Cassie's Journal - March 4, 2017

We’ve had a change in plans for the babysitting; so this is going to be a short, early update; and the rest of the babysitting story will have to wait until the next report tomorrow night.

The extra sleep helped me with the early wake-up call; and it actually warmed up quite a bit overnight; so the morning walk to the Inn with Michael was really nice – though Tai Chi by the river would have been better!  We didn’t have a very busy breakfast rush, so I was able to go home earlier than expected – and get to work on my to-do list of chores in and around the house.  The temperature climbed to around seventy by mid-afternoon, and while Michael and I got to have some play time with Ethan, Ehlana, Naomi, and Aiden; they also led the charge for the change to a camping adventure – and Michael and I had to spend half of his afternoon break setting up tents and getting them ready for a gang of junior campers and teen and tween babysitters.  Rowen came over early to help with that, but Tim worked in the shop until sometime after Michael and I needed to be back at the Inn for the prep work ahead of the dinner rush.

The nice weather and camping plan did mean that Mom and Dad could grill hotdogs and burgers for the kids to have for dinner; and they were happy with snacks and cold salad sides for their meal – along with bakery treats for dessert.  I wasn’t in on any of that, but found out about it from Mom and Dad while waiting on their table – and the tables for about half of the members of their date night group.  That was a lot of fun; the tips were great too; and my work evening blasted along so quickly that I didn’t even have time to get tired from all of the running around.  Michael and I didn’t end up working to close, but Rebecca stayed for that while their parents went home when Michael and I did so that they could get cleaned up and meet Mom, Dad, and the rest of their friends at Sheldon’s.  That might not seem fair to Rebecca, but she prefers to work Close on Saturday and not need to get up early for the breakfast shift.

That might be a downside for dating a farmer; but will come in handy for her future working a fast food joint with Jenny after they’re done school. ;^)

I’m writing this while getting ready for the camping and campfire – and need to get out there because Michael and I are supposed to provide the music – and the natives are getting restless.  The plan for the rest of the evening is to have the campfire until eleven; get the kids settled into their sleeping bags and tents by midnight; and then have some teen hang-out time around the fire until Mom and Dad get home.  It should be a lot of fun; though it’ll also be crazy around here tomorrow morning.  That’s all news that I can write about tomorrow night, though, and I really do need to get outside so that I can help Rowen, Tim, Jessica, and Patrick; so, until next time...

...May the Magi Force be with you!

Cassie's Journal - March 3, 2017

Today is the sixth anniversary of the day that Rowen and I found out about each other – that we are both Magi!

I know, that isn’t earth-shaking news, but it was a big deal for us; and it was a big deal back then before I figured out how to sense other Magi just from their auras during that following summer.

We didn’t have a party or anything, but I did give Rowen a little gift before we went to school; and that little secret did also make our day just a bit more fun.

That’s also just about the only news I have for today.  The temperature climbed into the mid-fifties, so that was nice; but Michael and I had to work the dinner-to-close shift, and we’re working the breakfast shift too; so we didn’t exactly spend much time outdoors – or doing much of anything else except school and work.  We did have fun, though; and I still really like working as a server instead of in the kitchen all of the time.  I do still help out with prep work when needed; but don’t miss all of the dishwashing at all!

Michael didn’t come home with me after work tonight, but I did stop in at his house for a bit of cuddle and wind-down time before coming home at a quarter-to-eleven.  We have another long, busy day ahead tomorrow that will include babysitting tomorrow night while Mom and Dad go out on a date night with quite a few of their friends – and all of my local aunts and uncles.  We’ll be working the dinner shift too so that we can help with the dinner part of that date night, but while I’m doing that; Rowen and Tim are again going to lead the babysitting crew until Michael and I can join them.

For the record, Tim does that because Rowen asks him very nicely – and the pay is pretty good for a night of playing video games with a bunch of junior gaming fanatics.

I’ll have more on that with the next couple of updates, but let’s move on; and then I want to get to sleep before midnight so I’ll be ready for all of that work and play – plus the chores and maybe some afternoon biking an park play fun too – if I’m lucky-enough to fit that into my busy schedule.

After getting home, I had a short bedtime visit with Ethan, Ehlana, Mom, and Dad that was split between the twins’ bedrooms; I came up to my room; got ready for bed; and have finished with the bare minimum bedtime computing and email checks.  This isn’t news, but since I don’t mention it very often in my journal; I’ll note that Dawn will be spending a lot of time at the airport this weekend – just as she does every weekend that she can get out there; and she’ll be flying as much as possible too.  I know that she gets teased about her devotion to becoming a pilot, but she is going to work at a job she loves; and I have no doubt at all that she’ll get to fly the big jets some day.

That does sound as though Dawn will have a lot more fun than I will this weekend, but Michael and I aren’t working at the Inn with an eye on full-time jobs there when we’re done school.  That money will help us out with paying for the college degrees we’ll need for the jobs we will do after we grow up, though; and we do at least get to work with his parents and family while working toward those goals.

I don’t want to go there tonight, but do need to do a future plans update soon; so maybe I’ll do that sometime during our spring break – if I can find the time to do that with everything else we already have going on that week.

I’m starting to ramble, and that’s always a sure sign that it’s past-time for me to go into nap mode; so that’s exactly what I’m going to do.  It’s been a good day; I hope the weekend will be even better; and making that happen by starting with more than two or three hours of sleep works for me; so, until next time...

...May the Magi Force be with you!

