Cassie's Journal - September 24, 2017

The campfire and camping adventure last night was the highlight of my weekend; and I especially-loved the cuddle and play time with Brianna and Faith – with some junior camper help from Ehlana and Naomi.  Michael had the tougher job keeping up with Zack and Eli, but Ethan and Aiden helped him too; so he survived the ordeal!  Mom and Dad had fun going out with their friends, but they also came home early; and were here to help with winding down the campfire and getting all of the kids into tents and sleeping bags.

Our morning was a bit of a whirlwind, but Tai Chi by the river was awesome; we had some parental support for breakfast and getting everyone ready for church; and then we all walked to church and enjoyed the praise and worship time with our families and friends.  I walked Michael to the Inn when he needed to be there for the lunch shift, but came home and spent most of the afternoon with my family.  We had a campground to clean up before lunch; we had a back yard barbeque for that meal; and then some of us went to the park to play and bike for a couple of hours while Dad worked in the office.

Michael joined us for some of that play time; we came back to my house to do our homework after that; and then I went with him to the Inn to work the dinner-to-close shift.  We were busy, but nothing like the summer buffet shifts; so it was easy to keep up with the work.  Michael’s parents get to go home early on Sundays – once the cooking is pretty much done for the day; but Michael and I stayed until the end with Jake and Stephanie – and that’s a lot more fun to do when we aren’t all rushing around trying to keep up with all of the busy.

I walked Michael home; we did our goodnight hugs and kisses out on his front porch; and then I came home and had a bedtime visit with Mom and Dad that included a Magi lesson with Mom while Dad finished up his weekend homework.  There was a lot of family business work and studying for me to do once I was in my room, but I still multi-tasked some quality time in my Jacuzzi.  I used a time phase when I could; worked in real time when needed; and now it’s really late and I’m ready to crash and nap.

We have managed to have a pretty good weekend even with all of the work, and I hope that trend will continue next week.  I’ll have to keep you posted on how that goes for me, though, and that’s all I have for tonight; so, until next time...

...May the Magi Force be with you!

Cassie's Journal - September 23, 2017

We’ve decided to have a campfire and camping adventure tonight, and I need to get to work on that; so this is going to be a micro-update.

I worked the breakfast shift at the Inn; did chores around the yard for most of the day after that; and have been playing with the twins, Naomi, and Aiden since then – including while we had a little family and friends barbeque at our house.  Michael will be joining me after he’s done work for the campfire and camping; we’ll have extra kids for that because the parents are going to go out to Sheldon’s for a bit of fun with their friends after he gets here; and we’ll have two tents full of kids whenever we get around to the sleeping part of our night.  I’ll have all of the girls for that; he’ll have the boys; and we might both be a bit crazy by morning – especially if we have any major issues keeping up with Zack and Eli.

I can keep you posted on all of that with my next update, though, and really need to get to work so we’ll be ready for all of the fun later; so, until next time...

...May the Magi Force be with you!

Cassie's Journal - September 22, 2017

The ‘feels like’ game-time temperature here in town was in the mid-nineties tonight; and we topped out earlier in the afternoon with another triple-digit number.

I might have had different comments about that tonight, but it occurred to me that we are now half-way through the regular football season, and have had summer-like weather for every game; so I am just going to digitally shut up and be grateful! ;^)

Since it is football night in town, and we did have a home game; let’s start with the news everyone is talking about tonight – our undefeated record at that half-way point of the season!

As I’ve mentioned, the weather was hot and wonderful for a late-September game; and we had a huge turnout – including a big contingent coming to town from Varney to support their team.  That didn’t help their players on the field; but I’m sure it did help after the game to have that support.  I might be making that sound worse than it likely was, but we did win by a score of sixty-one to twenty-six, and as we’ve done all season; Michael and Tim held back in the second half.  Tim had an especially-great game with four touchdowns, but Michael still had two to go along with a lot of yards-gained and huge numbers on defense.  Varney did a good job with the two touchdowns and the field goals that they were able to earn, but with both teams playing a wide-open style; some big, busted plays were to be expected.

