Cassie's Journal - November 25, 2013

Violet may or may not make it home tonight, but either way, I’m sticking with my earlier-than-usual bedtime plans; and won’t be awake if she does end up here instead of at Dillon’s house.  Michael, Tim, Rowen, and I got to spend some time with them earlier, though, so I’m really glad that we at least got to have that bit of time together.

It’s been a busy day; though I didn’t feel that until now while organizing my thoughts for this update.  Tai Chi this morning was about the only quiet time I had through until Violet and Dillon headed out earlier tonight to hang out with a group of friends that are home this week too; didn’t go to college after graduating; or are seniors this year.

I’m sure that you can guess that football was the top story at school today; and will be tomorrow and Wednesday too – even over any Thanksgiving news.  Tim, Michael, and the other teens in our class that are going to the game on Friday are getting lots of attention, and though Rowen wasn’t happy about that; we managed to get through this first day without any part of her birthday surprise getting out by accident.  Other than occasionally assuring her that I’ll make sure that she has a happy birthday regardless of what the boys are doing, and being there when she needs to do some minor venting; I’m not having as much trouble with this as I expected – and my co-conspirators and I are having quite a bit of fun too.  Tim is actually hamming it up a bit, but then Rowen’s used to him being totally dense when it comes to her; so he’s not being any different than normal from her perspective.

She definitely was a bit quieter than normal while we did the bit of studying we needed to get done after school, and no more interested in watching the boys play football at the park after that than I was.  We went along anyway so that we could also take Ethan and Ehlana out to play for a while and give Mom a break, but we only stayed to watch the football while Ethan had his game time with Michael; and then we were at the playground until the twins were cold and ready to go home for some hot chocolate.  We didn’t wait for the boys, but they didn’t end up staying much longer before meeting up with us again – conveniently in time to help out with the hot drinks and mini-snack.

The four of us split up for dinner, but we were all going to an open house after that; and then Michael, Tim, and Rowen came back here with me to hang out while Mom and Dad were having a family business and future plans meeting in the office.  Violet and Dillon were at his house for dinner, but they were at the open house too.

Witch Falls Electric and Lighting are officially opening their new store on Wednesday in time for the big holiday weekend, but they were hosting a wine and cheese open house tonight.  I can’t say that I really spent any time shopping in their old store, but I had wandered through a couple of times; and their new showroom is much larger and more like a boutique while the other place had more in common with the hardware store than anything else.  As usual, our family, neighbors, and friends were out in force to support one of our local businesses; and Mom, Dad, and I did our part by placing an order for several new lamps – including one that I thought would look nice in the lounge.

Rowen’s parents won’t be taking over the old electric and light store until the New Year, but I was thinking about their plans for it while at the open house tonight; and I saw that it came up in the meeting in the office tonight when I read the notes from it while doing my computer checks tonight.  The only involvement with have with that is through the data storage services that some of our family business companies will be purchasing from Emerson Computers’ new data center once it opens next March.  That’s not such a little thing, since those contracts will make sure that Rowen’s parents will have a successful start to the new addition to their business; but then it helps us out too – both from a business point of view and because we can consolidate our corporate data in one, local place without that being transparent to the individual companies we own.  I’m sure that Owen will have a blast building the toys he’ll need for the data center; and that’ll keep him busy between Christmas and tax time next spring.

Getting back to the update, Violet and Dillon decided to hang out with Michael, Tim, Rowen, and me in the lounge when we came home from the open house, and we kept Ethan and Ehlana with us too until Violet and Dillon left to meet up with their friends.  The boys mostly played video games, so it was girl chat time for the rest of us while we mostly watched them play.  Violet mostly entertained us with more college stories, but we talked a bit about Christmas too.  She and Dillon are going to split those weeks off between here and Woodvale too; but they’ll be here more than there – mostly because Uncle Rick and Aunt Melissa won’t have much time off over the holidays; and they’ll be here for the family Christmas on the weekend between Christmas and New Year’s Day.  Maybe I’ll see about inviting Dawn to come here for an extra few days before or after that weekend so she can spend extra time with Violet while her parents are busy.

