Cassie's Journal - July 4, 2017

Happy 4^th of July, everyone!

Happy Un-Independence Day, Mom!

We started our day with awesome, hot weather and a wonderful sunrise for our Tai Chi by the river workout – and had the bonus of extra exercise buddies when the Carringtons and Naomi all came over to do that with us today!

That was the quiet before the chaos of the rest of my morning.  We had to get the gang fed; I needed to be at the parade staging area at the school in time to get dumped on by some heavy rain and as a thunderstorm rolled through town; and then we had a light rain continue during most of the parade.  That wasn’t exactly the best-case I’d hoped for with our last parade with the marching band, but while getting soaked wasn’t much fun; I’m not going to complain because that was it for the rain and we’ve had an awesome day since then!  We also had lots of company while getting rained on; so it was a good thing that it was hot and sunny after that so we could all dry out while moving on to the park for the rest of the day.

The busy kept going for me.  Michael and I had to take our saxophones home; help with taking loads of food and supplies over to the park; and then we were on kid control to get food and drinks while Mom and Dad were busy getting ready for their ball game.  The Roughriders were playing the Cowboys today; which was why I ended up cheering on the same squad with Miranda.  We won the cheerleading battle over the Cowboys’ cheer squad, and while I doubt that made a difference; the Roughriders won today too – by a score of sixteen to eleven.  I didn’t have time to take a break; and needed to go from that game straight to mine.  I’m not going to spend time writing about the game, but we – Emerson’s Erosion – played against the Landslide; we won fairly-easily; and then we all got back to the holiday fun in the park.

After spending all of our afternoon playing or watching baseball, we had to switch to kid control again to get everyone fed when it was time to have dinner; though some of us went for a cool-down swim in the river first.  Michael and I had dinner with my family; dessert with his; and then we were on clean-up duty pretty much until the dance started.  It was time to play for a while then; we danced a lot; had fun with our friends and families; and then helped out with kid control again when it was time to get settled in good spots for watching the fireworks.

That show was early tonight because it’s a work night for a lot of people, but the fireworks were as awesome as always; and we loved getting to do that with everyone we love the most!

It was back to work again after the fireworks; we helped to pack up our day camp; get kids home; and do all of the work at the other end.  Michael and I were two of the teens that went for a moonlight swim after that work was done; and then we had some cuddle and chat time before he went home and I came up to my room.  I needed to take a shower; got ready for bed; and ended up doing some family business work before getting around to this report.  It’s late, and I’ll need to be up early to help with the work around here that will include seeing most of our visiting adults off and on their way to their respective homes; and then I’ll help out with entertaining the cousins that are staying here until a week from Sunday.

This little blurb of an update doesn’t come close to covering all of the fun we’ve had today, but as always; it’s what I feel that counts most – and this has been one of those remember-forever, really great days!

I’m also exhausted and ready to crash and nap now; so, until next time...

...May the Magi Force be with you!

Cassie's Journal - July 3, 2017

I’m going to have yet another short report for you today, but haven’t written much about our family time, so let’s skip the work news that took up a lot of my day; and I’ll write about that instead.

Michael’s Stone family is here for the long weekend; and we spent some time with them today – and I hadn’t done that much on Saturday or Sunday while busy with my family, work, and the church service in the park.  We had the most fun with the kids, and get along with Michael’s cousins; but Michael’s grandparents were busy with other things when we were available to play; and his aunt and uncle aren’t exactly big on playing at all anymore – if they ever were into do that when they were younger.  Don’t get me wrong – they dote on their grandkids and play with them; but you’ll also never see them going for canoe rides or biking the trails at the park; and they’re more likely to play quiet, educational games with the kids.  I’ll add that the kids love them right back; and the only reason I’m pointing this out at all is because there is a big contrast between Michael’s aunt and uncle and my adopted grandparents.  Then again, maybe that would be different if his aunt and uncle had the option of being healed by members of their family the same way that mine can be whenever needed! ;^)

Moving along, Michael and I worked the breakfast and dinner-to-close shifts today; and got to spend the rest of the day playing with his family – though we had some fun with my family too when we crossed paths a couple of times.  As I mentioned, Michael and I haven’t gotten to do that before today, but his visiting family wasn’t left to do their own thing for the first two days they’ve been here – they just got to spend more time with Jake, Stephanie, Rebecca, and Lucas instead.  They wanted to do that with Jake and Stephanie, since they haven’t seen them a lot over the past four years; and I guess that’s important for Rebecca this summer too; since she’ll be heading off to college in August.

Speaking of Rebecca, this is a good time to mention her future plans; since it’s something that she’s been talking about with her family this weekend.  It’s yet another one of those things that I don’t mention much in my journal because it just isn’t a big part of my own life; but Rebecca and Jenny have come a long way in their plans for their business future.  They still have a lot to do over the next year, and I don’t want to get bogged down with the details, but they’re going to get part-time jobs while at college to learn all about the pizza business; Aunt Leanne might just happen to have the perfect spot for them to open up a pizza shop here; and they’re looking at doing that by the holiday weekend next May – and then running the shop during the summers, holidays, and weekends over the last three years they’re in college.  They’ve picked pizza over other fast food options because that’s what makes the most business sense for our little town; and Rebecca and Jenny are both getting fired up about the idea of owning and running their own business – and doing that together.  Rebecca’s grandparents, aunt, and uncle are impressed too, if a bit skeptical about the odds of success, but their bias is more about our little town; and doesn’t really have any basis in the facts.

Note to city folk in general – small businesses can thrive in small towns too; and some of us don’t need or want the crazy life that comes with working for big corporations!