At the risk of bragging too much about my boyfriend – none of those busted plays that went Varney’s way happened because of him.  Michael was the one breaking out for big plays – and Tim, obviously, was doing the same on his side of the field.

Football is the top story tonight, but I loved every minute of the cheerleading – not counting the two Varney-fan guys that tried hitting on Rowen and me instead of enjoying the game.  Part of that was funny, though, since Ehlana and Naomi chased them off for us not long after the third quarter started.  For me, the cheerleading highlights were the half-time routine that we choreographed to a Beauty and the Beast music mash-up; and the fun we again got to have with our junior cheerleaders.  Ehlana and Naomi had help from Sophia and others for that, but they took care of the younger cousins – including Brianna and Faith.  They’re a huge hit with our hometown spectators too; so I’m really glad that we’ve been able to work with that so far this season – especially when we only have two regular season home games left to go.

Dad got home in time for the second half of the game, but I haven’t been able to spend much time with him so far.  I was busy at the school until an hour and a half after the game, and while the team party after that was at our house; it was in the back yard; and Mom and Dad only offered a bit of support while leaving it up to Michael and me to host it.  We went with our house because we didn’t want to keep Michael’s parents awake after a long work day when they’d be up early for the breakfast shift.  We wanted access to the river for swimming, though; and we had a campfire instead of just hanging out indoors.  I wouldn’t call that party wild and crazy, but we did have fun; and it was a great way to wind down an awesome day!

Michael and I were two of the early swimmers; we provided most of the campfire music entertainment; and Michael was one of the scary story contributors.  Most of us are working on Saturday, so the party broke up at one; Michael and I had help with the clean-up; and then we saw the last of our guests out before I spent a bit of time saying goodnight to him and helping with a bit of Magi-powered healing.  After he went home, I came up to my room; grabbed a micro-shower; and got ready for bed.  My plan was to go straight off to sleep, but a bit of family business work needed to be handled, so I did that first; and will lose a bit more sleep because of it.

I’m working the breakfast shift with Michael and his parents, since Michael and I are the two most-dependable teens for that early shift, so I’m only going to have time for a nap now; and I’ll likely need to do a bit of self-healing when I get up and ready for that shift.  As of now, I won’t be needed at the Inn for the rest of the day, though; so I’ll be able to take it easy for the rest of the day – not!  The summer-like weather does make fall chores a lot more fun – even as it will drag out the fall clean-up schedule too, but I’ll enjoy that too – and I’ll be glad to have that time with Mom, Dad, and the twins.

A bit of play time this weekend would be good too, but I’ll let you know how that goes.  For now, I just need to crash and nap; so, until next time...

...May the Magi Force be with you!

Cassie's Journal - September 21, 2017

Happy 18^th Birthday, Lucas!

This is his first time being away from home for his special day, but he is at college with Rebecca; and I’m sure he’ll have a happy day.

Michael, Rowen, Ehlana, Naomi, and I had a quick video chat with Lucas while having breakfast, but he had to get to his first class; so it was a short bit of fun for us; and likely just a blip in his day.

Rowen and I had fun getting ready for the day with Ehlana and Naomi; the reunion with Ethan and Aiden on the way to school was great too; and then I had a busy school day.  It was really hot out again today – the hottest day of the week so far; and the ‘feels like’ temperature climbed into triple-digits for a few hours.  That was great for being outdoors at lunch; but not so much fun for everyone working in the kitchen at the Inn.

I wasn’t one of those worker bees because Miranda didn’t need my help.  After I was done at school, I came home; helped Mom with some chores while she passed along the kid-rated version of her trip to the city; and I got a bit of my family business work done too before we stopped to have dinner.  There was time for me to do a bit more work after cleaning up from dinner while Mom, Ethan, and Ehlana went for a walk on the way to the Inn; and then Michael came over once he was finished at the Inn so that we could do our homework, have a music practice, and a moderately-hot make-out session.