We didn’t have enough time to watch a movie after Violet and Dillon left; so we ended up watching music videos while having a chat and winding down until Michael, Tim, and Rowen needed to head home.  Violet and Dillon had dropped Ethan and Ehlana off with Mom and Dad on their way out; so it was safe for Rowen and Tim to do a little cuddling too – though Rowen wasn’t quite as happy about that as she usually was while trying not to show it.  She didn’t have the usual big smile after Michael and I left our friends with the usual alone time opportunity when we went downstairs first and left them in the lounge; but they also didn’t cut that time short either; so they must have had at least a little fun.

I hope they did, because Michael and I didn’t get a chance for any make-out time.  Our snack clean-up happened at the same time Mom and Dad were ready to clean up from their meeting, so we had company with us the entire time; and then had extra people to say goodnight to – all of them leaving at the same time as Michael, Tim, and Rowen.  That certainly threw a kink into my goodnight kiss with Michael; but I’ll try to make that up to him next time – or before Tai Chi in the morning.

That’s pretty much the end of my regular daily news.  Mom did a Magi lesson with me after we had Ethan and Ehlana tucked in for the night, and I came up to bed after that; so the only other information I want to add is from the meeting I’d missed while hanging out with my friends.

The top news from that is the completion of the lab building – or at least that it’s completely closed in now and heated so the construction crews will be able to work in relative comfort all winter.  The exterior facade and landscaping will start next spring; and the project is still ahead of schedule enough that there will be some bonus, paid time off for the crews over the holidays.  The first apartment building is already almost to that stage too, so the indoor work will start by sometime next week; and that’ll pretty much be the end of the visible construction around here until next March.

Other plans have been moving along too.  The wind and solar energy farm project is moving along, and we’ll be ready to hire a manager by February; and start work on the site by the end of March.  If all goes well, Witch Falls should be self-sufficient for electricity by the summer after next; and the plant should make a profit selling excess power to the grid.  Having Violet and Dillon home may have been why teen school and job plans were a bigger than usual part of this meeting, but I’m just glad that we’re way ahead of the game there; and some of my favorite teens will have summer jobs that will make them happy; put some decent money in their college funds; and keep them here at home.

We’re already planning ahead for new construction next spring, and that includes getting ready for the next big build in town – the new medical center and professional offices building that will be right next door to the lab.  While having a new, state-of-the-art medical center is the biggest part of that; we’ll also have other professional businesses there too.  I’ll hold off on the details for that even though by the time anyone reads this; it won’t matter or be a big secret anymore.  There were other, medium-term future plans that were talked about too, but I’ll leave those for another time too – closer to when they’ll actually be happening.

So I guess that’s it for now, and I’m going to be sleeping before midnight again tonight.  Another night or two like this, and I’ll definitely be fully-charged and ready for Thanksgiving and Rowen’s birthday!  I’m getting fired up just thinking about that, but it’s time wrap this up; put my computer away; and get started on another long winter’s nap.

Live long and prosper, fellow Magi of the Light!

Cassie's Journal - November 24, 2013

Our day started out with some fun when we woke up and noticed that Violet hadn’t made it home last night.

For the record, I’m okay with my cousin setting that kind of precedence for me; since there’s a very good chance that it will be very useful to me in the future.  She had needed to come home and get clothes to wear to church; but we’d already exercised; had breakfast; cleaned the kitchen; and gotten ready to go by the time she joined us.  Aunt Leanne was happy to tease Violet about her sleepover at Dillon’s house, and I had fun with that too – right up until Aunt Leanne found out that I’d had two boys all alone in the lounge with me last night; and then the jokes suddenly weren’t quite so entertaining.

Then there was the added problem that Rowen was with us while I was being teased; and I needed to explain why Michael and Tim were hanging out with me last night, and why she hadn’t been invited too, without telling her anything about what we had really been doing.  I didn’t – and wouldn’t – lie to her, and it wasn’t tough for her to make the guess about why she’d been excluded, but she also didn’t know if that was good or bad; and I couldn’t really help her with that little problem without giving too much of the surprise away.

That scene happened before the service started, and it was cold enough this morning that most people drove to church unless they lived very close – which is why we had the family and friends meet and greet there instead of collecting the usual gang as we walked there.  With the Thanksgiving weekend now only days away, pretty much every kid and teen in Sunday school helped out with the last touches on everything the teens would need for the service next Sunday.  It’s also the first Sunday in Advent this year; so the program the teens are putting on has a lot packed into it; and it’s going to be one of the longest Sunday service they’ve done since I’ve been here – not including the Christmas pageants.

