at the Carringtons’ tomorrow morning!  We’ll keep you posted; and will only add that they are continuing to do a lot of good; are making new friends along the way; and definitely giving the locals a better impression of Americans than our leaders are ‘earning’ pretty much everywhere in the world!

Yes, that is my segue into the world news report, and as of this writing; we haven’t taken much time at all for checking the news at all because we want to stay happy.  We are likely to need the positive energy with Zack and Eli to keep an eye on tonight – though they do not accept having babysitters anymore while also not wanting the job of watching the younger cousins and next-gen kids.  For the record, Sophia and Aaron are babysitting tonight – they’re just doing that for some Bassett and Palmer clans’ next-gen kids; and those parents are not all going out to Patricia’s party.  None of that is world news related; and maybe that’s okay for the last day of January.  We’ll be good with having our leaders taking a break from starting another war before the end of the month – though our expectations for having that continue in February are very low as the rhetoric rolls on with threats from both sides.  We really do need to go, but for one last bit of news that we’ve waited to mention; the Russian president has apparently agreed to a one-week break in the bombings and drone strikes on Ukrainian cities due to the extreme cold in the region.  We didn’t want to mention that if it didn’t actually happen, but there is apparently a lull; so that is a minor bit of good news for Ukraine – not that the rest of the fighting has slowed; and there is no limitation on the rest of the destruction along the front lines and elsewhere.  Let’s also hope that Ukraine doesn’t use the opportunity to do anything bad; since that will just lead to worse in the future; and they should remember that those missiles and drones that aren’t being used this week can be used later with a doubling up of destruction capacity.

Okay, that’s all for today.  We need to get to our babysitting adventures now; so we’re out of here!

Until next time, live with love, fellow Magi of the Light!

Ehlana's and Ethan's Journals - January 30, 2026

 

Ehlana and Ethan:

Cassie and Michael are happily spending their weekend in paradise, and it is even a bit warmer in Yangon and sunny; so we continue to be jealous of that while it remains frozen here!  They will be working a lot of their Saturday once they get started in a couple of hours, but those stories will have to wait; since we’re doing an early update ahead of our family-and-friends’ dinner and movies night and the co-ed sofa sleepover we’re going to keep our four best friends for after the rest of our guests head for their homes later tonight!

There isn’t really any news to offer for our day-so-far – though we’ve kept busy and had fun from Tai Chi and breakfast with Mom and Dad through our academic adventures to now as we’re getting ready for our incoming cousins and friends.  We want to stay happy for all of the fun ahead; so we’re going to keep the world news update short.  For a change, let’s start by mentioning President Trump’s nomination for Federal Reserve Chairman – the son-in-law of one of his billionaire buddies.  That isn’t a shock for anyone, but more and more people are seeing overt displays of how power really works in ways that used to be kept behind closed doors in backroom deals!  We’re all waiting to find out whether we – and Israel – will attack Iran again over the weekend, but while we’ll continue to hope for better; another war with Iran seems inevitable because the leaders involved mostly on our side aren’t afraid of any consequences.  That’s true for pretty much all of the horrid things that western leaders are doing; which is why the doomsday clock people moved it a bit closer to midnight again as global risks escalate too.

None of that is inspiring happiness; so that’s all for this update.  Stay tuned; and we’ll hope for better news tomorrow night!

Until next time, live with love, fellow Magi of the Light!

Ehlana's and Ethan's Journals - January 29, 2026

 

Ehlana and Ethan:

Winter is still here with us – if not with more snow; so we’ve had another indoors day as much as possible.  That started with Tai Chi and breakfast followed by a frosty walk to school; and then we stayed inside for all of our academic adventures before another no-as-chilly walk home and then on the lab or archives after a quick after-school visit with Mom and Silkie and Mandy.  Yes, Mandy is currently spending some time with us, but she is in high demand with our cousins while Cassie and Michael are away; so it is only a matter of time before she moves on to hang out with Faith, Brianna, or Leah for a while!  She is actually curled up on my bed right now as we’re doing this update and our twin chat and bedtime computing; so Ethan will likely get Silkie for his cuddle buddy tonight.

We had fun with our lab or archives work-play; came home again in time for dinner with Mom and Dad; and then we all went to the Inn for game night.  Mom and Dad won the senior title this week; we didn’t win a junior title tonight; and for Ethan, that could be because Naomi was more interested in keeping him distracted and having fun than in winning tonight!  We did not do a bedtime walk with Silkie after getting home and our friends got rides home thanks to the cold weather.  Mom and Dad had some work to do in the office, but we were sent upstairs for bath or Jacuzzi time; and now we are winding down fast toward nap time.  We want to be at full-power for the last school day of the week and the weekend; so let’s wrap this up.

Cassie and Michael have started their Friday already and headed out on their travel day before dawn.  They’ll arrive in Yangon by the time we wake up in the morning – they’ll need about eleven hours to drive there; and then they’ll get right to work for the rest of the day.  They are planning some sightseeing this weekend, but their days will be full between the work and play time.

The world news continues to be tense with war risks high in the Middle East in multiple locations and continually-worsening conditions in Ukraine for both the soldiers and civilians as winter becomes tougher every day with limited electricity and heating in many of the Ukraine-controlled cities.  Central America is another powder-keg in the making; and we could be in for some serious problems here at home as more and more people get angry with what our government and agencies and military are doing here and worldwide.  Compared to all of that, Greenland seems like a nothingburger, but that isn’t true for the people of the territory or the people of Denmark, and contrary to media and our own leaders; there is no deal to take over parts or all of Greenland at all; and we should add that Denmark and Greenland have no interest in handing the territory over to the United States under any circumstances.