Mom did a Magi lesson with us after she got home from the senior game night champion victory she won with Miranda; we took care of getting Ethan and Ehlana into bed; and then Michael went home by eleven-thirty so that I could come up to my room and get my work and studying finished.  Getting a head start on that helped a lot with being able to wrap up my night with this update a couple of hours earlier than I expected; so I should take advantage of it and enjoy the extra sleep.

I’ve had a good day, but I’m also glad to have the must-do family business work and language studies done for the week.  We have football tomorrow, but Dad will be home tomorrow night too; and then we’ll likely be too busy with the chores around home and other work at the Inn or home; so we’ll have to fit our fun in where we can.  for me, that’s going to start with the extra sleep starting as soon as I can get there; so, until next time...

...May the Magi Force be with you!

Cassie's Journal - September 20, 2017

Mom’s in the city having a five-star sleepover with Dad tonight; and we’re having a girls’ night here at home.  Ethan is at Aiden’s house so we can do that; Ehlana has Naomi with her; and Rowen’s here with me.  We’ve had a movie and makeover adventure; a lot of girl chat fun; and Ehlana and Naomi are camping in the lounge tonight while Rowen is in my room with Mandy and me.

Before I get to the rest of my report; this next part may or may not be available to you; depending on when you’re reading this in the future.  If all you see is stars and the rest of my ‘normal’ update; check back again in a decade or ten and that’ll likely have changed for you! ;^)

***RESTRICTED ACCESS***

It’s been a while since my last restricted journal entry, but since Rowen and I are having a girls’ night; I thought that I should include an update related to that last one about Rowen and Tim.

There are some teen-friendship implications that go along with having friends move on to that next level of intimacy.  I know this will be a shocking revelation, but apparently, once you’ve crossed that line; you want to keep sharing that kind of intimacy with your significant other!

I know – who’d have ever guessed? ;^)

My point, though, is that Rowen and Tim need to make time for that and work it into their busy schedules.  Add in one other factor – the all-important menstrual cycle; and it can get weird for both the guy and girl – even when they’re Magi.  sure, I still help Rowen with that now and then when she needs me to do that – the menstrual thing – not the intimacy with Tim; but it does have a more-serious impact than it does for teens that haven’t ‘crossed over’ to that next level.

Rowen and I talked about all of that tonight – after Ehlana and Naomi were sleeping, and while she’s working that out with Tim; I’ll admit here that I’m glad that Michael and I don’t have that added stress – and I mean that in several ways.  The biological risks are obvious; as is the stress that goes along with wanting to do something but having lack of opportunity for that kind of play time.  We can joke about it, but I really don’t think that Rowen and Tim would like getting caught doing anything they shouldn’t at the computer store, school, or anywhere else!

For Magi, though, there are the added stresses that go along with controlling your talents while in an elevated physical and mental state.  I could be more blunt about that here, but won’t; and this isn’t an issue that’s only a problem for young, intimate couples.  Rowen’s fall down the stairs when we found out about each other and the stress on Tim’s Mom when Lee had his accident are two good examples.  Inadvertent use of our abilities has happened with Magi couples in Witch Falls before; and it is an issue for the teens that haven’t found out about each other yet – or if their talents are inadvertently revealed to a non-Magi.

Without getting into details that might gross out the guys reading this one day in my distant future; those risks are higher for the girls while at certain stages of their menstrual cycle.

Let the usual jokes begin all you want; but I’d also advise that you don’t use any of them on a Magi woman going through one of those, um, periods.  They don’t need to physically pick up things to throw them at you! ;^)

On a side note, I wonder if Tim’s father takes that into consideration ever since he saw his wife throw a combine across the shop floor?

That’s gotten a bit off-track, but then I guess that’s pretty much all I have on this for now.  As before, I’ll leave it up to Rowen and Tim to decide when they’ll feel comfortable with releasing these bits of my journal for anyone with access to the archives to read; but I don’t expect that to happen for quite a while.  I know it will be a bit weird, but this is something that we don’t write about in the archives; and something that we should all understand better and learn to discuss and deal with more openly – particularly with our teens and tweens.

