Cassie's Journal - September 4, 2013

Our Day Two schedule is definitely going to be my favorite, but there aren’t going to be any classes that I don’t have fun in this year – thanks mostly to having Michael and Tim sitting with Rowen and me in all of the classes where that’s an option.

I like getting to start the Day One schedule with Spanish and end it with Phys-Ed; but Tim isn’t the only person in my class who thinks that first period is way too early to be studying in a different language.  Tim entertained us with his pre-class grousing; trying to convince us that he could barely converse in English before noon.  Spanish really isn’t his thing, but I think that Rowen and I can help him improve his Spanish – and his marks in the class – this year.

Art is the favorite morning class for most of my friends; and it’s sandwiched between Spanish and Social Studies.  Phys-Ed tops that list for the afternoon; but we have to get through Math and History first.  There were more than a few times today when I’m sure that Uncle Nick felt as strange as I did while teaching his lessons.  I haven’t had that problem since Brent Palmer taught our Grade Five class, and I can tell from the look in Uncle Nick’s eyes and the smiles he shares with me that he finds the ‘normal’ Grade Eight student act that I need to put on at school just as amusing as Brent did.  One thing that is different this time is that Uncle Nick doesn’t know who all of the Magi kids are; while Brent probably knows all of them through being a member of the Magi council.

There isn’t any tween or teen news worth reporting today, and though some fashionistas were still dressing to impress; most of us were happy to return to normal school day comfort clothing choices.  That didn’t mean we weren’t still wearing new clothes – we just weren’t dressed up.  I like wearing dresses as much as the next girl, but it’s a bit tough to toss a football around with the guys at lunchtime if you’re in a dress and good shoes.

Rowen and I both played some football at lunchtime today, and I don’t really care that we got teased by some of the guys and girls for doing that.  If we’re going to be stuck with a lot of football over the next few months, I’m not going to sit and be a good little spectator day-after-day when playing with Michael is an option.  The guys did mostly shut up after I dropped a twenty-yard pass into Tim’s hands while he was at a full run.  Rowen caught a couple of short passes from me too; and then caught the defense off-guard the first time with a quick hook-and-ladder to Michael, and gained fifteen yards the second time by happily following Tim’s blocks until he led her safely out of bounds.

That play time, and an outdoors Phys-Ed class were the fun highlights of the day at school, and though we didn’t get to have any play time after school; we did have an entertaining study session at the Inn.  Tim would have rather stayed at the school and watch the team football practice – or go to the park to play football with the usual gang there – but he had Mom orders to get his homework done first; and he’s figuring out that studying with Michael, Rowen, and me is helping him finish his assignments faster so that he can get on with the play time.  From what we heard through the gossip network last year, his previous study sessions with girls weren’t nearly as successful – though his definition of success for that is likely very different than mine.

Miranda helped to make our study session entertaining; and snack time at the Inn is always a bonus; but once we’d finished our assignments, it was time for Michael to help out in the kitchen while Rowen and I moved on to our part-time jobs and Tim went to the park to play football.  I’m sure the only reason he walked with Rowen and me as far as the auto shop was because he wanted to drop his computer bag off with his parents before going on to the park – not!

I’m putting in another really late night, and I don’t have much more to report from the rest of the afternoon and evening; so let’s switch to condensed mode.

Mom, Ethan, and Ehlana gave me their news from today while I worked in the office on the family business.  For the twins, that meant telling me about their first Grade Twelve lessons.  Mom didn’t do a lot of work with them because she had a long meeting with Miranda and a shorter one with Aunt Grace; but they were able to study while Miranda was working with Mom even if they had to play normal toddlers while Aunt Grace was with them.  Though it’s one of their days off, Miranda has agreed to have her monthly meeting with Mom on Tuesdays at least for the next few months – and longer if it works out for both of them.

Aunt Grace’s meetings with Mom aren’t about the construction or business operations of the lab – she deals with that work through Uncle Adam.  They’re in the early stages of developing the computer systems that Mom will be building for the lab.  While they really do need to have everything that Mom is going to create for them; the real reason for Mom’s involvement is still ultimately to give Ethan and Ehlana an excuse to be at the lab.  They can hardly wait for that; and they’ll be able to be there well ahead of the official opening next September because they’ll be able to be there once the building is completed enough for Mom to start working on the computer infrastructure.

Speaking of that, Emerson Computers will be getting a lot of new business for that next year too; and Rowen’s parents are going to be very busy next spring and summer.  There’s a lot of new business for quite a few of the businesses in town for everything from construction to lighting and supplies; but if you’re interested in those details; they’re available in the lab project archives.  I am glad that we’re helping to make things better for everyone in town and in the Ridge River area.

So much for switching to condensed mode, but I’m going to give that another try.

Dinner with Mom, Dad, and the twins was fun; but since Dad and I didn’t have to cook, we got to take care of the clean-up while Mom did a Magi lesson with the twins.  It was my turn for a lesson after that; and then I helped out with getting Ethan and Ehlana into bed for the night.  I needed some Jacuzzi time after that, but did all of my archive homework and some of my language studies while soaking in the tub.  I took a break from the work while doing my hair, and then sat in the window alcove to finish my language studies and a bit more family business work that came up in response to some email I sent out when working in the office before dinner.

My nightly computer checks were last, and most of my email traffic was continuing back-to-school conversations and updates from my cousins and collegian friends.  Though I got a slightly earlier start to my work tonight compared to yesterday, it’s still after two-thirty now; and I’m again ready to crash for a few hours – so I’ll save the family news update for another day.  With game night at the Inn tomorrow, I’m going to have yet another late start to my work and studies; so I’ll either need to get used to only having three or four hours of sleep a night, or come up with a better plan for getting everything done.

While I sleep on that...

