Cassie's Journal - April 5, 2017

We’ve had a wet, chilly day around here; my school day was quiet and not particularly exciting; and then I came home and worked and studied for the equivalent of about ten hours – including the time phase parts of my late afternoon and evening.  I’ve had a long soak in my Jacuzzi, and once I’m done with this update; I’ll be off to dreamland – and do that before nine-thirty!

That is all I have, since I really want to get to the napping now; so, until next time...

...May the Magi Force be with you!

Cassie's Journal - April 4, 2017

Happy 4^th Birthday, Hailey!

Ethan, Ehlana, and I dropped off a gift with her on the way to school, and Ethan went to her party to offer his bestie moral support while Aiden had to deal with a gang of four-year old kids in the house; but that cameo moment this morning was my only involvement in Hailey’s big day.

We’ve been getting a lot of rain today, and that’s going to continue through most of tomorrow too; so we’ve gotten a bit damp getting around from home to school to church and home again.  I’ve had a fair bit of fun here and there along the way, but it’s also been exhausting; and I need to make this quick and head into nap mode.

Tai Chi was indoors, breakfast was quick again – this time to make time for that visit with Hailey; and then we had a busy, indoor day at school.  The Concert band practice was fun; marching band practice was a bit light because we had quite a few no-shows thanks to the rain – particularly with some of the country kids and the gang from Maple Valley.  We still put in the time and effort, though; so we had a late start to our teen praise team practice.  That was another full rehearsal; that took nearly two hours by the time we did some repeats; and then we had the extra songs to practice after the sunrise service once-over for the music we’ll be doing on Palm Sunday and at the ‘regular’ Sunday service on Easter.

That’s why it was heading toward eleven by the time Michael came home with me; we used a time phase for our homework and Mom’s Magi lesson with us so that Michael could still be home by midnight; and then I got to work after seeing Michael out with a few goodnight hugs and kisses in the front hallway.  There was more time-phasing for the family business work that I didn’t need to do with internet or intranet access; another couple of hours of ‘normal’ time work and studying after that; and now it’s past-time to crash and nap.

A bit of self-healing when I wake up might be needed, and I’ll hope for an early bedtime tomorrow night, but you’ll have to flip the digital page in my future to find that out; and I’ll need to get back to living my life and find out how that goes for me in real time.  I’m too tired to do much more than hope for the best with that, though; so, until next time...

...May the Magi Force be with you!

Cassie's Journal - April 3, 2017

Happy 37^th Birthday, Owen!

My main involvement in his special day was the babysitting services that Michael and I provided while Mom and Dad were at Owen’s birthday dinner.  We stopped by on the way to school to drop off a gift and best wishes too; but Rowen, Tim, Patrick, and Jessica were the only teens at the dinner.

It’s late, so let’s take the rest of the story from the beginning; and then I need to get some sleep.

It’s rained off and on all day, and while it was warm-enough; that kept us indoors most of the time – and the walks to and from school were not all that much fun.  Tai Chi was indoors; we rushed breakfast to have time for the visit with Owen; and then we had a standard Monday at school – though we did have one test that stressed a few of our less-prepared classmates.  Michael came home with me after school; we did our homework; and then took over kid control while Mom went to start getting ready for the birthday dinner party.  She went over to the Emerson’s house early to help with the dinner prep-work, and while she was doing that; Michael and I cooked dinner for our little gang.  When Dad came home, Zack and Brianna were dropped off too; and then we were on our own for a few hours as soon as Dad got ready and headed down the street to meet up with Mom and enjoy the play time with their friends.

Michael and I fed our little gang; played with them after that; had a music practice that also helped to keep the kids entertained; and then watched a couple of kids’ shows until Mom and Dad got home.  Uncle Adam and Aunt Leanne picked up Zack and Brianna; Mom did a Magi lesson with Michael and me; and then he went home so that I could get to work.  Mom and Dad still needed to do their homework too, so we took care of getting the twins tucked in for the night; and then got to work in the office.  I used a time phase to help out with getting done more quickly, and while that helped Mom and Dad quite a bit; I still had lots of work to get done after they were finished and we all headed up to our rooms.

I am still finished sooner than I would have been had I worked in normal time for everything, but the time phase has tired me out; and I’m pretty much ready to crash now.

