Ehlana's and Ethan's Journals - September 22, 2026

 

Ehlana and Ethan:

We’ve been working on our plans for a band trip to Disney World since before we started back to school, but it feels more-real tonight after our first marching band practice this evening.  Our group is still fairly-small, but we did get a few students from Maple Valley and two more from Brookbridge, but word will get around; and we expect more to join.  While we’re on that topic, let’s add that Brianna and some of her classmates are looking to start learning to play instruments a year early so they can join the band at the start of their Grade Seven year and be able to go on the trip with us; and we’ve started the fundraising – or at least some of us have started to do that for the monthly fruit and vegetable boxes that we’ve partnered with the grocery store for again.  We’ll get our first deliveries on the first Tuesday of October and final orders need to be in to the Bassetts soon; so the first delivery will be smaller than what we hope to have each month after that and for the coming year and change.  We’re working on other fundraisers, including for the fall festival, the Haunted Halloween Walk, and then for the Thanksgiving and Christmas seasons, but those are works in progress; and we’ll keep you posted as they develop.

While the marching band practice was our highlight of the day, we were also very busy from a chilly Tai Chi by the river through our academic adventures; cheer squad practice at lunch; football and concert band practices after school; and then the little break we had between practices for dinner and a study session that Ethan and I hosted for our best friends.  There wasn’t really much news to offer from the rest of our adventures, but we had fun; got a lot done; and then Ethan and I eventually got home after the evening practice and a walk with Silkie to see Naomi and Aiden to their homes.  Mom did a Magi lesson with us after that; she didn’t want us working in the office too; and we’ve just finished bath or Jacuzzi time before getting started on our usual twin chat and bedtime computing.  That brings us to the world news report, so let’s get through that chore; and then we’ll call it a day and get some sleep.

The United Nations meetings in New York and President Trump’s speech there had top-billing for the news cycle today; and we continue to be amazed that anyone listens to him at all – let alone believe anything he says!  Highlights include his assertions that he has all of the God-like power to decide the fate of the world and every nation in it; he will ‘decide’ after the mid-term elections whether to make a deal with Iran or destroy them if they don’t choose to surrender to him.  They won’t do that; and we can only hope that President Trump isn’t going to destroy Iran; since he probably couldn’t do that even if he used nukes.  While our leaders continue to spout their idiocies to distract the masses; the Middle East economy remains strangled; very little oil is getting out of the region compared to what is needed; and nothing changes to make life better for the people suffering through the fighting and hardships.

We definitely want to mention the ‘new’ sanctions that we’re threatening the rest of the world with that include banning countries from the SWIFT payment system if they ‘help’ Iran or Russia.  That will just push those countries into the alternative systems in China and elsewhere; and will rush the American dollar toward its inevitable demise as world reserve currency.  We’ve also announced that Iranian airlines can no longer travel to any other airports in the world or those countries will be cut out of SWIFT too; so the insanity continues and spreads with no end in sight.

The Ukraine war barely got a mention from President Trump during his U.N. speech, but that disaster rolls on and Ukraine continues to be destroyed.  Russia’s retaliation for the election weekend drone attacks has included, according to the Ukrainian energy company that owns the facility, destroying an oil and gas facility with a major missile strike.  Russia has closed another cauldron and is on the verge of another frontlines victory with no hope in sight for the Ukrainian soldiers caught within the encirclement.

President Zelensky is away from Ukraine as usual and in New York to try and get more money and weapons for the war, and it seems to us that as long as he gets his cut of the money; he doesn’t care about whether his country is destroyed as long as he gets rich along the way.  That’s crass, but probably true – just as self-enrichment is the true goal for a lot of the ‘western’ leaders at all levels.

The political talk that is in high gear this week really is just a distraction for the people; and that is getting less-effective as actual consequences of the wars really start hitting where it hurts the most – in the pocketbook or bank account.  I only want to add one more thing to this part of the story – if President Trump really had the power to stop all of the wars the day after the mid-term elections; why wait?  The ugly answer for that would be a plan to do things that are so-awful that the political fallout would be terrible for him, but then if that’s true; then he shouldn’t go down that path at all!

Let’s stop there.  We’ll have a lot of political news fodder to choose from all week while the United Nations is in session and we’re waiting for President Xi’s visit with President Trump too, but we’ve had enough for tonight; and it is definitely time to get some sleep starting right now.