...Live long and prosper, fellow Magi of the Light!

Cassie's Journal - September 3, 2013

Happy 1^st kid-freedom day of the school year to all of the lucky parents!

With twins at home, Mom isn’t in that group of celebrants, and with Alicia back at school too; she actually has more work to do now instead of less.

We’ve had beautiful weather for our first day back in classes; but it started out fairly cool this morning – the first real break in the heat and humidity in a while.  Tai Chi by the river was a bit chilly; while feeling just a little more special because it was the first school-day workout that Michael and I did together.  Though his parents were already at the Inn; Michael didn’t stay with us for breakfast because he still had things to get done before meeting up with Rowen and me to walk to school.

Mom had picked up Olde Bakery muffins, bagels, and croissants to have this morning instead of doing a big breakfast; and made up a fresh fruit salad to go with that while I was grabbing a shower and getting dressed up and ready for school.  Ehlana came upstairs and talked with me while I did my hair through until I was ready to carry my bags and saxophone downstairs.  Our breakfast chat was mostly about school and work.  Dad teased me about not slacking off now that I had a boyfriend to distract me because he really liked posting all of my perfect report cards on the wall in his law office.  He just wishes that he could post the unofficial report cards for Ethan and Ehlana too.  They’ll be starting their Grade Twelve studies this week, but Mom hasn’t decided on a schedule yet; and they are going to be too busy with post-holiday weekend work and errands to start that today.

Yes, I’ve been there; but it still feels strange that they’re High School seniors while I’m in Grade Eight.  I wouldn’t change any of that even though Mom and I aren’t hiding anymore – even though it isn’t always fun playing ‘normal’ tween.

Let’s move along to the school part of the report.  Rowen, Michael, and Rebecca all met up with me here.  I was on the front porch by then doing the goodbye hugs and kisses with Mom, Dad, Ethan, and Ehlana.  The twins had bonus hugs and kisses for my friends; Dad took a couple of pictures with his phone to send around to friends and family; and Michael and I were teased a bit when we needed a minute to figure out how to juggle our bags and saxophone cases so that we could hold hands too.

This is a good spot to mention back-to-school fashion thoughts; and the first one I had while walking to school was that Rebecca was going to be the hottest girl in the Grade Nine class; and she can do that without wearing tiny little dresses, low-cut tops, or micro shorts.  Michael was appropriately happy with how I looked today, but Rebecca’s his sister; so it probably never occurred to him that she’s still far enough ahead of Rowen and me on the development curve to be extremely noticeable to anyone who is paying attention.  There were lots of guys and girls paying attention to Rebecca too; and the move up to high school student meant that she was getting new attention from older high school boys who wouldn’t even consider girls in Grade Seven or Eight as potential girlfriend material.

For our year, I’ll modestly suggest that Rowen and I managed to make an impression – or at least we were able to impress the boys we wanted to get dressed up for today.  Except for a handful of rebels without a cause who were making various, irrelevant social statements; every kid and teen was dressed up or at least in new school clothes today.  I seriously doubt that Michael and Tim helped each other pick out clothes; but I think that they won the guy side of the fashion contest for our class; and they both look really great in casual-dress khakis and collarless dress shirts.  I’m going to give Nora and Vanessa the edge for the girls; mostly because they managed to pull off looking really good in clothes that I’d never even dream of wearing.

Since we’re back to school on a Tuesday, we started out with the Day Two schedule; though our classes were shortened so that we could have a longer home room period and deal with things like locker assignments and locks.  I may be one of only a few kids in our class who will think that our Day Two classes are the best since we’ll also have English, Science, and Geography; but we get to start the morning with Music and will have Computer class right after lunch, so I’m going to love that.

Having Uncle Nick – Mr. Ayres – for our teacher may be stranger than I expected.  Sure, he’s one of our youngest teachers, and very handsome; but I’ve definitely never looked at him the way some of the girls in our class are watching him with big eyes and dreamy smiles.  The guys are being normal tweens and playing it cool; but I think that Uncle Nick is off to a good start with most of them too.  Tim razzed me about never being able to get away with anything this year with my Uncle teaching us; and then he teased me about never doing anything that Uncle Nick could take home to Mom and Dad anyway.

When we finally got to start our classes and head for the music room; Michael, Rowen, and I found out that band practices were going to start next Tuesday after school.  That’ll work out great for Michael; since it’s one of his days off anyway.  Tim wasn’t particularly interested in joining the band, but I think he did wish that he could be hanging out with us even if he isn’t into playing music as much as we are.  Mrs. Robinson gave us a quick review of the Grade Eight course outline; and then we got to spend the rest of the time playing some new music.  Getting to do that with my boyfriend sitting next to me put a whole new spin on the fun for both of us; and that was enough to keep me smiling through English and Science classes.

Lunchtime was fun too; though there was some tweeird too that started when Michael and Tim led Rowen and me to the ‘couples club’ table.  The fun came from sitting next to Michael and holding his hand a lot; being readily accepted into the group even though there were some of our friends looking surprised – especially when Rowen sat with Tim across the table from Michael and me; and talking with friends like Sally and Joshua after not seeing them much all summer.  That break was shortened too, and then it was on to Computers, Health, and Geography classes for the afternoon.

There were some first day back relationship issues going on today, and the only one I’ll specifically mention here is between one of my classmates, Allen, and his girlfriend, Molly.  She’s in Grade Nine with Rebecca and Jenny; and she’s quickly realizing that it’s tough having a younger boyfriend when making the move up to high school.  From what I sensed today; I’ll guess that Allen will be joining the Grade Eight singles group very soon.  That leads nicely into the more general topic of available tweens and teens in our class.