Parts of our day have been fun, but this is one night when the work has just been a bit too much; so I’m going to head into nap mode now and forget about all of the responsibilities for a while.

Until next time...

...May the Magi Force be with you!

Cassie's Journal - April 2, 2017

Now that you’ve flipped the digital page sometime in my near or distant future; let’s get started on that double update!

On Friday night, Michael and I had a bit of fun with our make-out session before falling asleep for our sofa sleepover.  Saturday morning came a bit early, but we had fun working the breakfast shift at the Inn.  I ended up doing chores for most of the day after that through until part-way through Michael’s afternoon break; so that was my only break of the day too.  Dad and I only had our lunch on the fly so we could keep going on one of the jobs we were doing in the yard, and even out afternoon break wasn’t really much of a break because we went to the park with the twins, Naomi, and Aiden so that they could run around for an hour or so while Mom and Dad got a break from all kids and teens.

The dinner shift on Saturday was busy, and while there were some April Fools’ Day jokes and pranks going on around the Inn at breakfast; there was more of that during the dinner rush – including from some of our customers.  That made the shift more entertaining, but I was glad that Michael and I didn’t need to work until close; and we were able to get out a bit early once the main rush was finished.  Our movie night with four junior show-watching buddies was a blast, and while most teens might not think that was possible; I really love spending time with my brother, sister, and their besties.  I think about that more now because I am less than a year and a half away from going to college; so I need to start spending extra time with Ethan and Ehlana before I’ll be away for most of that next five years.

I’ll try not to bore you too often by repeating that sentiment, but it will be a recurring part of my life; so it will pop up now and then.

We watched two movies; all four kids fell asleep mid-way through the second one; and Michael and I didn’t bother taking them downstairs to bed; since we were all very comfortable and not even slightly-interested in moving.  Mom and Dad took pictures for future reference, and while Michael and I still get teased about sofa sleepovers; it was Ethan and Naomi getting teased the most on Sunday – especially after Liz saw those pictures before church.

Tai Chi on Sunday was chilly, and we dodged the rain to do that out by the river; but we were glad to be able to do that together.  Michael and I were at his house for breakfast; the food was great; and the video chat with Jake and Stephanie was the entertainment highlight.  We had fun at church too, and the Sunday school work on the Easter service sets and costumes is nearly-done now after our latest teen-group-effort to get everything done.  We do have one more Sunday to deal with some finishing touches; so we won’t likely need to have anyone do extra work during the last week before Easter.

Work was the name of the game for me during the rest of the day.  I was planning on taking the lunch shift off, but while the rain was an off-and-on thing today; it was enough to fill the Inn at lunch and during both buffets; so Miranda needed the extra help at lunch too.  Michael and I did homework during our afternoon break; so we pretty much stayed at the Inn from shortly-after Sunday school through until we were able to close the Inn at a bit after ten o’clock.  I stopped in at his house on the way home; we had a bedtime chat and snack with his parents and sister; and then I came home and got to work again.

Mom did a Magi lesson with me; I had bedtime visits with Ethan and Ehlana on the way up to my room; and then I multi-tasked some Jacuzzi time with family business work.  I’ve used a time-phase when I could; worked in real time when needed; and now I’m past-ready to crash and nap.  This hasn’t exactly been the most exciting weekend of my life, but we’ve had as much fun as we could manage around and with all of the work; so I’m happy – if too tired.

We have two weeks to go until Easter; so life is sure to speed up a bit again.  I want to be ready for that, and while I only have time for a nap before it’ll be time to get up and start my school week; that’ll have to be good-enough.

Okay, self-healing is an option, but every minute of sleep is a bit less healing I’ll need, and that has its own costs; so, until next time...

...May the Magi Force be with you!

Cassie's Journal - April 1, 2017

Happy April Fools' Day!

I am not going to offer any pranks or tricks today, but this is also going to be one of those placeholder updates because I have a movie night in the lounge to get to; and have only taken a few minutes off to freshen up and do a quick email check to make sure I don’t have any pressing family business issues to deal with that can’t wait until Sunday night.  In addition to the movies; Ethan, Ehlana, and I are keeping our best friends or boyfriend for a sleepover; so I won’t be doing any bedtime computing later!

Look for the double-update tomorrow; and, until next time...

...May the Magi Force be with you!