I know that the usual group of teens that are the main actors and musicians for these teen-led specials are already working on that Christmas show too, but it must seem a bit crazy for them that there will only be three Sundays between the two big shows to finish getting ready for the second one – including the Sunday of the Christmas pageant.  Michael is sure to be drafted next year, so I’ll probably find out what it’s like for myself over the next four years too.

Moving along, the most fun I had at church was working on Rowen’s birthday surprise – no easy job when trying to do that without Rowen finding out what I was doing.  Hopefully we’ll be able to keep it a surprise, but after adding a handful of co-conspirators to the plan; I’m not sure whether that’ll happen or not.  The good news is that I was able to make the parental approval and travel requests while we were at church; and had confirmation for both by dinnertime.  Sally’s parents were happy to help us out, and while Patricia had mixed feelings about her baby being away for most of her birthday; she was happy that we wanted to do something big for Rowen while she and Owen were going to be busy at the computer store all day anyway.  Mom booked the extra hotel room for Rowen and me at the same hotel the Landrys – and most of the other players and families – were staying at; so Michael, Tim, and I really only need to deal with finalizing the non-football entertainment parts of our surprise.

The rest of my day has pretty much been all fun.  We’ve have Violet and Dillon with our family for most of the afternoon and evening.  They had lunch with us – and Grandma and Grandpa.  We spent most of the afternoon at our house, and had quite a few guests stopping by for visits.  Rowen came over for the afternoon too, and when we weren’t hanging out with Violet, Dillon, and everyone else; we were doing our homework in the lounge with Michael and Tim while Michael was on his afternoon break.  I didn’t help out at the Inn today because we were doing a family and friends buffet dinner there; and followed that up with a couple of hours of fun time at Aunt Leanne and Uncle Adam’s house.

Violet ended up agreeing to spend the night there; mostly so she could have extra time with Aunt Leanne and Zack, and while I’m sure they’ll have fun; I’m trying not to think about the fact that she’ll only have two more sleeps here before heading to Woodvale with Dillon for the Thanksgiving weekend – assuming she actually stays with us both nights.  I’d invite Dillon to stay here to make sure that happens, but his parents must be feeling the same way as I am; so I won’t even suggest it.

While I missed getting to spend the time with Michael tonight, it was nice to come home and get an early start on my usual school night activities.  Mom did a Magi lesson with Ethan, Ehlana, and me before we did the bedtime routine and while Dad was getting some work done in the office.  I was in my room and working on my computer by shortly after ten; and that’s why it’s just coming up on midnight now as I’m finishing this update.  I did my archive homework, but skipped the language studies; and only spent a half-hour or so on family business work.  With the big testing week finished, and only three days to the holiday weekend; it should be a fairly easy few days.

Easy won’t mean quiet.  We have a birthday to plan for; I hope we’ll have more time to hang out with Violet; there’s still work to do to get ready for Thanksgiving; and every store in town will be getting ready for one of the biggest shopping weekends of the year.  I really do want to be ready and fully charged for all of the work and fun, so I guess that’s it for tonight; and I’m out of here.  Until next time...

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

Cassie's Journal - November 23, 2013

It was very cool waking up to see Violet and Mandy cuddled together and sleeping in the bed next to me; and the warm tinglies stayed with me as I got ready for Tai Chi, left them sleeping, and went downstairs to put a pot of coffee on to brew while waiting for Michael to come over for Tai Chi.

Violet didn’t sleep through that because Ethan and Ehlana pounced on her for an enthusiastic wake-up call, but she did stay cuddled in bed with Mandy while we exercised; and didn’t get up until we’d headed downstairs to either take turns getting ready for the day or to start making breakfast.  Michael stayed for breakfast so that we could both spend some more time with Violet; and that gave us a chance to at least start talking about Rowen’s birthday – and ways that we might work that out with the Championship game trip that Michael was sure that he and Tim would be going on.  We have a tentative solution; but I’ll get to that in a bit with the evening part of the update.