Though they are single too, I’m going to exclude Tim and Rowen; since they’re only interested in each other right now even if they’re not openly acknowledging that yet.  Not including them – or Allen – we have seven singles.  While dating older boys or girls isn’t completely out of the question, it also isn’t all that common for the Grade Eight-Nine gap; so the dating pool is a third or more smaller than usual.  That’s probably why the games have already begun today.  There are more girls than guys; and nobody wants to be left standing alone when the music stops.  Only having two guys and five girls in that group of seven makes that micro singles scene even stranger.

I hadn’t really thought about that in context with what’s been going on with Vanessa and Nora over the past few months, but since Rowen and I had been the only girls in our class who had never dated before; the prospect of having no dating options for the next year or more.  Yes, Tim is technically a third single guy, but Nora won’t be getting back together with him; I doubt that Vanessa would consider dating her best friend’s ex; and that leaves him with a fairly limited dating pool too – with Rowen being best in class by a lot in my humble opinion.

The point I’m getting at, though, is that there is going to be at least one or two girls trading places with Rowen and me in the odd-girl-out singles club.  The big difference will be in the fact that our membership was voluntary.  Dating in big, city schools has challenges too, but even an inter-school relationship in small towns is long-distance and tough to work out except for older teens who can drive.  With that in mind, I really hope Vanessa and Nora find new boyfriends soon; or I’m likely going to be on their verbal hit list for a while.

None of that action really affected my day, and with the shortened class times; it seemed like a very short afternoon.  We had the usual blast of first-day homework assignments, and Michael, Tim, Rowen, and I did that work together; but we needed to do extra after-school visits first before doing that at my house.  Michael and Tim checked in at the auto shop while Rowen and I stopped to see her parents at the computer store.  Miranda and Jacob were home by then; though they’d worked half of their day off at the Inn; and the rest of it doing chores around the house with no kid support.  We all stopped in to see them, and Rebecca and Jenny were there already; so we got to hear about their first day of high school too before moving on.

I was snacked-out by then, but Michael and Tim were happy to help Ethan and Ehlana out with some Olde Bakery treats while we did one last daily recap.  All of that running around and chat time meant that we didn’t start our homework until it was already past four-thirty.  Getting to study with Michael and Tim was great, but Rowen and I did have to trade that off against doing our homework as quickly as we’re able to do it.  By the time we finished our assignments, we didn’t have any play time left before needing to split up for dinner; but we did make plans to get together and go to the park after having our meals.

Mom and Dad had Grandma, Grandpa, Aunt Leanne, and Uncle Adam over for dinner; and my school report was only part of the entertainment.  They weren’t having another future plans meeting; but Mom and Aunt Leanne did start putting together their school and work week schedules – at least through until Aunt Leanne will be off with her new baby.  Mom does have meetings coming up this week with Miranda, Aunt Grace, Sharon Palmer, and Nancy Emerson; but she’s tentatively hoping to make Tuesdays her work and charity meetings day so that she can put the twins in KidZone full days every Tuesday for that; and on Fridays so she can do her shopping and errands.

Every time I start thinking that I’m too busy; I’ll try to remember that Mom has to run our family business; keep a cover job going; take care of three kids; do her own ongoing studying and training; teach Grade Twelve high school to twins; and keep up with Magi lessons for a dozen or more students.

I’m thinking that right now because it’s going on three o’clock in the morning; and it’s been a really long day.  My schedule is going to need some work too if I want to figure out how to juggle everything without either using time-phasing regularly or going with two or three hours of sleep a day.  Both of those options aren’t very good.

I was on the after-dinner clean-up crew tonight, so Rowen stopped in to get me on her way to Michael’s house.  Tim was already there when we brought Ethan and Ehlana along and joined them.  We started our play time at the park with some football action.  That was hardly my personal preference, but there was a scrimmage game already in progress; and Michael and Tim were quite happy to be drafted.  Ethan wanted to watch them play for a while, so we joined the group of kid and teen spectators.  Michael made sure that Ethan got to have a special football moment for one of the plays, and after a half hour or so; Rowen and I were able to move on to the playground with Ethan and Ehlana until Michael and Tim were finished playing with their friends.

That didn’t actually leave us much time to hang out together.  We needed to have the twins home by eight; Michael, Tim, and Rowen all needed to be home by nine on most school nights; and we had Ethan and Ehlana hanging out with us in the lounge until Mom came to get them from us at eight-thirty.  That last twenty minutes went by way too fast, and the short little goodnight hug and kiss Michael and I were able to share after Rowen and Tim started walking toward her house wasn’t all that I’d hoped it would be; but Michael needed to get home too – and I had a lot of work waiting for me when I went back inside.

First up was the bedtime story with Ethan and Ehlana.  After doing that and helping to tuck them in for the night; Mom did a long Magi lesson with me and gave me the full, normal archive homework to go along with the lesson.  So much for having my Magi teacher take it easy on me for the first day back to school!  I seriously needed to get to work after that, so the goodnight hugs and kisses with Mom and Dad were short too; and then I came up to my room and got to work.

Since then, I’ve spent two hours in the archives; another hour on the family business; and multi-tasked my first lessons in the Sino-Tibetan language of Wu.  It’s more accurate to say that Wu is a dialect family, and while I’ve known Chinese since I was a toddler; the variations in some dialect families are sometimes so wide that even communicating between the different languages isn’t possible.  That makes it a bit like learning a whole bunch of new languages; but I do have some advantages that make doing that easier for me.

It is still a lot of work, and that’s one of the reasons I stayed up late to get a good start on the new language group I’ll be studying for the next few months.  I won’t bore you with the details about languages that you’ll likely never need to know anything about; and I’m ready to get some sleep anyway so I can be ready for our first Day One schedule classes.  Michael will be back to work tomorrow, but we’re still going to work out a way to do most of our studying together; so we will get to spend some time together before he’s busy helping out in the kitchen or after he’s finished there for the night.  I’ll guess that the parents will take the homework first position on that choice.  Hopefully Michael won’t get razzed too much on the days that we have to do our goodnight kisses at the Inn before I go home!

