Cassie's Journal - September 19, 2012

The top news that Mom brought back from Crystal Springs was about Angela, Terry, and their soon-to-be born baby.  Angela is doing great, though she’s wishing that the big day would get here sooner rather than later.  Mom checked her out, and thinks that she still has at least another week to go before Angela and Terry will get to welcome their new bundle of joy.

While that was the top news, and Mom and Dad enjoyed spending a few hours with their friends, I’ll guess that there were other reasons why Mom was still smiling as much as she was after Rowen and I got home from school.  Ethan, Ehlana, and I are good with not hearing any of those stories.  My after-school recap didn’t take long, but Ethan and Ehlana had a lot to talk about while we had our snack; and even the parts of Mom’s trip that she could talk about took a while.  Rowen and I needed to do our homework after that, and then we took Ethan and Ehlana to the park again for a little play time.

They wanted to stop for another visit at the football field, but we didn’t stay long this time; and spent most of our time at the playground before going home in time for dinner.  Mom and I spent the evening playing with Ethan and Ehlana until they went to bed, and then we’ve been working in the office since then.  I’ve mostly been studying languages and working in the archives, and Mom’s been working on the family business.  I should do an update about the family business, but I’m getting tired; so I’ll do that tomorrow, and call it a night now.

Say ‘goodnight, Cassie’.

“Goodnight, Cassie.”

Cassie's Journal - September 18, 2012

I definitely need to find a way to spend more time with Grandma and Grandpa when it’s just the three of us.

It was a quiet day at school, and I went over to their house after walking Rowen to the computer store.  Alicia was already there by then, and was just about ready to take Ethan and Ehlana out for a visit to the office to see Aunt Leanne before taking them on to Uncle Adam and Aunt Leanne’s house; where she was going to babysit them until Aunt Leanne got home from work.

I got my studying and family business work out of the way first; having fun with Grandma and Grandpa while showing them my Magi-powered computing.  We had dinner at home; went for a walk that included quite a few front porch chats; and then went home again to watch television for a couple of hours before they were tired out and ready for bed.  It felt strange not having Mandy to cuddle with, since we decided to leave her at home; but the rest of my night has been pretty normal – except that it’s barely past midnight, and I’m finished my work and ready to get some sleep.  Hopefully Mom and Dad are enjoying their alone time too; but except for their dinner out with the Malloys, I doubt I’ll want to hear most of the details.  That’s all I have for tonight, so it’s time to...

...say ‘goodnight, Cassie’.

“Goodnight, Cassie.”

Cassie's Journal - September 17, 2012

Our morning started out early so that Mom, Ethan, Ehlana, and I could all see Dad before he left for Crystal Springs, but then four of us were able to have a little cuddle and nap together in Mom and Dad’s bed before we needed to get moving again too.  Tai Chi by the river seemed a bit less fun without Dad; and the dull, cloudy sky matched the part of me that was missing my father.  There was rain in the forecast, but we didn’t actually get any; and ended up having a nice day – especially by the time we were finished school when Rowen and I were ready to play.

Before we get to that, it was a good day at school.  As usual for a Monday, the guys talked football a lot while the girls talked about boys; the latest entertainment gossip on the web; shopping; and some random local weekend gossip.  Rowen really didn’t want to be around for certain parts of the chats about boys; and I was happy to help her out by hanging out together in the school yard at lunch, and staying out of the pack between classes.  Phys-Ed was outdoors, and Rowen and I paired up for the cross-country run that included a lap of the path around the park.  We may be vertically challenged compared to the other girls in our class right now, but that doesn’t really matter for longer runs.  We were the first runners back to the school; though I’m sure that at least some of our classmates were taking advantage of the time away from direct supervision – a theory that was all but proven when the last group of runners returned with just a few minutes left before lunch.

Music class was the most fun this afternoon, and we again split the time between a theory lesson and two more rotations where we tried out different instruments.  If you’ve ever been in beginner instrumental music classes, I’m sure you can relate to what it sounds like, and even though Rowen and I did better than most with everything we tried; we definitely contributed to the cacophony of noise that in no way resembled anything harmonic or melodic.  That little detail didn’t keep us from having a blast, though, and I really love having a class that is actually in a subject that’s new and challenging for me.

With Dad away in the city, after Rowen and I did our homework, we took Ethan and Ehlana with us so Mom could have a break; and went to the park.  Our first stop was the football field; mostly because Ethan and Ehlana wanted to see Rebecca and Jenny, and watch the boys playing football.  Ethan didn’t just want to watch; he ran out onto the field right away; and then he and Michael earned some laughs when Michael helped him to score a touchdown before running him back to us and dropping him off in Rebecca’s lap.  While we’d planned on taking Ethan and Ehlana over to the playground, they wanted to stay; I could sense that Rowen did too; and since that unofficial, silent vote left me in the minority; we stayed until the pick-up game ended, and it was time for us to head home.