We’ve had a busy work day, but I really loved having Violet home; and she couldn’t even come close to covering three months worth of college stories during breakfast as she kept the rest of us entertained for almost an hour.  I’m sure than no one reading this would be surprised to know that she and Dillon have both changed because of the new experiences overload they’ve been on almost constantly since moving away to school, but being a bit more worldly and wise hasn’t changed who they are; and Violet seemed especially glad to be home and out of the rat race for a while.

A lot of the work was fun today, and I got started on that after seeing Michael out with a hug and kiss; grabbing a shower; and getting ready for the day once we’d finished breakfast.  Michael and I had been cook assistants, so I wasn’t on the kitchen clean-up crew; and instead started my chores out with a third-floor clean-up.  We really did have a lot to do today, so I cheated; and had those chores finished – and a first load of laundry running in the washing machine – before the breakfast clean-up was finished.  From there, I did the same on the second floor, and had Ethan and Ehlana help me while doing a mini Magi lesson with them while we cleaned their rooms and the guest bathroom.  Violet joined us for part of that just because she didn’t get to play like that at school; and then we all helped Mom with the main floor before I went outside to help Dad with the chores we needed to get done around the yard and in the storage barn.

We had a time limit for that work because Mom, Dad, and I were booked to help Uncle Adam and Aunt Leanne with getting their house ready for the holiday weekend.  While our families are away for Thanksgiving this year, Uncle Adam and Aunt Leanne have Barb and Corey Collins staying with them for the weekend.  That really doesn’t make for a lot of extra work, but after six weeks where Zack has been his parents’ top priority; the to-do list was long; and we kept busy through until dinnertime – except for the family lunch we had that Grandma, Grandpa, Uncle Mark, Aunt Grace, Uncle Nick, Aunt Deborah, and Dillon joined us for.

That lunch meal was the last time I saw Violet or Dillon today because they’ve been with his family since then.  The Carrington homestead and estate grounds were sparkling clean by dinnertime; and we celebrated with a country stew and Olde Bakery sub bun sandwiches dinner for eight – though Zack demanded his own, specialty meal instead of having what the rest of us were eating.  Aunt Leanne was getting grandparent support tonight from Uncle Adam’s parents; so Mom and Dad took Ethan, Ehlana, and me home when they came over after closing the Emporium for the night.  We’d finished the clean-up by then, but had the table set for two and the food ready to go so Uncle Adam could feed his parents too after their long day at the store.

I’m sure they’ve had a fun night with Zack, but I’d classify my evening as really great.  The Jacuzzi time right after we got home was a really good start to that, and then it got even better when Michael brought Tim along with him so that we could make plans for Rowen’s birthday.  Michael had been set free from the Inn early too, so the hour or so we spent talking with Tim didn’t even cut into our Saturday night alone time – bonus!

Having some happy dreams about that will be nice once I do get around to sleeping; but let’s get back to talking birthdays before I get distracted.  Tim and Michael are going to the Championship game next Friday; and they’ll be staying overnight so that the players on our team can attend some of the other championship games and other events going on for the players and coaches.  They’re going with Lee and Sarah because Tim’s parents need to stay home and run the shop – business will be busy for them too on the holiday weekend.  Rowen’s going to be very unhappy when she finds out that the boys are going to be away for the entire day, and I’ll try to help her out with that, but if we get full approval for our birthday surprise; I’ll have to let Rowen be disappointed for the next six days.

So here’s the plan, pending full parental approval.  Rowen and I will go on the trip too; we’ll watch some football; and then celebrate Rowen’s birthday by going out to dinner and spending the evening at a sports entertainment center while the players and coaches are busy with their own events.  I already have parental approval for me, and we don’t think that Rowen’s parents will have a problem; since they’ll be busy all weekend at the computer store too.  Tim’s aunt and uncle don’t have room for four, so I’m going to talk to Sally Reynolds and her parents about getting a ride with them, since both of her brothers are on the team; and they’ll be going to the game too.  If they have room for two; we’ll be good to go.

The absolute best part of the plan, and the reason I didn’t need to knock any sense into the boys, is that we’re going to spring this on Rowen by having Tim invite her to go with him as his date for the trip.  I don’t really have any doubt that this plan will work out; and I can hardly wait to see Rowen’s reaction.  Once we’d talked about everything we wanted to do, and did a little online research for things like restaurants and that sports entertainment center; Tim headed home so that Michael and I could get started on our movie and alone time.