That sounds like a perfect thought to head off to sleep with; so I’m going to wrap this up and get started on that nap.

Live long and prosper, fellow Magi of the Light!

Cassie's Journal - September 2, 2013

Happy Birthday, Miranda!

I wish Miranda could have had the day off to actually celebrate her birthday, but that wasn’t an option when they were getting about a normal fall week or two worth of business in one day at the Inn.  The only break she was able to get on her special day was a get-out-of-clean-up card for the work after the last buffet of the day was wrapping up – at about eight o’clock; and after a fourteen-hour shift.

Compared to that, my day was all fun and games – though I was at the Inn a lot this afternoon and evening too; and I stayed until the work was done and everyone was able to go home.

Michael went to the Inn with his parents and sister this morning; so it felt a bit strange not having him with us for Tai Chi by the river.  We went with a light workout today, and followed that up with a quick and easy breakfast that was really just a snack to hold us over to the noon buffet.  After eating and getting ready for the day, I took Ethan and Ehlana with me to Uncle Mark and Aunt Grace’s house so we could spend some time with Jaimie, Kaitlyn, and Jayden while they were getting ready to head home.  Their SUV was loaded by the time we were to meet up with everyone shortly after the stores opened for the last big shopping day before Thanksgiving.

While our cousins drove over to Witch Falls Road, Ethan, Ehlana, and I walked; and we collected Rowen at the computer store on our way to the designated spot in front of Palmer’s where our family was meeting before splitting up again into mostly guy or girl shopping groups.  Rowen and I were with Jaimie, Kaitlyn, Kara, and some of the Moms and Grandmothers.  Ehlana was with the younger girls and babies; and the rest of the adult girls.  It felt strange to not have Violet and Dawn with us too; but the shopping and girl time was still just as much fun as always.  Our available time seemed way too short too; and it was time to meet at the Inn for the buffet lunch long before we were ready to stop playing dress-up.

Mom and Dad had brought the minivan with them so we’d have someplace to put our purchases without needing to make a trip home before lunch, and that worked out great for me; since I didn’t end up going home until mid-afternoon anyway.  The buffet was as awesome as always, and I loved that last hour and a half blast of fun with my family and friends.  It was as busy at the Inn as I’d ever seen it, and even Miranda looked like she was feeling the stress; so after eating and going outside to say goodbye to the Proctor and Johnson families that were leaving; I went back into the Inn and joined the work crew in the kitchen.

Nearly everyone may have been feeling the stress, but I loved working with Michael, Rebecca, and the rest of the teens; and I was able to help raise the fun level – even if half of that was because there were lots of opportunities for teasing Michael and me.  I hadn’t actually been helping out for very long when Michael had his first afternoon break about fifteen minutes after the second buffet sitting started.  We went for a swim at my house so we could do that with Ethan and Ehlana; and then we had a little visit with Mom and Dad in the office until we needed to get back to the Inn to help with the main part of the second buffet clean-up and set-up for the third round.

It’s non-stop action in the kitchen even when there are small lulls in the dining room as the flow of food and drinks moves from first drinks and trips to the buffet tables to desserts and after-dinner beverages.  Michael and I worked through the third buffet and into the start of the fourth and final dinner round; and then we had another break so that we could go for another swim and then get something to eat before getting back to work in time for the big, end-of-day clean-up.

Miranda was sent home with plans to have a nice long soak in the bathtub; but Jacob stayed until the dining room and kitchen were cleaned to his satisfaction; and everything was set-up and ready to go for the breakfast rush in the morning that was likely to be busier than usual because of first day of school celebrations by kid-free parents.  Before I move on, I haven’t written anything about the cameo birthday moments that Miranda was able to have scattered here and there around all of the work.  There were gifts for her to open at least a dozen times throughout the day – including the presents that Michael and I had picked up for her while in Crystal Springs.  Her parents, brothers, and their families all stopped in for visits and to drop off gifts too; and there was a fun little phone call with Jake and Stephanie that included opening the gift they’d sent for her and that Jacob had held until they could make that long-distance connection during a lull in the action.

It was after ten o’clock by the time I got home, but there was a little stop at Michael’s house on the way home for a short visit with his parents and sister – and a goodnight kiss on the front porch – before I was ready to say goodbye to Michael until morning.  Mom and Dad were still in the office when I got back, but Dad was just finishing up a couple of little jobs after they’d taken a break to do a lesson with Ethan and Ehlana and followed that up with a full bath and bedtime routine.  I gave them the condensed report from the Inn, and then Mom came up to my room with me to help me with getting ready for my first day on Grade Eight.

That mostly involved a little mother-daughter chat while we picked out what I was going to wear.  Since I was starting that later than I should have; I used a little Magi power to get my bags packed with the usual gear.  My saxophone got a quick, Magi-powered polish too; and I had everything ready by the time Dad stopped in to say goodnight and take Mom to bed.  Let’s leave that thought right there and move along.

After a lot of hot hours at the Inn – and not the kind of hot that I’m not thinking about right now in relation to my parents – I seriously needed some Jacuzzi time; so I’ve been doing my nightly computing while in the tub; and kicked everything into a time-phase so I still have a chance at getting a decent amount of sleep.

I really didn’t want the mental picture of hot, parents, and that kind of action in relation to time-phase applications; but it happened anyway, and now I’m seriously wishing that not thinking about soft, cuddly bunnies still worked on me.