I’m personally wrapping this up with a mental picture of a Magi sex education class at the school, but I need to finish my update and get some sleep; so I’ll try not to have too much fun with that!

***END OF RESTRICTED ENTRY***

***

Okay, that was fun; but let’s get on with the news of the day!

Tai Chi by the river was great; Michael stayed for breakfast; and then we eventually had a great day at school while Mom packed up and headed for the city by mid-morning.  Rowen and I had cheerleading practice at lunchtime; she worked after school; and I came home with Ethan, Ehlana, Naomi, and Aiden and took care of them for the rest of the afternoon.  It was cloudy and there was a threat of rain or thunderstorms this afternoon, but we dodged them; and went for a bike ride and some play time at the park.  Ehlana, Naomi, and I eventually dropped Ethan and Aiden off with his parents at the bakery; we picked up treats while we were there; and then came home and cooked dinner for four.  Rowen joined us shortly after the computer store closed for the night; and we had our meal in the sunroom.  We cleaned up; went for another bike ride; and then we did our homework in the office before heading up to the lounge for the movie and makeover fun.

I didn’t get to use my after-school time for work; which is why I am up so late now; and couldn’t even get started on my family business work and language studies until after we tucked Ehlana and Naomi in for the night.  Rowen kept me company for quite a while until she was talked out; and now she’s happily sleeping while cuddled up with Mandy.  We need to do these girls’ nights more often.  My cat really misses having sleepovers with Rowen!

I’m simply going to miss the sleep that I won’t be having tonight, but before I get to that nap; let’s add in a few bits of news that should be mentioned – though they don’t affect me at all.

Mom and Dad are having their sleepover in Crystal Springs, and I don’t need any details for what they might be doing all night; but I will mention that they went out to dinner with the Malloys.  Mom hasn’t seen them much this summer, so that’s nice for them; and they especially love getting to see the kids whenever they can.  That’s a new change at our end now that Ethan and Ehlana are in school full time, but maybe the Malloys can come visit us for a weekend or something this fall.  I’d like to see all of them too; but getting away to do that at their house just likely isn’t going to be an option at least until sometime after football season.

Here at home, Michael and Tim couldn’t come to our girls’ night, but then they were busy with football; Michael worked dinner-to-close; and Tim ended up working for a few hours after football too – going out on a service call with his Uncle Lee.  I don’t think about that very much, but we are well-into harvest season now; and the farm kids are all very busy with that whenever they aren’t at school or the few team practices they’re allowed to do during the fall.

Yes, football is a valid excuse to be away from the farm work!

That is a part of daily life for a lot of my classmates and friends, though; and that’s true for all of the teens working in stores or for other businesses that support our farmers.  Even Rowen’s parents have extra work that goes along with harvest season.  Most farms are becoming high tech around here; and farmers can’t afford to have their computer systems go down at all.  That might sound weird to anyone that doesn’t know much about farming, but it is true; and our farmers are blessed to have Owen taking care of them; since he truly is a gifted computer technician.  Mom loves her friends and would do anything for them, but I can also assure you that she wouldn’t let him build her own computers if he wasn’t good-enough to do the job as well or better than anyone else out there.

I must be tired; since that went way off from where I wanted to go with the comments about Michael and Tim.  Michael worked to close; was on his own for his homework; and probably went to bed early.  It would have been nice to spend some time with him too, but our girls’ nights really have been a bit too rare lately; so I don’t feel too bad about that.

We’ll also have the chance for some alone time tomorrow while Mom’s busy trying to earn another game night championship with Miranda; so that’s something to look forward to as well.

Rowen and Tim don’t go to game night very often anymore either.  I wonder why – not!

Now I really need to wrap this up and get started on my nap – if I can manage to sleep at all now that I’m looking forward to some Michael and me alone time!  I don’t want to get there and just fall asleep on him, though, so that’s it; and I am out of here and off to nap mode next.

Until next time...

...May the Magi Force be with you!