We had a short delay before getting to that while we did the bedtime snack and story with Ethan and Ehlana, but after tucking them in for the night; I led Michael up to the lounge and spent some quality time making sure that he knew how happy I was about what he and Tim were going to be doing to help make Rowen’s birthday her best ever so far.

Close your eyes and sing some la-la-la’s if you don’t want that mental picture; and you might want to skip the next paragraph while you’re doing that.

Michael and I may have a fair bit of physical maturing to do, but we like what we see about each other; and saw quite a bit again tonight.  That may sound really funny for anyone reading this in the future who knows us as adults, but Michael is in really good shape both from being active and years of helping out at the Inn; and I am my mother’s daughter – as well as being active and blessed with a hyper-metabolism.  I’m sure we’ll continue to fumble around and have lots of awkward moments as we learn how to play together, but we also get to do that together; and being Magi does give us quite a few advantages over other teen couples.  Some of those advantages; and my extra enthusiasm tonight is why I’m ranking tonight’s make-out session a ten out of ten on the hot scale.  Maybe it’s a good thing that we don’t get alone time more often!

Okay, you can open your eyes and take your fingers out of your ears now – if anyone actually did that.

Michael needed to be home by midnight, and though we would have liked to spend more time together; I did make sure that he was happily tired out by then.  Oops – maybe I should have mentioned that before telling you it was safe to open your eyes.  Anyway, I saw him out and watched him walk home from the front porch; though we talked to Mom and Dad for a minute before he left.  They’d been in the office, and were packed up and ready to go to bed by the time I got inside again.  They hadn’t been staying up late for me – or for Violet.  Dad was just trying to get some of his work done so he could have a little extra play time tomorrow; and Mom worked on the family business while he was busy anyway.

I’ve only done the basic nightly computing since getting changed and into bed with Mandy, so it’s only a bit after twelve-thirty now.  Violet isn’t home yet, but while it would be nice to have another bedtime chat with her; I’m ready for some down time – and the Michael and me dreams I plan on having while getting a decent sleep tonight.  With Violet here until Wednesday morning; Thanksgiving; and Rowen’s birthday and championship football on Friday, this is going to be an awesome last week of November; and I’ve decided to change my own work schedule so I can get the extra rest I’ll need to enjoy all of the fun we’re going to have – starting right now!

Live long and prosper, fellow Magi of the Light!

Cassie's Journal - November 22, 2013

Millions of people are remembering and commemorating the fiftieth anniversary of John F. Kennedy’s assassination, so by comparison to that, local high school football doesn’t seem that important – except that it is for a lot of people here in Witch Falls.  That’s why it is my top story for yet another Friday update; and it’s great news for the Ridge River Raiders.  Once I finish thawing out, I may even manage to get excited about the fact that they’ll be playing for the small-school Division Championship match.

There were probably quite a few people expecting an easy win before the game started because our team had won fairly convincingly when we’d played Grand Summit in the second round of the playoffs last season, but they’re a better team this year; and the cold weather was a big equalizer for at least the first three quarters of the match.  They even scored first, and the lead changed hands three times before we managed to get the lead back and keep it for the rest of the game.  The final score was thirty-eight to thirty-one; and could have gone the other way very easily if the Grand Summit offense hadn’t run out of gas and given up two fourth-quarter interceptions to Kyle.  The game was all about defense too; since both offenses gave up big plays to the other team’s defense, and most points were earned from turnovers.

All of that action did make for a great game to watch, and the slightly more than half of the spectators that weren’t supporting Grand Summit needed to celebrate for quite a while – and continued to do that for nearly an hour despite the cold.  Tim invited Michael, Rowen, and I to the post-game party at his uncle and aunt’s house, so we went there straight from the school; and spent the first half-hour or so helping with the work that was being done before Kyle, his teammates, and most of the other guests joined the party.  I checked in at home shortly after we got to the Landry’s house, and while Dad was home; Violet and Dillon weren’t going to be back until around eleven-thirty, so Michael and I decided to hang out with Tim and Rowen until then.