That’s certainly not the kind of thought I want to wrap up this journal entry with either, so let’s discuss the week ahead before calling it a night.  Tomorrow will be an exciting day, but I also need to get back to my usual nightly archive and language studies.  I’m going to spend the rest of this year learning a few of the Sino-Tibetan Chinese languages; and I definitely need to find a way to kick up my archive work a few notches too; though I’m starting to feel the pressure of juggling everything more all of the time – especially now that I really want to hang out with Michael a lot too on top of everything else I have on the go.

I don’t know when band will be starting yet, but we’ll have that to do too; game night at the Inn begins again on Thursday; and dinner and a movie night should be back to normal soon too.  Rowen and I are going to need to change our work-play schedule; but we’ll wait to find out about things like band practice first before making any decisions on that.  The good news for here will be that the computer store business will slow down a fair bit after this week until Thanksgiving; and the store won’t be open on Sundays either.

We should have some comparatively quiet weekends coming up for the rest of September, but that’s a good thing; since I may need more weekend time to do my family business work and ‘real’ studies if everyday life during the work week gets too busy.  I can’t run for weeks at a time on just a few hours of sleep a night; and we’ve already established the downside risks of using time-phasing too often can have on a Magi Master tween.  I’m really not in such a big hurry to grow up that I want to do it years faster than normal.  I’m writing that while in a time-phased soak in my Jacuzzi and nightly computing multi-tasking session.

How ironic!

That flow of thoughts does suggest that it’s time to finish this – and my bath – and get ready for bed.  I have no idea whether I’m about to start a best-year-eve-so-far of school tomorrow or not, but I do have a pretty good feeling about it; and that’s usually a really good sign.

Live long and prosper, fellow Magi of the Light!

Cassie's Journal - September 1, 2013

We had some rain roll into the area while we were sleeping, and it was still raining when it was time for Tai Chi; so we exercised indoors.  Michael came over for that, but then needed to get home again to have breakfast with his parents and sister; and help out with the work they were doing to get ready for the party at the park.

I needed to help out with that work here too, but Rowen and I also were kept busy taking care of Ethan, Ehlana, and my cousins too – getting them fed and dressed for a play day at the park.  The church service was at ten o’clock today; and the ‘game-time’ decision to go ahead with the service in the park was made when the rain pretty much ended by eight o’clock.  The ground was a bit wet still, but that worked out better for everyone who was also working around the park to get everything set up for the food and game booths – and take care of some last-minute grooming of the baseball diamonds.

That made for a crazy few hours of nearly non-stop action; ending with the start of the church service after Rowen and I had been the herdmasters getting the younger kids to the park while Mom and Dad drove the truckload of food and supplies there and dealt with that before joining us during the music the teens were leading to warm-up the congregation ahead of the service.

Pastor John is officially employed now, and though the teens did most of the work today; he delivered the short message that was included instead of a full sermon on holiday weekends; and led two of the prayers.  I get to read and hear about all kinds of charity work through our family business; but it’s going to be cool to hear all of the stories Pastor John and Stacey have from their years of mission work as we get to know them better.  We should invite them to a dinner and a movie night sometime soon too; since Rebekkah will be growing up with Leah – and with Aunt Leanne’s baby.

Michael had already been at the park by the time we got there; and he was busy helping his parents; but sat with me during the service.  The next hour and a half was a blast of energized music and fun; and sharing the music part of that with Michael is even better now.  The one difference that I really noticed today, though, was the absence of the graduated high school seniors; and the addition of the new Grade Nine students – including Rebecca and Jenny.  Neither of them is really into performing music, but they seemed to be having fun with the skits they were involved with; and they joined in for the worship songs that were performed by the entire teen troupe.

It was nearly eleven-thirty when the service ended, and Michael stayed with us while we got everything organized for lunch.  Rowen was juggling family time too, so she had lunch with her parents, brother, and their families; while Michael and I were having lunch with mine and dinner with his family mostly because my Mom and Dad were scheduled to help at a food booth during dinner.

We had Jaimie, Kaitlyn, and Kara with us to help with our food booth assignment at lunch; and we were all loaded down with trays of fries and drinks to distribute while other groups of parents, grandparents, and kids had been busy with getting other food options – like burgers, hot dogs, and a selection of different home-cooked foods and salads.  The younger guys, including Ethan, wanted to hang out with Michael while we ate; and I had most of the younger girls with me.  Having a cheerleading competition with Miranda would have been fun, but I liked having the day off this year too.  We had our noon meal at the ball diamond, but since our team wasn’t playing; we picked a spot well down the line into the deep outfield.  Most of us didn’t feel the need to watch the entire game either, and Michael and I left to meet up with Rowen and Tim after we finished eating.  The Gas Guzzlers eventually won the co-ed championship over the Big Shots by a score of nineteen to sixteen, and Michael’s Uncle and Aunt were happy that one of the teams they’d sponsored this season had earned a win; but we didn’t even catch that bit of news until dinnertime.

Just as a quick aside, those championship awards usually end up being prominently displayed at the sponsor businesses; and there’s more to that side of the competition than I really pay any attention to at all.  I have noticed that some business owners take the whole thing more seriously than others; and it isn’t surprising to me at all that Miranda and her brothers are among the most competitive – as are the Landrys and Sheldons.

Michael, Tim, Rowen, and I spent the afternoon together, and had some time to hang out on our own; but we spent more time with our families in a series of cameo play visits.  We got involved in a little co-ed football scrimmage with Tim’s family; followed that up with a river swim with mine; moved on to some game booth action with Michael’s parents, uncles, aunts, and cousins; and we were drafted for a volleyball game by Rowen’s parents.  We had time for one swim on our own – though that was relatively speaking when there were lots of people cooling off in the river all afternoon and evening.