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

Ehlana's and Ethan's Journals - September 21, 2026

 

Ehlana and Ethan:

Happy 27^th Birthday, Lucas Norton!

Cassie and Michael have helped with his special day and were at his dinner party; and now they have Luke and Clarissa for the night for reasons we do not need to write about here but that are normal for kid-free night gifts!

Our day hasn’t been that exciting, but while the weather is cooler; it was nice-enough for Tai Chi by the river and for our football and cheer squad practices.  Our academic adventures were fun and not newsworthy; those practices went well and we’re all preparing for a wet game night; since the forecast isn’t looking good and we could be in for a very wet Friday night.  Ethan and I came home from our practices to a quick dinner and then we headed to the lab or archives for the evening.  I had a success with my experiment adapting my cancer cure to a specific type of cancer, and that is awesome, but I’ll add that each success is still just a first step; since there is a lot that needs to happen between first cures to mass production that can and will take years or decades to be widely available – even with all of the resources we have available to us through the family businesses.  Ethan didn’t report anything world-changing for his work tonight, but he is doing that too in his own incremental ways, and for the record, what he is building in the archives is levels ahead of the best that any A.I. system could create because those computer systems can only wish that they had his Magi-powered memory and processing capacity!  Yes, he has some input limitations, but then we’ve never really tested the full extent of our time phasing capabilities; so that might not be true.  Yes, we could do that, but then it might be a bit tough to explain if we aged a year or two within minutes or even seconds; so we can’t really try that out without unwanted consequences – and I’m not just saying that because Naomi would be upset if she wasn’t dating a younger man anymore! ;^)

We wrapped up at the lab by eleven o’clock; came home; and did a short Magi lesson with Mom before saying good night to her – and Dad – and heading up to the third floor for bath or Jacuzzi time.  I took longer with getting cleaned up, so Ethan took care of most of the computer checks and passed the news of the day on to me; so now we’re pretty much just dealing with this update and more twin chat as we wind down toward a late start to our nap time.

There is nothing happening in the top wars to justify the price manipulation for oil and other markets ranging from commodities to bonds and money, but that is happening; and that does nothing except obfuscate reality; since oil prices in particular should be going up after a weekend of Ukrainian attacks on Russian refineries; Houthi attacks on Saudi energy infrastructure; and Iranian strikes on tankers attempting ‘unauthorized’ transits of the Strait of Hormuz.  President Trump apparently canceled new plans to hit Yemen with new air strikes, but that changes every day or two; so we’ll wait to see what actually happens.

The talk about peace rolls on without any actual progress and no reason to trust ‘our’ leaders when they talk peace out of one side of their mouths and threaten more war and sanctions and obliteration out of the other side.  While the political thaatre continues and will have some big stories this week thanks to the United Nations summit in New York and President Xi’s visit with President Trump, but none of that will likely change anything in reality when it comes to the world economy and ongoing crises.

We’re going to wrap up this world news report with an odd story that got our attention – about a ‘missing’ F-35 shipment.  The headlines are misleading, since what is supposedly missing is a shipment of parts being sent for repairs from Australia; and it seems convenient timing ahead of President Xi’s visit to make claims about the shipment disappearing in Hong Kong with the implications that the Chinese government took them.  We won’t suggest that couldn’t happen, but if the parts are in ‘enemy’ hands now; that also suggests that our military security has some major holes in it if that can even happen at all!  Considering the track record of the F-35 so far, if China actually wants to study how they’re made and what tech goes into them; that might be so they can learn what not to do when making their own next-gen fighter jets!

That’s enough for tonight.  It is past-one now; we’re tired; and our Tuesday is going to be busier now because we’ll be adding in our first marching band practice after dinner to go along with the concert band, football, and cheer squad practices that were already on our schedule.  Stay tuned for those stories; and we’ll get the sleep we still can to get ready for all of that fun.

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

Ehlana's and Ethan's Journals - September 20, 2026

 

Ehlana and Ethan:

Happy 1^st Anniversary, Gil and Shannon Cane!