The guys always manage to astound me with the amount of food an entire team of football players can demolish; and they were even more fired up tonight now that they were getting a second chance at winning a championship.  That excitement kicked up several notches when we found out that three-time champions, Clairmont, had won their game too; and we’d be trying to win our first championship in a very long time while trying to keep them from winning a fourth in a row.  That’s exactly the challenge Kyle was hoping for; so now we’ll find out soon whether Clairmont’s history of success and another obviously good team will be better than Kyle’s talent and towering desire to prove himself to be the kind of footballer his father was.

Dad wasn’t going to be home in time for the start of the game anyway, but I don’t think that Ethan really had a problem with staying warm and missing the game tonight.  He was at Uncle Adam and Aunt Leanne’s house with Mom, Ehlana, and most of the family for dinner and a holiday weekend cooking night.  I have mixed feelings about missing out on that, since my jobs would have included a lot of vegetable peeling and dishwashing; but I’m sure they had lots of fun – and weren’t frozen solid from being outdoors for well-over three hours.

I think it actually felt worse when Michael and I walked home, but only because we’d started to warm up while at the party only to plunge ourselves back into those freezing temperatures again.  Mom, Dad, Ethan, and Ehlana were home by the time we got back; and the twins were up and looking forward to seeing Violet and Dillon for a few minutes before going to bed.  Our two favorite college teens rolled in about ten minutes after Michael and I got back; and it was back out into the outdoor freezer again so we could welcome them and help carry Violet’s bags inside.

Hot chocolate or coffee, and warmed up Olde Bakery treats helped a bit while we had a little chat before Dillon and Michael both headed home by shortly after midnight; and I should mention that it’s more than a little weird to be kissing my boyfriend goodnight at the same time Violet’s doing the same with Dillon.  She and I tucked Ethan and Ehlana in for the night after that, and then we sat in the living room with Mom and Dad and continued talking until nearly one o’clock before we all went up to bed.

Violet was tired out by then, but the offer of a dip in my Jacuzzi was too tempting to put off until tomorrow night; and she’s doing that now as I write this.  She’s also going to stay with Mandy and me tonight, though I seriously doubt our girl chat will last very long before one of us passes out – we’ve both pretty much been on the go since early morning; and neither of us managed to sleep much last night.  Other than my usual nightly computer checks and answering an email from Dawn that was mostly about Violet; I’m not doing any studying or family business work tonight.

As expected, I also didn’t get a chance to talk with Michael or Tim about Rowen’s birthday tonight; and since I haven’t seen her online while I’ve had my computer on; Rowen’s probably gone to sleep already, so I haven’t talked with her either.  I’ll need to do that tomorrow, since I could tell that she was having a tough time trying to be happy for everyone tonight; and I’m sure she expects that Tim and Michael will be going to the championship game next Friday.  I’ve already mentioned that Michael and I could be in for a first fight if he and Tim don’t make the right decisions for Rowen’s birthday, but one way or the other; I will make sure that my best friend has an amazing day – even if I have to spend some quality time knocking some sense into one or more boys!

That’s at least an amusing place to end this update, so I’m going to do that; put my computer away; and try to finish warming up while Mandy and I wait for Violet to join us for a chat and nap.

Live long and prosper, fellow Magi of the Light!

Cassie's Journal - November 21, 2013

We’ve had another rainy day in Witch Falls, and though it stopped raining an hour or so ago; the temperature is supposed to drop to below freezing by morning.  The game-time forecast is for freezing temperatures too, and if we get any wet to go with it; there could be either freezing rain or snow.  I’m getting cold just thinking about that right now, so let’s not and move on with the update.

The big news story for our local family is Aunt Grace’s new car.  According to Aunt Leanne, she went with a ‘boring’, dark blue, four-door sedan.  I wouldn’t really disagree with that, but it is very nice; and Aunt Leanne should be glad that Aunt Grace and Uncle Mark picked a car that has room for baby seats.  That’ll make it much easier for them to haul their youngest cousins, nieces, and nephews around when they’re giving certain parents a break.  There’s also the fact that they’ll need the space for their own family eventually, but even though you’re reading this at some time far enough in the future that it wouldn’t matter; I’m not going to give away anything that Ethan, Ehlana, and I might know about the timing for that right now.