Grandma and Grandpa would have taken Ethan and Ehlana for dinner while Mom and Dad were busy, but they wanted to come with Michael and me instead; so we took custody of them when Mom and Dad went to work their shift at one of the charity food booths.  Since the Stone family was hanging out with the Bassetts, they had Sophia to play with while we ate; and Michael and I had Jessica and Ryan with us most of the time too.  We had some teen support for that, and Michael and I had as much fun with Rebecca, Erica Bassett, and Caleb Palmer as we all did with the younger kids.  Between getting the food, eating, and then helping with the park clean-up; Michael and I spent two hours with his family; and that pretty much took us through to the start of the dance.

Rowen and Tim had been with their own families again during dinner, but they were together when they came by to collect Michael and me on their way to the dance.  I’m sure that they just happened to bump into each other along the way; since they couldn’t possibly have gone looking for each other first. ;^)

I liked going to dances before dating Michael, but I’m learning to love them a lot now.  The payback for my youthful pranks on Violet and Dillon is still going on, but Michael and I had fun when Ethan and Ehlana cut in on us a couple of times; and we had some dances with other members of our families – including his parents and mine.  I don’t know about him, but dancing with both of our fathers was way too wedding-like for my comfort even if it was fun too.

Rowen and Tim still aren’t ‘a couple’, but they sure resembled one during the slow dances they shared.  I wasn’t sure whether Tim was even going to ask her to dance at first, but that changed about a minute after she was asked to dance by a cute boy who was showing way too much interest in my best friend for Tim’s liking.  Rowen was very happy to dance with him after that; and the four of us were together for most of the up-tempo songs.

For once, I can report that there was minimal personal tweeird going on tonight.  Vanessa and Nora were keeping an eye us tonight, and Nora was particularly interested whenever Tim and Rowen were dancing together; but they were also getting some attention from a total of five guys; and seemed to be enjoying themselves most of the time.  Maybe there’s hope for peace and harmony in the Grade Eight classroom this year after all!

There was other teen action going on worth reporting, though.  This is Joel’s last night in town, and according to Rebecca; he and Jenny had disappeared a few times today – including an early departure from the dance.  I was only in close proximity to them once, and while they were both acting like they were handling the impending separation; I know that Joel was totally faking the cool.  Jenny’s outlook and emotions regarding boys and dating continue to be worlds-apart from my own perceptions, but I wasn’t surprised to pick up no sense at all of loss or pain from her – there was really only a desire to have one last night of fun with Joel mixed in with excitement and anticipation for the imminent start of her high school adventures.

Rebecca was getting a fair bit of attention from the boys tonight; including from locals, visiting family, and teen tourists.  I won’t comment on why so many teenage boys think that small town girls would be interested in one-night flings on the last holiday weekend of the summer; but I have to wonder if word has gotten around about Josiah and Christina this summer; inspiring – or emboldening – some of the teen cousins.  That could work both ways, I suppose, but I didn’t see any of the home-town teens making any moves on any ‘outsiders’ – just the responses to the flirting and invitations to dance or go for walks.  Getting back to Rebecca’s specific case, she danced with a few different boys, but she only did that once with each of them; and she spent the rest of the time hanging out with some of her friends and family – including some visits with us.

The cute award of the night goes to Naomi for ‘asking’ Ethan to dance with her.  They both needed to play normal toddlers in public, so the dancing wasn’t very good; but Naomi earned bonus comedy points for refusing to give up her dance partner when Aunt Leanne tried to cut in.  I really love getting to watch my little brother, sister, and their friends grow up together; and I’m sure that will be nearly as much fun with my cousins.

While I didn’t feel the need to escape the park and dance early this year, Ethan and Ehlana are still young; and Mom and Dad were ready to start packing up and heading home before the dance was over – at about the same time that Aunt Leanne had hit her fun limit for the day.  Michael and I joined in to help out with the work; rounding up my cousins; and getting everyone and everything to our respective homes.  Rowen and Tim had stayed at the dance, but it was nearly over by the time we had Ethan and Ehlana in bed; so Michael and I opted for a bedtime swim and riverside chat instead of trying to meet up with them for what little time we had left before Michael needed to be home and getting some sleep ahead of what was sure to be a crazy-busy day at the Inn with breakfast and dinner buffets basically running one after the next all day.

Mom and Dad had done the goodnight hugs and kisses with us before we went outside and they went to bed, so all was quiet at my house as we quietly played in the water for a while and then cuddled on one of the benches and wound down from the busy, fun day.  We admired the stars; talked a bit about the action at the park and a fair bit about going back to school on Tuesday.  We’re both excited about that, and though we didn’t get much time to spend with our friends today – other than Rowen and Tim – I was reminded that we’ll get to see our ‘country kid’ friends every weekday again.  WE always have good intentions about doing stuff together during the summer; but then life gets in the way and we run out of time before actually doing much of anything except birthday parties.

Michael went home at eleven-thirty – earlier than we’d have liked; but later than he should have when an early wake-up call was in his near future.  I came up to my room; took care of my still-wet hair so it wouldn’t be a total disaster by morning; got ready for bed; and then cuddled with Mandy and my computer so I could get started on my nightly email, news, entertainment, and sports checks.  While I was working on that and dealing with some family business project requests, Rowen checked in with me and we had a little virtual chat.  She and Tim had split up after the dance to help their own families with gathering their day-camp gear and getting everything home; but he had apparently also managed to steal a goodnight kiss moment with her too not long before the end of the dance.  That, and the dancing with him, had made her a very happy camper; so we’ve been talking right through to right now.

I’m finished my work, and it’s heading toward one o’clock; so we both need to shut down and get some sleep.  While we don’t have any weekend guests here tonight, there is still the morning shopping adventure to rest up for; and I’ll probably go over to Aunt Grace and Uncle Mark’s house after breakfast to help out with the packing to go home work there so we’ll have more time for those big Labor Day sales.  We’re going to the noon buffet at the Inn so that our aunts, uncles, and cousins can be on the road home in good time; so it’s sure to be non-stop action pretty much from the time we wake up until the family and tourist exodus begins.