Cassie's Journal - March 2, 2017

Michael and I worked the dinner shift at the Inn; and ended up staying for game night because our Mommies wanted us to do that because we haven’t stayed for many of them lately.  We had fun with our families and friends, but I really wish we’d had some alone time too.  That didn’t happen; Michael came home with us after the gaming so that we could do our homework; and then Mom did a Magi lesson with us before Michael went home and I took care of getting Ethan and Ehlana tucked in for the night on my way up to my room – and the hours of work and studying still waiting for me there.

It was nearing midnight by the time I got started; I used a time phase when I could; and worked as quickly as I could when I needed to be in real time by multi-tasking as often as possible.  Since it’s heading toward four o’clock now; you can guess how that’s gone for me – and probably how tired I am too.

That’s why I’m skipping the rest of the news – other than to report that this was basically a normal school day without anything exciting to report from my classes or the rest of my day.  The weather has been decent for early March too; though it still feels tougher when the temperature keeps floating around in a forty or fifty degree range that flips to either side of freezing every twelve hours or so.  The weekend might be pretty good again, though; and I’m hoping to get to enjoy a bit of that forecast warmth around the work and babysitting that I’m booked for over the next three days.

I can write about that another time, though, and really need to go into nap mode now instead of dragging this report on for no reason; so, until next time...

...May the Magi Force be with you!

Cassie's Journal - March 1, 2017

It’s the first day of March and the first day of Lent.

While we don’t observe the traditions of Lent in our family, I’ve decided to make an exception and give up late work nights for Lent – the weeks between today and Easter! ;^)

Okay, I’m only joking about that, since it really isn’t an option even if I’d like to do that; but going to bed early tonight is Something that I can do thanks to the after-school work night; so this is going to be a short update and then I’ll be off to dreamland and out for the count.

We had a quiet morning around here; school was just an average day without much going on beyond the usual lessons and class work; and then I came home and really got to work on my family business to-do list and my school and language studies.  I used a time phase for everything except dinner; had my work done by eight o’clock; and had a soak in my Jacuzzi that didn’t include any multi-tasking.  Ethan and Ehlana just finished tucking in for the night while on their way to bed; and Mandy and I are ready for a long winter’s nap.

It won’t, by the way, feel like winter for long, but it is going to be below freezing tonight; and the weather flip-flopping seems more extreme when the temperatures drop so much in such a short time – and then jump right back up again.

I won’t ask Mother Nature to make up her mind, since she might just decide to pick a deep freeze until mid-April; but I do like the warm a lot more than the cold.  Yes, that’s inconsistent, since I also wish we’d at least had enough snow this winter for some sledding and snowboarding, but then that won’t be as big of a deal for me anymore now that I can drive to the snow if I want to do that without needing to get major parental support for those trips.

Okay, that’s it for now, and time for me to head into nap mode; so, until next time...

...May the Magi Force be with you!

Cassie's Journal - February 28, 2017

The last day of February has been a very busy one for me – and for a lot of us here in and around our little town.

First in the news is that it’s Shrove Tuesday; so breakfast for all meals was very popular – and that was why Jacob and Miranda had to work at the Inn today to help keep up with the extra business for all three meals.  I was booked with band and praise team practices tonight, so my pancakes and bacon meal was at breakfast; and Michael stayed to do that with us while his parents were at work anyway.  That was a lot of fun – and so was Tai Chi by the river thanks to continuing, temporary warm-up.  We had a bit of rain here and there today, but it didn’t really start coming down until around dinnertime and into the evening.

That rain got in the way of our marching band practice, and we got a bit wet getting between practices and then home again; but we were indoors for most of the day and the weather wasn’t an issue.

While I couldn’t have breakfast for lunch or dinner, we did still get to have some Shrove Tuesday fun at school because Michael and I left for school early; we went to the Olde Bakery, and picked up a couple of boxes of Paczkis to share with some of our siblings, cousins, and friends.  It’s likely for the best that the Olde Bakery doesn’t make and sell them every day, since that might overload even my hyper-active, Magi powered metabolism!  They are delicious, though, and I ate two of them – one at lunch; and one between band practices.  Since I’m thinking about bands, I’ll also mention that the funds that weren’t spent on the trip – and we’re not talking about a lot of money – will be split and donated to our two schools for other projects.  Mum would have topped up the accounts if we’d actually ended up a bit short even after the lab donation, but the last of the bills for the trip are all pretty much in now; and our last fruit and vegetable boxes orders made sure that we had enough to cover all of those little expenses – like the spending money that the chaperones used to help out some of the teens and tweens while we were in Florida.

We had a good day at school; our band practices were a bit quieter this week – though that’s emotionally-speaking; since the marching band practice was louder while we marched in the gym.  Our teen praise team practices are getting a bit more serious because we are getting closer to Easter; and while that seems like a long time away right now; we also only have five more practices to go until then – after tonight; and we still have a lot of work to do before we’ll be ready for our annual sunrise service and the rest of the music we’ll be doing over the Easter season.  We also have the music for one of the March Break Sundays, though that won’t be our full praise team; because a couple of our members will be away on holidays that week.

Next up for the news of the day, I brought Michael home with me after our practice at the church so that we could do our homework – and a Magi lesson – together.  We didn’t even get started on that until a bit after ten o’clock; I used a time phase; and that helped Dad with getting his work done too by the time we wrapped up at a bit after eleven.  Michael and I then put the twins to bed; had a bit of alone time in the lounge; and then he went home before midnight so that I could get to work on my usual stack of bedtime computing.

I won’t bore you with those details; since I’m ready to be sleeping anyway.  We’ve had a good day; it’s been an awesome bonus to basically get through February without any snow worth mentioning; and I’ll be a very happy camper if we get that lucky for the last weeks of winter as we head into spring!

Until next time...

...May the Magi Force be with you!