While the car was big news for them, my day was actually pretty normal.  That worked for me because it meant getting to spend more time with Michael; and being at the Inn to help out with the dinner rush – and hang out with Jacob, Miranda, and Rebecca.  Miranda might say that winning the game night championship with Mom again this week was the highlight of her day, and game night was fun; but my favorite moments were while we worked together in the kitchen, and I especially loved hanging out and chatting with Rebecca.  We’re doing pretty good right now when we’re not at school, but sometimes – like tonight – it feels exactly the way it did when we first met; and I was sure that I had my very first friend for life.

I’ve skipped over all of the school day action, but then there wasn’t much to report anyway.  The rain kept us indoors; the English and Health tests were a breeze; and the only thing the guys wanted to talk about for most of the day was the football game tomorrow night.

Our study session at the Inn after school was entertaining; though Tim didn’t think that studying for our science test tomorrow was fun – though Michael, Rowen, and I thought that his antics while we tried to help him were a big part of the entertainment for us.  He didn’t have an issue with getting ready for the computer test, but there really aren’t all that many kids or teens in our school that aren’t way ahead of the learning curve when it comes to computers at every grade level.  I’m sure that our parents and teachers are very happy to know that those endless hours of video gaming and surfing the web pay off in at least one subject!

Our study session went a bit long, so Michael and I needed to get right to work in the kitchen when Rowen and Tim left to go have dinner – this time with their own families instead of together.  It wasn’t really all that busy tonight; so that gave us more time to play, and Rebecca and I had a nice long chat while we worked the prep line.  She’s my best source for the latest teen news; particularly because Jenny keeps her informed of the latest news through the well-connected cheerleader network.  Some of that information is more than I need to know; but that happens a lot in every school – even in our little town.

Michael and I didn’t win the junior championship tonight, and neither did Rowen and Tim; but we had Ethan and Ehlana with us most of the time, and had a lot of fun with them – so from my perspective, we did win.

Mom went home with Ethan and Ehlana right after the gaming was finished, but I stayed to help with the clean-up; and to walk home with Michael.  We had lots of company for our goodnight kiss, so that wasn’t anything to write about; and then I started helping Mom with getting Ethan and Ehlana ready for bed as soon as I got home.  We had the bedtime story while doing a phone call with Dad; and then Mom did a Magi lesson with me once the twins were tucked in for the night.

This time, we were working on time-phasing again, and while I’m really good at it; there’s still a lot more for me to learn about the effects time-phases have on everything from different base elements to bio-systems.  Tonight, we worked with some fruit and vegetables, and measured the effects on the produce both while speeding up time and then slowing it down.  Theoretically, if you could hold a time-phase indefinitely; pretty much any fresh food could be kept that way for years – even without freezing or refrigeration; since even the temperature can be maintained in a time-phase.  That would normally be very impractical; but it’s cool to know that it could be done.  On the flip side of that; speeding up time can spoil food very quickly.  We didn’t actually take the lesson that far – only enough to measure and calculate the decay rate for the different fruits and vegetables.

As usual on Thursdays, I got a late start to my nightly studies and computing; and that’s why it’s heading toward three-thirty as I’m writing this.  There isn’t anything from the studies or family business worth mentioning; but Violet sent me a last email before she and Dillon will be heading home tomorrow after they’re finished classes for the day; and they’re as excited about the week off as we are about having them home for a few days.  They won’t get here until late tomorrow night, but with Dad getting home from the city, and the big football game; we’ll be in for a really great start to the weekend – even for those of us who will be freezing our butts off while watching that game.

I wonder if Tim would consider letting Rowen and I set up some web cams and watch the game from the lounge?  We do have a handy little WiFi network in town that would make that very easy to do.

That’s probably a no, and he wants to be on the team next year; so maybe I should just stop commenting on the downside of the sport; and just accept the inevitable.

Or I can wait until next year and stay in denial while that’s still an option.

For right now, though, as I’m thinking about those impending hours of chill time; all I want to do is snuggle under my warm comforter with my cuddly cat and get some sleep.  Even without the family home for the holidays, it’s going to be a very busy weekend getting ready for the Thanksgiving holiday, and I might even get to lose some sleep with a late night girl chat or two with Violet while she’s here – if I’m lucky.  Until next time...

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