A nap may be an option after that, but then I’m also seriously thinking about helping out at the Inn for a while too so that I can spend some time with Michael – and with Miranda on her birthday; so that might not happen.

Rowen just agreed with me about getting some sleep, and has signed off; so it’s time for me to wrap this up and call it a night too.  While I’m thinking about signing off, it’s the first day of September; we’re about to start a new school year; and I should come up with a new journal ending line.  Since I’m starting the new school year with a boyfriend; let’s go with something I’m sure he’d find entertaining.  Since he is such a big fan of the movies; it works for me.

Live long and prosper, fellow Magi of the Light!

Cassie's Journal - August 31, 2013

Congratulations, Heather and Adam Green!

They won’t know why they should – and will – be celebrating yet; but Mom and I bumped into Heather today; and there is going to be a new addition to the Green family next spring.

We – Landry’s Leopards – won our division Championship today too; but new babies deserve top billing in my updates.  Before I end up mixing the events of the day around; let’s just start from the beginning.

Tai Chi by the river was a nice, quiet way to begin the day, and I liked having Michael with us for breakfast before he needed to go home again and get started on his to-do list.  While I’d finished most of my chores, there was still other work to do around the house and yard; and I helped Mom and Dad with all of that until it was time for me to grab a shower, meet up with Rowen, and get to the park for our team warm-ups ahead of our big game.

Palmer’s Panthers were the home team, so they had that advantage; but there wasn’t any doubt as to which team had the best cheerleading squad – thanks to my aunts, sister, and cousins.  Aunt Leanne wasn’t doing much jumping around in the heat, but Aunt Grace had some help with junior cheerleader support; and even Rowen’s Mom joined in for a while when she stopped in to catch the last half of the game while taking a late lunch so she could do that before getting back to the busy store.

Other than having a pair of very fired up leaders, there isn’t anything special to report from the warm-ups.  The action on the field warmed up fast; and my hit helped Carolyn with half of the two RBI’s she earned for our team with her first-pitch double – though those were the only runs we scored in the top of the first.  We were happy with that until the Panthers scored three in their half of the inning; and then we knew that they’d come to play to win too.  We took the lead back in the second; held it until the bottom of the fourth; and earned it back to keep in the top of the sixth after tying the Panthers in the fifth, before they took the lead again in their half of that inning.  Our two-run lead didn’t look all that safe when the Panthers started their last at-bat; but Rowen caught a pop fly for the first out; we gave up two base hits; and then I helped turn a double play on a bouncing line drive that shocked all of us a bit with how suddenly that play ended the game.  Final score:  seventeen to fifteen!

Rowen and I did and didn’t have time to celebrate our championship game with.  We did the team meet-and-greet with the Panthers; and I spent some time consoling our disappointed friends – and getting razzed a bit about being too responsible for their loss.  We stayed for the on-field celebration with our team, and had time to thank our cheerleaders and families; but then we grabbed drinks and snacks from Mom’s dwindling supply and hurried over to the other ball diamond in time for the start of the Wranglers-Ranchers game.  We didn’t have a cheerleading squad with us because my sister and cousins had had enough of baseball and hot for a while by then; but Rowen and I did our best to motivate Michael and Tim – starting with good luck hugs and kisses before the game.

Yes, Rowen was in on those hugs and kisses; though she only went with kisses on the cheek for both boys after following my lead.  She and Tim both teased Michael and me about why Michael’s good luck kiss from me was so much more personal than the kiss I’d given to Tim; but then we’d also earned some whistles and teasing from the players on both teams and a handful of spectators too.  I can live with all of that because Michael and Tim were happy to have us there; and they were definitely fired up and ready to play too.  Missing our own team celebration was worth that; and the Wranglers and Ranchers played a pretty good game too.

Our cheerleading was a bit muted at first as Rowen and I rested up a bit after our game, but we were still up and cheering for the Wranglers with every big play.  They were the home team, so being able to take that break was an option for us during a fairly quiet first inning.  The Ranchers only managed to score one run in the top of the inning; and the Wranglers could only manage to match them during their first at-bat.  I don’t know if having Rebecca join Rowen and me for a while helped our team or not; but they were ahead five-to-three by the end of the third inning when Rebecca went back to the Inn to help with the dinner rush.

Rowen and I were on our own until the top of the fifth inning; when Dad dropped Ehlana and Ethan off with us so they could catch the end of the game while he and Mom went to help out with the pre-dinner work for the family barbeque.  The Wranglers had added three more runs in the fourth; and were temporarily ahead by three runs until the Ranchers pulled to within one run during their half of the fifth.  Having Ehlana run over and give him a big hug and kiss when the Wranglers were getting ready for their turn at bat definitely helped Michael get fired up again – proven by the double he belted deep into right field when it was his turn at bat – earning an RBI; and then scoring from third on a base hit after being advanced by a sacrifice out.  The Wranglers scored three runs in the bottom of the fifth; and the game ended when the Ranchers could only manage one more run in the top of the sixth.  Final score:  eleven-to-eight for the Wranglers.

In addition to Michael’s contributions to the team score in the bottom of the fifth, he had a total of three hits; and played some role in four of the runs scored.  He also was in on the defensive plays for five of the outs they earned against the Ranchers.  Tim’s game stats were fairly similar, though he was in on one more earned run; and one less defensive out.

Rowen and I waited with our junior cheerleaders while Michael and Tim did the usual post-game, on-field celebration; and then we were able to spend a few minutes with them before they needed to go with their team; and we needed to get to the family barbeque.  That was a too-short little blast of fun; but I still loved getting to share even that little bit of time with Michael before we’d be apart for the rest of the day.