Fall has decided to arrive today – or at least it feels that way as our afternoon high was around the same as yesterday’s morning low!  Yes, the mid-seventies are still good for this time of year in our area, but we noticed the change; and it is going to be cooler for at least the next week.  The temperature didn’t have anything to do with why we spent most of our day indoors, but we did; and our only outdoor time was for Tai Chi by the river this morning and the walks between home and church and lab.  We had a good morning with the church service and Sunday school; had a snack lunch with Mom and Dad; and then Ethan and I spent the afternoon at the lab or archives.  We got a lot of work done with the help of some time-phased hours that we added to our schedule; we still got home in time to help Mom with making dinner; and then we enjoyed that meal with Mom and Dad; cleaned up; and moved on to a Magi lesson and more time-phased work ours that we spent on family business and charity projects.  There are other places in the archives to read about the family businesses and charities, so we don’t write about the ‘what’ we do very often, but for this report; we’ll mention that we worked on adapting to the changing economic risks and challenges that are being caused by the wars and energy shortages and supply chain disruptions.  Unlike the rich and powerful people trying to exploit all of the current crises, we’re trying to do more with less; continue to grow to keep up with higher costs and expenses; and help more people because there are more and more people getting poorer and more-desperate.  Sharing a bit of love and joy where possible to go with the hope is a bonus – and harder to do as pressures rise around the world.  Thanks to the time phase, we still wrapped up our work in the office by ten o’clock; bath or Jacuzzi time followed; and now we’re winding down fast toward nap time.  Our last full week of September is going to be very busy, and we want to rest up and be ready for all of the fun; so let’s wrap this up with a world news report and then we’ll head off to dreamland.

Tonight, we can’t resist starting with election news – from Germany and Russia!  We can’t help but to be amused when Chancellor Merz’s party is borderline on a five percent minimum for votes in a regional election to even get any representation in that local government while the supposed-dictator of Russia’s party is going to have another majority in their federal parliamentary elections with early results coming in at around fifty-six percent of the vote.  Neither of them was at the center of the elections, but it is obvious that one leader is beloved by his people and the other one isn’t!

Let’s add in another factor for comparison – Ukraine’s voting weekend attacks on Moscow to the tune of around two-thousand drones and missiles while Russia did not try to intervene in the German elections despite all of the claims form NATO countries that Russia is actually at war with them through covert attacks on everything from airports to factories and trains.  Proof of those claims, by the way, is absent, but why let that get in the way of beating the war drums so that the military-industrial complex can keep making money while Ukraine is destroyed.  That drone attack, by the way, had a few drones get through, but the vast majority were shot down; and the cost of this media stunt was ridiculous and pointless.  The Ukrainian people are sure to hate the next Russian retaliation; and it is sure to come their way soon.

Finally, for tonight, the Middle East is still a mess; speculation abounds that President Trump will authorize an attack on the Houthis in Yemen soon – or already has and we’re just waiting for the strikes; and Saudi Arabia should be afraid either way; since they are sure to be on the receiving end of the retaliations there if that does happen.  Iran sent a list of demands to the United States that they want met before they even agree to new talks; and those demands are sure to be rejected; so nothing will change unless president Trump chooses more attacks against Iran.  With all of that going on; the world energy crisis and economic damage will continue with no end in sight; and our leaders will continue the insanity because they can’t admit that they’ve been wrong or that they’ve lost both of the wars.

Okay, that’s enough for this report.  Ethan and I are ready to get some sleep; so we’re going to do that right now.

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

Ehlana's and Ethan's Journals - September 19, 2026

 

Ehlana and Ethan:

Happy 13^th Birthday, Eli Seager!

Ethan’s future brother-in-law is getting started on his birthday party fun as we’re writing this update, but other than a birthday breakfast; he’s also been put to work on a fall chores day because the work needed to get done anyway.  We’ve been having a chores day too – which is why Ethan and I are getting cleaned up and ready to help out with Eli’s birthday dinner.  We’ll be at the Seager’s home for that meal, the birthday fun, and the clean-up; and then we’ll bring Naomi and Aiden home with us to help her with escaping the gang of guys that will be at her house for the rest of the night.  We do need to cover the rest of our story from Friday, though, so let’s back up and do that right now.

For the record, I was right about my ‘prediction’ for the game, but Ayton did manage to score on our team six times thanks to a talented kicker who was able to handle some fairly-long field goals – at least by high school standards.  That eighteen points was no match for the sixty-nine that our team scored against them, and I was right about Ethan being fired up for the home game with Mom and Dad in the crowd; since he led the way with five of our nine touchdowns.  Ayton didn’t have much of a defense for our air game, since Aiden scored three touchdowns too, and while Aaron picked up quite a few yards on the ground with his running game; he only had one touchdown last night.  The two field goals we had at the end of the game were to keep from running up the score even more while trading field goals for the last two rounds of offensive and defensive drives.  Miles and the Sheldons hosted the victory party; we all attended and had fun through to a bit after midnight; and then Aiden hosted his five best friends for the co-ed sleepover at his house.  We stayed up too-late; enjoyed the teen chat and co-ed cuddle time; and eventually managed to have naps before needing to get up before dawn this morning.