Yes, I know – that’s coming from the Magi Master teen managing a multi-billion dollar investment portfolio; but you get what I mean. ;^)

Okay, this isn’t quite as short as I’d hoped; so let’s wrap this up.

Michael and I had fun playing with his cousins; we did get to have a bit of chat time with his grandparents, aunt, and uncle too; and then we worked our tails off at the Inn until nearly-eleven o’clock by the time we had the kitchen and dining rooms cleaned and the library stocked and ready for the overnight guests – including having the self-serve breakfast ready for them to enjoy in the morning while the Inn is closed for the holiday.  I went home with Michael; we had a bedtime visit with his older cousins; and then I came home and did the same with the members of my family that were still awake and hanging out together in the living room.

I needed to hit the shower after that; got ready for bed; and then did a couple or five hours of family business work – depending on whether you’re counting that in ‘real’ time or by elapsed time while in a time phase.  That extra blast of work has a lot to do with why I need to be in nap mode soon, and while we have the day off from the Inn for the holiday; we also have a busy day ahead with the parade and the rest of the holiday fun.  There’s also a too-good chance that we’re going to get rained on a lot tomorrow, but I’ll let you know how that works out for us with the next update; since I’m still hoping that the weather forecast will be wrong and we’ll dodge the rain and thunderstorms – or they’ll just be little blips on the weather radar in an otherwise wonderful day!

You’ll be able to flip the digital page in my future and find out about that, but I need to get some sleep and then get to that holiday fun with our families and friends first; so, until next time...

...May the Magi Force be with you!

Cassie's Journal - July 2, 2017

I am totally messing up my Magi Master journal responsibilities this weekend, but am exhausted; and need to keep this double update as short as possible so that I can crash and nap ahead of day three of our four-day holiday weekend.

Let’s back up and start from Saturday morning.

I was up early; at the Inn early; and worked the special holiday weekend breakfast buffet through until ten o’clock.  That was a crazy-busy shift; and then I caught the tail-end of Ehlana’s ball game at the park.  The Hair Herons were playing against Palmer’s Parrots; they won seven-to-four; and then I was on kid control duty for the ice cream celebration at the Emporium before heading home to help with the barbeque lunch that was at the Carrington’s and Everett’s homes.  After that; it was trail ride time; Michael and I both went out to the ranch for that; and had a blast for an hour or so with my cousins and the rest of the riders before we needed to get home and cleaned up for the dinner-to-close shift.  We worked hard for that shift too; moved on to my house for the campfire and camping night with my sister, brother, and all of the teen and kid cousins; and had a blast with everyone – whether that was at the campfire with the stories and music; or the camping that for me was with Dawn, Ehlana, and Naomi.

Sunday morning was a bit crazy getting everyone fed and ready for the church service in the park; and I needed to leave early to help with the set-up on the stage for the teen praise team.  The music and skits were a lot of fun; Michael and I had another duet that was a big hit with the congregation; and we had a huge turn-out for the service.  We also needed to hurry to get to the Inn once we were done at the park; and then we worked out tails off today getting through three buffet sittings that were over-sold-out.  It was an all-hands-on-deck day; we didn’t have enough hands; and some of us may have skipped most of our breaks to help keep up with the work.  It was also very, very hot in the kitchen – and outside; at least by mid-afternoon; so that sapped us a little at a time all day – even those of us that didn’t need to be in the kitchen all of the time.

Jake, Stephanie, Michael, and I didn’t get out of the Inn until eleven o’clock by the time we finished all of the clean-up in all dining rooms and the kitchen; and had the library set up for the overnight guests.  The Inn, by the way, is full all week; so that’s even more work that Miranda needs to keep up with every day – and keeps more of our staff busy with room cleaning and the rest of that work.

Speaking of work; I’m on breakfast shift duty again in the morning, and need to get to sleep soon; so let’s wrap this up so I can do that.

I walked home with Michael; we did our goodnight hugs and kisses on his front porch; and then I came home and straight up to my room except for quick stops for goodnight kisses in Ethan’s and Ehlana’s rooms.  Everyone here was in their beds by then; but I really needed a shower; so I did that quickly and as quietly as I could before getting ready for bed and tucked in with Mandy.  I’ve only done the basic email and computer checks since then; won’t be doing any extra work; and now that I’m up-to-date with this report – even though it’s a bit lacking in details; I’m ready to crash and nap until I need to get up for that early breakfast shift at the Inn.

We are having fun even with all of the work, but I’m also learning to get as much sleep as I can whenever I can do that; so, until next time...

...May the Magi Force be with you!

Cassie's Journal - July 1, 2017

We’ve started a new month; but I’ll do that with an update that’s even shorter than the one that I had for the end of June!

We’ve had an awesome, busy day; I’m only doing this while taking a little break between work and our campfire and camping night that’s already in progress without me; and I’ll do a double update tomorrow so that I can get to that family and friends fun sooner instead of later; so, until next time...

...May the Magi Force be with you!

Cassie's Journal - June 30, 2017

I know that it’s the last day of June, and I should make a bigger deal of this update, but I’m tired; need to crash; and will keep it short.

Michael and I worked the breakfast shift again; I did chores all day after that; and then we worked the dinner-to-close shift at the Inn.  I missed out on all of the incoming family fun tonight; and I’m not even hanging out with Dawn tonight because she’s doing a sleepover at Violet and Dillon’s apartment.  I also have to work the breakfast buffet at the Inn in the morning, and won’t be getting as much rest as I’d like because I needed to do some family business work after coming up to bed tonight; so let’s just wrap this up and I’ll get on with the sleeping part of my day right now.

I’ll keep you posted on the holiday weekend fun – and hope that I’ll get to have some fun to go along with all of the work, but that’s it for now; so, until next time...

...May the Magi Force be with you!