We were the last members of the family to get to Uncle Adam and Aunt Leanne’s house for dinner; partly because we made stops at my house and Rowen’s on our way there.  Dinner was basically ready by then, but she and I hopped into the river to cool off and get rid of the worst of the baseball dust and dirt first while the parents and grandparents were getting the younger kids rounded up and ready to eat too.  They were using Uncle Mark and Aunt Grace’s back yard too; and cooking had been going on at both houses; so it felt like the dinner action was spread out tonight while groups of people moved between the two houses and around the back yards.

Rowen and I were put at a table with Jaimie, Kaitlyn, Kara, Nicole, Ehlana, and Naomi.  The Seagers were on the guest list with the other members of the Ayres’ family; and Liz was not working late after a busy morning and afternoon at the salon with Vicky.  Liz was really happy today because she’s basically done with full-time work at the salon for a while now except for helping out with the holiday sales on Monday that will be more about selling products than styling hair – though there will be a bit of that too.

Patrick and Scott were there too, and sat at a ‘guys’ table with Ethan, Jayden, Eddie, and some other guys.  Rowen’s parents weren’t able to join the party until a bit after seven; but Aunt Leanne kept food hot for them; and they ate while the clean-up crew was working after dinner and the grandparents were busy with kid control.  Since Rowen and I had escaped all of the afternoon work, we were willingly drafted to help with that work; and spent nearly an hour doing everything from washing and drying dishes to putting tables and chairs away.

Before I get on with the report on the evening entertainment and campfire; this is probably a good spot for a family update.

Let’s start with babies and pregnant women.  Robyn Johnson is now six months old; and she’s really growing fast!  Her cousin, Leah, is just a bit more than two months behind her, and that’s a lot at their ages; but they still spent a lot of time together – and with their parents and grandparents.  I’m sure that closeness in age will be as cool for them as it is for Ethan and Jayden.  Aunt Leanne and Liz had fun talking babies tonight, and while Liz may be due first; Aunt Leanne is only half-joking about wishing that she could move her due date up a month too.

We can’t have that – it would totally mess up all of the early birthday present jokes if my cousin gets here too early! (The nine months ago kind of early birthday present.)

I can appreciate that the hot weather hasn’t been as much fun for any of my favorite pregnant women lately, and that’s why Aunt Leanne and Liz spent most of the post-dinner evening indoors; relaxing in the living room; and being waited on hand and foot – literally, if you include the foot massages.

Moving on to the rest of the family news; Rob and Trish hadn’t come this weekend; but we got the latest updates for them – and most of the news from the McEwan family too; though I get a lot of that from Christina with her email updates.  Rob and Trish are happily plugging away in the junior ranks for their respective employers; and enjoying the married life.  Tory and Kyle have started their Masters Degree year at college, and will be busy with that – and getting ready for their wedding next June.  Michelle is in her third year at college; has definitely picked teaching as a career; and there may be a serious guy in her life now.  There isn’t any new news for Christina; but the Johnson family girls are quite interested in her blossoming romance with home-town boy Josiah Palmer.

For the younger kids, Kaitlyn and Kara were probably the most excited about school because they’re both starting Grade One this year.  Jaimie will be in Grade Three; and while they’re not here this weekend, I know that Martin is as fired up about starting high school this year as Rebecca and Jenny are; Dawn and Jillian are ready for Grade Seven; and Chris is more interested in driving cars than starting Grade Eleven now that he’s counting down the weeks until he’ll be sixteen, and hopefully will pass the test so he can drive on his own.  There will not be a brand new car in the driveway for his birthday; but rumor has it that the Rice family may be adopting a used car this fall for the boys to use that will be somewhat better than the bumper cars Uncle Rick keeps joking about getting for them.

There was the usual adult news too, but let’s just skip all of that boring and get back to the fun parts of the report.  Rowen and I went for another swim after the clean-up was finished; and we had lots of kid company for that.  We had a bit of time after that to run around and play until the campfire started; and then I was ready to settle down and enjoy the stories, music, and toasted munchies for a while.  Some cuddle time with Michael would have been nice too; but he hadn’t planned on trying to add some late-night campfire action to his day after getting done at the Inn; and his parents and sister didn’t come over either.

We weren’t having a late night with that anyway; mostly because Rowen and I were among the oldest kids at the campfire.  Mom and Dad started getting ready to go home by shortly before eleven; and Rowen and I helped to get Jaimie, Kaitlyn, Jayden, Kara, and Nicole ready to come home with us for their sleepover.  That included getting overnight bags packed and doing goodnight hugs and kisses with the adults; but we managed to be home before eleven-thirty.  Mom and Dad took care of Ethan, Jayden, Ehlana, and Nicole from there while Rowen and I had custody of the older girls.  It took until after midnight to get them changed; take turns in the bathrooms; and have them settled onto the sectional sofa with pillows and blankets.  I put a movie on to watch; but Kaitlyn was sleeping by twelve-thirty; Jaimie and Kara weren’t far behind her; and Rowen and I were able to move into my room and climb into bed with Mandy by one o’clock.

After all of the work, baseball games, and play time; we’re tired too, but needed some girl chat time while I got started on my nightly computing.  Rowen mostly wanted to talk about what we’re going to do tomorrow afternoon and evening – especially in relation to whether we’ll get to spend much time with Michael and Tim.  Doing that while juggling family plans for all four of us may not work out very well; but I do hope we can find some time to play together – and go to the dance together tomorrow night too.

Hopefully that will all work out for us, and make for as great a start to September as today has been for an end to August.  That is all I have for tonight, and we really do need to get some sleep so we’ll be ready for another big family play day; so...

...until next time, this is Magi Master Cassie Proctor; logging out!