Tai Chi was by the river – and with Cassie and Michael; we had breakfast with Hailey and Leah because they’d been together overnight too; and then it was time to get to work on the fall chores.  It feels weird to say that when it still feels like summer around here, but fall is on the way; and it is going to cool down a bit next week.  It was still around seventy-five this morning and we’re in the mid-nineties again this afternoon; so that was good for most of our work time.  We’ve had a sprinkle or two of rain, but not much; and that barely even managed to help with cooling us down from the work.  A couple of swim breaks helped – or possibly didn’t for some of us; since Ethan seemed a bit distracted after each opportunity to spend time with Naomi in a swimsuit and then knowing what she still had on under her shorts and tee!  I will not be shocked if they manage a bit of alone time later tonight – and don’t hate that idea at all for having that same alone time for Aiden and me!  Those would be stories for us not to write about tomorrow; since we need to wrap this up and get over to the Seager’s home soon.  We didn’t write about the actual chores, but they were standard fall clean-up fare; we did all of our work at multiple homes and cottages as a team with Naomi and Aiden while Sophia and Aaron were busy with their own work at their homes or elsewhere.  That’s something we’re not writing about very often either, but most of our friends have part-time jobs – just as we do; and that includes weekend work for more than half of them.  For Sophia, that’s helping her Dad at the gas station, and while Aaron was busy with fall clean-up today too; he does some part-time work with his Dad at Landry’s – and with the occasional home project too.

As for a world news update; we’re only going to cover a few quick stories and then get out of here.  President Trump put himself in the news for two of those stories.  The first is a claim that he’s made a deal that puts America in complete control of Greenland ‘security’ while apparently not transferring ‘ownership’ to us.  We have no idea what that means; since Greenland is not really at risk of invasion from anyone; it was already a territory of a NATO country and had protection from those non-threats; and this entire story is just a stupid distraction.  The second story is not at all amusing, and while we could care less about any of the mainstream media networks, President Trump’s ban of several major news outlets from the White House is definitely a problem for first amendment rights and free speech.  His reasoning is laughable; since the claims are that those media outlets don’t have the right to lie about him!  News flash, Mr. President – pretty much everyone in Washington lies – especially you!  On second thought – we agree with him and all liars should be banned from the White House and the Capital as a whole; so let the exodus begin! ;^)

Before we get to the wars news, we should add that President Trump also signed the Russian sanctions bill in ‘honor’ of Senator Graham; and we are sure that it will be a disaster if actually implemented; since the world economy is already on the brink of disaster without adding in a tariffs war against China, India, and every other country that buys oil and energy from Russia!  As for the top two wars, Russia continues to decimate Ukraine every day; tens of thousands of Ukrainian troops are in imminent danger along the front lines; and the Ukrainian economy is on the verge of total collapse while their President has been happily hosting a summit for the all-new and pointless C-8 or Carpathia-8.  Maybe he’s read the Left Behind book series and now fancies himself as a real-life Nicolai Carpathia – or at least the best actor available to play the anti-Christ in the real-life reenactment of the books!  He really might want to think about reading to the end of that series before going down that road; since it didn’t end well for good ‘ole Nicolai!

Finally, the Middle East continues to be a mess; more ships are being hit; the Houthis continue to advance against the Saudi-backed mercenaries and government forces; and the energy infrastructure damage might be more-serious than what is being reported.  That could be a serious problem this winter for Europe if their energy supplies from the Middle East are stopped or significantly-reduced; and that doesn’t even get into the costs involved if refineries are idled and then need to be re-started due to lack of product to refine for weeks or months.  It is no wonder that a lot of people would rather be entertained by the stupid stories; since the serious problems seem too-big to fix.

Ethan and I can’t do that even though we wish that we could, so we’re going to do what we can now – and help to make Eli’s birthday dinner party amazing for him and his friends and family!  We’ll let you know how that goes for all of us sometime tomorrow night, so stay tuned for that; and we’ll go out there and live the adventures.

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