Let’s stop there and skip the temptation for a rant.  We’ve had a good day with the mix of work and play time; we’re happy; warm indoors despite the cold outside; and we’re looking forward to the weekend with our family and friends!  That’s collectively awesome, and we’re grateful; so we’ll take all of those happy thoughts and head off to dreamland right now!

Until next time, live with love, fellow Magi of the Light!

Ehlana's and Ethan's Journals - January 28, 2026

 

Ehlana and Ethan:

Let’s begin with the Cassie and Michael update – if only because their Wednesday was a lot warmer; and that’s going to be true for their Thursday that is already in-progress.  The coast of Myanmar is apparently amazing; they are having fun with the work and play time; and half-wish that they could stay there for a longer visit that they don’t have time for on this trip!  They will move on tomorrow with another long travel day that will take them to the south of Myanmar where they’ll stay for the weekend.  Their Thursday work is mostly going to be charity-related – and yes, even coastal paradise cities have people in need; so they are doing a lot of good!

We’ve tried to do our part to do good in the world today to while here at home.  Our school day was uneventful, but we got a lot done at the lab or archives after school; and then we worked in the office on family business and charity projects after dinner and through until around ten-thirty – plus time-phased hours.  Our friends wouldn’t think that most of our work was fun at all, but we’re happy tonight; and feel good about everything we did get done tonight.  Ethan would tell you that I’m happier because my lab work included a new success for treating one of the specific cancers – curing it, and while we’re still years away from taking those treatment-cures out into the world; we are making a lot of progress!

Now we are winding down fast toward nap time; so let’s get to the world news report.  War with Iran is looking more-likely right now, but we’ll wait to see whether our idiot leaders go there or come to their senses before it is too late.  News of a second round of trilateral peace talks for Ukraine have been announced, but we still don’t know why they are bothering when the two sides are obviously still far apart on demands and expectations; so no deal is going to happen diplomatically anytime soon.  We want to mention the latest news from Europe about their plans to end all imports of Russian natural gas and oil – mostly because the European Union is over-riding their own rules by ignoring vote vetoes from countries that still want to buy those Russian resources.  It is obvious that our country is not the only one deciding that laws are optional when inconvenient, and when that happens; it is only a matter of time before that kind of general lawlessness spreads and become endemic.

We’ll keep that from happening here in Witch Falls, but don’t need to worry about that tonight either; so let’s wrap this up and we will stay happy as we head off to dreamland.

Until next time, live with love, fellow Magi of the Light!

Ehlana's and Ethan's Journals - January 27, 2026

 

Ehlana and Ethan:

We’ve had a good day, but it has mostly been indoors again – though it was at least comparatively-warmer while still staying below freezing even for the high of the day.  Tai Chi was indoors; we had a hot breakfast; and fun at school that included the school band practice.  We don’t have much booked for the band, but will be helping out with the seniors’ Valentine’s Day luncheon as usual; so we’re getting ready for that now.  Ethan and I brought our four best friends home with us to study and have dinner between that practice and our teen praise team practice; Mom added in a bonus group Magi lesson; and then that evening practice was fun too.  We’re already starting to prepare for the Easter sunrise service, but we’ll help out with other music between now and then; and we also need to allow for practices we’ll miss for things like spring break.

It was getting colder again by the time we walked home; we had a visit with Mom and Dad once there; and didn’t do any business or charity work because Mom wanted us to get the extra sleep instead.  That’s why we’re already winding down our twin chat and computer checks; and we’re okay with the extra nap time.  Cassie and Michael have already started their Wednesday in Myanmar; and they headed out well-before dawn for an eight-hour drive to the west coast and the next stop of their trip – the coastal city of Kyaukpyu.  The weather will be near the same with sun and highs around ninety; and now they’ll have the bonus of beaches and amazing seaside views!  They’ll only be in the area for their Wednesday and Thursday before needing to move on again, but we’re sure they’ll have fun with all of the work; and we continue to be jealous of the warm weather that we definitely aren’t going to have around here this week!

As for our world news report, we want to start by reporting that the snow storm is still having an impact in a lot of places – especially wherever there are power outages compounding the deep cold issues as well as the places that are still dealing with heavy ice or snow damage.  There have been quite a few storm-related deaths; and that number is sure to climb as long as it stays cold and the clean-up is heavy and strenuous work.  Elsewhere in the world, there was a fatal ferry sinking in the Philippines that hasn’t really gotten much attention in western media, but there were more than three-hundred and fifty people on the ferry when it went down; and considering the number of people still missing; the death toll could easily end up being higher than from this entire winter storm that has caused havoc across thousands of miles of the country.

Moving on to the top conflict zones, the most-recent peace stories have apparently run their courses; the trilateral talks about the Ukraine war weren’t as-positive as claimed on Saturday; and the death and destruction in Ukraine continues with no end in sight – though it continues to be possible for the Ukraine military to get to the point of collapse as they continue to lose people and get worn down by constantly defending territory with dwindling resources and manpower.  The Middle East is a mess too, and Israel is not only continuing the Palestinian genocide; they are trying their best to destroy Lebanon and Syria; and tensions remain very high with Iran as our country continues to move naval forces back into the region and threaten Iran with another attack.

That’s enough for tonight.  Ethan and I are going to get some sleep, so stay tuned for our next update; and we’ll get back to full-power so that we can be ready for those adventures we’ll write about tomorrow night!

Until next time, live with love, fellow Magi of the Light!