Rowen stayed for dinner with us, but then she needed to head home; and we had Uncle Adam and Aunt Leanne coming over for a Healing lesson and family business work session.  By the end of the evening, the big news for us was that Mom was doing an overnight trip to Crystal Springs sometime in the morning; I was going to have a sleepover at Grandma and Grandpa’s house; and Uncle Adam and Aunt Leanne were going to get the twins for the night at their place.  I’ll guess that Aunt Leanne had the idea in mind well ahead of time; since it didn’t take very long for her to get our grandparents on board, or have Alicia set up to pick-up the twins from their house after school.

Spending the night with Grandma and Grandpa will be fun, but Mom and I have both been doing some extra work in the office since Ethan and Ehlana went to bed and Aunt Leanne and Uncle Adam went home.  I’ve finished the archive studies that went with the healing lesson tonight; practiced languages for an hour; took care of a bit of family business work; and did the rest of my usual nightly computing.  It’s now after one, and Mom’s decided that we both need to pack up and get some sleep, so...

...say ‘goodnight, Cassie’.

“Goodnight, Cassie.”

Cassie's Journal - September 16, 2012

I’m keeping this short tonight; skipping any extra work; and going to sleep early.

I’m glad that Mom and Dad enjoyed their kid-free night; and don’t want to know the details. Ditto that for why Aunt Leanne and Uncle Adam were so happy today too.

For me, Tai Chi for one in Rowen’s back yard was the only quiet time I had until after dinner. Patrick and Scott were in fine form before, during, and after breakfast; though Rowen and I did manage to eat and get ready for church despite the ongoing interruptions from the boys. We traded that annoyance for some usually-whispered girl chat that was mostly about guys and girls at Friday night football games before, during, and after church and Sunday school. That might have been okay to get out of the way a day early if I didn’t know for sure that weekend romance updates were a required and unavoidable part of the school gossip network every Monday.

We had the Emersons over for lunch after church, and then Rowen and I were free to play for the afternoon while Dad was busy getting ready for his week in the city; Mom, Ethan, and Ehlana were doing their own thing; and Rowen’s parents went home to catch up on some work around the house now that they had a day off where they could do that. We went for a bike ride; did a little exploring along the ridge in the woods at the park; and hung out at the playground for a while – not really much of a difference from our Saturday afternoon.

Mom and Dad decided to have dinner at the Inn instead of cooking, and it wasn’t hard to convince Grandma, Grandpa, Uncle Adam, and Aunt Leanne to come with us for the early buffet. That was fun, and so was the Transmutation lesson that Mom did with me after we got home, but once we finished getting Ethan and Ehlana bathed, changed, and tucked into bed; I was ready to come up to bed too. With Dad away, it’s going to be a busy week, and I’ll have some late nights, so that’s it for tonight.

Say ‘goodnight, Cassie’.

“Goodnight, Cassie.”

Cassie's Journal - September 15, 2012

I’ll take a wild guess that Mom, Dad, Aunt Leanne, Uncle Adam, and the rest of their usual gang are having more fun tonight than Rowen and me.

Reasons why Number one and two: Patrick and Scott.

While our favorite adults – including Rowen’s parents – are playing at Sheldon’s Pub; we’re doing a sleepover at Rowen’s house that includes watching Patrick and Scott while Patricia and Owen are out. I can tell you that it isn’t easy to put up with those two boys and not use a little Magi power to keep them under control. We might have had an easier time if Ethan and Ehlana were here too, but I’m sure they’re really happy to be spending the night with Grandma and Grandpa instead.

Watching an action movie; playing video games; and making pizzas for a late night snack wasn’t enough to keep the boys from their usual pranks, gags, and goofiness. Rowen and I especially loved getting to pick Bits and Bites out of our hair after a little one-sided food fight. The pranks and gags mostly happened after Patrick and Scott supposedly went up to bed, and Rowen and I sat in the living room and tried to watch another movie that wasn’t all about blowing stuff up now and then in between fight scenes. It wasn’t until they heard the minivan in the driveway that the boys suddenly decided that at least pretending to be asleep was a good idea.

Rowen and I were required by tradition to assure her parents that everything had been fine while they were out, though I’m sure they didn’t believe that for a second. We had a little chat with them before we all came upstairs to bed, and Rowen and I have been chatting and computing since getting changed and into her bed. I haven’t written about the rest of my day, but it was just a standard yard and house work morning; nothing particularly interesting happened while Rowen and I were biking and playing this afternoon; we’ve got church in the morning; and it’s late enough that we should both be sleeping. Time to call it a night!

Say ‘goodnight, Cassie’.

“Goodnight, Cassie – and goodnight to you too, Rowen.”